Paradise Regained.....

Ahhhhhhh Sunshine and warmth!!

Normal service has been resumed and Kalymnos is basking in sunshine again. Has been ever since Easter Sunday. Climbers have begun looking for the shade and some hardy souls are even swimming!

It's been really great to see some old friends here from Scotland and renew some old acquaintances with people I've met here before. I'd always intended to be here for most of April to catch up with the Glasgow wall posse, but seeing a few old Aberdeen friends here too has been a very pleasant surprise.

Entertainment Kalymnos style today was provided by a half decent cup of coffee at Soul on the main drag after a quick and free dental check to see if my broken crown and remaining route was ok. Then we watched a coast guard vessel being lifted into dry dock after a crash during a chase. This drew a fair crowd... but we had a far more important appointment, my first non UK hair cut! As my hair thins with age its vitally important that the hairdresser knows how to hide the empty spaces as much as possible with the remaining locks, so I was a little nervous when I sat down and tried to convey what was needed in my pigeon Greek. 10 euros later and I'm relived to say that all is well and I survived in tact. :)

       Coffee at Soul bar.

    Crowds at the harbour.

          Hair!!!

The new plan for the elbow had begun to show good signs, real progress had been made with the mind following suit and I was beginning to feel more confident on the rock again as the elbow felt like it was getting better and I begin to get a touch fitter too.

The Theraband has been very useful and I'm certain the sunshine has helped keep things warm and moving a little more freely, along with the exercises and stretching.

I enjoyed 4 nice easy gentle days climbing in a row, the elbow has been supported, while the urge to climb harder had been fairly easily resisted until a couple of days ago at Secret Garden. I still 'felt' the tendonitus so I was aware that it's far from fixed and up to now, this had helped me to reign in my urge to get on harder things and ruin the good work we'd done so far!

As for the climbing, I had a good day at Ghost (Seaside) Kitchen with Ben Hicks, and another with Themi when I climbed the excellent Resista again. This is a wonderful route and remains one of the nicest soft 6c's on the island. While it's intimidating in appearance, the holds and the moves are utterly brilliant. I managed to on sight the 7a to the left of it with no problems and felt much happier in myself to see that I didn't break but managed to hang in there and make the moves fairly easily, even though I didn't actually find the best pockets to pull on but just founds things I could use and cranked.

Ben and I had another good day at Ivory Tower and we both enjoyed the excellent Aypa. We did Happiness too, for me the second time I'd been up the fine lower wall on those lovely cauliflower edges to be stopped by the ridiculous final moves to clip the lower off on the lip of the roof! Not one I'll choose to do a third time, unless the extension needs a tick :)

          Ben Hicks on Happiness at Ivory Tower. 6c

Then we had a rest day, sort of........... and went up to Symplegades to do a couple of routes, just to keep things moving. After a good Theraband warm up and a nice easy romp up the first pitch, Climbers Nest Extension went ok and was very good indeed, as was Kamari up the steep pocketed wall away to the right and I felt really pleased to climb both of these well with little complaint from the elbow. Two routes was enough and once back at the store some stretching in the afternoon sunshine and some good chat with passers by followed by dinner out with friends made a very fine day indeed.

Then came Secret Garden. It was Ben's first visit here so we joined Lloyd and Christina for the day. After warming up, and queing up, we climbed the excellent and easy Frapogalo, followed by the equally fine Melodrama, and then I decided to try Trick Katy.... The final steep and crimpy moves to the jugs made the elbow sing a little so I stopped and didn't climb any more. A nice easy day with Themi, Steve and Selina at Noufarou followed, Themi climbed 3 routes in borrowed shoes while Steve and I did a rather tricky 6b+ which made my elbow feel even more tender.

       Lloyd starting Tricky Katy 7a+

       Themi climbing Jive at Noufarou.

       Mr Golley checking routes for the Kalymnos Climbing App.

I really should have seen the warning signs.... The final straw though was getting off route at Iannis while trying Bepikoko and accidentally trying some hard moves (La Manna, apparently..) on the wrong route after getting confused by new bolts to the left and totally missing the ones I actually wanted. This has made the elbow feel pretty sore and deflated my hopes that we were heading in the right direction. As I type now it feel like it's burning and I get sore twinges every now and then. Hey ho. Rest tomorrow and see how it feels after that, I guess its back to the slabs again and maybe apply a little more patience!! Bugger!!!

I'll be leaving again soon. I may have been a little premature as I thought the injury was progressing nicely when I booked the flights.....  It was a hard decision anyway as life here is good and I feel very lucky to have found Themi, and pretty much everything else a man needs here, but I have to sort out the van and decide whether to journey on, if so where to go and where the weather might be best for some more climbing, or whether to just slowly head back to the UK, see the family and make plans to sell the van and bring all my worldly goods here somehow? Time will tell.

What I do know is that it will be hard to leave.

Elbows and Easter

I've had 3 sessions with Karin, the German Osteo/physio and felt able to get out and climb. That coupled with the encouragement of Themi to stop sulking and try to get fit again, has lead to a change in diet, work pattern and a plan to climb, or at least get up the hillside everyday in an effort to regain the fitness I've lost feeling sorry for myself. Regular stretching, therabar and theraband are also being used, so far to reasonably good affect and I feel like at long last, progress is being made, in the right direction. Its been a long time coming.

I'm not fixed of course......It takes time and while I'm feeling ok about the elbows progress, its very fragile and could easily go backwards so I have to be careful and patient still. I could feel the elbow during the climbing, but no pain, and nothing that felt like I'd made it worse. Relief. I have been amazed at just how many climbers have had epicondylitis or golfers elbow... and just how many are carrying it. There are so many tales of how to cure it that it blows my mind, but all bar none say it takes ages and never goes away. Fan-bloody-tastic!!

                      At North Cape.

The 7th of April was a good day. Mark it down.
I climbed my hardest route since the day I fell off in Chulilla today, in fact 2 6c's were dispatched in quick succession and I felt good. The 8th was not quite so good. I did 6 easy routes with Ben Hicks at Ghost Kitchen. Nothing hard and nothing steep but I felt it after. Maybe I'm silly but I need to go for a climb! I would dearly love to get on steeper stuff now though.... Hmmm. Yes, patience...!!

We had dinner at Miltos with Ruth Dawson, Simon and Miriam, and Briggite to celebrate Ruth's birthday. The chocolate cake was tasty and I scoffed 2 slices. Diet going well :)

           Little miss Montmeroy :)

It feels like things are coming alive here in Kalymnos with so many nationalities and languages floating through the air as people walk past the store. The bright colours of the climbers clothes are as wonderful as the sunsets which grace this island most evenings. A curious mix of shorts and flip-flops can be seen in equal measure with duvet jackets and beanies as this long Kalymnian winter maintains its grip and summer tries hard to fight its way in. As the sun set this evening the temperature plummeted and I went from a T-shirt while at the store, to a 4 layer duvet combo, hat, gloves and snood for the scooter ride home.

I'm enjoying chatting with customers and helping with their choices, both of shopping and routes. I like that having spent a lot of time here I can pass on some useful beta about crags, weather and sometimes routes if I'm asked about them. I can even manage to do the till and some basic arithmetic on a good day :)

Its Easter here and a big week in the Kalymnian calendar. We delivered to St Nicholas some fabulously decorated waving palm leaves that Themis made over the preceding days and weeks leading up to palm Sunday, and the noise of dynamite explosions and fire crackers can be heard regularly now in rehearsal for the big day on Sunday coming, when all will gather in Pothia to be deafened by the massive and at times just bloody dangerous bomb fights either side of the town. Yes its a local custom and something Kalymnos is known for, but for me, once is enough. However, I dare say I'll be there to see it, and hear it again, but maybe this time I'll take ear plugs!

After all my years raised in a religious family, my knowledge and understanding of Easter is not good and I can't remember it being a particularly big day in the calendar, though I do know that the death of Jesus was recognised at passover, rather than his resurrection. To be honest, as a child I wasn't really interested in our religion at all, other than the fact that it made me 'different' from all my friends at school. The story of Jesus last days and his death and resurrection have meant nothing to me other than chocolate eggs, the bread and wine used to represent the blood and body of Jesus, and the fact that I wasn't allowed to have anything to do with it. Same with Xmas, and birthdays, school assemblies.... The works.

Being brought up in what I believe now to be almost a cult religion, without a choice, has made me very negative toward religion in general. I've closed my mind to it. Children should not be force fed a diet of religion or made to feel outcast. My mom, my sister and I left the religion when I was 15. My Father I believe is still a member, as are many family members. However normal Mom tried to make us feel, the powers that be meant that the main rules of the religion were abided by.

I feel very strongly that baptising babies is wrong and my kids have not been baptised. Everyone should be allowed to find God in their own way as they grow up and understand more. That's if they want to! While every member of that religion I know or remember have been basically good honest thoughtful people, I can't imaging life in a strict religion again and one day I hope they can see the pain they put their children through, the heartless way they separate families if one member should be brave enough to have independent thoughts and see a different way.

The Greeks take Easter very seriously and my upbringing and subsequent rebellion made me have agnostic, bordering atheist views all of my adult life. I do have an open mind though and I'm more than happy to accept that others have, or maybe need to follow God and have faith in a greater being. What I do object to is people trying to force their opinion on others, be it peacefully or violently. I believe we are all entitled to our opinion, but not entitled to belittle or abuse someone else's.

While I don't believe in God as such, I happily sat and watched the beautiful version of the story of Jesus as seen in the glossy 'Jesus of Nazareth' starring Robert Powell. Having watched this Themi told me of her beliefs, and the interpretation of the story that she has learned. I was fascinated to listen to her talk about Jesus and God and I found myself thinking a little more about it. More than I ever have in fact.

It reminded me of my old English teacher, Mr White and how he could bring Shakespeare to life for me. He could dig into the words, peel back the layers to reveal meanings and hidden depths that I had never dreamt of and he made plays like Macbeth and Hamlet actually come alive and I could understand the meanings and sub-plots held within those funky olde English words. It's like when I watch TV, I rarely see below the surface and take it as pure entertainment rather than thinking deeply about any 'message'. It's like something washing over me, and that's how I feel about religion, and perhaps many other things too. I skim them. Don't let things sink in. Deep down I recognise that I've always had a great deal of respect and admiration for people that can think and see inner meanings and hidden depths. I wish I could understand more and decide a little more wisely about the things I do choose to think deeply about!

Now bear with me here and assume for the next few lines that I'm a believer ok......

And so with the story of Jesus, there seems to be more to it than I had ever thought, especially around how much he suffered for 'mankind'. Yesterday I watched Mel Gibson's 'The Passion of The Christ', a far more powerful and bloody realistic version of the last 12 hours of Jesus life, and perhaps a far more realistic portrayal of the actual physical suffering this man called 'Jesus' went through before finally dying on the crucifix at the hand of his fellow Jews and Roman governors.

The beating and torture he went through....I never realised. Twice he asked God to spare him from the pain. I'd never understood that this was the human side, the weak side of the 'man' breaking through as it battled with his powerful, miracle performing spiritual, son of God side. The taunts as to why he couldn't save himself.... I'd never thought much about these things but with a little more digging and helpful explanations, its clearer.

Maybe the story of Jesus is just that. A story. A really good one mind you... But, what if it was true? What would we do if someone arrived today who was a little bit weird, a little bit magical, out of the ordinary and declared himself to be here to save us all....? Would we listen? Would we laugh and ridicule? I'm sure we would, just as it happened then. If it happened?

       Moon over Pothia

Rain and Rooms

The past week I have mostly been............

Avoiding rain.

Finishing Breaking Bad....Wow. Wasn't it awesome!!!! A good ending I think.
House of Cards is next. Probably not so much 'bitch' in that......? Ah Jesse.... :)

Getting used to not having to rush.

Exploring.

At the annual parade in Pothia to mark the start of the revolution against Turkish rule. It was dry but rained later.

Helping to celebrate Christina's 25th birthday party in Nadir. It was dry but had rained all day.

Had a cracking meal at Meltos restaurant. Paid 4 euros for a half litre of good house red. It was raining.

Visited the new art gallery wine bar 'Azul' in Armeos and paid 10 euros for 2 glasses of good red wine plus a bowl of nuts and raisins!! 10 feckin euros!!!!!!!!!!!! Good luck for a long and prosperous future there then! Glorious sunset. No rain.

                      The view from Azul. Free :)

Just for a change it rained this morning. Turned out good though.
I saw an Osteopath today. A visiting German lady called Karin.

Not only did I see her, but I lay on her table and paid for pain. I'm feeling sore and tender in all sorts of unexpected places now! I'm hopeful that maybe she can unlock things and good quick healing of the elbow can begin. The body is an amazing thing. Obviously everything is connected and my old neck and back injuries are playing their respective parts in slowing down the elbow's recovery.. Straight away she spotted my misaligned hips and knackered neck and began by pulling my head this way and that.

I've realised (at least I'm admitting it now) that I've been a little down about the whole thing and also that I've been eating far too much since I got here. It's an easy thing to do but now I feel heavy and very unfit. All this affects my confidence, which means the 5 routes Themi and I did together yesterday, in my head, felt hard.... At least too hard for the grade when they should have been easy. I was wearing a pair of baggy 'all-day-comfy' shoes which made things worse on the tiny flakey edges but I swear this 5c+ (yes Tsarouhis....5c+), felt steep and hard.

It was a lovely couple of hours in the sun at Kastelli and Themi was entertained at my expense by the expanding midriff and cellulite bulging over the top of my harness when I took of my T-shirt in the wonderful warm sun. Before we went to the store, we snoozed for an hour on the steps to the chapel, well, at least Themi did, I just lay topless, exposing my flab to the late spring sun and watched the action across the road at North Cape as a climber tried the new 7c I did in January, resting at all the places I did on my first attempt. I reckon I'd struggle with 6c just now :(

                 Angry clouds above the crags.

As an interesting aside, and a little personal admission, I see on Facebook the friends I met in Chullila having the sort of trip that I'd hoped to have. I find this a bit hard sometimes. It feels like jealousy and I hate myself for feeling this way. I am really and truly pleased for them all, genuinely, even though I admit to these strange feelings.

I'm hoping that admitting them, by writing them down here, I will let them out and purge the system. I hate Facebook sometimes. I've mentioned before, its amazing how quickly this thing we call social media has taken over our lives in one way or another. At times its such good fun, bloody useful too, and it is great to get in touch with old friends and keep in touch with new ones, but it can be so evil at times. I let it get to me once before, a few years back, like a bad addiction. Back then it took me a couple of weeks to realise the harm I was doing to myself and managed to erase the problem once and for all. This is different, its just my state of mind at the moment and I still hope to get to these places and climb as hard as I can.

It was nice to see Carl and Ruth Dawson this afternoon, we stood and talked in the evening sun above Masouri beach, very welcome warm sun after all the rain overnight and this morning. We chatted about Carl's new book on the walks and scrambles around Kalymnos, featuring Ruth on the front and rear covers. There's some great walking here as well as the well known world class rock climbing.
Injuries featured too, funnily enough! We mentioned W.O.R.K. I think.......?

Strange things are happening here at the moment with some of the climbers arriving over the past few days...... It seems that some are booking rooms by email weeks in advance, as usual, then when they arrive, they take a walk and try to find a cheaper place. They are breaking the trust of the Kalymnians who rarely if ever ask for a deposit. Don't they realise that when they book a room for 2 weeks, that room is then theirs, it's reserved for YOU and the owner subsequently refuses other bookings because you have it, so if you then decide to go elsewhere and haggle the price down at another studio, that costs the owner 2 weeks rent!!

As far as I'm aware the only reason you walk away from a booked room is because its crap and not fit for purpose (as I have done here in the past), not because you fancy trying to get somewhere cheaper!!! Very cheeky. Assholes! If you don't like the view or something then you pay your dues before looking for other rooms right?!?!? These days you can pretty much see everything on line so there's no excuse for not being happy with your choice, assuming its quiet enough to actually have one. Try this trick in October and you'll probably find yourself sleeping on the beach, and out of pocket.

Yes perhaps the Studio owners could organise themselves a little better, maybe cooperate and have an agreed rate for rooms of similar size and quality without caving in so bloody easily, but since when has this behaviour by tourists been acceptable? If this continues to happen this season then things will change for sure. You will have to pay a deposit with your booking, and if you choose to leave for no other reason than you fancy something cheaper, then you will lose your deposit, or pay the going rate for cancelling, which is about a third I believe.

It's true the Greeks have been suffering over the past while and times have been hard, surely all the more reason to stick to your booking and help the climbing tourist trade rather than trying to hammer another nail into its coffin and take advantage of some perceived need. Its really weird, those owners that we've talked to have never had this happen before and are worried that it may be the start of a nasty trend.

The weather has been very hit and miss so far, one day sunny and warm, then 2 or 3 days of variable cloudy rainy days, still pretty chilly then too. At the weekend the taxi fleet began arriving from Pothia and lots of climbers disembarked to start the now usual Easter climbing season. There's been few complaints about conditions other than it being a touch cold, plus of course a few dripping tufas and wet pockets, otherwise its all good and there are many happy faces already. It's good to see, now the clocks have gone forward, people out strolling in the late evening sunshine.

Greece, Immigration and a touch of Jezza

Its been a cold few days here.
So cold.

Bitterly cold in fact.
The photo's of sunshine and blue skies belies the fact that its been super chilly!

I heard that people were swimming right into December last year and the summer seemed to just keep on going, which means that usually, winter follows suit and goes on into spring, keeping the cold temperatures and chilly winds we are seeing now. With a week to go until April arrives, I hope it starts to warm up soon!

The store in Masouri has opened its doors to the climbers, and there are a few more appearing every few days. I've been out climbing a couple of times, nothing hard, seeking the sun to feel its warmth. I've climbed with old friends Josh and Lloyd. Its been great to see them both again, and weird that they met each other here too proving that it is indeed a small climbing world. Last year Lloyd and I spent a day with Ben from Colarado, and here today I climbed with Ben again, together with his wife Carolyn, on a cold windy but sunny day, and of course I've climbed with Themi. usually only 3 or 4 routes, nothing harder than 6a+, just to keep moving and stretch the body. Still no sign of work from the Adventure Centre, that's ok with me for now, but frustrating. I'd like to know if I'm needed or not. Simple really.

                             Beers at manifesto after climbing at Arhi sector

The elbow injury is very frustrating. Its ok one day and sore the next.... The bone still looks swollen but surely it can't be. It's been a month now and the last few weeks have been mainly rest and ice. It must be the tendons underneath that are swollen and inflamed. I have a couple of Therabands to help now and work on the tendons is on going, stretching and massage follows in the hope that it will recover and allow me to climb harder soon. God knows its taking an age and I'm worried. From what I've read there is no quick fix. Patience is needed and I'm not too good at that.

                       Ben and Carolyn on Beautiful Helen, Illiada. 6a+

I'm already missing hard moves, the routes I've done have been fine, especially Beautiful Helen, but I miss that feeling of making hard technical moves, of the fear, the challenge, and the magical feeling of clipping the chains after trying hard. I have to go back and remember Happy End, the sequences from the half way point, the undercuts to long reach crimp, that 'all or nothing' move that I couldn't quite remember so just made a lunge for and got it, and that feeling when you know it should be in the bag and you don't want to blow it now..... the hard move right then up to get the flakey jugs to the chains.... brilliant.

              Tameer from Israel on a 6b, Spartan Wall.

I've learned a lot this past week or so. I've been listening and watching. Taking on board various views, opinions and a fair amount of complaints about Kalymnos, Greece in general and the EU.
For years now I've come here, enjoyed the climbing, the sunshine, the hospitality and the lifestyle, then gone back to Scotland. End of. Now a different picture is starting to emerge, not quite so rosy but a damn sight more realistic.

The Greek mentality and how it affects the country has been an interesting subject of discussion a couple of times recently, from politics on a national scale, down to grass routes and how local tourism is affected by it. How the local people live and how immigrants behave here. How they affect the local area, even influence it sometimes. Immigration in general is vital for introducing new ideas, for seeing things with fresh eyes and can bring skills and technology not seen before. Its always happened, and it always will. The desire to travel and explore new places will see to that if nothing else. But the world has changed so much in recent years. TV, news, social media, connectivity. Its all had an affect.

There seems to me to be two different types of immigrant to Kalymnos. Those that just want to accept, relax and fit in, and those that see how things could be better, how easily things could be improved for everyone, local and tourist alike with only a little more imagination, organisation and cooperation. They find the way things 'are' very frustrating. So they battle away, beat their heads against the establishment and slowly get frustrated, angry, stressed out, and lose sight of why they came here in the first place, what it was that attracted them here.

I know I haven't had to deal with too many issues so far, but for me some of the very things that frustrate are all part of the attraction, the very nature of the society here, its lack of 'sense' sometimes, the general 'easyness' of things that back home are tied up with Health and Safety, or Political Correctness. All that modern bollocks that we just shrug our collective shoulders at, accept that we can't change, just...... grin and bear it.

Then of course there's the flip side. At dinner the other night one of Josh and Lloyds friends was with us, Christina, a Danish travel rep on the island told us the long and sometimes painful story of how difficult its been for her father to build a small house here for the family, even with Christina here in situ and speaking the language. She's been tied up with bills for this, bills for that, bills for changes to plans forced on them, things being built they didn't ask for and how only the threat of legal action has finally, slowly, made things happen. This type of thing perhaps more than anything is where a more open and transparent way is needed.

I, like Themi, straddle both camps in our own way, both a little modern, and old fashioned. I accept and understand that the way things are is the Greek way, but I and so many others, locals and incomers alike can see (and have said) what could be improved, and with some subtle and some not so subtle changes how life could be better for everyone here, or better than it already is, because in reality, its not bad as it is right now.

But under the sunny surface the local politics can make even the most obvious and seemingly easy changes an absolute nightmare. What appears obvious to fresh eyes can, once you dig a little deeper, be so hard to achieve when you consider all the implications, who will be affected and who you might upset. As an incomer these are massive considerations if you want to succeed. The relationship with Kos is also a major consideration..... Nothing is as easy as it first appears to be, and even once you commit, the new laws, the tax changes and the red tape all kick in and you're faced with many hurdles and unpleasant surprises.

I ask myself, do the things I'm used to from the UK have any bearing here? Is it my place to moan about something because its not the way I'm used to doing things? No of course not. This is not my country. I'm an incomer here and as such I need to accept things for what they are. For the most part anyway. There has to be a few little tweaks here and there that can be made to simply improve the odd thing or two here surely!?

Themi can also see these things but we both agree that its the next generation that will probably be the ones to make the required changes to the local culture. Maybe nationally too. Greece has a young Prime Minister now in Tsipras, voted in on a wave of painful austerity measures and rebellion with promises to make changes, to ease the punitive taxes the average Greek has been facing since the EU and the Euro. The modern Greek will surely make things change soon and the old ways will slowly fade out. Things will surely change. Whether that's a good thing or not remains to be seen. The very thing that makes Greece so special could change too. Yes sometimes change is vital and good, I'm an advocate of change. In my own life change has been regular, scary and exciting. The risk is often rewarding, but I feel here on Kalymnos, it needs to be considered carefully or it may destroy the very thing that's attracts us to it.

On a wider scale, its always amazed me that some immigrants to the UK these days expect, and usually get everything they want. Their own schools, churches, shops etc. Back in the day folks used to go to the UK and try and blend in and integrate, and yes I know many that still do. They had enough of a struggle just being different. Seems that the opposite is often true now and the UK government generally bends over backwards to be PC, to not make waves or upset anyone, and so many people new to the UK no longer try and fit in but seem to create a new little 'home', insist on their 'rights', insist on maintaining their culture with their places of worship, their own schools, taking over whole areas of cities and towns, and even having their meat prepared their way without offering anything tangible in return. To me this is totally wrong. They're here for the wrong reasons.

I'm with the Ozzies here, "fit in and accept our way, or fuck off back to where you came from", maybe not in those exact words. I've always wandered why when Brits go to live and work abroad we obey the local rules. In Muslim countries the women cover up and in the Emirates we have our own compounds and we only drink in the place we're allowed to, yet when folk come to the UK they scream for this and that. Why is that? Why don't we just go around as we please and insist on a little church of England being built in town, our own little post office in the city? Why do we say ok, we'll do everything you ask?

Why do people come if they don't like what we have to offer? Whatever reason you come to the UK for, remember that it is in fact, the UK and its ways are different to the ways you are used to. Accept that in public and try to blend in a little. At home feel free to do as you please. Integration is never easy, I know how it feels to be different, but I tried (and try) to be myself while also fitting in as best I could. It was a compromise but an acceptable one.

And that's how I feel about coming to Greece. If we choose to live in another country, then I feel we have to accept the way things are and work with it as far as possible. We move for a better life for one reason or another so why should it be acceptable to insist on having things your way, to moan and fight against a society we chose to go to rather than being born in to. That's surely how it should be.

                                          Telendos!

Clarkson....

Sorry, I couldn't resist this. I like TG. Very much!

What a fuss. Really...!!

The Beeb know, they must do. Clarkson has created a slice of TV genius, a great car based entertainment show that seems to cover most bases, and appeals to most people as the viewing figures, ratings and repeats go to prove. The show is based around him and his personality, the others bounce off him and I believe the show would simply not be the same without him.

He says what so many of us kinda feel like we'd like to say sometimes. I like that he is non PC and his previous issues have been around this point. utter nonsense! What any normal person sees as the joke intended, some toss pot complains about because they got slightly offended... Oh get a life, please!! Switch channels or something. Sometimes society today just beggars belief!

I like a lot of what he says about politicians and transport in particular, but I don't agree with his politics as such. And I like cars. Its true that they don't feature many cars that I could afford these days but I still like to watch and dream and laugh. Usually quite a lot.

                                      Stu..........

Top Gear will die without Clarkson. Anyone else wouldn't have his style, and anyone trying to copy his 'way' simply wouldn't work. Look at 5th gear and other car programmes. 5th gear had no soul, no characters... And I couldn't stand the posh totty VBH.... Awful. Jason Plato was ok, and Tiff can be ok on occasion... The others? Clarkson wannabies!!The only other I really liked was Whealer Dealers, and its not a patch on TG.

I heard that the shows audience was sold out for the next 8 years or something like that...
Enough said!

At the end of the day, if you don't like Clarkson, or anything on TV for that matter.... Turn the fucking thing off..!!!!!

                                 The Mighty JJ

Kalymnos, Masouri prepares!

Its Friday the 13th and I'm staying in, no shopping, no climbing. Which is ok because its cloudy, cool and very wet today. Themi and Yanni have gone to the 'big' store to buy supplies to sell in the 'little' store, their store in Masouri.

Raining in Masouri

In Masouri, things are beginning to happen. Its like spring. Its waking, slowly rising from winters dark slumber and getting ready for the arrival of springtime visitors.

Climbers!

 KAC gets a face lift with fresh white paint.

Barbayannis restaurant gets a lick of paint.


Nothing remains open here in Masouri between November and mid March, but now bar owners, restaurant owners, shop owners, they're all back preparing the business, painting, making changes, re-stocking, cleaning and sweeping...  And there are some changes! A few new stores are opening, a new restaurant or two, former colleagues going separate ways and others jumping on the band wagon, trying to milk the climbing season for all its worth.

Prego.


Kalymnian people are some of the most welcoming, most genuine people we are likely to come across as we climb around the world, its a genuine, real warmth, a natural openness and regard for visitors, coupled with honest gratitude for the benefits that climbing has bought this little tiny lump of rock in the Aegean. Nowhere that I know of is so geared towards the climber. Everyone I've spoken to is preparing for the climbers coming. Not tourists. The climbers. The island has realised its potential thanks to those that saw it in the late 90's, and now thrives on its reputation as a climbing paradise.

Yet this season, from Elena village mini market just north of Masouri in Armeos, to the Plaza hotel there will be 2 more mini markets opening. The climber and tourist will be spoiled for choice. The question is, how can so many survive in such a short space? How do the owners of the new ones think they are going to make enough to survive without crippling the existing ones? Crippling each other. Where is the common sense here? The money available is already tight spread around those that exist, adding two more of the same is crazy!

Cleaning the pie and cake stand.... Yum!

Its strange to see rampant competition among the local people, but the problem is they're all trying to copy the same ideas without thinking of something new or something different to enable everyone along the strip to make a living in these trying times. Roughly they will sell the same things and all that will happen is the profits will be cut to try and compete.

In the peak times of late March, through April to early May, then October and a week or two either side, is there enough trade to sustain 3 climbing shops (4 really but 2 are the same owner) and 8 mini markets?  2 new mini markets are opening between the junction by Fatty's bar and Aegealis 7c restaurant, that means 3 now in the space of one long route!!!

Stocking the shelves.


The bars restaurants and cafe's have been around a while and seem to do ok on the whole. For the past 2 years during the festival and a few days either side, I know that the scooter rental places have been sold out, and at least one more is opening this year, but so many mini markets? Really!!!

Peaks and troughs. They have to make enough in the good times to survive the bad times. When they close through the winter they make nothing. Think about this when you're trying to hammer the apartment owner down another euro for your room. The season needs to earn them enough money to last the full year. So when do things reach the limit here? When does such a small island register full?

Negotiating with suppliers.


Its a difficult balance. As a climber I love this place and call it home. I've been shown a warm welcome here, found love here, have friends here and plan on staying here. But, I can see now how difficult life can be here, how much politics goes on just beneath the surface of this beautiful island. I've sat at the dinner table and witnessed first hand the worry and anxiety that national and local politics brings to the average family just trying to make a living.

At the end of the day its a small place and the climber mostly comes for 2 weeks a year then leaves. What do we leave behind? We leave our euros yes, we leave our national reputations (yes, each of our stereo types are painfully obvious on occasions!), we also leave behind the problems here, if we even notice them or stop to think about them at all.

The whole family get involved in re-stocking and preparation.

A week is a long time!

Wow, it's been nearly a week since I wrote, partly due to a lock of internet and partly due to a lack of time and motivation.

Now, lets try and catch up..... sit tight, its a big one!!

I left Margalef the next morning (Thursday 5th). It was a shame to go without catching the Chulilla guys, but as I later confirmed, they had gone to the dam and had no phone signal, and obviously enough supplies to stay there, so I'd had an idea to check out a couple of the favoured van storage places over the next couple of days and being a little closer to Barcelona would be useful. I decided to visit Montserrat.

Mac and Holly heard my idea and said what a lovely place it is, my friend Dave had been recently and the pictures he'd shown me were beautiful... And they were all right!

As I drew closer the pinnacles grew and grew and this, unique, wonderful, magical place appeared before me. I stopped in El Bruc (after getting slightly lost and discovering the monastery road has an entry fee and gate), and bought one or two bits and pieces and had a coffee in Bar Anna which had some old guide books to flick through (and wifi).

I swung Sparky around the bends as we climbed up the mountainside into this strange other-worldly landscape of conglomerate pinnacles, walls and soaring towers, until I found a good parking spot on the west side. I left the van with chalk bag and rock shoes along with a small lunch and wandered along the path. Once into the tress the path swung this way and that, around the base of the towers. I'd climb up to ledges on some of them and on one easy angled pinnacle I solo'd up to the top to savour the view and have a bite to eat. What an incredible place!!! What a view!!! Word simply cannot do it justice I'm afraid, at least my words.

It's like a seemingly endless climbing playground, hilariously funny shapes but with serious implications... At the top, the path just stops at the edge of things with massive drops below to the forest. No barriers, no signs, no health and safety here.... On your own head be it. Rightly so!

I walked and bouldered around, finding the refugio and a ruined castle, totally lost in the moment, a special moment, one I feel honoured to have experienced, before I realised the sun was setting and I'd been having so much fun nearly all day. 

A wonderful magical, so special day :)

Back at the car park there were 2 other vans for company and I felt ok about staying the night. I went out in the dark later to look at an amazing landscape, lit bright by the full moon and chat with Themi, once I'd found a signal, but the chilly evening air soon forced me back into the warmth and an early night all cosy and happy.

In the morning the drive along the north side was regularly interrupted for more amazing photo opportunities until eventually, the main road east to the city demanded my full attention.

I had been a wonderful 24 hours. A very special day, in a special part of the world. Memories from today will stay with me forever, a time and experience I'll never forget.

It struck me while I was up amongst the pinnacles and the chilly air, that some people won't ever see this place. Some people don't even know of its existence. The worst of it is they probably don't even care.

There's a big world out there. Not all of it is smothered with tourists, at least not all the time, and there are occasions, like today for me, that the timing is right and the experience is a wonderful one. It pains me to think that less then 2 hours east from here there are the beach resort hot spots of Salou and the various other Costa Dourada resorts, yet how many of the visiting tourists drag themselves from the roller coasters and water parks and venture to see Montserrat or even Prades and some of the small Spanish towns only a short painless drive west in a hire car?

I remember chatting with the Chulilla gang about travel, and I've said in this blog not long ago about just doing it, when you can, when your young. Some of the places Gerd and Nic have been climbing already in their young lives are fantastic. Steve flew from the US to travel and climb, got robbed in Morocco and without much money and only a copy of his passport, has carried on, making friends along the way and enriching his life. One of the Czech's I met there, Anka (?), has packed so much into her life, been to so many places, had a lifetimes worth of experiences, learned to get by in several different languages and regularly hitches rides all over Europe, and yet she's still in 'her' decade, still in her 20's. They all are......  And I have the utmost respect and admiration for them all.

Jorris the loveliest Frenchman I've ever met, so warm and funny, instantly friendly and always welcoming in his little yellow Traffic. I found the van again in Margalef, but sadly not the jovial owner. Stephane too, the Swiss French...Dry funny and again, very friendly. Nicole, the German psychologist and one of the funniest climbing women I've met, in a crazy, friendly way.

Cioran, Al, myself...we were a little older and seemed to have 'reasons' for travelling now... Our own reasons, along with that desire to travel, to climb, to improve. For me, I've forced myself to be brave to do this. To face my fears and quest out into the unknown and fight the nerves. I remember on the boys trips 10 years ago I'd be the one in the back too nervous to drive or even navigate for the first couple of trips, and now I'm taking big deep breaths and hauling Sparky along narrow winding mountain roads to unknown destinations, sometimes busy with other vans and climbers, and sometimes facing lonely nights alone, another thing only a few short years ago I was rarely able to do, when the need for company was overpowering.

I can do it. I've learned that I can. I've realised that I've been looked after by someone, cared for, loved, all my life in one form or another. The family, Mom, The Forces, Marriage.... Never alone, never by myself. Until these past few years. Even then, I guess technically, I've only been physically actually 'alone' for short periods. I know the Glasgow gigs were partly about music, and partly about just being amongst people, even for a short while, it would be long enough to take the alone time. Only recently I've begun to appreciate the quiet more, to cope with the times of loneliness, those long evenings, wet weekends, mid week days off, and yes sometimes actively seeking it out, choosing it over other options. 

So with that in mind, from Montserrat I drove to an area of North Barcelona called Ripolett to check out a van storage place. I drove there, I risked it, and did it, on my own, with my fragile sat nav for guidance! I managed to agree a deal and agree to confirm with a phone call once I'd checked the other place out, all in very poor Spanish and no English, numbers drawn on a dusty van wind screen. We coped ok, and it seemed like a safe place for Sparky, if a little pricey for what will probably be close to a 2 month stay.

South now, around Barca and down the coast towards Tarragonna and El Vendrell. In amongst the Irish bars, the kiss me quick hats, the tat shops and MacDonalds..... Hell. 

I found the parking, basic but secure and sunny (for the solar), and the owners emails and phone calls were in passable English, far better than my poor attempts at his language I'm afraid, and mildly embarrassed to say. Again, we agreed a price and I left to think about the options and headed to the quietest spot so far. Mont Ral.

There was nothing here.... A long winding drive slowly up hill to the very top of everything, another rustic chapel, another old charming refugio, a very basic but open one, no wifi so I didn't stay. I parked near to a spot mentioned in the climbing guide, debating whether to stay, or drive down to Alcover and look for a camp site, even maybe another hours driving down and round, or across to Siurana again? All the time the sun is setting and its getting dark. The hassle of driving some more lost out to staying put, eating, and sleeping and I nervously got the van ready for bed while supper was cooking. I ventured out of the van a couple of times to listen to the strange noises and see the warmly lit chapel glowing under yet another fantastic clear starry night. This truly is an amazing country.

I woke up alive again :) and without much delay or dithering, Sparky and I were winding our way back down the hill, back to El Vendrell, packing bags and getting the van ready for his sunny resting stop while I flew to Kalymnos to spend some quality time with Themi, fix the elbow (I Hope) and do a little work perhaps.

Dragging a small suitcase and carrying my climbing sack on my back I felt worried about leaving Sparky behind (we've become very close), but otherwise relaxed and happy that I'd made the right decision, about the elbow and the van, and also about parking today instead of waiting till tomorrow morning and then rushing in a mad panic to get the 1120 flight to Athens on a Sunday morning. Now it was a stress free train experiment with time to spare. El Vendrell to Barca, change, then Barca to El Prat de Lobrigat, which as it turned out, was painless and easy with fast changes and helpful rail staff.

I was expecting.... actually I'm not sure what I was expecting from El Prat, but its an overspill town from Barca and a very short distance from the airport, but somehow still manages to be an ok sort of place, especially in the middle where the heart of the town was a wide central rambla with shops, cafes and bars along both sides There was a central reservation between the road lanes decked out with market stalls. The buildings were mostly 4 or 5 stories high, with green awnings to shield the windows, most had their washing hanging from the balconies... I wouldn't go as far as saying it was nice.... but not too bad.

As I walked toward the outskirts of town heading for the hostel, the Alborg Centre Esplai, things got a little more basic, but still nice enough. At first I thought the hostel was a sports centre but it turned out to be a modern and well run place to spend the night. 

I went out for a long walk later on, out amongst the quiet side streets and on to the allotments towards the Decathlon and the big shops. To top off my travel day I caught a bus back. Google maps and the hostel wifi had told me which bus to catch and sure enough it worked a treat. I got off in the centre of El Prat which was by now jumping with lively happy smiling people, couples out strolling, shopping and chatting as the sun set in an awesome display of pinks and reds. Sunshine. I love it.

Breakfast followed a sticky hot, mozzy avoiding night. I'd opened the balcony door to freshen the air and accidentally let one or two in, then a shared cab to the airport. Travelling again. I still don't mind this. Its still an adventure. Even getting my rucksack searched at security didn't phase me and I chatted away with the guy who was asking about the climbing gear and assorted electrical cables he kept pulling out of the bag. Again, no time pressure, no stress. 

Everything went fine today. Aegean are an ok airline, I had a meal surprisingly included in the price, and I sat next to a Greek/Danish couple of my sort of age that own Captain George's restaurant on Corfu (He was THE Captain George, she was Lisa and Danish). We had a good couple of hours chat. A very nice couple.

The wait at Athens was spent with 2 episodes of Breaking Bad (S2/E10+11) and the time flew by as I bit my nails watching Walter White slowly changing into Hisenburg and Jessie being his most idiotic so far. Great stuff.

More nice chat with a family from Kos on the flight to their island. In arrivals an American called Nathan came to say hello. A climber on his first visit to Kalymnos. We shared a cab to Mastihari and chatted as we waited on board the last ferry home. Themi was waiting at the harbour and it was lovely to see that happy smiling face again, good to be back.

We packed Nathan off in a taxi to Masouri and squeezed the case, the sack and the two of us on the red scooter and pootled our way through Pothia and up the hill to Argos.

Spitti mou, Spittaki mou.

Beauty!!!

Margalef.

From Siurana I headed north to say hello to Toni and his brother Jose at the Villanova de Prades campsite. I was pleased when they recognised me and called me by name. Toni and I discussed medial epicondylitis. Golfers elbow. Then on round to Montblanc and a wander through the very pretty town with a little shopping detour, before heading on to another climbing area, La Riba.

Montblanc

La Riba

Once you get passed the industrial buildings that make up the bulk of this small village and its reason for existence and head up the hillside, it opens up to reveal a very pretty gorge and a good crag. I took a walk down to the river and then to the refuge, which was open and doing a roaring trade while locals filled up water bottles from one of the permanently flowing springs in the front garden. I took a glass of vino tinto outside in the sun to soak up the glorious evening warmth and then strolled back to the van, parked all alone about 100 metres down from the refuge, in the towns football pitch car park. My space for the night. Scary !

 La Riba football pitch car park

Refugio, filling water bottles

Refugio

As the sun set I tried to enjoy the solitude by cranking up some tunes and having a shower, all the things a man does when he's shacked up in a car park all alone right :) During the night there was a constant hum from the factories down the hill. I could also hear the river in the gorge below, and every sound, like the van cooling down and creaking scared me witless! I did sleep, quite well I think, and I wasn't buggered, robbed or murdered by gangs of Spanish thugs looking for innocent solo travellers..... but woke up about 6.45 and didn't get back to sleep.

I got up earlier than usual, nipped up to the refuge in the van and filled up the water tank in 10 litre instalments, it didn't take long, 4 trips if I remember correctly, proof that I've been pretty frugal with the water supply.

Setting course for Margalef it felt good to be driving again, alive, on the main road south. Again, suddenly the scenery changed and I was almost at Reus in no time, back to a city with its busy skyline and the golden arches of MacD's. I turned west, then back north and without any surprise at all, very quickly found myself on the slow, z bends of the Montsant park once again. The road took me up to the top of the Montsant cliffs and the views were stunning. Properly awesome. This is such a beautiful part of Spain. The road went lazily down towards Margalef in sweeping zig-zags. I'm so used to those now, and throwing the van gently around them is getting to be second nature, though I have come close to the Armco barriers with the back end a couple of times.

I stopped a little short of the village and parked at the refuse bins then took the bike up the north valley 'Panta' road to the dam to see if the fat boy would get up there ok. Just breathtakingly beautiful scenery all around. I was almost in tears once or twice. I'm not sure if it was from the shear beauty, or the fact that I couldn't actually enjoy the climbing....! Climbing has taken me to some glorious and wonderful places. None more so than this.

Margalef bike stop

I'd forgotten how gorgeous it is here. Or did I actually ever realise it? When I came with the boys 8 years ago I don't think I appreciated it at all. Maybe doing it alone gives you chance to open your eyes, to see the beauty without rushing from one climb to the next. Or maybe its just that I'm a little older and can see it better now? From memory I don't think we went as far as the dam... God we missed some awesome views. We didn't go to the village I know that for certain!

Margalef Dam

I cycled back to the van, passed it and carried on down to the village for a look. Pretty quiet, but pleasant.. I took the van carefully along the gorge road to the dam and went for a walk. I thought about staying here for the night but decided to go to the village where I'd seen a few vans parked, and perhaps I'd be able to find a cafe or the refuge, or both and do some washing, and get some wifi. Bingo, hopefully on both but for sure wifi in the cafe. I was offered the e2 wine, and the e1 wine... I had both to compare and contrast, and you do get what you pay for. The e2 was room temperature and very nice, e1 was straight out the fridge and just about borderline ok. I left some of e1 and went back to the van and bed...

9a.... anyone?

I'd like to go home now I think..... Go and get this elbow fixed. Part of me can't see the point of trawling around European climbing venues only able to tickle the 5's and perhaps low 6's when I could go home and rest up, then come back to it in May, fresh and fully serviceable. What I'm trying to figure out is the best way to go. Do I store the van and fly? If so, where? And how much am I prepared to pay for it? Or, do I just make it a tourist trip and drive to Athens, and maybe even Kalymnos, I've always sort of fancied that idea anyway.

I could go as planned, via some of the climbing areas I'd looked at along the way. So far they have provided some great places to park up ( I haven't paid for a camp site once), and I have the added security of being with like minded people in some of them. Across the top of Italy, Slovenia, then head south.

Unfortunately, I'm not very good at making quick decisions at times like these. I like to think things through. Its tough, especially in this situation where I'd like to go to Themi as quickly as possible and get sorted, meanwhile part of me is enjoying the journey itself.

A big part of me wants to climb SO much. Its like a drug. One I can see, touch and taste a little bit, but can't actually enjoy to the full. So inside I'm torn about just what to do, almost hoping that something forces my hand one way or the other. Usually writing it down helps, so here's hoping!

I went for a good hard bike ride this afternoon, up the hill out of Margalef, after cycling up the southern gorge and climbing a little on the Bloc Du Park, a massive boulder by the car park at the head of the gorge. It was a slab so I figured it would be easy on the elbow but I felt almost every move. No great stabbing pains, except for once. I tried to simulate a little steepness and hung gently, slowly putting my weight onto the fingers of my right hand. It felt ok, until I released the hold and then wow did it hurt! A shooting pain right in the elbow and forearm.

Dejected, I cycled hard up the hill for no other reason than it felt like I needed to push and keep pushing, to do something physically hard, to prove that something still worked. Sad git!!! Anyway the elbow still hurts on the bike. I noticed the other day that when I'm up out of the saddle, the arm action does annoy the elbow. No escape!! Nothing though is as sore on my elbow as washing and drying my face. I have no idea why that should be the most painful action, but its a killer, especially in the morning.

I like it here. I'd like to stay another day I think, maybe catch up with the Chulilla gang again before I go, wherever it is I'm going to go! I'm beginning to come round to the idea of store and fly. Its probably the more practical solution. The romantic in me would like to do the driving thing but from a climbing point of view, which is the essence of the whole trip, starting again from here or near here makes more sense and saves a bit of cash and a bad back!!!