Jack Scott's Blog, page 7

Early Yuletide Logs

Anticipating weather on the turn, we took advantage of cheap summer supplies for the log burner. We’re now fully-stocked for the shorter days to come and the cosy candlelit nights in. We don’t actually need a real fire to keep warm. Our central heating does that job just fine. But most wintry weekends we light … Continue reading Early Yuletide Logs →

Making Hay While the Sun Shines

After a damp start, our East Anglian summer warmed up nicely during August. It dried up too, with hardly a drop for our thirsty plot. It’s been perfect weather for bringing in the crops. Ancient lanes hereabouts have vibrated to the rattle of massive farm machinery driven by burly farmhands. Time to make hay while … Continue reading Making Hay While the Sun Shines →

Cash Is Still King

For our inaugural visit to luscious Lakka on Paxos back in 2022, cash was king. Flashing the plastic in shops, restaurants and cafés was definitely frowned upon. We suspected this was a hangover from the financial crisis of the previous decade, which brought Greece to its knees. On our return trip this year, cash was … Continue reading Cash Is Still King →

Like a Bad Penny

We caught COVID on a flying visit to Bulgaria in 2022. Thankfully, as we’d been vaxed to the max, our symptoms were fairly mild, “…more man-flu than death-bed,” as I wrote at the time. And guess what? Just like the proverbial bad penny, COVID turned up again. The nice young lady sitting next to Liam … Continue reading Like a Bad Penny →

Postcards from Corfu Old Town

Following a week or so of life-affirming lolling and libations on Paxos, we’ve switched it up a gear for a couple of nights in Corfu Old Town – Kerkyra to the locals. We’re staying at the Hotel Konstantinoupolis, a beautiful but faded 19th-century neo-Venetian pile overlooking the Ionian Sea with a faint but distinct whiff … Continue reading Postcards from Corfu Old Town →

Postcards from Paxos – Second Delivery

Some Like It Hot We knew Paxos would be hot, but we didn’t know quite how sizzling. The mercury rises with each day that passes – 38 degrees and counting. Afternoons are either spent cooling off in the pool or quenching our thirst in breezy harbourside cafés watching the ebb and flow of the yachties … Continue reading Postcards from Paxos – Second Delivery →

Postcards from Paxos – First Delivery

The Crack of Dawn We were up at the crack of dawn for our sunrise flight to Corfu. Although we’d booked our seats with TUI, one of the world’s largest travel companies, they’d run out of planes so they hired in some help and we boarded an unmarked Boeing in virgin white. Who were they? … Continue reading Postcards from Paxos – First Delivery →

Computer Says No

The queue is as quintessentially British as fish and chips, a Sunday roast or a post-pub kebab. I’m all for it. It appeals to my first-come-first-served sense of fair play. Every-man-for-himself is where anarchy reigns and the Devil thrives. And, for those of us in cattle class, queuing is an indispensable part of modern-day mass tourism. … Continue reading Computer Says No →

Cutting Room Floor

I’m off-air while Liam and I are perking our pansies on pretty Paxos. While we’re away, here’s a selection of photos that ended up on the cutting room floor, blog-wise. It’s an eclectic mix of random snaps – local and London – plus a really ancient polaroid of me back in the eighties on godfather … Continue reading Cutting Room Floor →

Lakka, the Return

I know I sound like a stuck record, but we’ve really had it with endless drab skies and drizzle. A few sunny days does not a summer make. So we’re off to catch some rays in gorgeous Greece, returning to the pretty resort of Lakka on Paxos, followed by a couple of days wandering around … Continue reading Lakka, the Return →