So as another sun sets on another fantastic season its time to pack it all away for another winter and try to figure out how to fit all my crap in to one tiny bar till next year. The Rubiks Cube got bugger all on my bar storage LOL.
When i took this pic it was still raining and grey clouds still all over the island.
This Was the horrible storm we had on Sun 14th Oct it lasted pretty much all day and flooded Oceanic, AGAIN! Stayed closed this night as didn't want my customers sat in a damp bar so they catch a chill. See how thoughtful i am.
The main road only just visible through the rain.
Usually from this view you can see the airport and the mountain range on the west coast.
No sight of Mount Skopos and notice the outdoor shower working overtime on the left ha ha.
I'm not going to go on and on about how quiet Oct has been, the whole of the island is 50% down on last seasons Oct and this is due to 2 things. 1/ Thomas Cook leaving most of their hotels empty with only flights from Manchester and 2/ Thomsons upping their prices for flights and package holidays knowing Thomas Cook had virtually pulled the plug on the island. This has left many businesses struggling as many use Oct as the month they take money for their V.A.T. bill for July, Aug and Sept. I always prepare myself for every situation as you never know what will happen with the season, so good job i always put my V.A.T, money aside by end of Sept ready to pay in Oct. So just to show you how quiet the old road was in the second week of Oct i took timeline pics.
7 P.M. Open bar. No one.
8 P.M. Still no one on the road,
9 P.M, Where have all the people Gone.
10 P.M. Cavo is empty only 5 rooms have tourists in.
11 P.M. only one table in Oceanic but 2 more tables came in after this pic.
Go forward 4 days to the 15th Oct and every table is full, weird.
I can honestly say that no one on this island would have had a good Oct including myself. Only a handful of nights i was full and the others were OK but nothing special, good job my first 5 months were the best I've ever had. Fingers crossed that Thomas Cook get bought out before they also go down the Swanee as its not looking good for them. They've had many problems this season with flights, sold off more assets to help with debts, cut over 400 jobs and just this week some tourists who used flights only were told not flying them back to Cardiff so they will be dropped at Manchester. That would cheese me off no end. Cardiff Flights are always more expensive than from say Gatwick or Manchester and they are flying back on a cheaper seat and then have to get a coach back to Cardiff, what a pain in the ass.
On a brighter note, Rock Dog is back, AWWW! Its been 5 months since i last saw him after he got attacked and i feared the worse. Shame i couldn't keep him myself as he is such a mild gentle dog but i don't stay here during the winter. If the season was 12 months then that would be great, i would keep him but i couldn't open up during the winter just hoping someone will come in for a beer. It would drive me insane just waiting and waiting, also i couldn't live here just doing nothing accept eat and drink i would go out of my mind doing nothing. Nope, i like my quality time with Helen, 2 months merchandising at Christmas for Toys R Us and this year also The Range (Toys R Us at night, The Range in the days). Then 4 months of keeping fit, weekends away and medical trials with lots of needles (why do i do it LOL). Myself and Helen have always said when we do settle here we will live from April - Nov on the island then go back and live in the UK from Dec - March.
Good boy Rock Dog.
I was feeling a bit peckish the other day so thought i would try Steki Grill House as you go over the first bridge in town nearest the port its opposite that. I had A dish called "Charleston Gyros Plate" and Feta Cheese in the oven with a side of a Donner Meat pita and a chicken pita. I'm afraid to say that i couldn't eat it all so i left 2 slices of tomato, wasn't that hungry after all LOL.
A feast fit for a king, I challenge you Man V Food!
I managed to work out my storage puzzle and now the Oceanic is bare of all lights and furniture. Its always a sad day seeing it empty especially after my best season ever, just wish the season hadn't fizzled out so quickly but myself and the customers who visited me during this month made the most of it and had a good laugh and a good drink. Big thank you to all who ventured in during my last week keeping me going but a special thank you to Chris and Sandra who i always have a good time with having a laugh and listen to even better music with and of course i can't forget my Assistant Manager Phil and his wonderful partner Janice who made it to my bar every night for 3 weeks and invited me out for a drink when i closed on the night Oceanic was flooded. To both you couples, you kept me upbeat and kept me going stronge till the last day on Thurs 18th Oct.
So from the 19th it was holiday time. As you know my loyal blog followers i love to go and explore the island, i love to learn about the island and its history and today was no different. I went to visit where Dionysios Solomos sat and wrote "Hymn to Liberty" in 1823 which today is the Greek National Anthem. It is said that he sat in an Olive Tree here, listened to and watched the cannons going off during the Greek War of Independence in the centre of the island in 1821 and this inspired him to write the poem. I was the only person there today and its a lovely place and even with me being a short ass Welshman i had a feeling of pride that i was stood where the national anthem had been written. Shame these types of places are missed out on tours as there are so many more places of interest than what you get on the trips. The good thing is that next season i can go and sit there every day as its only 5 Min's walk from our new house.
The entrance to the Solomos memorial.
So peaceful but a bit neglected for somewhere of such importance to Greek history.
The Solomos memorial.
The View from the olive tree where Solomos sat,
Me trying to think like a poet and come up with an anthem for Oceanic but all that's going around in my head is "Ba Ba Black Sheep", please, no jokes about the welsh and sheep LOL
So that's it for this update and i fly tomorrow. Once I'm all settled back in gloomy UK i will update with the seasons review and keep my blog updated with my winter adventures but until then, its time to sit back and watch the air stewardess give me the emergency procedures when we all know in the case of emergency we'll all just panic LOL.
