Contents
Party Pieces |
Summer Solstice: Midsummer Madness?
The ‘Rethymnon CIC and Friends’ Summer Solstice 2007 Party at Camping Elizabeth was a whole load of fun. It is hard to believe that it is now three years since Anna Capernaros first suggested that a proper Midsummer party would be ’a jolly good idea’. It now, of course, has become tradition. As ever, the hospitality we received at Camping Elizabeth was just fantastic. Great food, great wine, wonderful atmosphere. With such a diverse range of ages and nationalities present I would love to say that we all put the world to rights: well some of you may have done, but as you will see from my summary, that’s not what I remember! The Grand Pedalo Outing on Lake Kournas: The idea that the Rethymnon Crew should make a day trip to Lake Kournas so that everyone ‘can have a go on a pedalo’ has been in the pipeline for a couple of months now—and in itself this group outing would appear to be harmless enough. However, as the evening progressed, plans for this excursion became more elaborate and surreal. We’re not sure what the original catalyst was, but we suspect it might have been something to do with the person who mentioned ‘water-pistols’. Re-enacting The Battle of Trafalgar, 21st October, 1805: Somebody said something about having ‘two teams’, and after that, the rest of the discussion was history. Quick as a flash it was established that the appropriate naval term for getting hold of a load of pedaloes (plural of ‘pedalo’ is in dispute) in a hurry is ‘commandeering’. Discounting a bit of nit-picking regarding numbers of teams that should actually be in play (were the Spanish and French actually on the same side?) we felt we were doing quite well. Whilst we hadn’t actually decided who would be Nelson, preliminary rules of engagement had been established, a draft plan of initial pedalo formations had been drawn and someone knew how to make the flags (if not the hats). Furthermore, in the spirit of demonstrating that ‘the study of history is merely a negotiation of truth’ we had managed to incorporate an Emergency Belgian Catering Pedalo and a scuba-diving double agent into our battle strategy. But then, somebody suggested a firework display, which was obviously a huge ‘no-no’ because LAKE KOURNAS IS A NATURE RESERVE! Quite aside from the fact that nobody wants to deal with the legal issues that face a foreign national who has inadvertently blown up a goose in a protected wetland area using dodgy pyrotechnics, we felt a sense of social and environmental responsibility. What to do? Using some creative imagination we worked out that re-enacting The Battle of Trafalgar in silence on pedaloes on Lake Kournas might fulfil a variety of educative functions, and that if we really put our minds to it, we could probably get EU funding and keep Greenpeace happy. But that’s another story…. IT WAS A LOVELY PARTY. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH !!!! |
Stella McBarking |
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Stella actually threw a bit of an orbital wobbly this
month. Sparks flew and at one point we thought she might have to be
replaced at the last minute by our back-up astral consultant - Cornelius
Pointy. However, largely due to the help given by our new assistant
“Clairvoyant Chloe” harmony was swiftly restored. Stella has shifted her
black holes back into alignment and now feels able to provide the CMB
crew with her July predictions. |
Teaspoon: 10th February—26th March |
