viola's people watching blog
Oh what a fluster we were in to make preparations for the trio from Brussels. Weeks before their arrival, we went online and searched for baby furniture to prepare for Louise’s stay. I suggested to Annie over the phone that they could sleep in the guest room on the second […]
Balmy summer days conjure images of bare feet on cold marble floors indoors and in the streets, swinging, carefree, browned arms and legs in floral dresses and sandals strapped on carelessly. For the older folks like me, who want comfort but still yearning to look a little hip…some baggy Bermuda […]
When an era passes you can’t help but sift through all the memories…our common yard with the three houses once bustling with activity has gradually become very quiet. The whole thing seems rather surreal with the passing of the last family member of a bygone era. Yiannis’ mother passed away […]
So there we were, Yiannis and myself, once again, bleary eyed, hopping on the early morning flight to Athens with a hurried connection to Brussels. We were excited to see Louise…Burpy…as Annie and I have nicknamed her as she burps like a champion. She started this charming habit right from […]
It had been such a long drawn out cold winter. Our White Mountain range, running the length of Chania, appeared to be closing in on us as snow fell steadily lower and lower on its slopes, layers and layers building up… glazed and glaringly white almost blinding under a winter’s […]
I walked into Annie’s old bedroom and something caught my eye on the bedspread of faded tea coloured rosebuds, reminiscent of her adolescent years. Any other time I would have muttered in exasperation… `everything has been slept on’… But this time I simply picked up the silken threads of cream […]
We woke up at half past four to a sky that was dark and frigidly cold with Venus still hanging low with a steady glitter. It was Sunday 6 February and we were taking the early morning flight to Athens and then a connecting flight to Brussels…to meet someone very […]
Why do I remember this old song from way back in the 1890’s by Charles K Harris before anybody I knew even existed? Well, in primary school, Sister Cecilia used to sit at the piano and plonk out this melancholic old number, drawn out and dripping with nostalgia and we, […]
Christmas is upon us once more and our little coastal town is lit up with the brilliance of this magical season. People have been complaining about how our young mayor has been shelving all glaring issues, like our roads and pavements, which are badly in need of repair and invested […]
It was Sunday, the first week of December… a clear day with a splash of winter sunshine, pale gold but luxuriously warm on the face. The garden was carpeted with clover and nettles and fallen vine leaves, brown and brittle and the once fragrant roses sat shrivelled on their stems. […]