Jo and I have lived and worked in Glossa on Skopelos for the last six years. During that time we have built our houses and built a business.
Of course we have had a website all that time, which works pretty well and gets a good amount of traffic. Later we added fb and twitter.
And now this. Here I hope we can expand on our life in a Greek village, thoughts about the business we are in - real estate, new-build, renovation and tourist rentals. But also a place to think aloud about what delights us and what doesn't.
In my next post, I will air some thoughts about what "quality tourism" actually means for a small business.
But now I am thinking about phoning my granddaughter, Tess, who is 18 years old today.
In the year I was 18, we were still four years away from the first moon landing, the Beatles sang Help, Gerry and the Pacemakers took a Ferry Cross the Mersey, Tom Jones asked What's New Pussycat and The Rolling Stones gave us Satisfaction - one of the greatest dance tunes of all time and one that is still guaranteed to get people who ought to know better up on their feet to embarrass the hell out of their grandchildren.
I only know what was in the charts in 1965 because I googled it. Most of our detailed memories are now verified online. All known facts reside in that vast electronic library. This is the world that Tess and I both live in, although I am the one who remembers when it was not so. I am the one who remembers the Berlin Wall going up more vividly than when it came down.
So, I will phone her and post something nice on her fb, but I will not be at her party tonight because she lives in the UK and I live in Greece. Which is a mercy if anyone were to be foolhardy enough to play "Satisfaction" tonight.
Let's talk.
Loved your comments about 'Satisfaction' by the Rolling Stones.
ReplyDeleteSeems to me our life is defined by the dance tunes that tweak the memory ... dance is mostly associated with happy memories and I can trace the steps ...'scuse the pun' ...
The first dance tunes I remember are all associated with family parties. Our relatives at Stanmore threw the best parties! Pre record players the music was supplied by Auntie May who bashed out a mean 'Knees up Mother Brown' I cringe at the thought now but when I was 10 years old it was sooooooooo much fun. Auntie would quickly throw in the 'Okey Cokey' and the at the end of the evening when we were all exhausted we would be encouraged to do the 'Conga' ... around the back garden through the gate ... across the road and back again!
Lastly there would be ' I'll be your sweetheart if you will be mine' for all the smoochers and last of all 'Show me the way to go home'.
Then Bill Haley arrived and I discovered Rock and Roll, Elvis, Buddy Holly, The Everley Brothers Cliff Richard, the Rolling Stones and best of all Brenda Lee.
I loved all pop music from The Supremes to Michael Jackson.
When my children were old enough to buy their own choices of vinyl I was introduced to Abba, Queen, Alan Parsons, Bob Geldof,Don MacLean and then the magic of Ultravox and punk music.
Every era of my life defined by the pop music of the times.
I must admit I still have a soft spot for 'we'll gather lilacs in the spring again' and all the old early Frank Sinatra albums etc.
It's funny how suddenly hearing a particular song can transport you back to a particular moment in time so real that you are there once more.
Sigh ... the Orchid Ballroom at Purley and the silver ball glittering and turning and the resident band playing "Who's Taking You Home Tonight?'
aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh.................