NOT OUR FINEST HOUR

Welcome to Crete. I expect you will be sick of Brexit fall out or speculation about the future of our nation, our currency, our international relationships while politicians in London grapple about for words or plans for the outcome of the referendum - which, it seems, was totally unexpected. Needless to say, people living here who regard themselves as British and European hoped to remain in the EU and never expected that everything would turn inside out at this stage of their lives.

For the first few days, we went through all the emotions of 48% of those back home .. disbelief, anger, bereavement over the spirit of Britain and eventually thanked God that we were living in austerity burdened Greece. In spite of living through desperate and increasing poverty here (pensions are now one third of what they were five years ago), Greek people have never stopped looking after each other or the thousands of refugees arriving on their shores to the best of their ability. The danger of this journey and the camps where refugees are housed convince them that no one would attempt it unless they were absolutely desperate. They have not stopped reaching out. When we first arrived in Crete and went to pay our first Water Bill, the clerk listened as K explained that we had bought an old stone house in need of renovation and planned to settle here forever. The young man stretched out his hand and said “Congratulations and welcome!” Though born and educated in England, this sense of welcome had never been extended to K in his life before. It puts the blinkers of many Brits into sharp comparison. All the expert advice about Brexit was soundly ignored. A campaign based on big fat lies won a very hollow victory by a vote backed by a political leadership, no more stable than a house of cards. The worst result is that racism and bullying are now deemed to be acceptable among those people who believe that they have won “their country back”. The cosy Miss Marple idea of their 'Britain' has nothing to do with reality; Britain has been invaded by waves of incomers before the times of the Romans and Vikings for millennia and the illusion is blinding them to the value of communities made up of all their parts, no matter who or from where. So many of the real issues of concern like oversubscribed schools and getting medical appointments in these hard times will not be helped in any way by leaving Europe and needed to be sorted out by national and local government. The best we can say is that Britain scored a home goal, but let's not talk about the football either!

Meanwhile there are many Greeks who are openly envious of the Brits' escape and wish they had left Europe five years ago, so it is good to have given them a bit of a lift!

Anyway, we cannot do anything and are having to leave exchange rate changes and health care worries on the back burner. We need to stay positive at the moment because Crete is welcoming lots of tourists this year and it is the growing season. All the shops and wayside stalls are full of wonderful greek salad fare, melons, fruits and the grape vine clinging to the front fence has done us proud with pounds and pounds of lovely grapes.

We are also delighted to have had a visit from our son and girlfriend, which means we can go out and about a lot to see the sights and enjoy the very hot weather. We have been travelling about more widely recently, visiting folk at more distant parts of the island. Fathers Day in Plakas, near Vamos; shopping at the English shop at Litsarda called Greengibble for tea bags and my first visit to the Open Air Cinema in Rethymno to see the film “The Dressmaker”. It was one of Anna's first outings since the fractured leg and thoroughly enjoyed by us all.

So we have been consoling ourselves and overeating, enjoying the sunshine and trying to do as little cooking as possible in this fierce heat. Our plan is to visit Rethymnon and for the youngsters to mooch about the medieval town with its shady alley ways and pretty garden restaurants. Trips to Margeritas for ceramics and Lake Kournas as well as a bus trip to Chania are planned and all of these holiday jaunts are followed up by falling into the sea at teatime each evening to cool us down a bit. We thank our lucky stars that there are compensations to all this uncertainty.

For the UK, this has not been 'our finest hour', but hours pass and we resignedly wait for the next chapter of the drama.