San Stefanos Online ~ North West Corfu

Lovely to see Spiros and George serving people in the pergola today. The pool is just an few inches from full, the water sparkling in the breeze. Across the road, Manthos is ready, and the sea is calm and blue. Lots of people strolling on the beach. Earlier I saw two horses (and riders) trotting along the edge of sea. At the airport, the first Jet2 and TUI planes are arriving. How wonderful!

Barbara: Many a bag of those have I munched on a balcony with a glass of plonk after a shower! My local Premiere stocks the Polish version, so I had some while I was writing. It all helps.

Joanie: Welcome to posting on the forum. So glad you enjoyed Almond. I enjoyed writing it - though it was sometimes hard having my mind in Ag Stef and the rest of me in a Yorkshire winter!

Personally, I don't think there Ukraine situation is a very good reason not to travel. If we stop our normal lives then it's a victory for Putin and his mafia gang. The war could drag on for many years. Russia is effectively bankrupt and running low on munitions, most of which should be in museums!

Not being well is a pretty good reason. Having been fairly ill in September I know that if you are ill you will very much wish to be home, however kind the village people are.

Surgical masks - which are what most people wear - are more or less useless against Omicron. But ffp2/3 masks are, and a good choice for the vulnerable in crowded places. Planes are pretty safe when the aircon is on. A recent analysis of data from a thirteen-hour flight showed that a heavily-infected man with no mask constantly coughing infected three people next to him. But on the ground before  take-off and after landing a good mask makes sense.

See you there!

This is so important I've made a new topic in the "Help and Information" section.

We used to get cake at breakfast at Nafsika, and we always took ours away to have with a cuppa coming off the beach. A couple of years ago the cake changed to ham and cheese slices. Spiros said it was what the British like for breakfast. I didn't have the heart to argue. Breakfast's a funny meal worldwide, I think. I toured the Netherlands with the (National) Youth Theatre when I was fifteen and first encountered ham and cheese for breakfast, and hundreds and thousands. Playing in Paris I learned to dip a huge croissant in a bowl of coffee. In later life in India it seemed to alternate between an English breakfast and fish curry. Now I just have whatever comes!

In that case what I said above is correct. It's a basic breakfast - plenty of toast. It's years since we bothered with a boiled egg or whatever, given the fact that we seem to spend half our time eating in the village!

The evening meal is a set menu that varies over a two week cycle, and it's fine. If you want something off the specials it's a small extra charge. You will not starve, Carl. :-)

On benefit of staying at Nafsika is that if it rains you just go downstairs!

Phew! Just finished chapter four of the sequel, also set in Agios Stefanos! With any luck it'll be out in the summer, but I'm not rushing it.

There are still no actual reviews on Amazon - just two "starred" evaluations. If you have actually written a little review and it hasn't appeared I'd be grateful to know. The problem with self-publishing is that you don't have a publisher's advertising campaign to do promotion, and some nice reviews and word of mouth are all there is.

Meanwhile - I've reduced the Kindle price of my collection of science fiction novellas to £1. I know SF is not to everybody's taste, but modern British science fiction is not at all like Star Wars. "Digital Rites" is mostly set in Corfu, and has scenes in Agios Stefanos. Most of them were started there. Might be worth a try at that price? https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fragments-Tomorrow-collection-Jim-Hawkins-ebook/dp/B01GF1QIJ4/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=