More Dancing in Greece

I returned to Greece for 10 days in September.  This time I stayed on the island of Lesvos, very close to the Turkish border.  It has been very hot, but the traditonal womens' dances are not energetic, and the occasional breeze has helped cool us.

The island is beautiful and not so over-run with tourists as other Greek islands. The vegetation is mostly olive groves and pine forest.  

 Our accommodation for the dance workshop was at Milelja Inselgarten, a beautiful retreat centre that has been lovingly created over many years by two women.  It has a wonderfully relaxing atmosphere, and the dance space is superb.

 

The main building at Milelja.  Accommodation down stairs and dance room upstairs

View from the dance room, looking out to the small town of Molyvos with the castle on top of the hill

Other accommodation is in gypsy wagons. I was lucky enough to stay in this one

Inside the wagon was extremely comfortable, with a kettle, fridge and en-suite bathroom.

Dancing in the octagon with views all around.  Sometimes we had live music played on traditional Greek instruments

Some mornings we danced outside in the shade of the oak trees

In Molyvos there were restaurants down by the harbour. Up in the old town, you could sit on the restaurant balcony with wonderful views.

Not enough room to dance in the restaurant??  No problem, you just spill out in to the street

The Mansion of Varelrsidena

In nearby Petra we visited an historical house. The Mansion of Varelsidena, dating back to the late 18th century, was influenced by the Ottoman period. The upstairs living areas were ornately decorated and had high vaulted ceilings.  The furniture was simple and easily moved, allowing spaces to be used for both daily living and sleeping.

Half way down the stairs was a platform where the matriarch of the house would give daily instructions to the workers.  The women were usually in charge of the house and land as the men were often away.

Mansion of Vareltsidena, central hall and musicians area

We visited a local home.  This is an example of some very fine embroidery, using a special technique.  It can be viewed from either side of the fabric, and is perfect either way.  Apparently the technique only works if you start in exactly the right place.

This is the Sanctuary of Messon, dating back to 4th century BC, in the centre of the island.  They also discovered building remnants  here from the Archaic period and the time of the poets Sappho and Alcaeus.   The very first 'beauty contests' were held here.  Young women were judged on their dancing, singing and poetry reading, and the best was chosen to be priestess of the temple for the coming year.

The temple was devoted to the Blissful Gods, Hera, Zeus and Dionysus.  

It is thought that the temple was destroyed by an earthquake around 3rd or 4th century AD.  A small church was built on the ruins in 5th century AD, and the area was used as a burial ground.

A DATE WITH SHAKESPEARE

 From Trentham Gardens Brenda and I moved on to Stratford Upon Avon.

Met young Will in the gardens outside the Royal Shakespeare Company theatre

lovely old buildings in Stratford Upon Avon

This is the house that Shakespeare was born in

Gold mosaic over the entrance to the Old Bank

These usually red letterboxes were painted gold to commemorate a town resident winning gold at the Olympics

Stratford has lamp posts that have been donated from all around the world,  This one is from Israel,with Fiddler on the Roof, Bottom from Mid Summer Night's Dream, and the Owl of Wisdom

The Fourteas tearoom is based on a 1940's theme.  Their hot chocolate was huge

We went to see 2 plays.  Here is Falstaff from Merry Wives of Windsor.  A brilliant and hilarious production combining old and new costuming to wonderful effect.  We also saw Romeo and Juliet - very moving and well-acted, but the costumes were all jeans and t-shirts which I found a little bland

Part of the RSC theatre buildings in Stratford. 

OFF WITH THE FAIRIES

I spent a couple of nights in Stoke on Trent before meeting up with Brenda.  Stoke itself is a very run-down area with boarded up shops and some dodgy looking people.   I found some very good accommodation though in an airbnb mini-apartment which was part of the Spode Pottery Museum.  That was fascinating and I learned how they created the blue and white patterns on the crockery.  A very fine picture was etched on to a flat metal base.  This was then used as the template.  It was inked, then very thin paper laid over it and pressed to transfer the ink to the paper.   Next stage was to cut around the paper and lay that on the crockery to transfer the picture.  After the paper was washed off, the crockery was fired to finish it off.   Such a clever process.  I had never even thought about how pictures such as the willow pattern got on to the china.

decorated basin 

inked paper sheet above, finished plate below

more beautiful Spode crockery

Brenda and I met up and headed off on a NON-working holiday for a couple of weeks.  First stop was Trentham Gardens near Stoke on Trent.  With a hotel on the doorstep, and a cute little shopping village as well as the gardens it was a world in itself. 

 There were fairies to be found around the gardens.  This one was sitting on a roof.

This fairy was on a stand that allowed her to swing around with the breeze.

The lake and much of the garden was designed by Capability Brown.  A small ferry boat took us from one end of the lake to the other - approx 20 minute ride.  Most of the buildings on the estate fell in to disrepair when the country house was abandoned due to the River Trent being so polluted by the potteries around Stoke.

One of these two fairies is called 'Poser'

another fairy, skimming over the lake

The wildflower meadow still had some colour

More flowers in the woodlands

fairy relaxing by the lake

Yet another area of the gardens, planted with swathes of grasses and bushes

and then there's the formal Italian style gardens

exhausted but very happy after spending 4 days exploring the gardens and surrounding shops and cafes

DANCING WITH BRENDA AND CANOEING WITH SUPERMAN

Brenda and I travelled to Woldingham in Surrey for a wonderful four days of circle dance, song and laughter.

 Cath, Brenda and Ruth - colourful characters all

Our centre for the weekend

I took the train up to Rugby to spend time with three generations of family.  My cousins and I were in the 'elders' category.

My cousin David and me paddling down the canal in the canoe he built himself.  I paddled the first half, then swapped over and did the second leg by car.  I was glad to miss the unexpected lock where they had to get the canoes out of the water and carry them round.

We had a convoy of two canoes.  Towards the end of the canal there were lots of narrow boats moored.  A well located canal-side pub provided us with a lovely spot for our dinner. 

We had fun playing dress-ups.  Ewan (alias Superman) made me a special mask which gave me superpowers (although it felt a little like a scold's bridle).  Then we did some circle dancing.

Cornwall and St Michael's Mount

I had a wonderful time in Cornwall, catching up with friends.  The weather deteriorated over the week, but we got out to see a few things, and spent the rest of the time chatting indoors.  It was nice to have some quiet time.

Afternoon cream tea

An amazing wood sculpture outside a local surf shop

We had a lovely day out at St Michael's Mount.  It is a tiny island close to the mainland. At low tide you can walk across to the island via the cobbled causeway.  We arrived JUST in time to walk across before the tide rushed in.

you can just see the white outline of the causeway under water to the right of the jetty

The tiny red and white boat ferried people back to the mainland at high tide.   The boat was very low in the water and it was very choppy.  I was glad it was a short trip.

Steep cobbled pathways lead down from the castle

The castle on the top of the mount

View from the lookout

Beautiful stonework

View from the castle down to the gardens, and across to the mainland (and very top of photo)

St Michael's Mount with the castle on top, viewed from the mainland

In the castle gardens they had this beautiful living succulent frame.  I loved it.

I wasn't so enamoured with some of the Cornish country lanes that the satnav took me down.  Although I had an easy drive down from Kent to Cornwall, I was very pleased to leave the hire car there and enjoy the train ride back to Sussex.