GI, QI and the Perils of Scrabble ...

21 days, and I am still battling to access my old Hotmail account with all my contact details. I have filled in forms, tried telephone numbers which turn out not to be numbers but press button systems sending you back to a computer link, tapped the same old links dozens of times and been returned to the same road block. It seems that my old account may be gone for ever but my brother (who has been staying) and myself have done our best. I have written a sizeable number of howlers whenever given the opportunity to type text into a box which unwisely asks for feedback …so I gave it to them ... and the rest! The bottom line is that the Microsoft Corporation is not interested in assisting people who use their free service. So …. if anything goes wrong …. you are on your own against a thousand rafts of computer generated boxes, loops, bothersome pages and web forums which result in impasse.  I did everything they asked me to but IT DOESN'T WORK!  

Anyway, we had much more interesting things to do this week while my brother and his two sons came to stay for a week. It was fascinating as each of them had about three electrical gadgets and attendant power leads to keep our intermittent electrical supply whirring, so the air was full of electronic bleeps, music and buzzing as they gazed into them and compared APPS. K and I tried to get them out of doors as much as possible (to compare ABS - well lathered with sun protection) so that they could see what Crete has to offer outside the world of cyberspace. Our local beach was a bit tame on our first visit but we took the kayak down to the harbour the following day and all managed to have a skull around the boats moored there and a good long swim. Luke and I thought we saw a shooting star after supper one evening and we kept our eyes open for more over the week because August is meteor season. Luke would have liked to spend much more time creature hunting in the steep cliff faces and the rock pools nearby.

At the end of most days, Scrabble and card games have been out of their boxes and lots of arguments, online dictionary checking and callings of “cheat” ensued. Kieran and Luke will never forget the uses of the letters G and I or Q and I on the Scrabble Board for a very long time. Long live Scrabble – it got all our grey matter working but those who play Scrabble together might not necessarily stay together! Fortunately, we have 'Words With Friends' to fall back on!

All our favourite places are heaving with tourists at the moment so our trip to Bali was a bit cramped but we made the most of a pedalo ride and a go on a jet ski to take a look at all the bays around the rocky headlands and we tried to impress on our guests how beautiful it was out of season!

We visited Rethymnon on the bus and explored the Fortezza and the Old Town, went to Water City (a complex of swimming pools, tubes, rides and flumes down from the mountain escarpment) where I promptly fell over on the slippery paving and sprained my ankle. We were warned to get there early, which was good advice, but there were zillions of people, loud hip-hop or rap type music from the speaker systems incessantly and then life guards who had to blow whistles at people very loudly, to make them hear anything over the annoying sound system. Fortunately, K did not go, he would have hated it and after the ankle sprain, I had to find the shadiest corner I could and settle down to read my book but I think the boys had a good day! That was Saturday, and we tripped up to Margeritas on Sunday for a pleasant meal and a visit to our favourite pottery shops where we made the most of Sunday which tends to be too crowded on the beach.  Sunday is the day that all the Greek families take time to go out and spend time together which we applaud, but the impact is that everywhere is always busy and crowded on Sundays in the school holidays.

On Monday, all the boys had a sensational day swimming in quite rough seas. I was tipped into a diagonal somersault almost immediately (Tom Daley, eat your heart out) and with the dodgy ankle decided it was a bit over the top for me! However, the boys stayed in for hours surfing through the large breakers and bobbing in and out of the waves on li-los and inflatable tyres. Every pocket on their swimming trunks arrived home full of seaweed, which must be a sign of a good day out. Their last evening was spent at Maki's. This is an eating place out in the narrow street of Panormo bordered by the Bakers, the Butchers and the traditional Cafeneon. We trooped inside in a line while Maki showed us what he had cooked that evening – peering under foil lids and peeping into the refrigerated unit to check out the options and make our choices. Then we sat under the bougainvillea and stars and enjoyed a great meal. Even Maki's was operating two sittings for meals this week. There was a brief drama whilst Kimon searched every pocket of every bag he had with him for the car key, but all was well in the end and we got home too tired for Scrabble, packing or anything else! The week had flown by all too quickly.