Sunset in Santorini

We have arrived in Santorini. Below is the view from our hotel balcony. Our room is an old cave converted into a modern, bright self-contained suite. From here we've just witnessed yet another stunning red sky sunset. I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

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• Location:Thira,Greece

Delos

Our last morning in Mykonos coincided with this season’s first guided tour to the island of Delos, located a couple of kilometers west. The Cyclades islands of Greece are so named as they encircle this small, barren outcrop in the southern Aegean Sea. Delos was once the most powerful, and sometimes most sacred, island in all of ancient Greece. It was considered the mythical birthplace of twins Apollo and Artemis; the god of sunlight and the goddess of moonlight. By the 8th Century BC it was well established as a shrine to Apollo.

Its history then began to unfold at the whim of who ever was in power. The Athenians controlled it by the 5th Century BC and established the modern equivalent of a national treasury on the island. Here all of the treasure of its allied islands was stored. The alliance became known as the Delian League, named in honour of the island itself. The city state of Athens later decreed that nobody could be born or could die on the island, effectively strengthening its hold on Delos.


As its religious prominence grew, so too did the island’s importance. Merchants and traders flocked to island to service thousands of pilgrims. At its height this tiny, rocky island of 6 sq km was home to more than 20,000 inhabitants. The Romans declared Delos a free port in 167BC. This encouraged more trade and wealth to flood into the island’s economy, including a lucrative slave trade. More than 10,000 slaves a day were traded here at its height.


However, Delos soon fell into decline as trade routes shifted and ancient religions fell out of favour. The last inhabitants left the island by the 4th Century AD. Today, all the remains of this rich and varied history are a series of ruins, including a number of magnificent marble statues. On our final day in Mykonos we spent almost three hours on Delos touring some of its most renowned sights. For three days we'd sat on our hotel balcony looking across a glassy sea at this thin strip of land so I relished an opportunity to finally visit.


Our guide took through the once opulent Theatre quarter where the city’s wealthiest residents lived. She pointed out intricately tiled mosaic floors, colonnaded courtyards and an underground network of water reservoirs used to store water on this parched, hostile island. Perhaps the most stunning of the mosaic floors was that from the House of Dionysos. It depicts the Greek god of wine, Dionysos, riding a snarling tiger. The colourful detail is astonishing.


We also sat in the marble seats in the main amphitheatre, once reserved for local patrons of the arts and other prominent citizens. However, the most memorable sight was the island’s world famous Terrace of the Lions. This is a row of marble beasts that line one of the city’s main thoroughfares. The lions you see today are replicas. The originals are housed in a nearby museum which we had an opportunity to tour before our boat departed for Mykonos.

Losing friends with a single post

I suspect we’ll lose a few friends once this post is published. Why? Take a look at these images from our first 24 hours in Mykonos and you’ll see what I mean. I'm sure everyone will hate us. Since arriving we’ve been blessed by two breath-taking sunsets; the first from our hotel balcony and the second while standing in the shadows of the famous windmills of Mykonos. You can see below that Garry gritted his teeth and endured nature’s unfolding spectacle on our first evening, while reluctantly sipping on his complimentary champagne.


Last night’s sunset was amazing. We caught a cab into town just as the sun was setting. Dozens had the same idea. The shoreline in front of the Mykonos windmills had become a brief tourist Mecca as cameras everywhere were pointed at the same dazzling red orb on the horizon. The sunset was indescribable; and once again we were forced to endure the spectacle.


As the windmills testify, Mykonos is known as the ‘windy island’. The islands windmills were once its primary source of industrial energy and remained in use until recent times. Today, abandoned conical towers dot the landscape around the main town of Hora. A handful has been preserved as an iconic tourist attraction. The largest group of five sits on a hill overlooking a small bay, known affectionately as Little Venice. Here the buildings have been built to the water’s edge, housing bar after bar offering cheap cocktails with an ocean view.


After sunset we made our way through the old town’s narrow cobbled streets to the main harbour where restaurants and bars clutter the shoreline. Here we picked up tickets for our ferry to Santorini before wandering the back streets until we came across a delightful vine-covered courtyard serving local delicacies. We dined under candle-light, watching the world wander by. Garry enjoyed a steak the size of small child, while I tucked into a lamb roll stuffed with cheese and vegetables.


Despite its reputation, since arriving in Mykonos the weather has offered nothing but blue sky and still air. In fact, when I woke this morning, the Aegean Sea was so calm and so flat it actually reflected the image of ships passing distance islands. The boat you see in the image below was more than a kilometre away. What a perfect way to greet a new day. The locals tell us the weather was completely the opposite the day before we arrived. We’ve heard taxi drivers, waiters and bartenders all talk of storm winds so strong you barely stand outdoors.


Enjoy the photos. I must get back to the view on our balcony. A new sailboat has appeared in the bay. Finally, sonmething other than white houses, blue sky and aquamarine water to look at!

Reeeeelax

Our first day in Mykonos has been a lazy one. Garry lounged on a sunbed by the pool while I booked an afternoon of spa treatments. I've been pounded and pampered on the massage table for an hour, as well as having my city-grimed pores scraped and cleansed by an urban man's facial restoration treatment. We're back on our room balcony now watching the late afternoon sun dazzle and sparkle its way across a picture-perfect sea.

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• Location:Μύκονος,Greece

Here comes the sun

Garry and I have arrived in Mykonos. At this moment we are chilling out on the balcony of our immaculate, spacious sea-view room at the Hotel Mykonos Grand. Below is a photo I took moments ago from my sun-soaked chair. The photo opening this post was taken earlier today from our breakfast table, which overlooked the hotel's picture-perfect pool and the sea beyond. Nothing starts the day better than a healthy scenic dose of the azure Aegean Sea.

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• Location:Μύκονος,Greece

Final countdown

Our bags are packed. The mini-cab has been booked for a 6.30am pick-up. We're ready to fly. Ahead lies a week of sunshine and mild 22C temperatures in Greece. Stay tuned for photos in the days ahead.

Going up the wall

I spent a relaxing weekend in Austria with family. The weather also played its part. Each day was blessed with wonderfully warm sunny conditions, providing an ideal backdrop to Kitzbuhel’s postcard-perfect snow capped alps. It’s days like these that make me envy my brother’s life in Europe. Just look at these photos. Wouldn’t you want to be greeted by these scenes your local neighbourhood?


With the weather in such fine form we spent plenty of time outdoors. Lunch on Saturday was spent at a café on the shores of the local Schwarzsee. Sunday afternoon was spent visiting Krimmler waterfall, followed by the year’s first delicious BBQ. Krimmler is said to be Europe’s largest waterfall, cascading more than 400 metres in three separate sections. You climb to the highest fall using a well marked trail. However, we elected to take the more leisurely walking path to the base of the bottom fall.


We also stopped in at the Hohe Tauern National Park museum. This stunning building, nestled in the shadow of the alps, has some terrific exhibits about the geology, flora and fauna of the surrounding area. I particularly enjoyed a short 3D film explaining the tectonic history that formed the alps millions of ago. I've never seen a clearer, more compelling explanation of plate tectonics anywhere.


Saturday night saw us venture out to watch the finals of the national indoor wall climbing competition. For several hours we watched some incredibly athletic men and women climb walls fitted with impossibly small hand grips and overhangs. At times the finalist swung on nothing more than tips of their fingers, high above the stage. Some even tied themselves in knots, making the most unlikely gravity-defying maneuvers look routine. It was an impressive sight.

Mountain moments

I'm back in Germany for business. It's been more than two years since my last trip to Munich. I've flown in a couple of days early to spend the weekend in Austria with my brother and his family. I left home at 5.30am to catch Lufthansa's first flight of the day, thus ensuring that I made an early train connection to Kitzbuhel. All went according to plan and I arrived in plenty of time for lunch on the shores of the Schwarzsee. I couldn't have picked a better weekend to visit as the skies are blue and the high tomorrow will be a cozy 20+C.

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The Great Debate

Source: Guardian newspaper
As volcanic ash throws the UK travel and aviation industry into chaos, the nation's political landscape is also in turmoil. Last week's historic television debate among leaders of the major parties unexpectedly transformed the fortunes of the Liberal Democrats. Polls taken immediately after the television debate declared Nick Clegg, the Lib Dems leader, as the overall 'winner'.

As a result, the Lib Dems, typically the nation's third largest party and the home for traditional protest votes, were vaulted into the limelight. New polls out today suddenly show them overtaking the Labour Party as the UK's second most popular party. Labour is currently the party in Government. Overnight, the Conservatives, currently in opposition, changed their advertising strategy in a desperate attempt to derail the Lib Dem's popularity. The general election just got interesting!

A backlog worse than 9/11

The unprecedented shutdown of UK airspace is finally drawing to close this evening as authorities announce the resumption of flights, albeit with some limitations. Restrictions or total flight bans remain in place across more than a dozen nations. The shutdown is a result of volcanic ash from an eruption in Iceland spreading across the UK and parts of Northern Europe.

The ash is considered a danger to modern jet engines. More than 90 incidents over the last two decades have found that a jet engine's high operating temperatures can turn ash into molten glass, crippling the engine. Ironically, the prevailing winds currently blowing ash across the UK are also bringing wonderfully clear skies and sunshine. However they’re forecast to change direction this weekend, finally clearing the local sky of the uncertain danger.

I must admit that I’ve been looking at the sky every day and have to say I’ve yet to see any noticeable change in its colour. However, continuing test flights and scientific monitoring report unpredictable variations in the concentration of ash over the UK. Authorities have consistently erred on the side of caution, banning commercial flights in and out of most UK airports for six day. Here and across Europe the disruption to modern life continues to grow. Each day brings headlines with more and more mind-numbing statistics; more than 95,000 flights have been cancelled since last Thursday and airline losses across Europe exceed £650 million.

An estimated 400,000 Britons are stranded overseas, while another 40,000 Americans are grounded in the UK. Replicate this experience across a dozen European nations and you start to gain a sense of the scale of disruption. I've seen reports that 6.8 million people are affected worldwide. Some passengers are being told that once the airspace is opened it could be ten days before they can fly. In response, British authorities are sending 100 coaches to Madrid and more to other destinations in an attempt to repatriate nationals stranded across Europe.

Within my own company we have two Americans stranded in London; London-based employees stuck in Singapore and Turkey; and a Danish employee stuck in Paris. Other staff have shared stories of nightmare 30-hour coach and ferry journeys as they struggled home from ski vacations in Europe.

Stranded passengers aren’t only victims of the flight ban. The role of air freight in modern life is also coming to the fore. A shortage of parts has forced car-makers in Germany and Japan to temporarily halt production. Blocked shipments of goods are reportedly stacking up in China, while South Korea is stuck with hundreds of thousands of mobile phones. Exporters of fresh flowers and vegetables in Africa are throwing away tonnes of rotting stock.

I even read a story today of a salmon farm in New Zealand reporting record orders. Apparently fish wholesalers and restaurants in Asia and America have turned to alternative suppliers while access to Scottish fish stocks remains cut off. Flower growers report similar trends. It’s hard to imagine that a volcano in Iceland is generating a mini-export boom in New Zealand.

No fly zone

Flights have resumed over Scotland and Northern Ireland this evening following the unprecedented closure of UK airspace yesterday. Restrictions remain in place for England until at least lunch time tomorrow. More than 17,000 flights have now been cancelled across Europe, costing airlines a mind-boggling US$200 million per day.

The volcanic ash cloud has even impacted my employer. This morning I made arrangements for a stranded UK colleague to work from our Singapore office, as well as helping a New York colleague stranded in London. However, the current volcanic disruption has a silver lining. This evening’s sunset was more spectacular than usual.

A deadly cloud of ash

Source: BBC news photo
Today’s big news story was meant to be an inaugural television debate between leaders of the nation’s major political parties. Instead, headlines are dominated by another unprecedented event. For the first time in living memory the nation’s airspace has been closed to all non-emergency flights. Similar restrictions are also in place for the Republic of Ireland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and France.

This unprecedented action was taken after an erupting volcano in Iceland blasted clouds of deadly ash more than 16,764 metres into the air. The eruption under a glacier in the Eyjafjallajoekull area is the second such event in less than a month. As it continues, a growing ash cloud is progressively making its way across northern Europe. As you can see from the Met Office's warning map below, by morning the entire UK is forecast to be covered. As a result, from noon today, all flights in the UK’s airspace were cancelled and will remain grounded until at least 1.00pm tomorrow.


Volcanic ash has proven deadly to aircraft in the past. Perhaps the most famous incident in 1982 involved a British Airways plane flying to Perth, Australia. As it flew through a fresh ash cloud high above Indonesia, all four of its engines failed and the aircraft began losing attitude. The pilots struggled for more than ten minutes to restart the engines. A similar incident occurred above Alaska in 1989. Again, all four engines shut down and disaster was narrowly averted when one was successfully restarted minutes later.

Tonight’s news reports claim that more than half a million passengers have been affected by the grounding of an estimated 5,000 flights. Ash has already started falling on the ground in northern Scotland. The eruption under the Eyjafjallajoekull glacier is still intensifying, and the wind direction is expected to bring further ash clouds into UK airspace until the weekend.


In 2008, Garry and I stayed a hotel least than 20km away from Eyjafjallajoekull. From our hotel room we could see the massive ice field crowning nearby mountains. You can see this spectacular sight in the image above. It's hard to imagine this pristine scene being dominated by a enormous black ash cloud.

Every vote counts

Gordon Brown, the UK’s Prime Minister, has finally announced a date for the nation’s next General Election. We go to the polls on May 6. As fate would have it, Garry and I will be on vacation in Greece on this date. We’ll miss one of the most pivotal elections since the Second World War.

For the first time in a generation, polls suggest the vote will result in a hung parliament. A poll out today reveals that 32 per cent of the public actually want a hung parliament (as opposed to expecting one). In other words, no major party will receive enough votes to secure a governing majority. Instead, one of the two largest parties will be forced to lead a minority government and govern in coalition with the Liberal Democrats, traditionally the nation’s third largest party. The Lib Dems received 22.6% of the popular vote during the last election, which translated into 62 seats in the House of Commons.

Tomorrow also marks another historical milestone. Tomorrow evening, for the first time in a UK election, a televised debate will be held between the leaders of the major parties. I find it fascinating that a major democracy has never had television debates. They’ve been a regular feature in Australia for several decades, and the first such debate in the USA was broadcast fifty years ago.

An estimated 20 million viewers are expected to tune in for tomorrow’s 90-minute debate between Labour leader Gordon Brown, Conservative leader David Cameron and Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg. Two more debates will follow on April 22 and April 29. Months of negotiation has generated 76 specific terms and conditions on the conduct of each debate. For example, cameras aren’t permitted to film close-ups of individual audience members while a leader is speaking. Applause is also not permitted during the debate.

Another poll out today found that 42% of those contacted expect David Cameron to win the debate, compared with 22% who thought Gordon Brown would be the winner. As the Times said today, “Mr Cameron faces a real problem: It is all for him to lose. He may perform very well but that is what everyone expects and so he may not gain any great bonus from his performance. On the other hand, such are the low expectations of Mr Brown that he need only deliver a decent performance to come across as a relative Emmy award nominee.”

Australian research has shown that television debates in that country influenced the final vote by up to 2%. With Labour and the Conservatives more than three points apart in current polls, television debates could make all the difference in this election.

PS: I was interviewed by the BBC today for a lunch time busines show. The segment that went to air positioned my company as a progressive employer.

Friends and family

Swiss Cottage blossom in full bloom
We drove down to Woking last night for dinner with Garry’s Australian boss (or is that his boss’ boss?). Jane is currently home alone while her husband and children are on holiday, visiting family and friends Down Under. The three of us went for dinner at a local Japanese restaurant, Oisi. The name is an English language twist on the Japanese word for delicious. Since opening ten months ago, it’s been getting rave reviews. The praise is well earned. We enjoyed some of the most heavenly Goyza dumplings I’ve ever tasted. The restaurant even had Takoyaki (baby octopus dumplings) on its menu, a dish I’ve rarely seen outside of Japan.

After one warm Sake too many we decided to stay overnight. This morning we took advantage of our proximity to Fernhurst and drove over to see my extended family. My cousin Hilary, her husband David, and my Aunt Shirley were all at home. We sat in the garden for more than hour enjoying an afternoon coffee while soaking up the Spring sunshine. It was wonderful to be outdoors again in the UK.