A Fast Ferry Home
It may have been run by a company called Fast Ferries, but it still took four hours to get me from Tinos to Rafina on the Greek mainland.
A Fast Ferry
I hadn’t eaten any food since a very good moussaka on the Sunday at lunch time and as I left early for the ferry, I didn’t get any breakfast. At least a supermarket was open on Tinos, at which I was able to purchase a couple of bananas. Where would coeliacs be without them?
On the ferry it was just coffee and chocolate and there weren’t even any Greek salads.
It didn’t get any better at the airport either, as there wasn’t anything in the cafes which didn’t have a large slug of gluten. No Greek salads and not even any of those sesame snacks you usually find in Greece.
So I had a choice of either getting the midday easyJet flight or retreating to Athens and getting a flight on the next day.
I chose the flight, as it appeared there were quite a few seats and as it turned out, two of us had three seats for the journey to Gatwick.
So the flight was good value because of the extra room.
I was also back home in good time.
Manana in Greece
I tweeted this.
My supper has finally arrived and it’s very good. You know there’s no translation of manana as it’s too urgent for Greece.
I’d waited some time for it. But as I said it was worth it.
Greek Salads on Syros
They all seem to have capers. Much nicer!
Greek Restaurant Bills
Greek restaurant bills are really simple. They give you a printed tally on the table and then you pay in cash when you leave, adding a tip if you want.
Very simple and seems to work, providing you don’t want to use a card.
Not seen any plate smashing though!
The Maiden Voyage
If you’ve ever read that short story, by Gerald Durrell, you’ll know a little bit of what the journey to Syros was yesterday.
I had intended to catch the 12:00 ferry from Piraeus, but it was cancelled because of winds. However with the help of a Greek called Christos, who I’d met on the train going to the port, I was able to get myself a ticket on the 17:00 boat to the island.
Ferry to Syros at Piraeus
As the boat was there, we were urged to get on and this was a mistake. I should have gone and have lunch in Piraeus first, but I didn’t.
I was in what they called Business Class, but it only seemed that the seats were slightly less crowded.
There was no food on the boat for me, as the Greek salad was off and everything else was gluten-rich. to make matters worse the shop only sold souvenirs, tobacco and drink, so I couldn’t even have any chocolate. The only crisps stated they contained traces of cereal, so I was left with ice cream and coffee with three portions of sugar in it.
I did meet a Greek married to an Aussie coeliac and he said most restaurants in the islands understood gluten-free.
But can I really complain, as most ferries across the English Channel are not much better for gluten-free food.
My Arm is Giving Me Some Trouble
mMy left humerus was broken by a bully at school and for the last few days, it has been giving me quite a bit of trouble. Or that’s what I hope it is. My left hand was terrible yesterday and I had difficulty tying up my shoe laces. I also couldn’t get the souvlaki off the skewer. But after a good night’s sleep it seems to be a bit better. I’m actually using the shift key with my forefinger easily this morning. Usually I make a few mistakes and have to correct them. But today it seems alright. It could also be better because the Caps Lock key on this computer isn’t so easily mis-hit. Who needs the key anyway? I never normally use it.
I suspect that as I haven’t had any physio on the upper arm and shoulder for nearly two weeks now, that this is the problem.
Coffee in Bold Street, Liverpool
I had a coffee in Starbucks in Bold Street as I walked around the city.
Starbucks in Bold Street, Liverpool
I have a feeling,that this building was a coffee shop in the 1960s, called something like La Bussola. There is nothing to indicate this and the helpful staff didn’t know anything.
However there is a plaque from a Merseyside Heritage Society saying that it was a very good restoration of the building.
East Coast’s New Menu
On my trip to Leeds on Saturday, I was able to look at East Coast‘s new menu.
I didn’t actually eat anything on the train, except for an EatNakd bar I took with me, as I had good breakfast before I left and knew I was going to be having a sensible lunch before the football.
However, the menu now has a couple of gluten-free items marked as such. One was a lamb shank, which I do like although last time I tried it, my hand wasn’t up to eating it. It’s got better in the last few months, so I suspect, it might be better.
If I had wanted to have one on the way home, I wouldn’t have been able, as there was no chef on the train. Sadly none of the snacky offerings were gluten free, although there was a chicken korma, which probably was gluten-free, but wasn’t marked as such.
But Leeds is only a two and a half hour journey and as there are restaurants at both ends, it is not the most important route for catering, as far as I’m concerned.
Subway
I’ve never eaten in a subway, although I once ate a home-made gluten-free sandwich under an underpass on the way to football in the rain, as it was the only shelter I could find.
Apparently, they’ve just overtaken McDonalds in size. So who cares? I don’t, as I don’t usually eat in gluten-rich, American fast food joints. I might have the odd chip and orange juice in a McDonalds, as these are probably safe for me, but after reading Lisa Markwell‘s piece in yesterday’s Independent, I’ll give Subway a wide berth.
It ends with.
Subway has 1,400 branches across Britain. The experience reminds me of that old joke, “Waiter, waiter, this food is terrible … and there’s not enough of it’. To use the damning verdict of the critic: avoid.
I will bow to her better judgement as a respected food critic.
The Anonymous Widower 