Left - You just never know what drives around the streets of Ithaki. Even Octopus like the wind in their gills. (if they had gills)

Above - The calm waters of Vathy Bay highlighted by fishing nets. Now that Flotilla yachts are no longer sailing around Ithakis bays, the local fishing boats have taken claim to them again. Above Right - Crabs take up residence on the concrete walls of the Marina in Vathy.

Right - Spyros Arsenis, always one to take part in organizing something culturally enriching, this week has organized the War in Print Exhibition at the Eparhos Offices in Vathy. The exhibition gives an interesting and quirky insight into the propaganda of war through the newspaper articles and front pages of some of the popular publications of the time, put out during the WW2 years. The Exhibition also covers the Resistance Movement. If you're on Ithaca, it won't matter if you don't read Greek because as the saying goes 'a picture says a thousand words'. This is a truly worthwhile exhibition to attend if you get the chance. The War in Print Exhibition continues through to November. Click here or on photo right for more.

Tue 30 Oct - Above - Half a road is better than none in Stavros toward Anoghi. Right - Sunday night was the last night of Rementzo Restaurant in Frikes until next April. Nektarios (center) was deliriously happy with not a single expletive uttered all night, but then he was pretty busy hamming it up for the camera. The fingers on photo right belong to Rementzos' blonde Grill Man aka Mr. Pyro or Rrrrrrrrrrr and possibly Rien, who bid farewell to his place of employment until next Season. Photo left is the chronically unbalanced Demetri who accidentally managed to balance a few breakables on the neck of a Mythos bottle before the stack came crashing down around Nektarios' ankles and Mrs. Rementzo, Poppy, was beckoned to sweep up the mess.

Thu 1 Nov - Left - View over Afales. Ithaki is greening up again after the rains of October, but the first day of November we had blue skies again and temperatures to swim by. Below - Tahiarxis church in Platrithia looking brilliant under the blue sky. Below Left - Dexa beach in the south, where some locals took advantage of the high temperatures today to go for a swim. After yesterdays' rain and wind who would have thought today could be so wonderful.

Sun 4 Nov - Yesterdays Blood Donation day went very well. Ithaca has stocked up its supply, ready for any emergency. The volunteers and the Blood bank thank all who made the effort to give. As elsewhere in the world, giving blood is giving a gift of life to someone. Below - On the road through Platrithia. The sun was shining, but in the distance the predicted weather was making itself get noticed with some billowing clouds, puffed up and looking very ominous.

Left - Frikes bay looking very black at lunchtime. No boats in the Ionian today with the storms and rain predicted for the area.

Just because Rementzo has closed its doors for the winter, doesn't mean that Frikes is completely closed. For dining you can still get fed at Symposium Restaurant and Piperato behind the bay and for a little 'letting your hair down' Fiorendino Bar is open for business as usual. Not too far up the road, Yefuri restaurant is also open for business, at least until Christmas.

On the local front, most of the attention is focused on olive picking this time of year. hessian canvases spread from grove to grove as locals comb the olives from their branches. Soon there'll be fires burning all over Ithaki as dead branches go up in plumes of smoke.

The Season and the skies may proclaim it's winter, but the temperatures are still too mild for heating.

Thu 8 Nov - Right - Vathy on the bay. The temperatures have dropped, but the skies can still be blue here on Ithaki. More rain ahead, but it's not too bad when it's mixed with sunshine.

With no news in regard to ADSL on the northern front, ithacagreece.com might join the select few going for wireless plans. I thought OTE hadn't been too bad lately, but with many informing me that they had sent me emails that I had not received and today, getting an email dated 3rd June, I suspect the OTE connection is worse than even we realize. If you have written to the site and have not received a reply, please write again. I answer ALL emails when I receive them. Your email may have been lost in the space/time continuum of otenet. It may also be worth checking that ithacagreece.com replies aren't going into your junk folders, apparently emails coming through otenet have a habit of getting dumped there.

Sat 10 Nov - Left - If this image looks foreign to Ithaki, you're right, it is. The pic was taken in Athens today, but what it has in common with the island, as with all over Greece, is the students strike currently going on around the country. Reason - Bad state of the schools. Many dangerous and delapidated buildings house Greeces' students. Schools without heating, bits falling off the ceiling, damp and unhygenic surrounds. The demonstration through the streets of Athens today, gathered students, parents, teachers and other concerned citicizens who wish their future generation of leaders to be schooled in buildings conducive to learning.

As you may have guessed, ithacagreece is in Athens, but only until tomorrow afternoon, so the site will be back to being updated more regularly.

Sat 10 Nov - 10 force winds and storms halted the ferry today... and I'm unhappily stuck in Patras, hopefully only until tomorrow. For some road pics see Page 5 or click here