Timo's Gay Crete Blog

The Gay Baby Boomers – Are We The Forgotten Generation?

2012-02-06T21:02:00.002+02:00

I make no apologies for this post as it goes worldwidebut sometimes things just have to be said. I was reading through postings in a group on GTN and it got me thinking about times past...Never a good thing to do when you get older, but at the time I was having a trawl through gay web sites generally and noticed that wherever you go, most of the bars, clubs, and other venues for gay men, seem to revolve around younger people.

I should point out at this stage that I am actually a bit too young to be a ‘baby boomer’, well almost anyway.

Now this could just be me of course, but although us older lot still like to go out and have a good time, do we, when we are on holiday, want to spend our nights clubbing and our days sitting on the beach or by a pool with a hangover, getting fried to a crisp, and then repeating the whole process over again the next night?

Yes, we do like the occasional visit to a nightclub to watch the crass, callow eye candy dance the night away aided by two bottles of beer and a pocketful of illegal substances, but in spite of what they think, we are not dead from neck up, or from the waist down, (as more than one young gentleman discovered when I was visiting Peru and Chile last month).

And while they drink their two beers, us mature ones sit there and consume an entire bottle of gin with not too much tonic as we don’t have malaria as the barman seems to think.

OK, we are on holiday so we can sleep the following day but for most of us sleeping in the sun for hours on end is out of the question. We are more likely to want to spend the day submerged in a tank of moisturiser to try and reverse the ravages that time, (and too much alcohol), has wrought upon us.

And yet many gay ‘destinations’ offer little else to do.

Let’s take the Greek island of Mykonos, probably one of the most famous gay destinations in the world. And don’t get me wrong here, Mykonos is a pretty island, but it is not the almost exclusively gay Greek island that it was back in the 1970’s when I first went there. There is gay nightlife and some gay beaches, and in August it is inundated with Greeks and Italians of both sexes out for a good time. But the admirable burghers of Mykonos, and indeed the businesses themselves, more than certainly discovered that you cannot run an entire Greek island just on gay clientele.

So what do you do on an island the size of Mykonos, once you have visited the museums, a couple of churches, and been to the island of Delos?

Apart from spending evenings drinking, and days sunbathing, the answer is not a lot, and for many of us older gay men this is sometimes not quite enough. We are not so far past it that we just want to sit about and play bingo. We still want to go and see things.

New things.

Different things.

So what do we do?

We invent our own destination. A new destination more suited to our needs. And some of us have already done this in a small way. And because we are not dead from the neck up many of us know how to use the internet so we can travel independently not just follow the crowd and go where a travel agent sends us on a package tour.

The Greek island of Crete, for instance, welcomes many gay visitors each year, although we do not shout about it too much because that is the Cretan (or Greek), way. But for the older gay man, and woman, Crete offers much more than just beaches and clubs.

For a start Crete is a large island with some spectacular mountain scenery dotted with small hill villages just asking to be explored, and although I don’t suggest you take up mountain climbing, there is some great walking, (mainly downhill), that can be done such as the Samaria Gorge, the longest in Europe (yes, Crete is part of Europe), and a wealth of historical sites such as Knossos.

And if it is mythology you are after than what better than Psychro’s Cave where Zeus was born, (and no, I never met him personally, although on a bad day you can be forgiven for asking), followed by a drive around the Lassithi Plateau with chance to see the lammergeyer s that live there (and they are not so difficult to find as some people make out!), so there is something for the keen birder to look out for as well! Around the Plateau are a number of small villages and a couple of larger towns including Tzermiado, where, according to visitors from France, ‘you can get the best goat in Europe’.

Sadly most of the windmills that you see in photographs of Lassithi, are now gone, the water being pumped by electricity generated by wind turbines (!), but around the island you can see the remains of the many stone built windmills from a bygone age, along with some fine examples of Byzantine and Venetian architecture.

But after all this history and physical activity, you need to relax sometimes and Crete has a wide range of beaches including nudist beaches.

And bars.

In fact Crete has two ‘dedicated’ gay bars, Eros Bar in Malia, which has been running for some years, and the newer Roze Maandag (Pink Monday) Bar in Port Hersonissos which opened in summer 2011.

Different in style, they both play similar music but at different volumes! Eros is more of a night/dance club often frequented by Greeks and tends to start late and finish very early the following day so be prepared for a long night out. Roze Maandag bills itself as European, and has a much ‘loungier’ feel to it. You are likely to hear the same ‘gay anthems’ from the same ‘gay icons’ in both bars, but in Roze Maandag you can hear yourself think.

And for a place to stay (and here comes a bit of absolutely shameless self-promotion), there is Villa Ralfa, conveniently located just outside Port Hersonissos, and thirty minutes walk from the village of Pano Hersonissos. Villa Ralfa was Crete’s first LGBT guesthouse and gay homestay, which opened in 200,4 and since then has welcomed independent LGBT travellers from around the world. Of course you may find other hotels on Crete listed as being ‘gay friendly’ but in general these are large ‘all inclusive resorts’ which are really just ‘gay anonymous’ as you are just one or two guests in amongst several hundred. These sort of hotels are naturally the ones favoured by the so called gay travel agencies who really are not interested in true gay owned and run hotels for the simple reason that they cannot make any money by sending you to these, instead they seem to think that everyone will be happy to pay several hundred euros a night for a room without breakfast just because they have booked through a ‘gay travel agency’.

Which lead us on to a final point. The price.

Looking again at various articles it seems that some of the ageing LGBT population are having problems with ‘affordable housing’. Which seems to blow the argument that gay and lesbian people have more money, right out of the water. Sure we may own our own homes but we have been working for 35 years to pay for them. And as we grow older our incomes become fixed either because we are on a pension, or the companies we used to work for have ‘disposed’ of us, or as naturally happens our opportunities for advancement and salary rises no longer exist.

So what is the cost of a holiday on Crete?

The answer is surprisingly little.

Crete (and indeed Greece), has some of the cheapest accommodation in the world and you can get very good accommodation in a family run apartment block from as little as 20 euros per night even in high season. But bear in mind you will often have to book direct with the apartments as the travel agents will mark that up to 40 or so euros per night. Villa Ralfa charges a little more but you do get the pleasure of knowing that almost certainly your fellow guests will be LGBT, (you don’t get money back if they aren’t because they are probably friends of mine and I have them well trained), and we do look after you well, and we know our way around the gay scene, and which are the best places to go for that essential mojito before dinner.

And for food and drink, pricewise probably the best comparison that there is, is South America. A good main course and a glass of wine or bottle of beer will cost you about the same as in Lima or Cusco, or indeed in Santiago de Chile. If you want to ‘splurge’ then there are expensive places, the same as there are everywhere.

So if thinking about a Mediterranean holiday and travelling independently, and want a place to go where there are things to do then Crete, Greece is a very good option for the mature LGBT traveller.

The Gay Crete Blog Visits.....New Zealand!

2011-11-05T20:57:00.028+02:00

The last part of this series looks at LGBT accommodations in New Zealand with my experiences during my holidays last November/December 2010, just in time for your holidays this year!!

Although I am spending most of my time staying with relatives and friends for some nights I needed to have hotels and wherever possible I headed to those listed as gay owned or run, rather than just gay friendly, now surprisingly enough New Zealand comes out tops with more gay owned accommodation than anywhere else so far, but then this is hardly surprising as tourist accommodation in NZ is characterised by small family/owner run guesthouses or as they like to call it there, homestays, very much like Crete, Greece used to be before they started building all those awful impersonal 'all inclusive' resorts.

New Zealand is a very pretty country, there are mountains, lakes, volcanos, glaciers, and beaches but few would consider it a 'gay' destination because they haven't been there! In spite of the fact that at times it seems to be a few years behind the times, New Zealand is ahead of its time as well, it was the first country to allow woman to vote for instance, and certainly in terms of LGBT accommodation it has many more than you would expect, including some gems where I was fortunate enough to be able to stay.

Unless you are staying in Auckland forget about noisy gay clubs and bars, although you will find some LGBT nightlife in other places, New Zealand is for those with a taste for good wine, good food, some stunning scenery, (and a little bit of architecture), and a lot of very good 'arty' gift shops. In fact coming to NZ is a bit like visiting Scotland..The idea is to tour around see the sights and in the evening return to your lodgings whether you are staying there for one night or several doesn't really matter as travelling distances around NZ are not too demanding and the roads are good.

So to some nitty gritty reviews.....I had originally booked with a couple of guys in Auckland for one night on my arrival, three flight time changes later and the fact that I had to be up early to catch the 'Transcenic' train from Auckland to Wellington meant that I ended up staying at Rydges, not a mistake but very well placed for some of the sights especially Sky City. It took forever to get from the airport on the transfer bus (NZ$30), because some women seemed to think it was her own personal taxi and we had a scenic tour of the Auckland suburbs so that she could be dropped outside her house, nice for here I am sure, but not for the rest of us as it took hours to get into the City itself. Rydges I will not talk about, you can read my review on TripAdvisor, suffice it to say that the bathroom taps were considerably shinier when I left than when I arrived......

Sky City is an experience but whether it is worth NZ$28 is up to you....There is an Irish pub round the corner where you will pay NZ$8 for a pleasingly large brandy and coke, the gay area is a bit of a walk from this area and I had neither the time nor inclination to visit it as I had laundry to do and had to be up early for the train.....

Please take the Transcenic from Auckland to Wellington, it will give you some idea of what delights are in store for you in the way of scenery as it rattles and sways it merry little way southwards, just hope that you don't have any Russians sleeping off too much vodka in the observation car at the back as they seem to take up a lot of space.....And you can get hedgehog pies from the buffet and a really good cup of coffee too! (NZ$7.50). The views of the moody mountains on the way goes to explain why they used NZ for filming 'The Lord Of The Rings'.

Sometimes it takes Google a while to work out that are really serious with your searches so it was only after I had booked places that I found this web site Gay Stay NZ, nonetheless I found Wellington City Gay Stay through Facebook, where the guys were so upset because they were already full, but undaunted I had already found The Korimoko Homestay on the Rainbow Tourism web site....

Now the boys, (all three of them), at Korimoko bill the place as an 'architectural curiosity', and don't let that put you off, nor the mention of steps as they are not as bad as they make out out (I had left bags at the YMCA in Wellington City because I was only staying one night and was off on the bus the following day), what you will have problem with is a taxi driver who can actually find the place.

I flatly refused to pay the fare on the meter, because we had been going round in circles for thirty minutes until he managed to home in on the place, and that was using GPS!

Once there they welcome was sufficient to make me feel at ease, and this is a house where people live, you become part of the family (I couldn't help once again making a comparison with the b and b's you get in Scotland where you are staying in a place where people spend their lives).

Cosy, comfortable, the everyday accoutrements of daily life, books, a kitchen with 'things' in it, messages on the front of the fridge, and a bottomless teapot with a decent cup of tea in it. I got the room in a goldfish bowl, which was slightly disconcerting until I woke in the morning and realised I wasn't at all overlooked and had a view across to Wellington city, albeit through a very rainy morning.

Gardens around Wellington, and in New Zealand generally, are an experience not to be missed and Korimoko located on a steep slope is no exception. The temperate climate (compared to Australia or Singapore) combined with (more than adequate) rainfall, and soil, results in the 'jungle' effect of which I personally am so fond and the garden here is enhanced by the natural slopes ot the ground. My favourite area is in front of the garden shed and if you fancy a bath then there are two outdoors in the garden!

If we are going to give points then 10/10 and that is from someone who runs a gay homestay themselves.

Regretfully I am leaving the following day and the

guys are kind enough to give me a lift to the bus station which is really platform 12 and three quarters at the railway station as I am heading north to the Hawkes Bay area, to Havelock North and Ngatahi Lodge. The bus trip takes some hours and like most of NZ the buses are regular and cheap and this is good way of seeing the countryside without the stress of driving, but really to get the best out of New Zealand you really need to hire a car for that extra bit of flexibility.

Whenever you book accommodation like this on the web you need to have a certain amount of trust and be prepared for the unexpected and like Korimoko in Wellington, what you get at Ngatahi is unexpected to! Having had a an exchange of emails you start to get to know people, rather like I do at Villa Ralfa, but I was surprised when John offered to pick me up in Hastings where the bus dropped me off, even better, as it was a bit late in the day, he waited while I did some grocery shopping for a basic evening meal as I didn't feel like exploring too much that night.

The accommodation at Ngatahi is mainly a 'motel style' block, but what is inside is anything but motel style. About the first thing that hits you in the eye, in the Queen room, is the bed, we have all seen metal framed beds, but never like this!
Not only is the bed impressive it's comfortable too and there are other nice touches in the room, like a good, solid, old fashioned chest of drawers, and the shower cubicle in the bathroom is plenty big enough for two (!), and I just love the tap on the washbasin.....

Of course by the time I get there it is just about dark so the real treats have to wait until the morning.

Apart from the great location, for visiting the art deco towns of Hastings and Napier both of which have some beautiful gift shops selling a lot of art deco sculpture and ceramics, and also for visiting the number of wineries in the area one of the most outstanding features of Ngatahi is the garden, or rather gardens, as it is divided into various areas surrounding the accommodation and the common room blocks. Without giving too much away there are meandering paths through trees and shrubs (and let's face it, us boys, we love a meandering path through trees and shrubs), there's a lake, there's rose garden with an outdoor bath (I told you NZ was a bit old fashioned!), and even a couple of chairs hidden in a corner covered with almost as much moss as I am.

While I was there I was also able to see the cottage that John and Henk also have to rent, separated as it is from the rest of the buildings, the cottage is ideal for those wanting a little more privacy!

Roughly in the middle of the grounds is a modern communal block containing a kitchen and a comfortable lounge area overlooking the lake, and with a barbecue area this provides a focal point for social activities.

Regretfully the demands of family and flights meant that I had to cut short my stay, otherwise I could have spent another week just exploring the garden!

The town of Havelock North is within walking distance, (John and Henk lent me a bicycle), so although you could self cater on site there is really no need to do so. I must make a comment here though, and although I cannot speak for the other rooms, mine did not have its own fridge, it would only take a couple of cases of wine or champers to fill the fridge in the common room and at busy times it would be difficult to keep your wine and food chilled, but apart from that I cannot fault this haven of tranquility which makes it ideal for those wanting a get away from it all place with mod cons! Well done guys!

The Gay Crete Blog Visits.....Australia!

2011-11-05T12:05:00.013+02:00

Everyone visits Sydney, Australia, but other cities are available depending on what you want to do while you are visiting the sun burnt country....

Catching up a bit on last year's holiday can sometimes be a bit difficult but so far I have managed to cover Singapore! Hopefully this will catch prospective LGBT visitors to Australia before they have finalised their travel plans for this (northern) winter!

My journey began in Perth, Western Australia which is where I lived for a number of years back in the early 80's, and I am staying with friends and 'family' so I have no need for hotel accommodation although there are a couple of listings for accommodation on some web sites, Gay Traveller, for instance. Sadly the gay scene in Perth seems to have 'shrunk' since I lived there when everyone used to go to The Lion (and before that The Clarendon, commonly known as The Pink Palace, where Danny the ex-bus driver from Sydney was to be found behind the bar), and the main venue seems to be The Court.

The Court is located to the north of Perth city centre and is close to the main railway station and I must admit that I was a bit put off by their web site which said that everyone needed proof of age and would be photographed on the way in, nonetheless I headed there on a Friday night, only to find a long queue of teenagers waiting to get in, and I am sorry but nowhere is worth queuing for so I headed off to that most famous of haunts, Connies' in James Street.

It is nice to know that some things do not change, well not too much, and Connies is still there up that lethal staircase although when you get inside things are a little different with the bar now in a different place, and more glitter balls than you can poke a stick at. But where is everyone? It's Friday night it should be packed.

The bar staff are pleasant, the beer reasonably priced at A$9 for a small bottle, and only when I said I was going for a cigarette did I discover that they have a roof terrace for the smokers, complete with an outside bar and this is where everyone seems to be!

Although I do not really like to say it, if you are looking for a hectic gay nightlife then forget about Perth, I have no doubt it has its moments but really with only one or two bars to choose from, and a couple more 'up and coming' so I was told, there is not a lot going on. There is a Perth Bears page on FB for those interested though!

However Perth and the area still has attractions for some sectors of the population, notably some fine beaches including the more secluded beach at Swanbourne. Take the West Coast Highway north from Perth city and turn into Challenger Parade where you will find small car parks on the right, a short walk through the sand dunes will bring you to the beach close to the military base, and then use your eyes!

For those more sophisticated, Perth has some excellent restaurants and one big bonus is the number of wineries within easy reach both in The Swan River area and also further south at Margaret River.

Within Western Australia there is also some stunning scenery but your biggest problem is getting to see it all because of the vast distances involved (most of Europe would actually fit in the south western corner of the state), you really need a camper van and six months to get around it all! To the east the Goldfields and Kalgoorlie are also worth visiting.

I am leaving by train on the Indian Pacific to Adelaide, and this trip is a must for those who want relaxation while they watch the landscape roll by, the journey to Adelaide takes one and a half days, leaving Perth at lunchtime and arriving in Adelaide early in the morning two days later.

I was once told that Adelaide was a fine old city.....And I guess this is still true with some remarkably well preserved colonial buildings, most of which seem to be pubs! Like Perth, Adelaide seems to be stuck in a minor time warp and trying to find truly gay accommodation is like looking for a virgin in Sydney.....At the time I was trying to book a place I found only one listing for a b and b who informed me that they didn't have accommodation although they didn't make it clear whether they were full or perhaps they just didn't do accommodation...If you get my meaning.

I ended up booking through Rainbow Tourism and got a room at the Adelaide Paringa which is centrally placed for sight seeing and transportation, it is also a shortish walk to the Hampshire Hotel (near The Markets) which is one of the nicest gay/LGBT pubs I have been in for a long time, lively, noisy, but not too much so, and with bar staff who actually want to serve you. I went there for two nights in a row and saw all the same people both times so I guess the gay scene there is only limited which is surprising at South Australia was the first state to legalise homosexuality!

The second night of my visit it was so cold and wet that I ended up going to the sauna at Pulteney 431 to get warm.

So like Perth, Adelaide is not the place for the LGBT tourist looking for all night raging, but none the less a place where you can get elegantly pissed.....Like Western Australia, South Australia is renowned for its wineries and if you had the time you could spend weeks just wine tasting (and months drying out when you got home), I recommend that short afternoon wine tour that you can book at the tourist office.

Central Adelaide has its fair share of shops including one at the end of Rundle Street Mall that only sells chocolate, and a shop opposite that also only sells chocolate!

For the more cultured, Adelaide could be called the 'Festival City' as they seem to have festivals for just about everything during the course of the year...They also have cricket, while I was there there was a test match on but I managed to avoid it!

Having arrived in Adelaide by train. I left the same way, but this time on the Ghan to Alice Springs.....

Contrary to popular belief there are gay and lesbian people in Alice....I met up with one of them through GTN, who was kind enough to meet me off the train even though it was 9 hours late and show me the sights including the famous Bojangles Bar which is renowned for its steaks and also the vast amount of crap hanging from the walls and ceilings and the old Rover car in the backyard. In Alice there are one or two nice buildings including the one where Chas and Di got food poisoning, a botanic gardens named after a famous local lesbian, some extremely expesive souvenir shops selling some very nice glass, ceramics, and other 'art' and a variety of places to eat. There is a wonderful cafe near one end of Todd Mall that does an amazing chocolate gateau which the waitress assured me was chocolate/sugar/fat/carbohydrate free.

Of course the main reason for being in Alice is as a starting point for trips to Ayers Rock and King's Canyon (unless you are there to lose the family fortune in one of the casinos) and unless you want to do a lot of driving I recommend you take an organised tour which also includes one night accommodation in the middle of nowhere.

I took the Emu Run Tour the guys running it where hilarious and all the time kept telling us that in a minute we would see camels, wedge tailed eagles, and kangaroos. When we did finally see a kangaroo it was actually dead on the side of the road with a wedge tailed eagle busy feeding off it, but having said that their commentaries were knowledgeable and succinct and if you wanted to ask more then they had all the answers. They also provided an excellent BBQ at Uluru to watch the sunset with bubbly and wine whereas other tour outfits were only providing juice and water! Other tour companies are available and TailorMade Tours is another who provide private charters if you are feeling really flush!

Leaving Alice by Tiger Airways proved to be as dodgy as I was led to believe, as the flight was cancelled due to a bird strike so I spent an extra day/night in Alice, which made me a day late getting to Melbourne, I am still waiting for the compensation payment from Tiger Airways......But they are soooo CHEAP!

Arriving in Melbourne is like finding an oasis in the desert, and as you would expect from Australia's second city it does have night life for the LGBT traveller....Lots of it, but I suspect considerably more sedate than Sydney.

There is not a lot of truly 'gay' accommodation in Melbourne, much of what you will find listed is really only the normal 'chain' hotels and some expensive boutique accommodation, but you will find The Laird where, arriving a day late, I found Mark and Brett getting ready for the evening, not at all perturbed by my late arrival (they could have charged me for the night I was not there), or by the fact that my credit card did not work in their machine.....They have a cash machine in the front bar and it doesn't even charge you for withdrawals from a foreign bank account...They welcomed me to The Laird and gave me the key to my room which was easy enough to find on the first floor overlooking the beer garden at the back.

The only was to describe The Laird is as a Bear's Den...Decorated in wood and dark colours the room I had was big with lots of proper furniture and a big metal bed which only rattled a little bit, and a nice bathroom with a decent sized shower and lots of towels along with a request that please do not ask for towels to be changed unless you really need it, pretty normal these days, even I do it! Across the hall is a lounge for guests (there is a security door between the public areas of the pub and the accommodation), and next to it a kitchen, well stocked with food for making your own breakfast, including a machine that makes decent coffee!

At the top of the stairs is an internet point which turns out to be something of a meeting point as sooner or later you get to meet all the other residents as they sit checking their emails, the clientele down in the bar are pleasantly mixed in age group and style and the beer garden is where everyone seems to gather (beware of the possum which likes to sleep up in the pergola, like all possums it has a weak bladder and will piss on you if it gets half a chance, I was keeping an eye on it and moved as soon as it came my way). As this is specifically a gay male establishment there is a relaxed atmosphere everywhere something that you do not find in 'gay friendly' places no matter how many training courses they have been on, or how many certificates they have to say just that.

I was a bit worried about the fact that my room overlooked the garden as I thought it might be a bit noisy but I needn't have worried, the music is not that loud and the gentle buzz of conversation seemed to aid my sleep especially after I had relieved the bar staff of several measures of brandy.

Location-wise The Laird is close to some other gay/lesbian venues and they have a small map which shows them, you also get a free pass to Club 80 for the duration of your stay.

One other such venue is Sircuit which is within walking distance and I visited there on the Saturday night with one of my previous paying guests at Villa Ralfa. As a complete opposite to The Laird you could not get much further away. Sircuit is a big ground floor room, one end of which is taken up by pool tables (plural), the other end is standing room mainly centred around the bar. At one side is scaffolding so you can sit at an oil drum and watch the entertaining crowd below., the decorations are minimal (non-existent) with exposed pipes and conduit on the ceiling and not a lot of money spent on paint either.

At the front within the building, but outside on the street is a smoking area which is well attended, like you do I walked out there and bumped straight into a Greek guy from Heraklion, the world is a very small place sometimes.

At the back of the main room is a staircase which goes up to another smoking area on the roof and a cruising room...On the night I was there they had a free boot shine on the way up the stairs so I got my silver Reeboks dusted off, and on the next floor they were giving buzz cuts which probably gives you some idea of what Sircuit is all about. The toilets on the ground floor are stunning.

The Melbourne transport system is excellent and involves buses and trains networked together with a common ticket, take the Sunday special which you have to buy at Flinders Street station before the day and you can go just about everywhere for a few dollars, I went all the way to Knoxfield via Waverly for next to nothing to see my 'mother in law' and it all worked fine. The Laird is opposite Collingwood station so don't bother with taxis to get from the centre/airport as there is virtually no walking to do even with a heavy suitcase. Having said that do take the walk into Melbourne central, it is not a difficult walk and you pass through some of the old residential district with incredibly twee houses beautifully preserved, there is also a delightful park with some excellent plantings. You enter the city just about in the Greek quarter although it is not quite as Greek as you might expect. I stopped for a coffee at one of the Greek cafes only to find the guy behind the counter didn't speak any Greek!

My verdict on The Laird? Probably the best hotel I have stayed in for years, clean, comfortable, and friendly but if your style is Travelodge, Radisson, or Holiday Inn, then give it a miss as you will probably not enjoy living over the top of a gay bar. On the other hand give it a try, you might find that staying in a proper gay owned and run place is infinitely better than a place where you could be anywhere in the world!

By the way Melbourne in case you didn't know, is a cultural city with theatre, art gallery, and a lot of other things to see both in the city and around it. I was only at The Laird for three nights but could have happily spent a week or 10 days there, but this bunny is off to New Zealand early on the Monday morning!

Greece Bias Against Gays-Lesbians Compounds Debt Crisis as Tourism Suffers - Now Read On

2011-09-09T07:42:00.004+03:00

A lot of LGBT people are likely to see this headline without reading the article and immediately think that far from being the cradle of Democracy that Greece has become the cradle of homophobia

To begin let me reassure prospective visitors to Greece that Greek people are some of the most welcoming people in the world. While they may not 'understand' homosexuality, as such they have no objection to gay people so you will not find yourselves singled out for 'special' treatment, you will be treated as a visitor to their country and hospitality will be extended to you on the same basis as any other visitors.

You know me I do not get political, I am usually too busy talking about holidays, but every so often I find something which really gets my goat......And this is it.

Doing the rounds of the gay (and other) press over the last couple of weeks has been this article from Bloomberg News, Greece Bias Against Gays-Lesbians Compounds Debt Crisis as Tourism Suffers Now as if the bad publicity that Greece has received because of strikes, demonstrations, and rising taxes were not enough, we get this......One of the best examples of irresponsible journalism that I have ever seen in my life, nothing like kicking a man when he is down!

So let's have a look at the article in more detail to see what it actually says.......

"Gay and lesbian tourists, who for decades flocked to the islands of Mykonos and Lesbos, have removed Greece from their list of top destinations because of discrimination, according to surveys by Amsterdam-based OutNow Consulting."

OutNow consulting are a company specialising in LGBT marketing, i.e. they tell companies and governments what they should do and how they should behave towards LGBT people which I personally find insulting as it suggests that I am a person with 'special needs'! So I had a look at their web site to see if I could see this survey, nowhere could I find a survey that said 'Are you avoiding Greece because they do not allow civil partnerships'? I did find last year's Global survey, and the ongoing 2020 survey, but neither of them has a question along the lines of 'Would you avoid a country that does not have same-sex partnerships'?

So how do they come to this conclusion?

"Greece failed to make the list of the top 10 countries where gay travelers were interested in taking a holiday in the next three years, according to the survey. Athens didn’t appear among the top 20 city destinations."

It is true that many people are avoiding Athens, not just the LGBT population, many visitors have been put off by seeing demonstrations, but if you look at the OutNow Global survey for 2010 you will notice that Athens is not even listed as a possible destination within the next 3 years, small wonder then that it doesn't appear in the top 20! Athens does appear in the 202o survey, but as this is not very representative, being only available in English, it can hardly be taken as fact!

So why are LGBT tourists eschewing Mykonos and Lesvos?

In the case of Mykonos the answer is easy....Mykonos is old hat. Forty years ago it was a gay island, until the mass tourism companies got hold of it and realised, probably along with the Mykonites themselves, that you couldn't make money just out of marketing to LGBT travellers, and as anyone can tell you LBGT visitors to Mykonos have long been a minority, indeed, in August and early September, Mykonos is a party island for Greek youth of all sexes! I suspect that the same applies to Lesvos. Whether we as LGBT people like it or not, we are only a small sector of the population and from my own experience we do not spend proportionally any more than anyone else does.

The Bloomberg article, and OutNow, conveniently ignore that fact that over the last forty years a veritable of host of new destinations has become available to travellers with the resources to visit them, which can also account for some of the reduction in tourism to many 'traditional' destinations. In fact, in spite of what the Greek government statistics may say, here on Crete, for many businesses July was the worst month they have had for many years from all sectors of the population not just LGBT.

To be fair to Bloomberg who published the article, they are only passing on information given to them, and the real culprits here are OutNow who are hoping to ingratiate themselves with the Greek government and earn a bit fat consultancy fee by pretending they have the answer to the problem (sorry Ian, I know you are a friend on Facebook, but you really are just looking for opportunities for new business).

"About 75 percent of gay travelers will seek a hotel that welcomes same-sex couples, according to Hannah Burden, spokeswoman for the Thomson, Thomson Cruises and First Choice holiday brands ofTui Travel Plc (TT/), the U.K. majority-owned unit of Germany-based Tui AG (TUI1)and Europe’s largest tour operator.

Thomson last year started marketing vacations for gay and lesbian travelers, including wedding packages to the Spanish island of Ibiza. The company uses the GayComfort Certified accreditation system, developed by OutNow and endorsed by the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association."

Well yes, but then again possibly no......While I do, to a certain amount, applaud the efforts of Thomson, a brief look at their LGBT brochure reveals that only one of their hotels is actually specifically LGBT and that is on Mykonos and a quick look at the most recent TripAdvisor reports reveals that they all say the same thing, which is that particular hotel is expensive....And this is another feature which has been reported about Mykonos over the last couple of years, it is an expensive island. In fact looking at Thomson's hotel details they have a very negative statement about the hotels 'being open to anyone over the age of 16 but be aware that gay people might be staying there'.....Well that applies to any hotel in the world, and is an open invitation for homophobic people to book into the same hotel and jeer at the gay people or even worse physically attack them. It is also guaranteed to put off straight people with children!

The only real involvement as far as TUI is concerned is putting bums on (uncomfortable) aircraft seats and putting bodies in beds and if you believe they are in business to make anything but a profit then you are sorely mistaken.

The point that is most often missed about tourism is, that it is going to take place irrespective of gay marriage or civil rights. In the case of Greece of course we have several thousand years of history and civilisation and it is rather a case of, 'if you want to see the Pyramids you have to go to Egypt' so if you want to see the Acropolis you have to go to Greece, and if you want to see Angkor Wat.....

As an LGBT person you might like to think that everyone at your holiday destination gets treated the same way as you do in your home country, but you should always remember that wherever you go you are supposed to respect the laws and customs of that country. As things change only slowly in Greece you could well be waiting some time if you intend to boycott Greece until the legalise same-sex unions! It is highly unlikely in the near future that same-sex marriages will be recognised, as such a thing is not within the realms of understanding of many Greek people, even if it were made legal there would be very few Greeks who would take advantage of it as the social structure does not allow for it! You can hardly describe the lack of same-sex partnerships as 'bias' in any case. And legislation does cost money in spite of what the article says and the financial gain by enacting legislation is in any case open to question as the evidence for the 'Pink Dollar' is rather anecdotal......

So what can Greece do to improve its tourism when it already gets 19 million tourists a year?

Where the Greek tourism industry falls down is by not extracting enough cash from the existing tourists because, in spite of what you may hear, Greece has some of the cheapest accommodation in the world, what makes it appear expensive is the mark up put on it by the foreign mass tourism companies and until the Greek government address this by specifying a minimum rate for accommodation or by openly discouraging mass tourism not a lot is going to change and this of course has nothing to do with the sexual preferences of the prospective visitors!

The Gay Crete Blog Visits......Singapore!

2011-07-26T17:59:00.015+03:00

Is this man off his trolley??

Why....I hear you ask.....Would someone who runs a gay and lesbian homestay on Crete, Greece, be writing about Singapore? Is he off his trolley or what?

And why in the middle of the summer season?

Not at all...As some of you may remember I took my holidays in Australasia last year and I do like to share myexperiences, and also around this time of year is a good time to think about booking if you are heading towards Australia or New Zealand for a holiday during the southern summer, so here are is a little bit about our trip last winter and what I found in Singapore for the gay traveller.

Singapore is not a name that springs to mind for a holiday and sadly many travellers use it only as a stopover on the way to somewhere else not as a destination in itself, and certainly not a gay destination. Which is a shame because Singapore has much to offer in its own right, and of course, it is also close to many other destinations so can be used as a part of an 'Asian' holiday itinerary.

First off, as usual, book your flights early. I made my bookings in August last year for outward travel in November and return in December, (you can look at the blogs below to see how I got on!), and got some excellent prices on flights with Singapore Air. Of course I am travelling from Europe, and Singapore is something of a hub for many flights from Europe to Down Under so there is plenty of choice of airlines and schedules.

Bear in mind this is a long trip and not something you can leave to chance, so plan ahead!

I flew from London Heathrow on one of SIA's new fleet of A380's not long after Qantas had had an engine failure on one of its new A380's, but hey, life is an adventure.....

Singapore is not a place that is associated with gay or lesbian travel, and in some ways it does have a bit of a bad history with its treatment of LGBT people. But like many other places, things change, and the Singapore scene is quite lively with a number of venues.....Or so it turns out because when I was booking my trip, Google was producing nothing of value in searches for 'gay Singapore', nevertheless, undeterred I asked a few questions on Gay Travellers Network and got back a very useful reply!

I had already found a hotel that was listed on one of the Australian gay travel web sites, and as it also appeared on the Singapore tourism web site, and as I liked the look of it, I had already booked at The Berjaya which is just on the edge of Chinatown, and as luck would have it, this is exactly where most of the gay bars are situated and there is a handy MRT station too.

Although I found the Berjaya listed as gay friendly, it is not a gay hotel. It is however, comfortable, fashionably old fashioned, (not only do they make the room up every morning, but in the evening they come and turn the bed down for you), and from the outside seems to say to me 'Tunbridge Wells'. The staff are delightfully helpful and actually greet you as you walk up to the reception desk, instead of walking off into the back office like they do in Europe.

It is not the cheapest place around, but then visitors to (and residents of), Greece, are spoilt by having some of the cheapest hotel and apartment accommodation in the world! Expect to pay upwards of S$150 per night for a room here (about €90), but the beds are huge, and in my bathroom the shower cubicle stretched the width of the room with enough space to accommodate at least half a football team (and maybe more). Not only that a bit of fruit comes for free and also a daily newspaper and tea and coffee. Breakfast is available as an extra, but to be honest while I was waiting for my room to be prepared for me (I had asked for an early check in which actually took three hours!), I did take a cup of coffee, (which I expected to be free, but actually cost me S$5.85), and it was dire, so for those who need their early morning caffeine fix I recommend the coffee shop across the road.

The room was air-conditioned (no extra charge) so the first thing I did was turn it off and open a window, I had a bit of a struggle with housekeeping for the next 24 hours as they came in and turned it on, I came in and turned it off, but finally they got the point.

On the downside, and this goes for most of Singapore, if you are addicted to your iPhone or Blackberry, then forget accessing free WiFi anywhere... The Berjaya charges S$8 per hour for use of their WiFi, and you have to use the whole hour in one go! If you once log off the network you have to pay for another hour! However I can let you into a small secret, but not just yet.......

So let's get off with the places to go.......

Just around the corner from the Berjaya is Neil Road.......Here, discreetly placed in a porticoed terrace of shops are three gay bars virtually in a row. I am only here for three nights and even I cannot drink that amount especially when I am trying to get over the jet lag, so visits are necessarily brief.

First off is DYMK, which is short for 'Does Your Mother Know', the clientele are mainly in pairs or in groups, so it is very much a place where you go with friends, even at the bar everyone seems to be in couples. The music is not loud so you can hear yourself think, the barman (on the day I was there), has spent a reasonable amount of time in the gym, and has some fascinating tattoos, and a beautiful smile, and a 330ml bottle of beer costs S$10. They were having a promotional night with sparkling rose (cannot remember whether it was Martini or Asti!), which was running out at S$75 a bottle, and literally it was running, they were opening them as fast as they could. They do cocktails and they are not cheap either, at the other end of the bar where two people sharing a cocktails that seemed to have everything in it, was actually on fire at one stage, and then had a few more shots of various spirits thrown in it as they drank through their respective straws.....The 'Mother' in the name could well refer to the guy on the till, who looks at you through a pair of designer spectacle frames and very efficiently relieves you of your cash and seems to know exactly what you have had even though you were right up at the other end of the bar. Pleasantly relaxing place with plenty to watch if you are on your own!

Next door is 'Lockerroom', which describes it very well....Most of the furniture seems to be lockers with a couple of shower cubicles thrown in....They were having a 'dark night' the night I visited although whether they were trying to conjure up a 'dark room' atmosphere or just saving on the electric bill was unclear, in fact nothing was clear because it was pitch black and full of smoke from a smoke machine. The music is loud. Reading the menu was impossible, but at this stage I did gather that in Singapore, even if you are sitting at the bar you are expected to order drinks from the waiters not from the barman. A 330ml bottle of beer here is S$9

When my eyes got used to the light I did manage to discern that sitting at the bar were a row of 'expats', and the staff seem to be wearing very skimpy shorts.......

Further along is Taboo, they were having a promotional night as well...Well actually it was a 'as much as you can drink for S$20 night', but the flesh is weak, even if the spirit is willing and Taboo and Tantric (just across the road) are going to have to wait for another time as this bunny is off to bed after 24 hours without a sleep!!

Chinatown is not far from the Berjaya Hotel and here you will find a wide selection of Asian foods day and night, I ate here two nights of my stay, for S$18 including a 500ml bottle of Tiger Beer and three dishes to go with it, don't forget you will have the usual Singapore problem of getting rice if you want it!

But also in Chinatown is The Backstage Bar, now I spotted the rainbow flag easily enough during a shopping trip through the market (Chinese silk cushion covers S$2 each!), finding the door is a little harder but it is there in the portico on the main street....

Wherever I go there is always a bar that makes a mark and this on has got to be it in Singapore......In a way it is quite 'pubby', but you know you are in a different country, the music is there all around you, the surroundings are not too bright, (in fact on reflection it could maybe, do with a coat of paint), the staff are lovely, and although you order a drink at the bar they take you to a seat and bring it too you....Best of all there is a balcony where you can sit outside (in the humid Singapore night!) and look over and see what the poor people are doing down in the street........The clientele is mixed, racewise, with expats from more than one country, along with a good selection of the locals, and if you are on your own they will stop and talk to you as they pass, if only to see what you are doing there. Don't get me wrong the other bars are not un-friendly, but here there is more interest in you!

Needless to say I spent some time in the Backstage Bar, and more than once.......

In fact the LGBT visitor to Singapore can visit a different bar at least 6 times in a week....Not a bad average compared to a lot of holiday destinations.

But what else can the gay traveller do in Singapore? Well really much the same as any other one!

Singapore has always been a good place for shopping and little has changed there, in Chinatown the street markets yield textiles and other decorative items, including some that are far too big for your suitcase, but on the other hand many shops will arrange shipping for you. I found that you get a better deal in the older, smaller, shopping centres such as the People's centre near Chinatown, they tend to be more flexible on prices than the newer centres! Around Chinatown too you can buy very cheaply those items for the more alternative lifestyles such as dried white chrysanthemum flowers at bargain prices. There are also a wide range of textiles in both Chinese and Indian styles for the home decorator.

A small piece of advice if you are continuing your journey from Singapore to Australia, the Australians X-ray your bags on the way into Australia, they do not take kindly to high value items being brought in from Singapore, in fact they will charge you tax on them! If you are buying anything expensive, then buy it on the way back!

At the time of my visit I was having a problem with plantar fasciitis, and after a couple of days walking around Singapore it had certainly not improved, just around the corner from the Berjaya Hotel there is small acupuncture practice, a 30 minute treatment cost only S$15, far less than you would pay in the UK for instance.....Although it didn't cure it, it certainly relieved it!

In general, Singapore can be quite cheap for the LGBT traveller provided you watch where you eat as many places are 'tax free' look for the signs saying 'Nett Prices', elsewhere you will get GST/VAT added on! As ever avoid the tourist traps of which Old Boat Quay is one, although a visit to Harry's Bar is still essential while in Singapore. And if you are going to Raffles for a Singapore Sling, then take your credit card with you.

From zoos, to botanic gardens, to mini cruises, to the Singapore Flyer, to SkyPark, to museums, there are a number of attractions to keep any visitor occupied. You can even go to the beach!

A little hint for the Internet....Many places will give you the access code for their WiFi if you are a customer.....Find a coffee shop with a convenient place to sit outside but not in the cafe or restaurant, as they never seem to change the pass code you can continue to use it during your stay. While I was staying at the Berjaya, I discovered that you could pick up the network from the Uluru Steakhouse behind the hotel, for a few dollars I bought a glass of wine and also got the code for the WiFi.

Getting around Singapore is easy and can be cheap too. The MRT goes from the airport into the city, there is also what they call the 'Ground Transport Bus' which will take you to your hotel door from Changi Airport for S$9, although it will stops in the road outside Raffles, presumably because it makes too much of a mess on the gravel drive! And you can do a lot of walking!

For information on gay venues try www.utopia-asia.com there are now a number of hotels/homestays listed, more than there were last year. More information on Singapore generally go to www.visitingsingapore.com

Villa Ralfa Goes ‘On Tour’ Down Under - Part Two.....More Flights, and The Knotty Problem of Finding ‘Real’ LGBT Accommodation.

2010-12-30T19:51:00.008+02:00

Having booked the main flights, and trains, for my gay travels down under, your intrepid traveller finds that there can be a problem booking exclusively LGBT accommodation, and that Greece is still a cheap place to stay!

A couple of my fans have mentioned that there are a couple more things which you should have to hand when doing this sort of thing, these are your passport as many airlines want your passport or ID card number when you book, and more importantly lots of ink and paper in your printer! The airlines must save a lot of money not having to provide you with an expensive multipart ticket these days, and do make sure that you actually print out your ‘e-ticket’ and not just the receipt for the booking!

Of course I am well aware how big Australia really is, as I lived there for a number of years, but having booked the train journey from Perth to Adelaide, and then on to Alice Springs where I pick up a two day bus tour to King’s Canyon and Ayer’s Rock, there is the problem of getting on to Melbourne to leave enough time there to see friends and my partner’s mother.

About the only airline that comes up on Google is Virgin Blue and at A$600 one way from Alice to Melbourne it is hardly cheap, (and takes forever because they fly via Sydney), as usual with these airlines everything seems to be an extra!

After a look at my favourite airline site Attitude Travel (http://www.attitudetravel.com/), I discover Tiger Airways. What starts out at A$47 for a one way flight soon turns into A$154 by the time I add my luggage, pay A$8 for a seat, and they add on a ‘Convenience Fee’ whatever that is!

And finally I have to get flights from Melbourne to Auckland, and from Wellington to Auckland to pick up my return flight to Singapore. Air New Zealand proved to be the cheapest choice for Melbourne to Auckland, Jetstar the cheapest and most convenient for Wellington to Auckland. It is amazing how trouble free things can be when you have a credit card that actually works!!

And then we come to accommodation....For much of my journey I am staying with friends and family which is the cheapest way!

But to be honest I also want to do a bit of a ‘consumer survey’ during my trip and see what other LGBT hotels have to offer and whether there is anything I can do better (or worse!). And there are a couple of places where I do not have friends (yet!), like Singapore, Adelaide, Alice Springs, and Auckland.

Now when I say LGBT, I mean LGBT owned and GLBT run, not one of the enormous international chains, or even a national chain, where you could actually be in any hotel in any city in the world and not know where, and where your money goes to head office wherever that is! Let’s face it we are gay and we want a proper gay establishment, not one where the staff have had special training as if we are people with ‘special needs’.

My priorities here are in this order,

LGBT owned and run
Location
Price.

As you know I can be a bit mean so it might seem odd to put price last, but many ‘gay’ hotels are very much boutique style which always tend to be more expensive, although I think some places still believe that there is a ‘pink’ dollar, or pound, or euro, so tend to be more pricey, (I don’t know why they think we have more money as recent surveys suggest that the 6% of the population that are ‘gay’ are responsible for 6% of spending, so they don’t spend any more or less than any other sector of the population).

As for location, there are some very nice GLBT places around but some of them are way out of town which is a bit inconvenient when the bars and local attractions are miles away, unless you have your own transport of course, which I don’t. And a couple of times I have to get up early to get to airports and railway stations!

Searching gay and lesbian directories, and the various sites dealing with ‘gay’ accommodation proved very disappointing for the locations where I wanted it most. For instance, Google produced only one result for Singapore, which on closer inspection looked like the rooms were for rent by the hour, and were sparsely furnished at that, although since then I have seen a review from somebody who stayed there and said it was fine......Fine if you like staying in a bathhouse that is, but when you get to a certain age you need somewhere with a few creature comforts!

Below are links to some of the sites that proved useful although I ended up in going to ‘gay friendly’ places which happened to be located just where I wanted them to be.

Australia proved to be the most difficult, and I don’t think anyone will be surprised when I say that Adelaide and Alice Springs proved to be the worst, New Zealand on the other hand proved very easy!

Trying to book LGBT accommodations in Adelaide did have it’s amusing side, as after the Qguide site proved fruitless (the one place listed came back and said ‘We do not have accommodation’), I tried the old favourite ploy of sending messages to people on line on Gaydar. Out of six messages sent, two didn’t reply, one said ‘I do not know of such things as I am not gay’, (I didn’t understand that one either), two came up with logical suggestions, and the last sent me the following message, and I quote verbatim...... “Hey Tim! Thanks for your message. God! You poor bugger! Adelaide is a complete gay desert! An inbred cesspool of cheating 'happily married' queers and mental retards! Not a normal gay bloke to be found!”. Which probably explains the ‘I’m not gay’ response! In the end I chose a hotel listed as gay friendly, but just happening to be in a convenient place.

I did make contact with someone in Alice Springs who proved very helpful with advice about tours, but as both nights that I would be spending in The Alice were late to bed and early to rise days, I didn’t worry too much and just booked something convenient.

For Melbourne there were a number of listings on various web sites, strangely these proved to be gay-friendly only, when in fact Melbourne has a couple of quite good gay owned/run places the names of which I got from a friend who lives there.

And what about prices?

I deliberately avoided ‘budget’ accommodation as in many cases this is going to be youth hostels or back-packers accommodation, not that I have anything against backpackers, I have met some very nice ones in my time, so I took the lower end of mid-price accommodation. Strangely accommodation in Australia and New Zealand seemed to be the same price in both dollar currencies which for us Europeans means that New Zealand was the cheapest place! Working on this basis a room for two costs around $120 per night in both A$ and NZ$, and in Singapore, S$175 per night for two. As a rough guide NZ$120 is £60 or €70, A$120 is £80 or £90, and S$175 is £90 or €100 respectively. Note that these prices are for two, no reduction for single travellers like we do at Villa Ralfa, (and quite common in Greece and Europe generally!)

For more about where I stayed and what I got up to you will have to wait until I write up all my notes and do some more blogs, but for now I will give you the web sites I found most useful.

http://www.topgayhotels.com/, http://www.qguide.com.au/, http://www.gaystay.co.nz/, proved most useful for accommodation, the Gaystay NZ web site lists a lot of gay accommodation, probably more than there is in the UK, especially useful for those touring around. The Qguide web site is very strange as sometimes it is there and another time not. I didn’t look to see where it is hosted but there seems to be problems with web sites in Australia generally. When I was planning my trip I took this problem to be at my end, only when I got there did I realise this was not the case.

http://www.utopia-asia.com/, is an excellent site for things to do in Singapore and Asia generally, there was a bit of a shortage of accommodation in Singapore so I used http://www.rainbowtourism.com/ , which also gave me useful accommodation in Adelaide.

http://www.galta.com.au, is a generally useful site, it has many listings around Adelaide too but as these were not central and I had a train to catch they were generally too far away!

http://www.starobserver.com.au/ and http://blaze.gaynewsnetwork.com.au/ are both news sites, they are also the home of some free gay newspapers and mags which have a lot of info in them, plus there are some classifieds on the web site. Good for looking at current affairs and events.

http://www.pinkboard.com.au also provides some accurate information and maps on various locations in Australia, while http://www.outinperth.com/ provides information specifically on Perth WA.

This sounds just like the Oscars doesn’t it!!??

And finally my thanks to a long time friend in Melbourne who suggested I stay at The Laird in Melbourne, an Australian pub in the true tradition, http://www.lairdhotel.com/, and also to the fellow members of the Gay Travellers Network, who came up trumps with things to do in Singapore http://www.gaytravellersnetwork.com !!

Villa Ralfa Goes ‘On Tour’ Down Under - Part One.....Bookings Flights and The Pitfalls of Using a Credit Card.

2010-10-26T16:41:00.000+03:00

Booking your holidays as an independent gay or lesbian traveller has never been easier and here are some of my experiences and do’s and dont’s, when booking your tickets and accommodation.

Yes, even humble gay hotel owners from Crete, Greece sooner or later need a break from home and as avid followers who hang on my every word, (you do, don’t you?), you will know that I am a great exponent of booking holidays independently, eschewing the conventional travel agents and travel web sites but you do need to a bit of planning, especially if you have a lot of stopovers and side trips to make!

I don’t say that it would have been impossible to book this through an agency, but I think even the most patient of travel agents would have been tearing their hair out after this one.

First off, plan your holiday.

I know this sounds silly, after all you are supposed to be taking it easy, but you cannot start to book anything unless you know where you are going and why! If you just want sun, sea, sand, and maybe a bit of sex thrown in then anywhere where you are going to find these, will do, well almost....Forward planning is essential (as is booking flights well in advance to make sure you get a seat and more often the best prices, and if you work in an organisation, that you will be able to take the time off when you want it).

In my case and this holiday, I wanted to go and see friends and relatives in Australia and New Zealand, catch up with my partner’s two boys and their children, and also visit some places like Alice Springs and Ayers Rock, that I never got to see when I lived in Perth, WA. And also make at least part of the journey across Australia by rail, something I wanted to do even before Michael Palin did it!

But I wanted to do it in a relaxing way with not too much flying and not too many airports.....I am going on holiday after all! And I have a month to do it.

Second, what you will need.

A credit card (or debit card, although some airlines will not take these), with plenty of credit on it, and an expiry date beyond your date of return. I say this because some airlines will not accept a card which expires before your return journey. Or that expires before you leave come to that.

Thirdly, check whether you need a visa to visit your chosen destination.

There are still many countries that require you to have a visa. In this case I am travelling to Australia which certainly does. Fortunately you no longer have to visit an Australian High Commission or Embassy to get this, and you do not need to go through a visa ‘agency’ either, as you can do it on line. (Some more advice on using the Australian on line visa application follows later).

Always apply for visas before you do anything else, they are usually valid for a year, and sometimes they do get refused, so if you have already paid for your airfare you are not going to get it back.

With the benefit of hindsight I will say, ‘Do not even look at flights until you have got the visa’.

So off we go.....

From my point of view it is easier for me to fly from Athens and like most International airport’s the AIA web site lists the airlines and destinations serviced, OK, I have flown Singapore Airlines before, and guess what? They do a flight on exactly the day I want it, giving me time to do a stopover in Singapore to recover from the time difference before I hit Perth. Even better the Singapore web site gives you the chance to book multiple ‘legs’ too, useful, if like me, you want to travel overland, but pick up a return flight from Auckland NZ.

First mistake is actually to go through the process to find out how much it costs....And I haven’t got a visa yet....And the price I get back is superb to say the least.

Putting in the on line application for an Australian visa is not easy. There are pages and pages of it, and lots of boxes to fill in. Make sure you save each page as you complete it and or course, make a note of the reference number!!!! You will need it to recall and complete the application if anything goes wrong, and on the day I did it there was nothing but problems with my Internet connection. At the end of the process there was no acknowledgment screen as I expected. So has it been sent or not? Three days later I am still not sure and trying to navigate through the web site to see the status of the application is well nigh impossible! Finally I enlisted the help of a friend in Perth who called the visa office, (in Tasmania, I believe), who confirmed that they had got it and were processing it manually because something had gone wrong. (Tell me about it!)

By this stage I am worrying about whether my nice cheap convenient flight would still be available! Checking the Singapore web site still shows it.....On day 4 my application for the Australian visa appears on their system, and three days after that I get the visa itself. Fast work there boys!

Too late, the flight I wanted is now full, and, all of a sudden, the flight from Auckland back to Singapore has trebled in price....Disappointment could have set in at this point, but hey, I allowed for a bit of flexibility didn’t I?

Well, actually, no I didn’t. A further check on flights doesn’t really help because returning later puts me too close to Christmas, and leaving earlier is too soon because I have arranged the house and dog-sitter already....And in the meantime I have been checking out my rail journeys in Australia and the Indian Pacific only travels on two days a week, and as I have decided to take The Ghan from Adelaide to Alice, then that trip is also pretty well fixed too.

Always have a Plan B, or C, or D, or Z even.

In this case, depart from a different airport. A quick check shows that Singapore Air, (and other airlines) have more frequent departures from London Heathrow, and although I was trying to avoid the extra flights, it was always in the back of my mind. Being idle doesn’t always pay off!

As we have visas in place and have organised some extra credit on my card, it makes sense to book the flight straight away, working out how to get from Crete to London Heathrow can wait! Available flights are leaving when I want, and strangely the Auckland NZ to Singapore leg that was so expensive before has now gone down!

I work my way through the booking process, making sure that I am not trying to depart from somewhere that I haven’t got to yet, and we arrive at the final screen ready to press the button that says ‘BUY’, except nothing happens.....Go back, click ‘Refresh’, re-send the data, try again....Just a message clearly placed there by my card provider. Close browser, clear data, try again, going all the way through the whole process again...Still no joy. (In the meantime I am also getting a warning message from Singapore Air that my credit card expires before I am travelling and that I will need to take my card to their nearest office to get is validated!)

Now incensed, I call my card provider in the UK (from Greece at peak time!), thinking that they have mucked up the increased credit limit, ‘Not so,’ says the young gentleman I speak to. I read the message out loud to him, ‘Ahh,’ he says, ‘I will put you through to ‘Clicksafe’, and finally get a nice Irish lady, and after explaining things to her she tells me that they are actually a separate company acting as sub-contractors to my card provider. After taking me through security, (one day they will ask something else other than my DOB and if there are any other card holders), she asks me what I am trying to do, I tell her and she says ‘That is what I can see here too’. Sometimes these people are so helpful.

‘You can’t do that with that card,’ she says, ‘Your credit limit isn’t high enough.’

I explain that the credit limit has been increased by the card provider.

‘Ah yes,’ she says, ‘But that is nothing to do with our credit limit. You can only use it up to £50.’

I don’t know whether they have ‘Clicksafe’ in other countries, I sincerely hope not, and if you can avoid signing up with it if you are in the UK, then do so.....

By now I am getting really pee’d off, and have done several ‘Back’ clicks on the Singapore Air web site trying, successfully, to retain the flight and price.

She takes me through a further set of security questions, omitting to ask me my inside leg measurement and the results of any recent sperm count. And finally tells me to try again.

Having not refreshed the screen often enough, the Singapore web site has now timed out due to inactivity! Fortunately for the world at large, starting all over again I finally get to book the flight.

Now you might think this is the end of this story, but of course, this is me we are talking about.

With plentiful flights from Crete to Athens, and Athens to London, during the winter months there is no rush to get on with the connecting flights, but train journeys within Australia, and now that I have had time to look more closely, New Zealand as well, are now priority jobs if I am to avoid flying again for a while after I get to Perth.

Buying through an Australian web site is something of an experience, for a start they don’t ask for the CCV number on the back, and they don’t worry about expiry dates on cards either, even though I am travelling after the expiry date. Even better the Great Southern Railway allows you to book and only pay a deposit, a great help of your credit is limited. And to be honest the whole booking is experience seems more relaxing and laid back, than, say Singapore Airlines, or even Easyjet!

I try to book the Indian Pacific from Perth to Adelaide. Without much information and no informative error messages it just tells me that they cannot complete the transaction and try again later. I try again later, but this time booking The Ghan from Adelaide to Alice. Success, all goes well and I even get the email confirmation for instructions on paying the balance.

I try the Indian Pacific again, still no joy.

I try to book my Easyjet flights to and from Athens to London, that will not work either, but then I manage to book those with a debit card which expires in two days time. Don’t you just love Easyjet?

I try to book flights with Aegean for the Crete/Athens leg with my credit card, no it definitely does not want to work.

I try to book the Indian Pacific again, still no joy. In desperation because it is important, I use my Greek credit card, hey presto, it works. So what is wrong with my English credit card?

The following morning I am emailed a copy of a letter from the security department of my card provider in the UK. They have tried to phone me, they say, which is a lie, because the only number they have is a UK mobile and that has not rung in weeks. In the meantime they have blocked my card for suspicious activity and could I please call them.

To bloody right I can call them, in peak time again too because they only work 9 to 5. I am not sure what happens if you want to report a stolen card outside those times.

Finally after more security questions during which I asked, in a voice heavy with sarcasm, if they would like my vaccination certificates too, and explaining why I am trying to use my card outside the UK, I get the block lifted. Is this something to do with the financial crisis in the UK I wonder?

And with my heart aflutter and a song on my lips, I manage to book the Indian Pacific, and the Transcenic rail journey from Auckland to Wellington.

This is more than enough for one blog, so I will leave you with the pleasant thought that I still have to book some internal flights in Oz and NZ. And I haven’t even started on accommodation yet!

Part Two will deal with the impossibility of finding true LGBT hotels and accommodation around the world, and booking a flight with the Australian version of Ryanair!

Take The Gay and Lesbian Community Survey 2010

2010-06-06T09:15:00.005+03:00

So we are being urged to do, in fact there is a link to it on my Villa Ralfa web site here to save you looking any further.

'There are lies, damn lies, and statistics' was once quoted by Mark Twain, originally attributed to Disraeli, but appearing nowhere in any of his writings, the phrase is nonetheless, still true today.

The Gay and Lesbian Community Survey is, of course, a worthy cause in itself, but it will only mean anything if enough LGBT people complete it.

Even then the only accurate piece of information that you can glean from it is how many people actually took the survey!

So why should I be asking you to do it? Mainly because it has now gone international and with the help of the GLBT community in countries other than America we can set some of the statistics right!

From here on, are my personal opinions based on my personal experience over 40 years of being part of the LGBT community, living on two continents and travelling in many countries and meeting hundreds and very possibly thousands of LGBT people. I have also been involved in four businesses owned and run by LGBT people.

Of course you can comment as you wish, but make the comments constructive please.

So let's look at the purpose of the survey first.

The survey results will almost certainly be used to sell things to the LGBT market, some marketeers will use to their own advantage by saying to companies 'You have no LGBT marketing strategy, you are missing out on a lot of money. For the measly sum of several thousand dollars we will advise you on how you can sell to the LGBT community, and train your staff to deal with LGBT clients.' (Makes me feel like I am a person with 'special needs')

Of course we are looking at the value of the 'Pink Pound' or Dollar or whatever here, and bearing in mind that the survey was designed for the US, the bottom income bracket is far too high for many other countries, including Greece, where I live. Immediately then us in Greece will be discounted for the results as not worth marketing to as we don't have any money.

Hardly fair is it?

A good income in Greece is around US$15,000 pa, with many earning much less, especially those in the tourist industry who work for only six months of the year! But does this make us poverty stricken? Well no it doesn't. But what it does do is put into question this whole thing about the value of the 'Pink Economy'.

In my experience, gathered over 40 years, LGBT people are no more likely to be wealthier or poorer than straight people, particularly, as by choice, many GLBT people are likely to be in lower paid work such as social services (which we are extremely good at, I might add).

Taking another example from the survey, 'How much bottled/mineral water do you drink a week?' This is obviously aimed at the countires where drinking bottled water is a status symbol. In my answers it wouldn't let me put in the actual amount as the maximum is 36, and for many people in Greece this answer would be similar. Now before anyone gets their cheque book out to pay for a multi-million euro advertising campaign in Greece selling expensive designer bottled water, let me point out that in general we don't drink the tap water in Greece, and those five 'waters' that I drank outside my home were taken with the five coffees I had outside my home each week, and I didn't pay for them either because in Greece the water comes with the coffee automaitically! (Damn, perhaps I shouldn't have said that...I always like it when companies make disastrous marketing errors. Who remembers that slogan 'You're never alone with a Strand'?).

Another one from the survey. The section about your feelings towards companies and their 'outreach' to the GLBT community. How about a box to tick which says 'It makes no difference'?
And let's face it, if you have, say, an airline with nice flight times, good service, and an excellent safety record, but no 'outreach', and another with crappy planes, bad flight times, and a bad safety record, but excellent 'outreach', which one are you really going to choose?

As a bit of brand loyalty here, if I am flying internally in Greece, I go with Aegean because they have these really nice moist pecan nut cookies, the coffee they give you to go with them is dire, but the cookies are NICE.

I mentioned previously that I had been involved with gay owned and run businesses in the past, from my experience in those businesses, being LGBT owned/friendly/run does not necessarily mean you will attract LGBT clients! Clients go where they want to go and about the only place where it makes a distinct difference is with bars and clubs. You will see around the Internet, (you do use the Internet don't you? A lot of LGBT people do not, which makes an Internet based survey open to doubt), stories of companies seeing huge increases in business after LGBT marketing campaigns, these should be taken with a pinch of salt, after all how can they tell if you are LGBT or not? Is it tatooed on your head? Is there a tick box on the online booking form on the web site? It is more likely that the advertising campaign as a whole led to increased sales irresepective of the target group.

I think personally that they should ask us more about travel and holidays too.

Having said all this, DO take the survey, DO answer the questions honestly, and DO remember to put in the right country. A sudden upsurge in answers outside of the norms that the marketeers are expecting will make then think again about their approach.

DO also complete the last page with the extra questions and DO sign up for the possibility of being in working groups. I was fortunate enough to be involved in one of these last year, employed by an electronic manufacturer who was suffering a severe fall in sales, when he finally got the results he thanked us all by email and said 'I do not know how we got it so wrong'.

You can find a link to the survey through my web site at http://www.villaralfa.com, and you will find Community Marketing Inc here

Greece 2010, Strikes & Economic Woes. To Go or Not To Go?

2010-05-30T22:59:00.011+03:00

The lights are on, the doors are open, and Greece is open for business and awaiting your arrival!

Some more information and some hints and tips for getting here.....

Of course you do not have to be gay, or lesbian to be worried about this!

So just lately Greece has been getting some publicity and as we all know there is no such thing as bad publicity, (except your own obituary according to Brendan Behan), but in this case the publicity hasn't worked as well as we would hope !

According to my sources, Nexus, that runs gay cruises around the Aegean has cancelled one of its cruises because the passengers were concerned about 'the situation in Greece'.

Of course I do not know exactly what they mean by that, but then some people are very easily put off, so let's deal with the possible causes.

The economic 'situation' in Greece does not mean that Greece is closed for business, in fact internally everything is exactly the same as before! Yes we have had some increases in taxation with VAT (GST to some of you) rising by a massive 1%, yes ONE percent! Most places haven't bothered to even change the price lists as for, say, a long drink, (G & T, V & O, Metaxa & Coke), to put the price up by 4 to 6 cents is not really practical. And remember that spirit measures in Greece are unmeasured so for between €4-6 you are getting the equivalent of a treble in the UK! Good beer (Mythos 4.1% ABV) is still only around €3.50 - €4 for a large one too! And yes we have a 12.5% tax on mobile phone calls, but this hardly affects you as a visitor to Greece. For those that still smoke good, cigarettes are now €3.80 for a packet. For drivers, fuel prices are similar to those on mainland Europe, especially if you fuel up outside the main tourist areas!

Food prices and eating out are competitively priced compared to many other European countries, and unlike some you will have no unpleasant surprises when you come to pay your bill! Here on Crete you will almost always be given or offered raki and fruit at the end of your meal. In how many other European countries will you be given a free drink at the end of your meal, quite often after you have asked for, or even paid, your bill?

To put some more detail on the economic situation, the Greek Govt is running a large deficit, some of this is due to current international conditions, much is due to the poor record they have in collecting taxation, and some is probably still due to the Olympics (which are always wildly expensive to stage and do not really produce any additional foreign revenue to pay for themselves!). In fact the deficit it really no worse than in some other European countries, including the UK. What is making matters worse in Greece is the Government's apparant inability to collect taxes, and bearing in mind that things like water and electricity are still in the public sector, so even non-payment by consumers makes a difference to Government cash flow. (As an example here, when I bought Villa Ralfa in 2004, I discovered that the previous owner owed €1200 to the water company, a simple calculation showed that he had never paid a water bill since the house was built in 1991!)

The Government's response to the deficit has been to raise some taxes, cut wages in the public sector and increase pension age to 65, this has led to strikes and demonstrations. Some of these do lead to problems for travellers, for instance, air traffic controllers or immigration officials striking stops flights! But let's be honest what real effect does a strike by tax collectors or bank staff really have on visitors? The answer is none!!

Strikes by Customs also have little effect as we are part of the EU and visitors from other EU countries do not go through Customs as such.

Demonstrations have received much airtime internationally, but nothing has been made of the fact that these have taken place in Athens, in front of the Parliament building. But even so Athens is still open for business as the demonstrations are planned and announced in advance and any visitors need only check with their hotel front desk to find out where and when they are, and then plan to be somewhere else that day.

On the islands, parades and protests are virtually non-existent and here on Crete are only likely to take place in the capital Heraklion, which is hardly a Mecca for tourists except for visiting the museums.

Greece is still one of the safest countries in the world and is rarely a target for terrorism and has a low crime rate.

Generally strikes etc. take place on Thursdays, ergo, travel on a different day!

A small and slightly odd web site that has surprisingly accurate information on strikes, not just in Greece, (we are not alone!), can be found here Easy Travel Report

Many of the large travel companies seem to be limiting their exposure to Greece, I have even heard of one well known travel company advising visitors not to come to Greece, so for those who are 'hooked' on the 'package holiday' there may be only limited availability, but never fear, there are many opportunities for independent travellers to Greece and with accommodation available direct through the web it should not be difficult for prospective visitors to find readily available accommodation, as well as Villa Ralfa, of course!!

Remember too that travelling independently is better for the Greek economy as all of the money you spend on accommodation ends up in Greece, as most tour companies have their profit centres outside of Greece, but do ensure that you are booking with a locally owned and family run hotel or apartment business. Even better avoiding the large resort and all-inclusiv means you get to experience true Greek and especially Cretan hospitality.

So travelwise what have we got? Well forget about airfares for next to nothing! These days the price of aviation fuel is high and governments around the world have increased passenger duties and taxes in their greed for ever increasing revenue. Also bear in mind that Greece is a long way and is serviced by fewer airlines so you cannot compare the price of a flight from northern Europe to Spain for example because one is two hours flying time and Crete, Greece, for example is four hours!!

For travellers from the UK, expect to pay around 150GBP return including taxes, from Italy expect to pay around €160, both of these are for flights in July with Easyjet Easyjet also have flights in June from Berlin to Heraklion from €160

BOOK WISELY...BOOK EARLY is the slogan here, these budget flights fill up quickly and the prices rise the nearer you get to the departure date!!!

Aegean Airlines also have some very reasonable flights from various destinations around Europe in September and October bearing in mind that with Aegean you have to travel via Athens to get to Heraklion Crete, they have flights from Paris - CDG for €187 plus taxes. Aegean flights are of course scheduled flights and many of them run every day of the week!

Viking which used to only deal through agents and act as carriers for many package holiday companies, now take booking direct for flights from the UK and around Europe in general.

For a Europe-wide resource for budget flights to an from virtually everywhere then Attitude Travel still remains one of the best places to look first!

There are also some flight search engines on my web site at http://www.villaralfa.com/

If you want a round up of current news and possible strikes in Greece, the Athens News web site has much up to date information in English. For those looking for more news from Greece there is an English edition of Kathimerini here, or you can read the Greek version using the 'Google translate' toolbar, if you have it installed, here

Or you can read a local Cretan newspaper, Patris, here. This is only in Greek so you will need to have Google Translate, or something similar installed in your browser.

For those of you who have been to Greece and especially, Crete, before, remember all that sunshine, that crystal clear turquoise sea, the amazing scenery, the many thousands of years of history, the hospitality, the many small bars and restaurants serving traditional Cretan dishes from fresh produce? Isn't it time you came back?

For those who have never been before, well you do not know what you are missing! All of the things in the last paragraph for a start!

Gay, Gay Pride, Gay Hotels, Gay Travel, Lesbian Hotels, Gay Pride in London, Gay Pride Parade: Gaypedia

2010-02-27T10:01:00.000+02:00

Gay, Gay Pride, Gay Hotels, Gay Travel, Lesbian Hotels, Gay Pride in London, Gay Pride Parade: Gaypedia

The Gaypedia web site is a resource worth looking at....And it lists me!!!

Gay travel tips for Greece and the Greek Islands

2010-02-14T09:42:00.002+02:00

This little article (linnk below) pop ups all over the place, written by Howie Holbein, who runs a travel company called Spirit Journeys in the UK, it is a little on the brief side so not very useful and of course it mentions the old favourite islands of Mykonos and Lesbos.

I tmentions Crete in passing saying it does not have any definable gay scene, which is not quite true, but Howie can be forgiven I think as he has probably never been here!!

http://www.helium.com/items/1602844-gay-travel-greece

Video of the Day :: 'Schoolhouse Rock'-Style Clip on Prop 8 Trial Broadcast Ban

2010-02-01T16:36:00.001+02:00

Video of the Day :: 'Schoolhouse Rock'-Style Clip on Prop 8 Trial Broadcast Ban

Posted using ShareThis

A New(ish) Web SIte For Gay Hotels and Bars, Gay Chat and Blogs, Gay Pride London: Gaypedia

2010-01-05T23:49:00.005+02:00

There are a myriad of web sites for gay dating, information, travel, and so on, out there on the Internet, and although I don't usually recommend any of them in particular, some are better than others.

My personal 'hate' is the ones that because you are running a gay business, seem to think that you make a fortune and are therefore prepared to pay a fortune for a link or posting, but then you find that many of the advertisers are actually huge multinationals who are just trying to cash in on the 'Pink Dollar or Pound' and whose product is not actually specifically 'gay' at all! In fact I am often certain that the people that run them are not gay or lesbian, just straights trying to pretend they are gay.....

The cost of adding a link or an ad on to a site is minimal, and once it is there it should be there forever, as I feel that the Internet should be a free source of information for everyone, which is why you will find much information given freely on my own web site especially tailored for the gay or lesbian travel ler to Crete, Greece, so when I am approached by someone asking for a link to what is obviously a gay owned and run site, I am only too happy to oblige if I possibly can, after all what is a few minutes of my time to add a weeny bit of code to my site?

Of course we would all like to 'monetise' our site and even mine has some Google ads on it as well as some other 'earners', but these only go to pay for the hosting fees (essential if you want a good reliable a host that provides you with all the stats that you need with a minimum of downtime) and the incredible amount of bandwidth I take during the summer months, so when Ryan from Gaypedia approached me for a link, I was only too please to help, as he was trying to make the site more useful by providing information for his gay users and not just trying to make a bob or two by selling advertising!

What you see here is the end result......Gaypedia is a relatively new gay dating and chat site and Ryan has incorporated features likes blogs and reviews from the outset rather than bolting them on afterwards!

http://www.gaypedia.com

And Now on Facebook!

2009-12-28T21:44:00.003+02:00

Just in time for the New Year, I have added a Villa Ralfa page on Facebook, you can view it by clicking on the link to the left. So now you can become a fan of Villa Ralfa the first gay and lesbian accommodation, hotel, guesthouse (yes even I do not know what to call it!), on Crete, Greece.

Not only that but you can of course share this blog with all your friends on Facebook too!

During the next month we will be closed for guests as I have to go back to England for a while to deal with my Uncle's affairs following his death in November (it was a nice funeral, small, but then he was 83 so there are not too many of his age group still about). I am also hoping to get into hospital to get my hernia fixed!

Of course I cannot leave Isla, the new dog, on her own so there are friends from Holland staying instead

We have a few new things happening in the New Year 2010, amongst this is the possible opening of a new gay club in Hersonissos, and also during the winter we will be, hopefully, revamping the web site just to please the several hundred who visit it every month. Naturally we will be answering your emails while we are away and if you want to make booking you can use the sexy new 'online booking' system to book the apartment ONLY.

Hoping that you had a good Christmas, and that 2010 will be everything you could wish for!

A Winter Weekend in Athens, Greece Part 3

2009-12-21T22:58:00.001+02:00

Some suggestions of where to go and what to do during a short ‘city break’ in Athens.

Part 3 – More eating out, yet another bar, and Kolonaki.

Continuing the saga of a four day ‘city break’ in Athens finds us in need of a little rest and as many of the gay bars/clubs are closed on Monday we can do this without feeling guilty!

After the customary early evening sleep I head off to Goody’s in the middle of the city. Goody’s is the Greeks answer to MacDonalds, the system of ordering at one desk and walking to another to collect your food is confusing, none of the staff speak English but you can always point can’t you? The food is good though and there is enough of it but it is not cheap. But if you want a good burger then you have to pay for it.

Monday is a much quieter night around Monastiraki and Psirri, I find the bar called Inoteka in the Platia Avisinias that houses the flea market. This bar is listed as ‘gay friendly’ but I cannot tell for sure as I am the only person in there. I can say that is interestingly decorated and warm and cosy, maybe if someone else goes there they can let me know. I can imagine spending the evening there though.

Moving on I find a seat in a bar restaurant in Miaouli Street near Platia Iroon, called Rebekka. Normally you cannot get into these places as they are packed but it is Monday. As I sit with a large bottle of beer (€3) and start to write up my notes there is the brightest flash of lightning I have ever seen, followed by a magnificent roll of thunder and torrential rain and hail stones for the next twenty minutes. Never mind it is warm and dry under this canvas awning.

Tomorrow is my last full day and I want to make the most of it, so I take an early night.

Tuesday comes and another bright sunny day, apart from the odd shower of rain I have had pleasant weather but I do need a coat and a sweater especially at night.

My plan is to visit Kerameikos, which is on Ermou Street near Thissio station. This area used to be very run down but is now a pleasant pedestrian area, but beware of scooters. The archaeological site is actually old graveyards where the good and the great of ancient Athens were buried. I expected it would only take me thirty minutes to go round the site, by the time I had been round the museum I had stayed three hours!

Grabbing a spinach pie on the way through Monastiraki, I head up Ermou towards Parliament House. The streets are packed with shoppers as the January sales started today. Reaching Syntagma Square I look in the post office to see if it is still as busy and chaotic as ever. It is. (There are other post offices less busy near Omonia Square and opposite the National Bank in the square off Athinas Street).

Pausing to take a picture of one of the guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier I carry on to Kolonaki, which is the most expensive area of Athens and is home to many of the foreign Embassies and Government Buildings. Here you will find all the well-known designer shops and most have sales on. There is also the usual number of street cafes where the rich, famous, beautiful and not so beautiful of Athens come to play.

It is the place to take a coffee and so I do. In my chosen cafe the menu is new and wonderfully produced on heavy glossy paper. The price of a cup of coffee is so close to €5 that it is not worth taking your change, and if you also have something to eat then the prices are cleverly worked out to be enough over €9 that it is not worth taking the change from a €10 note! My coffee is called something like a ‘espressocaccia’ and I choose it because it has more ingredients than anything else! When I leave I take the menu with me but leave it behind in my hotel.

Tonight is my last night and I am staying in the city at Hotel Euripides to reduce the travelling time to the airport the following day. I am intending to get another early night, without alcohol, as I don’t travel as well as I used to.

I am warned by the owner that they have the workman in doing some refurbishment but I don’t mind as I want to be up quite early.

For food I head to Monastiraki and the street by the railway line where a burly Greek ‘komaki’ has tried to get me in three times already, (sorry folks I lost the card and do not know the name!). Having ordered and got as far as the Greek salad I realise I have left my money in the hotel and take a fast walk back to get it. The Greek salad is big enough for three, there is half a loaf of bread, and when they arrive the meatballs are enormous with rice on the side. Another case of two eating as cheaply as one! I am serenaded by two Greek musicians as I am the only person in the place, I buy them a jug of raki and a bottle of beer. They ask me where I am from and laugh when I say ‘Krhth’ as I am obviously English. But of course they have relatives on Crete. I pay the bill €23 all up, a bargain considering I couldn’t finish all the food but did manage to drink the half litre of wine!

Strolling back to the hotel I pass Aleko’s hoping it would be open for a nightcap, it is closed so I determine to get back to the hotel for an early night.

Now I don’t know about you, but when I pass a bar that is playing Boney M which segues into Village People my interest is aroused. Well it is early still and one Metaxa and Cola will be OK. The bar is called Cosmopolis and it stand on the corner of Agatharchou and an un-named street quite close to the hotel. I enter and sit at the bar, it’s busy and the barman is in the middle of pouring a large round. For a Greek he appears to be tall and I think maybe the floor behind the bar is raised, standing up I check, but no he really is that tall, and he is an absolute dream, to watch working that is, what else did you think I could mean? He is now pouring a round of Tequila shots, I look around the bar while I wait, the barman taps me on the shoulder and pushes a shot towards me and then points to a crowd of late 20’s Greek males behind me. Obviously this is a celebration of some kind and being a person that never refuses I drink I clink glasses with them all before downing it in one.

I order my Metaxa and Coke, the barman looks slightly bemused and has to open three fridge doors before he finds the Coke, the Metaxa is enormous! I am handed the drink along with a large glass of water, strange? It is warm in here, the music and the mood of the place are infectious and one thing is for sure it is NOT a gay bar, but then I can drink anywhere.

As I sip my drink and enjoy the music I watch the barman and realise that none of the spirits, which seems to be the only thing they sell, has a mixer. Even the enormous glasses of gin go out straight! But why not? Everybody has a large glass of water which gets topped up frequently, no wonder the barman looked bemused when I asked for Coke, he couldn’t remember where it was! Of course after another drink the rot had set in and it was 3am before I got to bed, but with drinks that size and only €5 each who am I to complain? As ever, it is the unplanned events that are often the best!

I am woken the next day at 9am by the sound of hammering and drilling, it seems the workmen started at 7am and they are amazed that I could still manage to sleep.
Breakfast is included in the price of my room, €25 per night, and I am need of something solid. I make my way up to the 7th floor and the first thing I do is turn the thermostat up on the water boiler. (Remember I have stayed here before!). The breakfast here is a ‘Dutch’ breakfast with juice, cereal, cold meats, cheeses, croissants, dried and fresh fruit, jam and bread. A new addition is a toaster, which is very welcome as Greek bread is often very dry and toasting it makes it edible. While I am making toast, the water boiler is now up to speed and I can make a decent cup of tea, don’t even think of trying the coffee here!

I get back to my room, to find the builders have already removed the doors, lucky I packed my suitcase before I went out last night!

Manhandling my luggage back to Monastiraki Metro station about 600 metres away is a challenge with a thick head but I cope and am soon speeding on my way to the airport. Thirty-five minutes and €6 one-way fare gets me back to the airport in plenty of time for my homeward flight to Crete and as the aircraft takes off I ponder on whether I could actually live in Athens and remain sane.

For relevant links, travel and booking information, and a photo gallery visit
http://www.villaralfa.com/athens.html.

A Winter Weekend in Athens Part 2

2009-12-21T22:54:00.003+02:00

Some suggestions of where to go and what to do during a short ‘city break’ in Athens. A series of three articles to help you make the most of your stay.

Part 2 – Eating out, another bar, museums and their opening hours.

Having arrived back in Monastiraki it was time to join everyone else at one of the many cafes, which line the street beside the suburban railway line. This may sound odd, but as the line is ‘sunk’ below street level and there are fewer trains on Sunday, it is actually very pleasant particularly on a sunny day when during the afternoon the sun shines directly on you.

This is a place ‘to see and be seen’ as every man and a few dogs are here sitting somewhere or another. For a change the cafes are so busy they do not approach you to come in, it is more a case of find a space and sit before someone else takes it! Here you will find illegal street traders whose stall is a white sheet, which can be lifted, goods and all, and taken away before the local police move them on or fine them.

You will be serenaded by small children playing the bouzouki or accordion with varying degrees of failure, you will have gypsy flower sellers palming you off with roses that last for about two hours, and lottery ticket sellers trying to sell you tickets!

If you are really lucky you will get a cup of coffee within a few minutes, but you will have to wait an hour to try and pay!

I take my coffee at leisure, an hour and a half, and then decide to head back to the Agora to take some more pictures as background and decoration for a web site I am designing. At the Temple of Haphaestos I am accosted by two ladies from Sapporo in Japan. They are on a European Tour and have managed most of the UK and Italy but need directions to the Temple of Olympian Zeus. They have chosen me because I look as though I can speak an English that they will understand. We chat for a while and I explain that it is easier to walk around the Acropolis than climb up it again and then down the other side. They also want to look at the stadium. ‘Is it old?’ ‘Yes 1936 for the Olympics (I think)’.

Finally I return to base for a well earned afternoon nap ready for the rigours of the evening!

Finding a restaurant in the middle of Athens should be easy, in fact there are dozens around the Psirri/Monastiraki area, but this article is supposed to help you so I will send you to Mitropoleos Street, which starts at the square opposite Monastiraki station and heads towards Platia Syntagma. At present the square is surrounded by corrugated iron fence so find the Everest cafe on Ermou and take the alleyway beside it. The first place you come to is good and normally has tables on the other side of the alley, or continue round the corner in Mitropoleos where you will find about ten restaurants! In summer this street is full of tables serving mainly tourists in the early evening and Greeks later on. In January there are still tables outside but you want to be warm and cosy don’t you? Most of these places are ‘souvlaki’ shops selling mainly skewered meats cooked on the barbecue, other are ‘gyros’ shops which is a similar idea but the meat is in bulk cooked vertically. All have other items on the menu if you ask to see it, but don’t expect them to have everything, particularly things like ‘moussaka’!

After a little wander up and down I selected ‘Sabbas’ as my eating place on this particular Sunday night, mainly because I happened to notice, on the way past, that one of the grill chefs had the most beautiful eyes. (OK if you can think of a better way of choosing a restaurant then let me know). Having ordered chicken souvlaki, with tzatziki to start and a quarter litre of house plonk, I proceeded to knock the ashtray off the table and spill a drink on the table behind me as I took my coat off. There is nothing like making an impression! At first glance the price looks expensive as the souvlaki is €9. So in total my meal is going to cost just over €14, but consider this, if there had been two of me and we had ordered a bowl of salad as well then the two of us could have eaten for €17 all up (well maybe €20 because we would have needed more wine!). As it was there was so much chicken on the souvlaki I had a problem eating it all, I found out afterwards that it was meant to be shared between two. Further up the street you can get a chicken or pork ‘gyros’ in pitta bread with a salad for €6.50 and you will get enough to eat!

Taking my time and writing up my notes for the day took two hours and nobody glares at you for taking the table for so long!

By now it is gone 10pm so I decide it is time to investigate another gay bar, this time ‘The Big Bar’ which is supposed to be a ‘bear bar’. One of the great things about this area is that you can walk places!

The ‘Big Bar’ is located beyond Gazi, which is home to many nightclubs including several gay ones. Personally many of these are not to my taste, the crowd tends to be too young and clucky, the drinks are often expensive, and the music is very often Greek ‘popular’ which is not me either! Having said that if you have the time then by all means go and try one or more, I am only trying to send you somewhere ‘reliable’ after all.

Big Bar is located in a side street just over the railway lines as you head out of the city on Iera Street, (on the way out you pass two very fancy nightclubs, one of which asks you to wear a tie, that’s me off the guest list then). I arrive after about 25 minutes (time for the food to settle) walk, shortly after it opens. It is empty, but I realise this is still early and anyway it gives me time to chat to the owner, Christos. One of the best things about smaller bars is you get information and in this case a free beer as well. Christos is interested in the fact that I live on Crete, and tells me what the Cretan men are like (I already know), apologises for the price of the beer which is €5 a bottle (not really that bad considering I have just come from the UK where they charge €9 for the same thing), and tells me how expensive Greek taxes are. I get a slight suspicion that maybe he would prefer to live somewhere other than Athens, but then many Athenians seem slightly jealous of us ‘islanders’ and one of the main topics of conversation in Athens is whether Crete will split away from Greece. This seems a bit odd as it is barely 100 years since Crete became part of Greece, but then they point out that Crete is ‘rich’ with agriculture and tourism and maybe it could survive on its own.

But back to the Big Bar, Christos tells me that the busy nights are Friday and Saturday when they play rock music, and that Tuesday night is Greek music night and he reels off a list of Greek singers many of whom are pop singers from the 1980’s. The place is closed on Monday as are many other places in Athens.

Atmosphere-wise the Big Bar is a comfortable mix of wood grain, dark colours and vinyl with a big screen for showing pop video clips and a glitter ball (a little unexpected for a Bear bar but actually quite a nice feature and it does add a bit of glitz). All in it is quite ‘cosy and cuddly’ just as you would expect a bear’s lair to be! It is not a big place about six people can sit at the bar with ease, which of course makes it a friendly place to be. By the time I leave at 12.30am there are a few more customers including a chatty couple (one Greek the other American I think) at the bar who know Brighton!

Monday is museum day and come hell or high water I am going to get to see the National Archaeological Museum!

One thing you get used to in Greece is wrong information for opening times and the museum is no exception, everything says that it opens at 10.30am on Mondays. It doesn’t, it opens at 1.00pm. Being optimistic I arrive there at midday. Not a problem there is a nice cafe in the forecourt complete with gas patio heaters. The tactile strip on the paving to help the partially sighted runs straight through the middle of the cafe, just to make life even easier at one end are swing doors and the other end sliding doors! Only in Greece. The large Greek coffee comes with a glass of water of course, and also a small dish of cherry ‘spoon sweet’, two small croissants, and a couple of small almond biscuits. All for €4!

The number of exhibits in the museum seems much smaller than it did in 1969 when I was last here and I think that maybe during the refurbishment in 2001/2003 they have deliberately gone for quality rather than quantity. The museum is well laid out and is not so big that you can get bored if you are not that interested in Greek history. I am there for some hours! Those of us who are advancing in years (22 in my case) with not so good eyesight, always have a problem in museums and this one is no exception. The cards they use for the printed text use a ‘serif’ typeface a couple of points too small to be easily read and even if you have varifocals, the angle of the card at the bottom of the case is such that you end up on your knees (a not unknown position), so that you can see through the reading bit of your lenses. The gold leaf work and jewellery I think are the best exhibits.

So what happens on Monday night? Well that will be investigated in Part 3 along with some links to relevant sites and some pictures

Note: This article was originally published by me in 2008, it has been updated slightly for republication here!

A Winter Weekend in Athens Greece Part 1

2009-12-21T22:49:00.003+02:00

Some suggestions of where to go and what to do during a short ‘city break’ in Athens.

Part 1 – The theatre, a bar, a flea market, and a long Sunday walk.

Athens is not a city that many people would think of visiting for a short break, but with airfares and hotel prices at their lowest levels during the winter months this is a good time to think about a short break, but with only a limited time to find your way around how do you make the most of it?

I am lucky enough to have friends living in Athens, but on previous visits (and for part of this visit) I have stayed in the Hotel Euripides, which is in the Psirri district near to Monastiraki. To look at, this is not the most pre-possessing area, however this goes for many areas of Athens, and a lot of other cities! The area was given a facelift before the 2004 Olympics, as was the Hotel Euripides (new bathrooms!) but if you want to stay in a central location with plentiful nightlife at a reasonable price then this, or one of many similar hotels in the area, then you must look past the facade. This area is very crowded at night so for the nervous amongst you I think I can assure you that you will be safe! The area, judging by many of the old fashioned shops, was once the centre of the ‘Rag Trade’ and the remnants of this still exist in the form of many shops, with Chinese looking names over the door, selling wholesale clothing and accessories. There are also a number of wholesale jewellery and craft shops (ardent Ebayers take note!)

On this visit I arrived on a Saturday lunchtime after a very early departure from London Gatwick, so there was plenty of time to pick up a bottle of water and some snacky odds and ends from one of the many local shops, before having a couple of hours sleep. The Hotel Euripides is on a very busy commercial street and can be noisy, so it is wise to ask for a room on one of the upper floors, the 6th floor is particularly pleasant as these rooms face out on to quite large terraces overlooking the rooftops. During the winter months you will be given the remote control to the aircon, which you will need to use as a heater as the nights can be cold!

There are three theatres within five minutes walk, and never having been to a theatre in Greece, I decided that it might be a good idea to give it a try! In spite of it being Saturday night I was able to get a ticket to a show called ‘The Aunt From Chicago’ which has been running for some time, and although, with my limited Greek, I lost the dialogue several times, the show was sufficiently ‘visual’ and similar to a British ‘comedy musical farce’ that I found it hilarious, and if all else failed I could watch the Greeks enjoying the whole affair.

Theatre turn out time is around 11.30pm and to say that the surrounding area was now ‘heaving’ with people would be an understatement. Greek nightlife traditionally starts very late and you can walk through this area, centred on Platia Iroon at 10.00pm with hardly a soul in sight, but by midnight there is not a seat to be had anywhere with still more people arriving!

Further down Sarri Street from the theatre is a small gay bar called Aleko’s Island, which I had tried to visit on previous trip, but as this was on a Monday night it was closed. This time being a Saturday it was open although when I arrived there were only three other customers. Well what can I say about this bar? The owner has obviously been part of the local scene for some time, and arrivals after me were all greeted personally and chatted to as old friends, (this makes the service a bit slow at times, but Heigh Ho, this is Greece), my request for a Metaxa and Coke without ice was met without objection, (some places will hate you for the ‘no ice’ bit as they don’t use any official measure for the spirits and without ice they have to give you more of the spirit!) and resulted in a ten ounce glass about one third full of Metaxa before the Coke was added!

I tried to classify the decor, but couldn’t, although the word ‘kitsch’ did spring to mind. I had trouble deciding whether the fairy lights were left from Christmas or remained all year round. I tried to classify the amateur paintings around the place without success. I tried to classify the music but could only come up with ‘eclectic’, when I arrived it was Tamla Motown, but following a blast of the 20th Century Fox theme it turned into what seemed to be the Andrews Sisters singing ‘I Will Survive’, (I have found at since that was The Puppini Sisters, of course!), and the strangest version I have ever heard of ‘Tainted Love’!

Classifying the clientele was easier, generally older, say ‘fortyish’ going on nineteen, probably something to do with the theatre and mainly regulars. Greek of course, although there were a couple more English guys who it turns out live in Athens, but what a nice bar! After the second drink I was getting very settled watching the ‘goings on’ and after the third I began to feel so much at home that I could have stayed until it closed, but common sense prevailed and I left at 1.30am as I had things to do on Sunday!

Sunday is a day for walking in Athens. In Monastiraki the flea market is in full swing. This takes place in the network of small streets between Monastiraki and Thissio stations, the suburban railway line and Ermou Street. (some of it is open all week, but Sunday is the main day with street traders, licensed and unlicensed lining the narrow streets). The Platia Abisinias has some interesting stalls with a wide selection of odd china, but beware, some of the ‘Tiffany’ lamps were made last month in China and it is not unusual to see someone buy something and see the stall holder replace it with another one ten minutes later! You can however buy ‘spare parts’ such as that brass handle that broke on the chest of drawers when Granny first had it, or replacement (and genuinely old!) crystal drops for chandeliers. On week days you can watch craftsmen repairing and re-polishing old furniture, and I am always amused by the sign that advertises hand polishing, although I have never seen them use anything but a machine!

From the market it is an easy walk through the ancient Agora and up to the Acropolis, entry is free to these sites on Sunday! The Acropolis has changed since my last visit two years ago, it is less complete than it was, and certainly there seems to be even less than my first visit in 1969! I suppose it will be nice when it is finished and I can’t help but think that a couple of hundred Albanian stone masons would have had it done years ago! In the middle of the Acropolis I come across a couple from Perth, Western Australia, where I used to live. By coincidence they live just round the corner from where my (deceased) partner lived back in the 1950’s, and when I mention his name they remember both him and his (infamous) father. It is such a small world sometimes!

The new Acropolis Museum was supposed to be open now, but it wasn’t, and leaving the Acropolis I take the road to the right and down towards Plaka stopping at the Church of the Metamorphosis, I light a candle and stay a few minutes but come out looking exactly the same. On the way down there is a network of narrow streets providing many opportunities for some ‘arty’ photographs and a fair collection of restaurants, but I am heading elsewhere, to the National Gardens and Parliament House.

Entering the Gardens on the southern edge opposite Hadrian’s Arch and the Temple of Olympian Zeus I begin to feel a touch of disappointment as I always do here. I had hoped that maybe with the 2004 Olympics being here, they might have done some replanting. The area itself is tidy as always, and while I can understand that the shade beneath the many mature trees will bring relief from the agonising heat of an Athenian August afternoon, I get frustrated because the network of well laid pathways and small open spaces always promise that around the next corner I will find a secret place or a surprise, but of course I never do!

Having said that there are some fine mature coniferous trees as well as Casuarinas and Saphora Japonicas, various palms, and abutilons. The ‘children’s corner’ still has a selection of ‘budgies’ and canaries along with some fancy hens, cocks, and ducks. There are also some fine looking goats. (The last time I mentioned to someone that I had seen some ‘fine looking’ goats they told me I had been living on Crete for too long!)

After stopping to photograph the fountain by the exhibition hall just to prove I had been there in daylight, I left via a wide avenue of mature jacaranda trees, which, horror of horrors, had been pruned according to Greek Rules; no lateral branch shall be less that 2.5 metres from the ground, no lateral branch shall be longer than 2 metres before it gets pruned. It would not have surprised me if they had pollarded or pleached them, there is nothing to beat a Greek gardener with a chain saw for a bit of pruning!

After several kilometres and 3 hours on foot, meandering slowly through the streets and gardens it was definitely time to think about a little late lunch and a bracing Greek coffee so I headed back to Monastiraki, but more of this in part two!

You will find some pictures on my web site at http://www.villaralfa.com/athens.html

Note: This article was originally published by me in 2008, but has been updated slightly for republication

Greece, The Perfect Gay Travel Place | Welcome to My Blog

2009-12-17T13:09:00.000+02:00

Greece, The Perfect Gay Travel Place Welcome to My Blog: "Villa Ralfa"

Dear David, A Series of Letters to a Longtime Friend - The Background

2009-11-20T18:02:00.001+02:00

I first published this popular series of letters on the gaylinkcontent.com web site last year 2008. Unfortunately before I could complete the series the web site was closed down by the new owners who are obviously more interested in making piles of dosh than providing a very useful service to the gay and lesbian population.

C'est la vie!

Firstly let me just answer one question that various people have asked me, 'Yes, David is a real person'!!

He is quite elderly these days, and was my first 'affair' as we called it then, what it is called these days I dread to think!

Naturally this was a long time ago, when I was still at senior school and up until a few months after my going to University. Then for various reasons it the relationship was ended, and soon after that my University career as well. The affair recommenced some time after and went on for another three years. The historians amongst you will realise that while homosexuality was legalised when I ws 15, it was only legal if both partners were over 21!

As this was a era when 'Brokeback Mountain' was a reality, it did not really cause a problem, because nobody was out to that extent, which I always felt was a good way to be! Of course after a few gins I can be at 'Out' as anybody else, but that never has been my style!

In the course of my Internet surfing looking for something completely different I found the following on the Wikipedia web site....

"Lord Arran, in an attempt to minimise criticisms that the legislation would lead to further public debate and visibility of issues relating to homosexual civil rights made the following qualification to this 'historic' milestone: "I ask those [homosexuals] to show their thanks by comporting themselves quietly and with dignity… any form of ostentatious behaviour now or in the future or any form of public flaunting would be utterly distasteful… [And] make the sponsors of this bill regret that they had done what they had done" (quoted during Royal Assent of the bill by The Times newspaper on 28 July 1967). The legal consequence of the legislation is often described as partial decriminalisation of male homosexuality as the act introduced a strict exemption from prosecution (distinct from a full decriminalisation) the implication of this being that outside this exemption, homosexuality continued to be a punishable offence in and of itself." (Source Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_Offences_Act_1967)

I have highlighted the relevant text in blue, and at times I really feel that some people should really follow this advice! Sorry guys!

Anyway I digress, as I often do....The Dear David series was never published completed, although the notes were laid out and ready to go, I never found what I considered a suitable site for them, namely a web site devoted to gay and lesbian articles.

Finally the series is being republished on a different site, starting with the already published articles covering January to May 2008. Of course these articles where original aimed at gay and lesbian travel lers to Greece and the Greek Islands, specifically Crete. But they are appicable to others as well.

You can of course publish them on your web site provided you stick to the rules set out on the articlesbase.com web site. If you would like to publish an edited version then by all means contact me and I will be happy to do the re-write for you.

You can find the list of articles here http://www.articlesbase.com/authors/timo-mitselakis/272845.htm

So You Want to Buy A Property on Crete? Part 2 - Your Dream Property And Its Location

2009-11-17T13:08:00.004+02:00

Let's face it, wherever you are, dream properties can sometimes turn out to be a nightmare, and whether you are gay or straight, property on Crete, Greece, can turn out to be the same.

I think it does no harm to be flexible in your approach, but when buying property abroad you will find that you have to change your ideals to suit the type of property much of which is built to suit local conditions and styles.

So what type of property are we looking for? Well again we can break this down into sub headings as follows....

- A block of land

- A ruin for the DIY enthusiast

- A finished house

- A new build finished house

I know the last two look the same but I will explain the difference as we go along. We are really talking order of difficulty here, starting with the hardest and working through to the easiest.

Blocks of land are quite readily available on Crete. You will see signs by the side of the road advertising them, the various agents have them for sale, or if you have visited an area several times (and I hope you have done so as part of your research), then you can ask around among the people you have got to know. In fact you wouldn't be the first person to stand on a chair in a local kafenio and ask the assembled company if anyone knows of land for sale.

Pieces of land can be bought as an investment (but note my comments about your resale market in Part 1), or to build on. If you are just going to sit on the land and do nothing then fine, but if you intend to build then you will need to make sure that you will be able to build i.e. get the necessary permission and licences. There are rules about how much land you must have before you can build, and how many square metres you can build, these are designed to keep housing density down and preserve the character of the area. But naturally you must check these details before you buy as you might find that you can actually only build a very small house, or even worse not build at all!

You must make it clear that you intend to build when speaking with your lawyer so that he can investigate with the local town hall whether development is possible and what form this must take. Gaining the necessary permissions and licences can take time, and you will almost certainly need to have a local site agent to deal with the paperwork, hire and fire workers, liaise with your architect (many of whom will act as your site agent as well!), and ensure that taxes and 'IKA' payments are made. If you are any distance from 'services' you will also have to pay the costs for getting the services to your property and it is not unusual to have to wait weeks or even months to get, for instance, electricity, connected.

In the case of electricity the power company will often provide what is called 'builder's electricity' which is charged at a different, higher, rate. Your final (or any) connection will not be made until you produce the paperwork to prove that all the 'IKA' (social security) payments have been made for all the workers involved!

Building costs can vary according to the type of construction you intend to use and the overall 'quality and standard' of finish. E.g. Ceramic tiles on the floors or marble! Expect to pay around €1500 per square metre to build!

Ruined buildings are a common form of purchase and appeal to those who want a genuinely old traditional property and prepared to put in some work themselves as well as employing others to restore it. It helps here if you already know a builder that can view the property with you as sometimes these ruins are best left as they are, ruins, because there is nothing left to save and you may as well knock it down and start again.

Some features are considered very desirable in old properties so if there are one or more arches still existing, or there is the remains of an old olive or wine press, or an old fireplace you will have to pay more. Even the existence of an established vine or two can increase the price.

There are some advantages to purchasing a ruin, as you will have plenty of opportunity to stamp your own personality on it (provided again that you can get permission to enlarge the building, although if it is within a village boundary you can do almost what you like), but you will not have to worry about getting electricity and water to the property as it will probably be there already. The presence of water and electricity meters is a good sign here!

If you intend to renovate the property yourself please be aware that we don't have B and Q, or Wickes in Greece.....This means that you cannot do a one stop shop for everything you need so you need to be really organised and not forget anything when you visit your nearest large town to go shopping for materials. For timber you must go to one place, for cement another, for tiles another and so on! You will also find that at times it is difficult to get things delivered, make sure that you have an adequate map to guide delivery drivers and that you also know a suitable meeting point such as the nearest kiosk or church so that the driver can follow you from there. Some places will actually insist that meet the driver at the depot so he can follow you all the way!

Finished houses are available in most areas. These are usually older properties, many of which are habitable immediately and are family properties belonging to Greeks, that they no longer need. They will of course be Greek designed and as such are often completely different in concept from what you would expect in your own country. This type of property is very often the best to buy as they usually come complete with all the necessary permissions and paperwork and often only requires a bit of updating and refurbishment to produce either a home or a place to rent out. If you are thinking about future resale values as an investment then note that this type of property is often saleable to Greek buyers!

New Build finished houses are usually those built by developers or local builders 'on spec' with no specific buyers in mind. They do have advantages in that they will require very little extra work on your part beyond perhaps a bit of extra landscaping in the garden and if you buy them at the right stage you will be able to choose your own tiles, floors, and kitchen/bathroom fittings but do bear in mind that if you choose 'luxury' fittings then you may well have to pay more! You can also buy this type of property 'off plan'.

Of course choosing this course will mean that you will probably be buying in a development and will have close neighbours and that all of the houses will be virtually the same design, it is a good idea to tie the developer down to what he is planning to do with the rest of the vacant land if you are one of the first buyers in a development. Locally to me the first buyers in a development had a seaview, this was blocked out a few months later when the developer built another row of houses in front of them!

Again here you must consider the future of the property as most of these are designed by foreigners for foreigners which does limit your resale market.

Location, location, location.......You can buy land, build or buy a house anywhere you like, it is up to you! BUT if you intend to live in it, then you need to be aware of what the local services are like!

I have had several people staying with me, looking at property, and find their dream in a small resort on the south coast overlooking the Libyan Sea, a delightful spot during the summer, with one or two shops and a local taverna. What they do not understand is that during the winter these resorts are 'closed'! OK there may be one or two people resident all year round, but the shops are not open and neither is the taverna, and more often than not all you will have for company are a few goats and the goatherd, fine for those independent and self-sufficient folk, but you can find conversation a little limited! And do you really want to drive for two hours to the nearest large town to go shopping, particularly when it is pouring with rain or snowing in February?

We do get rain on Crete, and lots of it during the winter, so do pick your property carefully, that empty river bed beside you could well be a raging torrent during the winter!

And the more remote a property the less likely you are to be able to sell it at a later date. On the other hand Cretan villages can be very crowded places and within minutes of your moving in everyone will know your business!

So You Want to Buy A Property on Crete? Part 1 - The Motivation

2009-11-16T23:04:00.005+02:00

Around this time of year, autumn and winter, we frequently get out of season visitors, from other parts of Europe, arriving on Crete to look at property of various types. This is not really a 'gay' subject, although some of them are, of course, gay or lesbian, and these blogs are designed to give a few hints and tips based on my experience.

As with any step like this it is a good idea to police our motivations as to why you are thinking of buying property on Crete, or indeed anywhere abroad!

We can broadly split the motivation into four headings -

- As an investment

- A holiday or rental property and maybe later a place to live

- A house to live in full time as you are going to move here permanently

- A business to run for yourself

Investment property would have to be very long term as although prices have risen on Crete over the last five years, the increase in value is nothing like the swingeing increases seen in the UK in previous years, for instance. You also need to thinking about who you might be selling to in the future, bear in mind that the Greeks own most of Greece and the chances are you have just bought a property from a Greek who doesn't want it, so your future market is unikely to be anyone Greek and is more likely to be someone like yourself, a foreigner who is buying here for the same reasons you are.

Holiday properties come in all shapes and sizes, but bear in mind that many people who buy holiday properties feel duty bound to come and use it once or twice a year, however there are a number of agents around Crete who will let it for you, at a price, or you can construct your own web site and do your own promotions on sites such as Gumtree or Hot Frog. It is a good idea to make it multilingual if you can, or at least put the Google 'Translate' Gadget on the site, it makes it friendlier for everyone!

Holiday rentals can be quite lucrative as you will be catering to the 'independent' traveller, who doesn't want the package deal and will pay that little bit more for somewhere nice and unusual.

In the main, many holiday properties are not really suitable for 'full time' living, so you need to go for the full size 'villa' type property if you intend moving to Crete full time at a later date. Although I do know of someone who bought two adjacant properties in the same complex and when they came to move here, knocked a doorway through!

Moving to Crete on a permanent basis can be a rewarding and enjoyable experience if you do your homework properly. The island is large, and there are many things to do and see when you are not working, add to this the Greek lifestyle, food, entertainment, and the generally good weather, and you have a place to stay where you can enjoy life to the full, with all its good bits and some of its frustrations and stressful moments as well.

In there somewhere you have found a hint of other things other than the good!

Firstly, and this is purely your choice and depends on your personal circumstances, I mentioned work! A dirty word indeed.

However, in general, very few of the migrant population here on Crete, lead a life of idle pleasures, many arrive, and after settling in doing nothing suddenly realise that during the summer there is no one to talk to because everyone else is working. Not surprisingly there are also financial considerations here, you may have taken early retirement and have a good pension, but inflation takes its toll everywhere, and that index linking may not be as good in the future as you thought. Not everyone works in the tourist industry, tourism only accounts for 13% of the GNI, but it is a good place to start while you are learning to speak Greek, and you will won't you?

Working will also help you integrate into the local population (foreign as well as Greek!), and you came to LIVE on Crete didn't you?

Frustrations and stressful moments will also, without fail, appear and like anywhere else you will have to deal with them as they arise. Parking tickets, unpaid bills that you didn't receive, land disputes (more of these later!), illness, death, taxation, pregnancy, household repairs, plumbers, banks, and lawyers. All of these will become part of your daily life as they do anywhere else, very few people manage to sail through life without experiencing any of them!

You will need to commit whole-heartedly if you are going to live here, for every few hundred that move here, many move back, often for the strangest, and sometimes the most predictable of reasons. Take the mid-30's couple who went to all the trouble of building a house and furnishing it, and promptly put it up for sale without living in it because the wife became pregnant! Not an unlikely occurance is it? The reason for not having the baby here? Not really specified but I guess the committment was not there. After all we do have doctors and hospitals here, the University Hospital in Heraklion is one of the best in Europe and Greece. (We have people from Germany come here just to be ill!)

Others, myself included, have had to undergo the death of a partner, and although our English friends and relatives expected an instant return to 'home', we have not done so. Speaking for myself I cannot think of a nicer place to be bereaved.

You will hear often from certain sectors of the migrant population who live here 'part-time', how expensive it is here. Of course this is not true, with one of the lowest per capita incomes in Europe how can it be? But these are people who come for maybe one month or two at a time, and who should by now, know where the cheapest places to eat are, but still insist on using the most expensive restaurants that there are! From information I have to hand Spain has equivalent prices, and in France, ONE person can easily spend €100 on a meal out!

Businesses in Greece are always for sale or rent. Sounds like a sweeping statement but it is often true. Many businesses are being sold by foreigners, but often business premises are up for rent or sale from Greek sellers as well, especially after a not very good year.

On the whole I would advise against buying any business here, but then that applies most places for various reasons. The seller will tell you it is a 'very good business', if this is the case why are they selling it? You will find it virtually impossible to see a set of books for any business you are buying, there might be figures that are put it into the tax office, and there might be figures that the current owner has kept, but they will rarely agree.

I have a Greek friend who told me once that he had had three good businesses. Foolishly I asked what happened to them, and was told completely without embarrassment that they all went bankrupt!

If the existing owner is Greek, there is a fair chance that he or his family own the property, and therefore do not pay any rent, but you will have to. And with rents up to €1200 per month for twelve months of the year when you are only open for six of them can make life difficult. There are often occasions as well, when the premises are unlicensed, this is usually due to the fact that the building should not even be there in the first place.

The same applies to staff. All those people that work in that bar, or that cafe, are probably relations and are not on salaries, and probaly do not get their IKA (social security) paid either.

You will also come across the situation where you go to change the utility bills into you own name and find you cannot because none of them have been paid for the last year, or in the case of water bills for the last 14 years. Not paying bills is an excellent way of increasing profits.

But having said that, if you have a really good idea for something completely new and original by all means start up a business, you will probably get a good year first time round before three others places open up doing exactly the same thing within 500 metres of you. (Ever noticed ow many bars and restaurants there are here right next to each other, and yet the number of tourists falls each year?)

Have I put you off yet? Good, I didn't think I would........

In Part Two I will deal with types of property and location

A Short Slideshow From Villa Ralfa the Original Gay and Lesbian Gueshouse on Crete, Greece

2009-11-10T23:04:00.003+02:00

An Example of Driving on Crete, The Road to Samaria from Villa Ralfa Crete Greece

2009-11-10T22:52:00.003+02:00

Crete, Greece - Gem of The Mediterranean

2009-11-10T22:40:00.004+02:00

Not noramlly considered a gay or lesbian destination, in fact most gay travel agents and web sites would have difficulty sending you there, Crete has much to offer the gay tourist who is looking for Greek and Cretan culture, history, and food.

The Greeks will tell you that when the gods created the world, they apportioned all the dry land out to each race, at the end there was a pile of rocks left, and these they threw into the Mediterranean Sea, and this became Greece. Whether the story is true or not, Greece remains a rocky country, which probably explains why the Greeks are so good at moving rocks about, but one particular pile of rocks, the island of Crete is a gem amongst rocks.

From fertile coastal plains to rugged barren mountains, from mellow stone houses to stark concrete modernity, from bustling capital to sleepy hill villages, Crete, the largest of the Greek Islands, is an island of contrasts.
Home to around 500,000 people and several million olive trees, the island remains ever popular with visitors from northern Europe, other parts of Greece, and indeed, visitors from all over the World.

Many visitors never venture further than the beach, pool, or the nearest taverna, and remain (blissfully?) unaware of just how large the island is! Unlike the other Greek islands you cannot drive (or in some cases walk) around the island in one day, but having said that, four or five days is sufficient to give time to sample some of the islands’ delights and attractions, and 3 weeks will give you time for a full blown tour. Driving around the island is an experience in itself, road signs appear in both Greek and Roman characters, the spelling however has a certain eccentricity which gives map reading a whole new angle. And the, sometimes, tortuous hairpin bends on the mountain roads could be a challenge to any rally driver. Add to this the occasional appearance of a goat from out of nowhere, and the odd large truck which can appear at any time, and you will soon find your driving skills much improved and your speed much reduced in line with the pace of life we experience here!

To many Crete means the legend of Theseus and the Minotaur, and many visiting cruise ships stop only for the day to give their passengers time to see Knossos and its Minoan Palace and the Museum in the capital, Heraklion. To the uncomplicated farming people of many thousands of years ago, the ‘city’ of Knossos would, indeed, have seemed like a Labyrinth! But outside the city there lie more ruins of interest, and greater simplicity, leading to greater understanding and more insight into the history behind the ruins.

The interior of the island holds many surprises, with spectacular scenery such as the Samaria Gorge, the longest in Europe, and traditional hill villages, churches and monasteries, where little has changed for many years, and where you are just as likely to see someone in traditional Cretan dress riding a donkey as you are a tourist riding a scooter. Even in the tourist resorts development has taken place around agriculture, and the olive trees and field of potatoes behind your apartment block will still be an active part of the life of Crete. Waking to the sound of cocks crowing and goat bells can still be a fact of life even when surrounded by concrete and glass.

Throughout the island the remnants of occupation by invaders from the Romans, through to the Turks, can still be seen, with aqueducts and architecture still plainly visible. But throughout these invasions the Cretan people have remained relatively unscathed and retain their justifiable pride in their island and their culture. With English spoken widely throughout the island to ask a Cretan a question is to invite them to sit with you, and with time measured differently here you are likely to be sitting for while! Long conversations will naturally require food and drink, and eating or taking coffee here are as much an art form as a necessity, with long leisurely meals often prepared from the café owner’s home grown produce accompanied by his own ‘village’ wine. Larger restaurants in the tourist resorts serve ‘international’ menus, but you came here to sample Crete didn’t you?

Of course, we have some wonderful beaches, pick the right place and you can have a cove nearly all to yourself even in August, and our crystal clear, turquoise sea is ideal for swimming, diving, and other water sports. (I often have the sneaking suspicion, still after all this time, that someone puts dye in the water to make it that blue!). Add to this pony trekking, rock climbing, para-gliding, and a round of gold on the 18 hole ‘desert’ golf course and your stay here can be as active or inactive as you like.

Many prospective visitors ask me about nightlife for gay people on Crete. The Greeks, of course, do not admit that they may have gay Greeks at all, for much of the time, although this is changing slowly (like everything in Greece). It is not that they ignore it as a way of life, they just seem to take no notice of it! In the busy tourist resorts little notice is likely to be taken of a noticeably gay couple, but it is advisable to be like the Greeks and be discrete, but then this applies most places, in the quieter villages you may well raise an eyebrow or two! We do have one bar which is now openly marketing itself as ‘gay’, and we do have a busy nudist beach, which is usually of interest, and yes, there are gay Greeks, believe me, I live here!

Having said that, there are excellent bars and clubs, which serve the ‘mixed population’ during the summer months and if your idea of a holiday is clubbing each night from 10pm until 5am, with your days spent recovering, then that is up to you, but I always suggest you try and get to visit Crete one day!

During the summer months transport links with northern Europe are excellent, with many flights each weeks coming direct to the island. Ferries to the mainland and other islands are frequent and make Crete an excellent choice for island hopping or as a long side trip on a general European itinerary. Many of my guests arrive on Crete via Santorini (which can be expensive!) and Mykonos (which they tell me is no longer the almost exclusively gay resort it used to be. I personally haven’t been there since the late 70’s!), and leave again by ferry for Athens. In the winter, ferries still sail as they are the supply chain to the islands. Flights can be a little more complicated as in most cases you will have to come via Athens. An out of season trip to Crete reveals the Cretan community as it really is, as there will be few tourists around and many attractions will be closed. On the other hand you will get to see the island clothed in a mantle of green, and the olive groves carpeted with wild flowers, particularly in March and November, rather than barren hills and red soil that summer visitors will see. The result of temperatures up to the mid 40’s Celsius and rarely any rain from May to September!

Trying to describe Crete, the birthplace of Zeus, the seat of Minoan civilisation, and home of olive tree culture, in 1500 words, is like trying to put a ship in a bottle, but much harder, but I hope this short article has given you some ideas and I look forward to seeing you on Crete, the island gem of the Mediterranean!
Some notes about me, the author. I was born in England and have travelled extensively in Europe including Eastern Europe and Russia when the ‘Iron Curtain’ still existed. In 1981 I went to Australia where I lived and worked in Perth and Kalgoorlie until I was deported, because they have no taste! Returning to Brighton, England, I worked in the electrical industry until I started my own catering business. In 2002 after many happy times on Crete on holiday, I decided the time was right to move here. With goods and chattels packed, and after a long drive across Europe and three ferry trips later, I arrived on Crete in February 2004, and bought ‘Villa Ralfa’ a few weeks later, opening it as a gay orientated guest house in September 2004. Since then I have had visitors from Australia, USA, New Caledonia (!), France, Italy, Holland, Spain, South Africa, Norway, Germany, Switzerland, and of course the UK. You can find my website at http://www.villaralfa.com/and if you need any suggestions for travel to Crete then you are welcome to contact me by email through the web site.

Take Advantage of Cheap Winter Flights for The Winter Weekend House Party at Villa Ralfa

2009-11-07T10:55:00.002+02:00

At Villa Ralfa, the original gay guesthouse and lodging on Crete Greece, we are well known for our Winter Weekend House Parties, accommodating a maximum of four guests for an nearly all inclusive weekend.

This year we are offering the same deal and you can read all about it on our web site at http://www.villaralfa.com/gother.html

But how to get here? Well amazingly enough air fares to and from Athens from various countries around Europe are at the lowest they have been for some time, in some cases cheaper than they were last year in fact. And our local carrier Aegean Airlines has fares from Athens to Crete from €2 return plus taxes making a total of €55 return Athens to Crete on various dates from December through until March.

Reseach today reveals €169 return fares from Berlin to Athens with Easyjet, or Milan to Athens for €89 return also with Easyjet.

Or how about a weekend trip from Bucharest to slightly warmer weather, Aegean Airlines have very reasonable flight to Athens, and choose the right dates and you can enjoy a winter weekend on Crete as well taking advantage of the €55 Aegean return from Athens to Crete!

Or how about Paris Orly to Athens for €82 return in February which includes you 20kg baggage allowance and taxes, again you can find onward flights to Crete for €55 return......And with prices for eating out on Crete much lower that you can expect in France (according to information I have been given!), you can still get a bargain!

Below are some useful links to find and book some of these fares....

http://www.easyjet.com
http://www.aegeanair.com
http://www.attitudetravel.com
http://www.villaralfa.com/glink.html

To Link or Not To Link? - That Is The Question, A Mini Blog

2009-11-04T15:01:00.005+02:00

Why do we have Links pages on web sites?

Correct me if I am wrong but I thought they were there to provide visitors with useful sites that they might wish to visit for further information.

You might wonder why I am even talking about links pages, but you see I realised some time ago that the links and banners pages on my web site are possibly the least visited pages that I have.

Of course SEO specialists will tell you that you need to get lots of links into your site to get its rankings up with the search engines, which is probably why no one visits them these days, because as you will probably know, the 'link system' is reciprocal. A 'You show me yours and I'll show you mine' type of thing. So some web site owners and SEO's go all out for getting lots of links from totally irrelevant sites and these days our wiley surfers know this, so they don't bother to visit the 'Links' page that someone, in this case, me has constructed.

Naurally my links page is based on the same idea, but with one BIG exception, my links and banners are relevant to the rest of my site.

In case you didn't know already, my site is there to publicise the fact that I have a gay-owned and run guesthouse for independent , (those that have wisely organised there own holiday without using an agent), gay and lesbian, travellers to Crete, Greece. So you see the links on my pages are to gay resources, inside and outside of Greece, and other useful information, and many of them are one ended links.

That is, there are no reciprocal links.

Sounds altruistic doesn't it? Well maybe it is, but on the other hand it puts information that my visitors might find useful, in front of them with the click of a mouse, in a new window so that they can book a flight with EasyJet or Monarch, or indeed that doyen of flight information sites for Budget and Low Cost airlines across Europe, Attitude Travel.

Interestingly, 90% of links into my site actually link to my 'Home' page (we will not discuss why I have an Index page and a Home page, it's historical), which is also my preferred landing page, and yet less than 1% of reciprocal links or banners are on that page.

Regular and casual visitors to my site will notice that there are some banners and links spread across other pages, these are the more important ones and are placed there because they are sites that give me more visitors so they deserve a more visible position, rather than being consigned to a page that no one looks at!

In a way I wish that more people would look at my 'Links' pages, because they would find a lot of useful stuff there! Virtually all of them are gay or lesbian orientated, some are our favourite dating and social networking sites, some are bars that we like, and some are accommodation for gay and lesbian folk. But all are useful, and where there is a 'Gay Travel' site we have weeded out the ones that only link to 5 star, all inclusive, hotels designed for straight people, and charging €300 a night!

Of course the other place to look for useful information on the Villa Ralfa web site is the 'Recently Added' page. From here you can share our content on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and see our latest blog post!

So next time you visit our web site, take a look at the links and banners pages, you will even find links to local dive centres and stables!

Why Use a Travel Agent When You Can Do It Yourself - A Mini Blog

2009-10-24T14:21:00.003+03:00

All of the visitors, 99% of whom are gay or lesbian, to Villa Ralfa are independent travellers, that is, they have not booked a package with a travel agent.

During the course of the 'booking season', I get many enquiries from prospective guests asking for much general information, much of which can be found on the web site, and some of which cannot. Being very efficient here at Villa Ralfa, I usually follow up on these after a while to see what is going on.

Usually I find that the guests have booked a 'package' through a travel agent.

I don't know why this should be, but many gay and lesbian travellers seem to be less than confident about using the Internet, and so they will not get the holiday they want, they will get the one that the travel agent wants them to have. Usually the one that pays the agent the highest commission. Of course the travel agents will deny this, but I am sorry it is true.

At this stage you may wonder why I am writing this....Well I have just been looking at the web site belonging to 'The Leading Organisation for LGBT Tourism Industry' which has a whole section devoted on why you should use a travel agent and not do it yourself.

Having a look through the web site I find that, apparantly, none of the people listed on it are actually nitty-gritty suppliers like me. Yea sure, they have all the airlines listed as being partners, and they have the big chain hotels listed, although Radisson Edwardian would never occur to me as the place to stay as a gay venue, and neither would any of The Hilton chain.

A quick look at their search results for 'Accommodations' (why do these people insist in putting the spurious 's' on the end?) for the UK reveals that three of the entries are for accommodation agencies letting a number of properties, admittedly they do list themselves as 'Exclusively G/L' and the rest are all hotel chains.

Not one single actual gay/lesbian hotel is listed, and there dozens in the UK!

Searching for 'everything' in the UK produces 40 results, some of which do not have anything to do with travel it appears, but we get the same chain hotels, and what is this? Behold a lot of the entries are travel agents.

Now call me an old cynic if you want, and you can see where this is going.....It now becomes obvious why this web site promotes using travel agents instead of doing it yourself. Some of these travel agents listed have paid a lot of money to be on the site, so the site is hardly going to even suggest that you can do it yourself, is it?

Now why do you suppose the listings have all these travel agents and no actual accommodation providers?

Money.....The travel agents get commission, so they can afford to pay the fees to be on the site, the traveller pays this commission, and wouldn't it be nice if when the agent gives you the invoice, the commission you are paying to him was listed as a separate item?

And it is YOU, the traveller, who is paying it. Paying it in higher prices and with less choice than if you booked it all yourself.

So be independent, spend some time surfing and finding a place that you want to go, not the place that the travel or accommodation agent has on his/her books.

Of course you if you want to come to Crete you can book direct with me, and you can even find a flight through my web site, and I will gaily admit that if you do book a flight through my web site from the UK, I actually get up to £1 in commission. Wow!

And with my accommodation from €20 per night, with no booking fee, and no card fee, (because I pay it!), you can have yourself a real nice stay!

Some Reflection on Gay Travel in 2009 and Some Good Reasons to Book Early for 2010

2009-10-24T14:07:00.002+03:00

As the autumn crocuses come into bloom in the garden here at Villa Ralfa, they act as a reminder that it is time to start a review of the past year, and what needs to be done in time for next year’s tourist season.

This year has seen some difficulties in the tourist industry, not just here on Crete, Greece, but in other parts of the Europe also. The tour companies and airlines, expecting lower demand, reacted by reducing the availability of holidays and flights, with the result that prices were not actually as low as some expected. Certainly there were reasonable price packages available in very limited supplies, but many of those taking them found that they were housed in ‘all-inclusive’ resorts which cater for thousands of guests rather than a score or so of apartments.
This is fine if you do not mind going to breakfast, lunch, and dinner when the gong goes, and if you do not really want to sample some real Greek food, or experience real Greek hospitality in family run apartments, but we are gay or lesbian and fiercely independent and because we don’t have children (well most of us don’t!), we are not tied to school holidays. And we don’t need to follow the flock!

Surprisingly for a sector of the population that likes to think itself ‘avant-garde’ and adventurous, many gay and lesbian people still follow the crowd and book package holidays and continue to perpetuate the myth that some destinations are ‘gay’ or ‘lesbian’. Two examples in Greece are Mykonos and Lesbos, both of which appear in ordinary package holidays brochures and at peak times are overrun with families and children. Another is Sitges in Spain which back in the late 70’s was the place for gay people to go in Spain.

Back then we were trailblazers in so many ways, but sadly the days when these destinations were exciting and distinctly gay has gone, and they have become just another destination, and in many resorts the sight of same sex couples holding hands by the pool would be distinctly unwelcome ‘in front of the children’. Sorry guys, but in the end there were just not enough of us to run and entire Greek island!
Naturally these destinations do have all gay resorts and entertainment, but as is quite common these days they tend to be expensive, presumably because they are working on the value of the ‘Pink Dollar’. Visitors to Villa Ralfa are, of course, independent travellers ‘doing the islands’ and when I get reports that a bottle of beer in a club in Mykonos costs €8 and accommodation cost €150 per night, then I start to wonder for which sector of the gay and lesbian population they cater. I personally think that estimates of the amount of ‘pink’ money are wildly over-estimated (as I have said elsewhere!). And that many think that if they open a gay resort or accommodation they will have a captive audience.

A good example of this is here on Crete, where I opened Villa Ralfa as gay lodgings in Summer 2004. At that time if you ‘Googled’ ‘gay’ and ‘Crete’ together nothing that made any sense came up in the results. Of course the Villa Ralfa web site changed that because Google loves things that are new, and it was a matter of about 3 weeks before searching for the same terms produced Villa Ralfa in the first ten places! Almost immediately someone else decided to do the same as me, and three years later a German couple took an entire apartment block and tried letting it out as a gay resort. Since then I have had English people staying with me who were planning to actually build a small gay resort way out in the back of beyond.

The German couple stayed open for one season, and the planned resort as far as I know never got off the ground, if it did then their web site designer needs a kick in the arse as none other than me ever appears in search results!

So why did they fail? Because they didn’t do their homework and were trying to cater to the wrong people, that’s why. Gay and lesbian visitors who come to Crete don’t come expecting gay nightlife although there is quite a definite scene here, they come for the history, the archaeology, the scenery on this beautiful island, the food, and perhaps a few days on the famous Hersonissos nudist beach!

Here at Villa Ralfa we understand this as all of our guests are independent travellers, people who have got up off their butts and done a few minutes work on the Internet and discovered just how easy it is to do it yourself! Which is why we are here to help! Our web site, which is about as consistent and eccentric as ‘Craigslist’, contains a wealth of information to help the independent traveller and because we know the island we can tell you how long it will take you to get to somewhere and what time the buses run, and how to get from the airport for €3 rather than €35 in a cab.

But in spite of all this, we still get prospective guests who ask for the information and availability but get no further because they don’t book flights soon enough! I forget how many times I have said this now, but I am saying it again, book your flight as early as possible, in fact for next summer now is a good time because once it is booked the price is fixed. Gone is the time when you could get a standby flight cheap at the airport, gone are the days when prices went down as the flight date approached. The carriers realised a long time ago with the advent of Internet booking that passengers tended to search for flights but not book them until later, so of course they increase the prices as time goes on!

And naturally there are still many living in the past and conveniently forget that oil and aviation fuel prices have risen dramatically over the last few years.
Even as I write this in October, the majority of the budget and charter airlines across Europe already have the flights for next summer up for sale on their web sites, and it will come as no surprise to anyone I am sure to find that the number of seats on an aircraft is actually limited! Our links page is possibly one of the most underused on our web site, possibly because many links pages are totally irrelevant, but ours actually contains a wealth of USEFUL links, including one to Attitude Travel which collates all the budget airlines in one place.

An additional facet is that Villa Ralfa only takes a maximum of 6 guests, a fact which is quite clear from the web site, and prospective guests often try and book a room in July for an August arrival date when all the August dates have been booked since January! You would be surprised how often guests ask me about availability in January but do nothing more and are disappointed to find that it is taken when they try and book 4 or 5 months later.

All this amounts to one thing, book early! Doing so guarantees your flights are available and at a reasonable price, and once you have booked and paid all your costs are fixed and final,and you get to go where you want to go not the leftovers that the travel agents have on offer.

Hey Presto, holidays done in a flash all through the power of the Internet!

Want to be Adventurous and Surprise Your Friends? Consider Athens and Crete, Greece for that Winter Break!

2009-10-06T15:14:00.018+03:00

Mention Greece and the Greek Islands and most will think of hot summer days basking on a sun bed by the pool or on a beach by a sparkling turquoise sea, few would imagine such a destination for the winter traveller who would think Canary Islands or North Africa at least! So how many people do you know who can say they have been to Crete in the middle of winter?
Crete, however, is one of the Greek Islands that still receives visitors during the winter months, from cruise ships that stop for the day in Heraklion, and from visitors arriving by air or ferry to stay at one of the time-share hotels, or who just like to come to Crete during the winter months. And with a permanent population in excess of 500,000 people, (and several million olive trees!), Crete has more places open to eat, drink, and be merry, than other Greek island during the winter months.
So what does Crete have to offer during this off peak period particularly for the gay or lesbian traveller?
As you will have read elsewhere no doubt, there is not a large gay scene on Crete, but of course there are some of us that live here all year round, both Greek and foreign, but for many gay travellers their visit to Crete is not centred around gay nightlife, but around visiting the island itself and to explore the archaeology on the island. Yes, Eros Bar in Malia is open during the winter at weekends and also Villa Ralfa, the only proclaimed gay accommodation on Crete, is open for most of the winter (we do like to go on holidays ourselves sometimes!).
One ‘barrier’ to visitors during the winter months is getting here, but this is not as difficult as it sounds as transport links with Athens are available all year round not only by air, but by ferry as well, and Athens is well served by air links around Europe and indeed, worldwide, all year round, so why not a winter break in Athens with a side trip to Crete for a weekend. Time enough to see Knossos, the museums, (which stay open all year round), drive around the island at leisure, view some of the sights, enjoy some famous Cretan hospitality, and some Cretan food!
So where to start?
A good place to start is at the Athens International Airport web site. From here you can see which destinations/air lines fly in and out of Greece. Then you can visit the relevant air line web site and book your ticket on line. Yes, it really is that simple! No more queuing in travel agents and being sent somewhere that THEY want you to go rather than where YOU want to go, no more fruitless searching on travel web sites looking for dates that don’t exist!
On the link at the end of this article you will find the links to some of the relevant web sites.
But for instance, did you know that there are three Greek airlines that fly in and out of the UK everyday with scheduled flights from various airports? And then there is Easyjet as well from Luton and Gatwick. As an example Aegean Airlines are offering flights from London Heathrow through to Crete via Athens from €120 plus taxes, and Easyjet have return flights to Athens in December and January for around €120 return including taxes. Even Birmingham and Manchester are served with flights to Athens in winter and one thing is virtually guaranteed – Even if it rains, Athens and Crete will be warmer than Northern Europe!
Even if you are not in the UK you can find airlines that fly to Athens during the winter months!
And if you fancy a bit of cruising, fly to Athens, and then take the overnight ferry from Piraeus to Heraklion, about €70 return plus a cabin if you want one.
So what will the weather be like? Well from experience as I live on Crete, I can tell you that very often up until Christmas you can get day time temperatures up in the mid 20’s. After then it can be cooler and often in February we can have three or four days when it is only 8C day and night. Yes, we get rain and very heavy rain at that, but in return you get to see Crete when it is green, and even on the shortest days the clarity of light is a delight for photographers and painters, none of the grey overcast light when at 3pm it cannot decide if it is day or night! You can check the weather for yourself through the link at the end of the article. And it is not an unusual sight to see snow on the mountains a few kilometres from the beach, a source of wonder for many winter visitors who thought we bathed in eternal sunshine. To put this into a little more perspective Crete is slightly south of the state of Colorado in the USA! Even in Athens which is to the north can be gloriously sunny in mid-January; I stay there for a few days every year and have only experienced heavy rain for half a day two years ago.
So what can we do when it rains? Summer visitors will know that activities on Crete revolve around the beach and the pool, but of course, at Villa Ralfa we are here all year round so we have books, games, and other indoor entertainment, TV and DVD players, and you are welcome to sit in front of the big log fire that we have most days and sip a glass of sherry before you head off out for something to eat.
And what can you do on Crete? Well we are talking a relatively short stay, although we do get visitors who come for all of the winter. So you can visit the main archaeological site at Knossos, the museums are also open (ideal for the rainy days), and with the aid of a rental car you can get away from it all up into the hills and watch for the vultures, and stop for lunch (sometimes only €14 for two) at many of the small tavernas that are open for us locals. If you are here at the right time you can watch the olives being picked, but forget romantic notions as this is highly mechanised process these days. Evenings you can find bars and restaurants that are open, mostly serving good Greek food, but forget about moussaka, you rarely see it on the menu in a ‘meze house’! Above all you can RELAX.
So be the intrepid traveller and think about Athens and Crete as a winter destination, you friends will be surprised when you tell them where you have been.
For more information and links to relevant web sites visit http://www.villaralfa.com/winter.html where you will also find details of our winter special weekend which includes breakfast and one evening meal.

The Final Episode, The Arrival on Crete

2007-12-13T21:51:00.000+02:00

We have got as far as Bologna, on the night of the biggest football match in Italy!

The drive from Bologna to Ancona really is not that exciting and you soon leave the heavy traffic for a 'country drive'.

After the ordiliness of Dover and Calais, the port at Ancona is an experience! After checking in for the ferry with our Internet printed vouchers, you get a proper ticket and a banner to hang off the rear view mirror and get directed to an unorderly 'group' of vehicles all clustered around the back of a ferry which is still unloading. And trucks still being searched, and illegal immigrants being arrested......As the time for departure looms closer and we are still waiting to be loaded, we begin to worry, and I set off across the tarmac to the loaders and point at the car, it looks distinctly lonely surrounded by 40 tonne trucks, there are few cars at this time of year.

'Yes, yes, we know you are there', but somehow I don't feel convinced, but finally we are loaded.

I can recommend this ferry trip, it takes 24 hours, which means you can party until the early hours and still have a lie in! A disco on board with Greek Techno music, fascinating!

The sea was so calm our wake stretched for miles behind us, without so much as a ripple to disturb it, and the following dawn we saw the coast of Greece, with mountains and snow, appear on the horizon as we made the brief stop at Igoumentsou.

It is now February 6th 2004, and later that day we dock at Patras, which is much the same as any port town, they always seem to be slightly jaded and disorganised places, just like Newhaven and Dieppe!

Disembarkation takes no time at all, and we try to get Customs to register our presence mainly because we want to re-register the car....They don't even want to look at our passports!

Petrol is 60 cents a litre......

The drive from Patras to Piraeus is easy, well fairly, the road is good, but what is missing is a sign actually directing you to the ferry port! We follow the signs for Piraeus and end up in the town (seedy again!). Finally we find the customs house and are directed along a 'track' that follows the water. Of course we have come off the main road at the wrong exit, but how are we to know that!

Chaos rains as I cue to get our boarding passes.....We get loaded on to the ferry quite early on, short on cash because we couldn't find a cash machine, once on the ferry and up high we can see the main road and at least four banks, but too late now of course!

Another pleasant voyage...these ferries are fun! The ferry from Ancona was nearly new, this one is older. but still the sheets are clean and crisp and the cabin staff are pleasant. The bar was good fun too!

We arrive at our destination, a chilly February morning soon after sunrise and as we arrive at Heraklion the sun catches Mount Ida, and the sun glints from the cap of snow it wears from November to June....Kazantzakis country at last!

Straight away my favourite quotation comes to mind.......

‘‘To my mind, this Cretan countryside resembled good prose, carefully ordered,
sober, free from superfluous ornament, powerful and restrained. It expressed all
that was necessary with the greatest economy. It had no flippancy, nor artifice
about it. It said what it had to say with a manly authority. But between the severe
lines one could discern an unexpected sensitiveness and tenderness; in the
sheltered hollows the lemon and orange trees perfumed the air, and from the
vastness of the sea emanated an inexhaustible poetry.

‘Crete.‘ I murmured. ’Crete...‘ and my heart beat fast.’‘ ’

Yes of course it comes from Zorba The Greek by the man himself.

And now nearly four years later, my heart does still beat fast, for like many who come to live here, Crete is in my heart.

On the way from Heraklion to Koutouloufari it poured with rain as only it can on Crete in February.

Having nowhere else to go we had arranged to stay with friends, for a little while, well about six seeks actually!

Now I had been to Crete before in February, but this was no preparation for what was to come, it was cold, it was wet, and then one morning I woke early and the first thing that struck me was the quality of the light coming through the gaps in the curtains.

Half awake I though to myself, that is just the sort of light you get in England when it has snowed......well of course it had! For the first time in many years Koutouloufari was wearing a comforter of snow, you couldn't call it a blanket, you certainly couldn't cal it a sprinkling either!

Snow balls in the street on Crete, snowmen in front yards? Yes we had them all, the amazing thing was the speed with which the snow was cleared so the roads were driveable. In Brighton our car used to get snowed in every year without fail, and there snow is expected!

As soon as possible we drove to Mochos, where people were digging their cars out of snowdrifts where the plough had thrown it over them, and finding a nearby olive grove we stopped to take a picture of the car and us surrounded by snow nearly a metre deep.....

But we were here and this is where we wanted to be......at last....home!

And what is the next thing we start to do??

Yes, start house hunting again!

Moving to Crete - Nearly The Final Episode.

2007-12-05T20:51:00.000+02:00

I promise this will be the final part.......At least of the moving saga.........

OK, we have a buyer, we have a moving date, and we have a leaving date for Crete. We even have started the process of buying somewhere on Crete.

What can possibly go wrong?

Nothing so far...As the day approaches for leaving the house in Brighton we continue to de-clutter, at least we now know what is in the boxes that came from my mother's house 9 years before, Ebay and car boot sales have done us well, we gradually pack boxes until our existence becomes a pile of cardboard boxes in the lounge. Removals and storage are arranged, and so is transit of our stuff to Crete, by Phil, The White Van Man, yes, we were his first trip out, his trial run, it's all our fault!

We leave the house, and I go back to work in the afternoon. No regrets about leaving the house, we had some difficult times while we lived there and good ones of course.

The removers take everything except the brand new stainless steel pedal bin, which just happened to have somehting packed in it, which I didn't miss until three years later!

We go to stay with friends.........

December 2003 arrives, and we get a message to phone the lawyer on Crete, the house we want to buy is illegal, not just a question of it being the wrong shape or a bit too big, it just shouldn't be there at all. To legalise it will take €6000, and we ain't paying it and neither is the man who owns it! Lawyer says "Don't touch it", so we don't. Heigh Ho, back to the drawing board.

It really is much easier to buy somewhere when you are on the spot anyway, and have the cash in the Bank!

Christmas comes and goes and our departure date looms large on the horizon, we organise a leaving party for two days before we are due to go, we go and see relations and distant friends who can't get to the party.

Two weeks to go and the company I am working for on a temp basis, hands me a permanent contract, can you believe it? Sorry boys I decline your offer, why couldn't this happen 10 months earlier?

The last day, 30th January 2004, a quiet day packing the car. I do something that I have always said I wouldn't. I pack socks and underwear in a bin liner because that is the only way I can fit them in the car. Everything is in except the clothes we need for today and tomorrow morning, the pc is in the boot, there are two suitcases on the back seat, and everything we are likely to need on the way

Last night, dinner with our best friends, a rather subdued occasion, they think we are mad, we think they might be right.

February 1st 2004, the storm which raged last night has blown itself out. We leave earlier than we expected and arrive in Dover nearly two hours early, that's fine, we get an earlier ferry.

Our route is planned to take a week, because it's February and there will almost certainly be snow on the way, which is why we both have two great big Tog24 winter coats with us taking up so much space inside the car.

I have run off the itinerary from the Michelin web site, we are going via Calais, then Belgium, Holland, Germany, Austria, Italy to Ancona for the ferry to Greece. The first stop is Cologne for the night and the plan is that we only travel by daylight so we arrive in the city in daylight.

The plan doesn't work of course, the itinerary is so detailed that it gives us every single exit we pass which confuses the issue, I throw away the itinerary and use the atlas.

We arrive in Cologne...after dark. Now British cities are bad enough in the dark. German ones are even worse, you can't see the signs, and even if you can they are in German. We find the railway station as our first landmark, and all of a sudden we are taking the bridge over the Rhine. Wrong. Negotiate one way system and cross back again, spot street sign with our hotel in it. Ask German hotel doorman how to get to it. Down that street, but you cannot drive that way, do this and this and turn left there.

We do as told, end up in wrong street, and then we cross the river again, by the same bridge. OK we are good at this now because we know where to turn.

Head back across different bridge, aim for hotel again, wrong again, back across the river, different bridge this time. Negotiate one way system and cross river again. Stop and ask doorman again, he laughs, who says the Germans don't have a sense of humour.

Pass end of street where hotel stands, screech to a halt and reverse over traffic island and reverse the wrong way down one way street to reach hotel. Remove bags that we need for the night, get directions to secure parking, leave hotel foyer, return 45 minutes later having crossed the bridge again. We are now experts on the Cologne one way system and have actually found the way that we must go to leave the city in the morning.

Tired and stressed we find a place to eat, full of foreign businessmen in town for an exhibition. Good German food though, excellent soup, made from sorrel, it turns out when we ask what's in it. Have couple of drinks and so to bed.

Day 2, we leave Cologne heading for Stuttgart. Nice easy drive, we have two nights stay booked, and Stuttgart is a pleasant place. Weather like spring, heater off and windows down on the car. The Germans drive like maniacs and there really aren't any speed limits you know.

Arrive in Stuttgart, now I don't know whether you know Stuttgart, but if you do then you will know that there is a tunnel through the hill. Our hotel is near the tunnel, we end up going through it. OK no problem turn round and go back except we still cannot spot the street into the hotel and anyway there is a tram stop in the way.

Proceed back out of Stuttgart from whence we came, and try again. Once again we miss the turning and view the inside of the tunnel again. Finally we turn wherever we can, lo and behold end up outside front door of hotel. I pretend that I knew this would happen, I don't think I was believed!

Ask hotel owner for a good place to get German food, looks mystified and directs us to a Chinese!

We don't want Chinese, we want German. 'What you want all that pork and potatoes and cabbage?' 'Yes', we do. 'OK. Go there then'. Points across street.

We go to eat....Lots of beer, lots of pork and those wonderful potaotes that they do in the oven with onions and bacon, and of course cabbage. The family that run the place do not speak a word of English, but we gather they are having a party for some reason. We end up included and are pleased that we do not have to drive the next day.

Relaxing sitting in the sunshine drinking coffee and large slabs of low calorie cake (I don't think).

Find nice bar, tell Steve not to mention the War, he didn't have to, the man next to him did it anyway. An hour listening to him apologise, I don't know why as he is only about 25. Go to Chinese to eat, the man that runs it is from Manchester. Absolutely excellent Chinese food though, and free drinks because we are English.

Day 4 leave Stuttgart en route for Bologna, Italy. Get lost, Michelin itinerary is completely wrong, the road has moved, we can see it but can't work out how to get to it. Have to take 45 minute detour to get to it. Finally spot the temporary road sign that we missed lying by exit. (Ever noticed in Germany how many roads leave the autobahn for a place called 'Ausfarht'?)

Beautiful sunny day, a little snow on the side of the roads as we head for Austria, but still no need for the two new coats which are taking up so much space.

Buy vignette for the car and also the ticket for Switzerland as we decide to drive through it as well. Stop for lunch at Swiss roadhouse, undoubtedly the worst food I have ever had in my life. Even THF is better than that. The bill comes to about £30! Buy fuel, look at price and only put in half a tank, get stopped by Swiss police who want us to unpack the car. Drop the lid and open boot. Policeman see amount of gear and changes his mind and sends us on our way.

Switzerland was pretty, white snow and pine trees spotlessly clean in the sparkling sunshine. Arrive in Innsbruck, get lost, do a tour of the town......

Find way out and enter Italy, Lake Como was gorgeous, can understand why people go there. Italian drivers are downright rude, they can see we are sitting on the wrong side of the car. At least the Germans gave us plenty of room. The Italians overtake and then cut in about 6 inches in front of you.

Road tolls horrendous.......windscreen wiper falls apart when we use the washers, buy new one, cost €25!

Arrive on outskirts of Bologna with time to spare before dark. Traffic everywhere, stuck in it for hours, try to change route to get into city another way, plenty of time to read the map. One hour to go one mile!

Finally get into city centre, stop to get directions from a policeman, of whihc there seems to be hundreds everywhere. Local youths spot car and shout out 'Hello Dell boy' Obviously they do not appreciate that a 1983 Ford Escort Cabriolet XR3i is a classic car.

None of the policeman speak English, finally find one that speaks French. Ask for hotel by name, he points to sign above my head. How clever, the Italians actually put up signs for all the hotels. He points out the way across the road and then tells us we cannot drive that way but must go round the block.

OK fine we are good at this now, so reverse the wrong way up a one way street, it's the easiest way. Realise we have started a trend as three Italians do the same thing.

Check in, ask desk clerk about the traffic, it seems we have arrived on the night of one of the biggest football matches in Italy, like their Cup Final, and Bologna are playing at home. Mental note to self, allow for this when next planning a trip.

Find excellent pizza house, full of Italians, all enjoying themselves. Our table is suddenly pushed up next to another one to make room for one on the end, obviously we will be unable to leave until the people that cam in after us have finished. Oh well we didn't want an early night really.

Day 5 Bologna to Ancona, but you are going to have to wait for the next bit and the final arrival on Crete one dark February morning.....

One Good Reason for Moving to CRete

2007-12-01T13:02:00.000+02:00

There are many good reasons for moving to Crete, and this is only one of them!

It is 1st. December 2007, it's 20C with light winds and the air is so clear you can see from my house to way the other side of Heraklion, the sea is blue and the clouds look like they were 'painted by numbers'.

Of course it is not always like this, sometimes the sky is as black as your hat and it pours with rain ("It's raining chairlegs' is what the Greeks say!) But always after a time we come back to days like this, and there is nothing like sunshine to lift the spirit when all around you is falling apart.

And a short drive away are the mountains where you can go and scream when you want to!

Why Blog when I am only moving to Crete

2007-11-28T20:57:00.000+02:00

This is the place where I can write things down and be sure that I can find them again.

But maybe if you are reading this you might be wondering who I am.....Well I am an English guy that now lives on Crete, the largest and possibly the most beautiful Greek island.

I first visited Greece in 1969 on an 'educational' cruise on the British India ship SS Uganda with 1500 or so other schoolchildren (that's what they mean by Murder on the High Seas, I think). All of us were from Sussex, and my group of course were from the Lewes County Grammar School for Boys, which later became the Priory School Lewes and is now some awful College of some sort.

All that aside, I fell in love with Greece from the moment I first set foot on it. Not just the archaeology, but everything else about it. It was like the land had a spirit all its own..........A feeling that was reinforced still further by a visit to Delphi, where I am sure the oracle still resides if you will only let it talk to you.

I spent years promising myself that I would return, and eventually I did, on a £79 package holiday to Crete in 2001. Six months later I was back again for another week. The next visit was to be one year later which was quite deliberate because during the second visit I really did not want to go, and strangely enough, neither did my partner!

Driving back from the Gatwick airport to Brighton we were stuck in a traffic jam, and casually I said to my partner 'Why don't we move to Crete?' By 10am the following morning the house was up for sale.

There followed 12 months of frustration as we dealt with a selection of useless estate agents and what seemed like an endless stream of time-wasting non-buyers! We put the price down, we changed the agents and changed the price again, until finally we changed the agent again and put the price up and found a buyer three days later!

The plan had been to leave the UK mid 2003, and knowing that we now had a buyer we decided on the 1st February 2004 as our departure date.

We were lucky enough to be able to stay with friends for 4 months before we left, surprisingly they are still friends, and as we didn't pay any rent, we agreed that they had about 8 months of free accommodation with us on Crete!

More to come soon, these old eyes are tired of sitting in front of the pc for many hours already today!

The Search for a Home

2007-11-26T19:27:00.000+02:00

OK so the house was for sale and following the estate agents word, that it would sell quickly, yes even I can be gullible, I came back out two months later to look for property, that is December 2002.

Flying into Heraklion was like coming home......The familiar landscape....the airport......the drive to Hersonissos where I was staying for a week.

The only thing that was missing? Tourists. Not a single one in sight. The main road through Hersonissos was like a ghost town with newspapers blowing along the street and any minute I expected a lump of tumblewood to follow, with the sound of a creaking swinging sign or saloon door in the background, and to hear someone whistling the theme to a Fistfull of Dollars!

Property searching was the same as anywhere else, a bitter disappointment followed by elation, followed by disappointment when I got to look at the inside. We wanted something traditional but this didn't mean that it couldn't have a roof surely?

I particularly liked the place in Vrachasi and I am sure that we could have got rid of the smell of goat eventually, oh and that nice place that was split in two halves (very common here), it would have done fine because we could have put visitors in the 'sleepout', it was just the sheer climb up to it that was the problem.

As is usual around here I was eventually introduced to someone, in a bar, who had a place for sale. Voila, not quite what was intended but it had a roof, four rooms, one of those bed platforms up a few steps, an amazing stone fireplace, the old wine press as feature (in the bedroom), and three original arches. Needed some work to let a bit of light in, and another floor on top but so what!

Back to the UK in time for Christmas armed with photographs and a rough floor plan. Other half approved but wanted to see for himself, so planned on coming back in February 2003.

Arrived back again with partner....froze to death in apartment block designed for summer use, reverse cycle air con is no substitute for central heating. The wooden window frames let in lots of air, which is fine in summer but no good on Crete in February. (Why do so many people think that Crete basks in eternal sunshine? Blame it on the movies I think).

Choice of house is fully approved, existing owner doubles price, partner is exceptionally polite and resists temptation to tell him to go forth etc.

Back to Vrahasi to look at second choice, the one divided in two, except it is now divided into three as you now have to go outside and round the corner to get from the bedroom floor down to the living area, something to do with the new reinforced concrete floor and the fact they forgot to put a hole in it for the staircase. Never mind it can be fixed. Second look at 'eau de goat' property, still smelt the same.

Rather put off when the agent informs us that 'a lot of British people live here', but never mind the house in three parts will be OK, nice view across the valley and huge roof area. Oh yes and the clincher, it has two vines (believe me when I tell you it was a selling point).

{Short break there to stir the bean stew and pour another retsina.}

Right, so Vrahasi it is.

Or rather it was until that evening. Eating out in winter here is an experience even now. Wear something warm because you will need it on even inside. The woodburning stove is glowing red hot, even the metal chimney from it will give you third degree burns, but sit more than 2 metres from it and forget about being warm ever again.

General conversation among the locals....two more mad English people moving here, translations courtesy of a Greek friend, (amazing how at that time how few people here spoke English during the winter).

Greek mother, 'Where are they looking at houses?'

Her son, 'Vrahasi.'

Mother, 'Oh they can't live there.'

Son, 'Why not?'

Mother, 'It's not a good area'

Greek snobbery? Now that's something new. That was it anyway, Vrahasi was off the list.

I suppose Steve was right, how could we live somewhere if it wasn't a good area?

Back to the drawing board and back to the UK where house has still not sold..........Who buys houses in February? Certainly no one that wanted ours!

Moving to Crete - Part the umpteenth.

2007-11-25T18:08:00.000+02:00

Notice I use the normal size Arial font? This is because my eyes are rubbish and if I can see it so can anyone else!

OK we cannot move to Vrahasi, because it is not a 'good area', so were are back in the UK and feeling frustrated because we still have no buyer for the house.....In addition while we have been away the firm I worked for have gone bankrupt!

We start to de-clutter anyway.......The 6 boxes in the attic that came from my mother's house in 1993 are still there......With only a vague idea of what is in them we seriously have to think about what to do with the contents. Do we really need what is in them? In fact do we really need half the stuff we have collected over 20 years together? Hmmmm family heirlooms. Ebay to the rescue.

Always worry with Ebay that I am not getting a fair price and that the person who ends up with it knows its' true value and is getting a bargain. (Ebay now is a nightmare! I met some wonderful people on it 4 years ago and we still keep in touch. These days it's all dealers with feedback scores of 15,000, who want to buy something for nothing and resell it somewhere else).

We dispose of the things we really do not like, total surprise that anyone else wants them but that is their problem.

April arrives, car boot season, off to BHASVIC, Saturday morning with a boot load of science fiction books. Hoorah, they sell like hot cakes at a pound for three and seven for £2! General bric-a-brac does not sell too well. Strange position to be in, we have to go and buy more stuff to make it worthwhile going again! After the third visit nearly everything has gone, and what is left we give to the other traders at a bargain price.

Use money to buy air tickets for trip to Crete in June and one way ticket in October. Decision made we are leaving 1st February 2004 whatever happens.

Job prospects dire, Steve still fixing car bodies, me un-employable, back to temping. Even became a school 'dinner lady' for a while!

June is back to Crete, seems like all of Brighton and Hove are going to Crete! Flight over contains three people we know and a group of firemen from Hove, Elanora apartments at Anisarras will probably never be the same. Confirmed later that year as they refurbished them. Nearly beaten at Scrabble, in English, by owner's daughter and son, embarrassing!

Not a lot of house-hunting this time, we are coming back in October to do that, this time we are investigating work. Have found that Steve will not have too much problem continuing current trade, need to look for cafe or small bar for me. Have looked at a couple in Agios Nikolaos, very nice but a long way from where we want to live, maybe not a problem could always bed down behind the bar if all else fails!

A litlle house hunting as light relief.....Wonderful place in Hersonissos, two big apartments on two floors, surprisingly quiet considering it's only about 300 metres from the main road. Top floor let on long lease, owner's apartment in need of attention except it has the most amazing light fitting in the dining room. It would look well at home in a building with 'ODEON' written on the outside sometime in the late 20's/early 30's. Contains at least 25 light bulbs that I could count: Could be used as Solarium?

More land to look at...We are widening our horizons now, taking drives out for 30 minutes in each direction to see where we end up.

Sissi, Potamies, Pano Gouves, Gournes (no thanks, but nice bar for sale), Neapoli, Agios Nikolaos.

Lots of talking to Greeks and other migrants, not just Brits, about general situation re: work and general stuff. Nice holiday though.

Back to UK, row with current estate agent about lack of viewers, let alone buyers. Row with council over council tax, row with water board of imposition of charge to remove stormwater from house, surely they should pay us to collect it. Argue with cat over my right to space on bed, lost!

Notice interesting job ad., temporary contract for local company doing just what I am good at, 25K pa pro rata. September 2003 til January 2004, coincides beautifully with planned leaving date! First decent job since selling own business in 2002.

Things are on the up.......Many viewers to house in summer months. Oh God these peope are boring! Half of them from Crawley come to Brighton at the weekend to look at other people's houses. And yes we do know there is one for sale down the road at half the price of ours....Why don't you go and buy that one and leave us alone?

August 2003, change agents and put price up 5 Grand. (Existing agent says you will never sell it a that price). Even better new agent will deal on commission.....Cash in brown envelope!

Four viewings in three days, new carpet bought to tart the place up will be worn out at this rate. De-clutterisation continues, includes finding home for cat....It wasn't even ours in the first place, we adopted it (or vice versa) from next door.

Newly wed wife next door blocks drains with disposable nappies and baby wipes on morning of two repeat viewings, Dynarod (would like to meet HIM sometime) confirms problems are hers and queries why two gay men living together would need disposable nappies, unless they are about to enter Guinness Book of Records on age grounds if nothing else. (People can be so hurtful sometimes)

Success, an offer for house, rejected of course. Why do we go through this rigmarole all the time, we all know how much it is worth, when we bought the place in 1994 it was worth talking the price down as it took it out of the Stamp Duty bracket. We agreed then with the sellers that £3,000 was fittings and just paid the price they asked.

Final offer accepted for house in September. Also got highly paid temporary position applied for, along with permit to take holiday in October.

Silence from buyers.........Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Off to Crete for two weeks in October....Oh this place is so much like home, every time we leave we get homesick.

House hunting with avengance this time. Sissi it looks like, as a likely place, some good sounding properties at a good sounding price.

Staying at Iokasti in Koutouloufari again...with all our friends nearby.Sissi is not that far is it?

Estate agent has two lots of people viewing at the same time...Good girl that's the way to do it!

First, 6500 square metres of olive grove and citrus, interesting house, not quite big enough, but there is a stone built sleep out with bathroom in the garden for guests. Close to beach where there is a large all-inclusive hotel, sell citrus fruits to passing tourists? And also the income from the olives.

Next, standard reinforced concrete 'blockhouse' from 1970's. Interesting marble floors, nice touch an outside door in every room, bathroom nice, kitchen needs work. Possible to build another floor, steps outside already there, used frequently by goats that owner has kept in garden.

Third, new build, this time one that is a real property (we had lost count of the times we were shown 'holiday' properties, fine for a fortnight but not for life!). Currently used a as a shop, can be reconfigured as a house. Nice garden, big parking area, views, not too many neighbours.

Solicitor in Brighton phones on mobile, "We exchanged contracts, can we complete in two days time?"

Us, "No, we are on holiday, completion date will be 15 th November 2003"

Investigate value of olives, disappointed with result, seems ridiculous considering the price fo decent olive oil, but we can grow more things to sell, OK then offer on first property with 6500 square metres of olive grove.

Offer rejected, other couple that looked with us have already paid deposit (in 12 hours?).

Property number two rejected by us as too built up.

Offer made on number three, accepted by owner, we return to Koutouloufari elated, and to UK in similar emotional state two days later.

You don't really think this is the end of it, do you?