Friday 21 August 2020

Visa, Zagori, En Chora Vezitsa, Epirus, Greece



Enjoying Nature while staying safe! Maria Vasdeki (on the left) welcomes everyone warmly to En Chora Vezitsa in Vitsa. Fantina Kardaki (rt.) has been a regular visitor from Corfu for over 35 years.

Details:

https://vezitsa-zagori.com/


A village beloved by young and young, Greeks and foreign visitors alike.


A highly recommended hotel and restaurant - outstanding hospitality.






Thursday 20 August 2020

Lawrence Durrell. Kindle e-book biography. US editions of his books




Ian MacNiven's biography of Lawrence Durrell is now available as a Kindle e-book

UK: 


US: 

https://amazon.com/Ian-S-MacNiven-ebook/dp/B089LQBF4Z/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=MacNiven%2C+Durrell&qid=1597933221&sr=8-1

"Lawrence Durrell, the oversexed, bad boy of mid-20th-century British letters is treated somewhat gingerly by biographer Ian S. MacNiven".


Many of Lawrence Durrell's books are available in US Kindle editions (Open Road Media):

https://openroadmedia.com/contributor/lawrence-durrell


Check also the Durrell paperback books published by Colenso Books in the UK.


Monday 17 August 2020

Sotiris Dimitriou, Greek Writer. Δημητρίου, Σωτήρης


Sotiris Dimitriou

A note - to read more of his work

http://www.gbip.gr/author/1748

"His novel May Your Name Be Blessed was published in English (2000) by the University of Birmingham Press, translated by Leo Marshall, who was honored for this translation with the TLS Translation Prize."

Hard to find!

I now have two of his novels in Greek.

Saturday 15 August 2020

Masked in the mountains



Ο ψηλός Άγγλος!



Our friend Fantina


Vitsa, August 15, Name Day of Maria






Dormition Of The Virgin Mary Orthodox Church, Vitsa, Ioannina,
Outdoor service in the village square


 







Red Swing, White Lilies


Alas, no one here to play on it...


 

White lilies for consolation...

 
 

Thursday 13 August 2020

Fifty-one years ago...August 1969; British Council, London


Fifty-one years ago, in August 1969, I started working for The British Council, at 11 Portland Place (opposite the BBC). I was amused to find the old programmes below. N.B., I didn't write the promotional blurb! These were voluntary evening stints at the Overseas Students Centre, not part of the job description at the English Language Teaching Institute (ELTI). I worked at Portland Place for one year, then went for further TV production training at C.E.T.O,  Nuffield Lodge, Regent's Park.





(above, the old bookplate logo)




RIBA photo of Students Centre:


11 Portland Place, photos (architecture.com):


At C.E.T.O.
(below)



C.E.T.O., Nuffield Lodge, Regent's Park, 1970

After that, I followed the example of Arthur Rimbaud
and disappeared into distant parts,
first of all to Ethiopia...



Rimbaud's House (?), Harar:



From Cadences, Cyprus

Looking for Rimbaud in Har(r)ar:




"Je reviendrai, avec des membres de fer, la peau sombre, l'œil furieux "

Une Saison en enfer

French Mission:



Filming in Addis:




Lake Langano, Ethiopia

...then to Kenya