It’s all Greek to me

July - August 2024
  • Pavlos Simpsonopoulos
  • Jessica Simpson
A Simpson summer in Greece Read more
  • Pavlos Simpsonopoulos
  • Jessica Simpson

List of countries

  • France France
  • Greece Greece
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Family
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  • 39footprints
  • 29days
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  • End of an adventure

    August 6, 2024 in Greece ⋅ 🌙 27 °C

    So it was our last day today. We were all pretty knackard after last nights snorkeling sunset trip so slept in. Then it was what has become our usual morning ritual of Greek yogurt, peach and chocolate biscuits. And then one by one Lily first, Tate last the girls wake up and get breakfast and sit on our bed until it’s full. Then we lazed about reading books, filming Lily and Ruby’s epic blockbuster they are creating and finally deciding what to do on our last day and what time we should aim to set off. Today it was 2.30 so we were all ready to go to the beach and off we set. Last days are always weird as you expect so much from them that they will ultimately disappoint. Today was no exception. We all are maybe a little sad this adventure is coming to an end and when we get home we will again not only have to go back to normal life but our fallen comrade will leave us once again and head off to Paris taking a piece of our hearts with her. So the best way to deal with this pain was to discuss our feelings and emotions in a calm and loving way… However this has never been the way we are so we did the usual and argued about the best approach to society either being communism or capitalism mostly me and Lily arguing and which can get quite heated. In the end me Lily and Ruby bonded around Paul who got proper upset and refused to go to the beach but thankfully did in the end and for a while we were all calm again. Then at the beach more mini squabbles arose and at one point we thought Lily and Leggy may not make up as Leggy tried to apologize to Lily who said it was not a proper apology if it did not come with a hug and leggy refused to hug as not a great hugger and off it went again. Anyway in the end that too was resolved. Paul got upset with a local who asked him to stop throwing rocks at a little phallic shaped monument he had clearly made for himself out of rocks. He was a little strange as later on spent about 20 minutes basking his pecks in the sun while standing up facing us it was bizarre to say the least. It reminded us of the other Greek dude who had proudly displayed his meat and 2 veg to us in the boat next door to ours. We were unimpressed then and unimpressed with the sun pecks Magee display too and bonded again over their stupidity. Anyway things did calm down after this and we set off for ice cream as we all decide the beach was not all that in comparison to the high standards we are now all used too. Ice cream was good and we then chilled again until it was time to get ready for dinner. We gave the one hour warning to the girls so they could get ready to go out for our last Greece super. The restaurant location was very nice and the food was not bad but we all agreed our best meal was the very first we had had in Greece on the night we arrived. Lily of course was not there for this so had her own best meal. Now we are back ‘home’ and sitting outside again just sitting together enjoying our last night as a family before the long long journey home tomorrow. We are avoiding packing so I imagine it will be full stress tomorrow morning but for now it feels right. Greece has been amazing and as I have said many times the thing I love doing most in my life is hanging out with my amazing girls and Paul. It is the best of times and I am very much going to miss it until our next big adventure.Read more

  • Adios Alonissos

    August 6, 2024 in France ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Well I don’t know what to write for ce soirs blog.
    Lowkey today was an average day filled with a slightly larger than usual amount of rage and a less than average amount of walking.
    The day started as any other, I awoke before all of my sisters. The lazyboys™️. I made my way downstairs only to be traumatised by my mother who made a comment not worth repeating. I then made myself a scrumptious brekkie while catching up on yesterdays three scrumptious blogs.
    And then I went to do what older sisters do best; annoy their younger siblings.
    After all we had a music video to film and I had originally told them I would wake them at 10:30 but I was generous and woke them at 11. They didn’t think so and still took their sweet time getting ready. But eventually we got our “little video” done and could go back to lounging.
    However we did not lounge long as we were then told that we were going to a beach about ten minutes away and so the usual (and unfortunately stereotypical, especially on my part) makeup and outfit choosing.
    During this time a very political and heated argument began between my mother and I after I made an innocent comment about Girl Meets World my favourite tv show of the moment, which quickly escalated into a Cold War level disagreement over communism capitalism and equality.
    We somehow managed to make it out of the door and on to the breach, the argument dying down quickly, as they always do and soon we were having a bopping time on an admittedly mid beach with surprisingly warm water.
    We chilled there for a while taking advantage of our last day of peace, and my last day (excluding tomorrow) before rejoining the work force, at least until an argument brewed between Allegra and I (I’m starting to see a common denominator here; my family) but it was quickly resolved with a hug.
    We then meandered back home to chill until going back out for dinner. During this time my sisters and I consumed quite a bit of Instagram content, much to my mothers chagrin I’m sure, and declared a lot of men to be “smashable” (Quent if you’re reading this don’t worry you’re top on my list of smashables).
    After a long and torrid debate over what to wear for dinner, a speedily filmed transition and, surprisingly, no arguments, we were off to dinner.
    I spoke too soon however and on the walk to the restaurant an argument sprung out between Ruby and I over a portable charger (it’s definitely my family I see it now) but once again all was resolved quickly.
    Dinner wasn’t anything to write home about, but I am. It was a nice last dinner although I have discovered that there is something in Greek food that makes me very quickly full and so I once again had to ask for a little doggie bag.
    The walk home was uneventful and for once argument free and then we chilled in our usual positions around the outdoor table, each composing our own blog per Big D’s wishes.
    Personally I think Ruby’s will be the best, but I had to throw my hat in the mix and give myself a fighting chance. Sadly however i feel it will be like me trying to win in a swimming competition against Leon Marchand, donc bon.
    A last good night to you all it’s been fun bringing you on this journey with us and reading all your comments. I look forward to the next time

    P.S go follow @alolliru
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  • OLIVIA!

    August 7, 2024, Aegean Sea ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Helloooo this is Tate.
    Greece… it’s a beautiful place, the people were, come to think of it, not the nicest on earth but they were weren’t mean so all was good. I had the funnest time chilling with the fam and I think four weeks was just perfect tho the last week was the best for Lily was with us so it was more fun in my opinion. Overall we did the same activities and ate the same food ( small walks to beaches, swimming and snorkelling in clear waters, chilling and making videos ) ( pasta salad, toasties and every now and then we went out and ate at a restaurant ooh and rarely we just had biscuits ). But it was still fun. I do admit that I loved Greece but I can’t wait to go home to my bed and sleep there all day (and to see my best friend for it has been to long) anyways that’s just about all. I LOVED IT!!!
    Bye!!👋👋
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  • Allegra’s recap

    August 7, 2024 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Hi guys this is my (Allegra’s) little Greece recap because our trip is over. I really enjoyed this trip; it was so fun, and I’ve always wanted to go to Greece. But when I got here, I’m going to be honest I was quite disappointed not to see the traditional Greek villages with the white houses and touches of blue everywhere. However, I did like that the heat was not humid. But I forgot about my disappointment and ended up loving everywhere we went.
    Paxos was my favorite destination because it was just so picture perfect and calm, the perfect place to just chill.
    Even though traveling days where my least favorite, because sometimes things don’t go as planned, I still had a lot of fun, whether I was reading, watching something, doing the sugar donut challenge, listening to music with Tate, speaking in French with Ruby, or trying to complete level 105 with Dad (we did manage to in the end, but it took us three hours).
    The food in Greece was probably not my favorite thing, but it was close, the first Greek salad I had was amazing and it was probably the best feta I’ve ever eaten in my life, I really liked spinach pies (even though mum’s one is better) and cheese pies weren’t bad either. The Caesar salad I had was not the best and I was very disappointed because I love Caesar salad. And obviously I really enjoyed the biscuits even though they aren’t a Greek tradition.
    Swimming was another thing I loved to do, the water was so clear and pristine, and I loved snorkeling and swimming in the schools of fish.
    So yes, this trip was amazing, and I really loved it and I’m so happy we decide to go where we did!!! Cheers lads!
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  • Greecap: Part 1

    August 7, 2024 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    We welcome you with open arms, G.O.A.T.s of Mount Olympus.

    For the last time. (Wrong album hehe).

    Yes, I know, I said that this recap/ explanation would be out like two days ago. However I have very valid reasons for this late posting. Three, in fact.

    1. I edited Lily’s (amazing) battle video which took me a long time. So nothing in the first day.

    2. I began to make my Eras Tour themed monopoly, which I had been planning for like a week. It’s took (and is still taking) a very long time. (I am, in fact, regretting about every life decision I have made for the last almost 17 years of my life since they lead me to this. It is suffering. It is torture. It is pain. (However it did lead to me (finally!) watching the folklore: The Long Pond Studio sessions, which is really very interesting and I recommend)).

    3. I couldn’t be bothered.

    So yeah! Three veeeery valid reasons and none of them are linked in any way to procrastination, something I have totally never done since I always begin every project in good time!

    I am also proficient in sarcasm, you may have noticed.

    But onto the point of this blog: a greecap. (I just invented that and yes, it’s not groundbreaking but I am actually giggling because it’s so funny to me, I’m proud of myself (happy mum? 🙄 and yes this is passive agressive since mum has decided we all need to learn self validation (which we do) and now has a go at us when we ask her opinion on something. It sucks.)

    Before I begin the Greecap, I must ask if anyone knows if Banksy is definitely a man?

    Onto the Greecap! (Still love the name hehe)

    What is there to say? Greece is Greece. Or is it? That is where I will begin. You expect Greece to be like the films, all white houses with blue roofs on the ocean with lots of stairs and very clean.

    Spoiler alert, it is not. That is the touristy part. And also the expensive part. So when we landed in Corfu, me and the twins were quite disappointed.

    Great, now we sound stuck up. This is not the case! (Except maybe for Allegra who once exclaimed in disgust, “a community pool!”). I just meant that while it was very nice, it was not what we pictured. But the place we were staying was nice, and also Corfu was pretty much the worst place we went to. Which is pretty good because Corfu is not bad.

    I feel like I’m digging myself into a hole here, and shall move on.

    Island hopping in greece is fun! We were consoled from our initial deception by the fact that the islands such as Paxos, Skopelos, or Kefalonia.

    Through places that smelled like excessive perfume to small huts near murderous pig-owning neighbours, there was one constant, that defined the greek experience.

    My sadness from being separated from Alfredo, of course.

    On the second island, Alfredo, my one true friend in this world, was taken from me. Granted, he is a rock that almost killed me, but we formed a bond on that day and I was inspired to look at life in a new perspective thanks to him. Through thick and thin, he has always been on the forefront of my thoughts.

    Oh, and there was the family too, I guess.

    Nah, just kidding. It’s chilling with the bros that make the whole experience more fun! Call me a sook if you will, guess how low my care factor is?

    About a solid 8 out of 10, actually, I really care what people think about me, please don’t be mean 🥺.

    Anyway, times like Dad saying “no snacking on the bros!” (To be ignored, of course), or Allegra saying the most hilarious things, like “The greek gods must have sh*t themselves when they saw this!” Or Lily saying “I miss Quent” every second minutes, or Mum taking every picture and consequently not being in many, or Tate explaining k-dramas, or me singing Taylor Swift songs, are what make a Simpson Holiday™️, a Simpson Holiday™️.

    So Greece was awesome, and snorkelling was cool, and beaches were fun, and spinach pies were really fifty/fifty.

    And there you go! A Greecap from your resident Tortured Poet!

    Do I need to say more? Or like, detail? I guess you have detail in the daily blogs, so… no?

    Oh! I forgot to mention biscuit time! Honorary mention goes to biscuit time, a time where, as a family, we hang out, like I always say we don’t do enough. I like biscuit time for that.

    And because of this? The parents are buying biscuits right now so that biscuit time can continue. May the Legrechaun rule forever more!

    Well, I guess this is the end. My last blog from this trip, named Somebody Call John Travolta!, but turned into a Taylor Swift thing. Like many things I do, really. You should have expected it, two be fair.

    But 2morrow, I will wake up without need for a memory about the whole day, and without anything too write about.

    But wait! What about this blog made it TTPD themed, you ask? Well, maybe you have to read it a 2nd time, and find out. Maybe not, though.

    Well, I suppose, for the last time,

    ✌🏻 right out.

    Cheeeeese!!
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  • Greecap: Part 2

    August 7, 2024 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    We welcome you with open arms, G.O.A.T.s of Mount Olympus.

    I am cackling maniacally! I am connecting my fingers under my chin!! I am spinning my chair around slowly, stroking a black cat!! Menacing music is playing!!!

    I wonder if this is how Taylor Swift feels.

    Did I fool anyone? Seriously, did I?

    As if I would end my last post like that! Please. I am no amateur! Let’s go over the facts.

    I told you I would put things in my final post, that I didn’t put. Hint One.

    I put an excessive amount of 2s in the final paragraphs. I spelt “to” with 2 Os, on purpose. Hint 2.

    And I put ✌🏻 instead of “peace” for “peace right out”, and there are two exclamation points in cheeeeese!! (Makes you think, did she plan this since the very beginning??). Hint 3!!

    Oh, also TTPD is an album in two parts, making this proof of the TTPD theme in today’s blog.

    So welcome to the Anthology! Posted two hours later, much like in Taylor’s album releasing.

    Also known as, the secret second part of my last blog entry.

    “But Ruby, oh wise one, what will you put”, you ask? “You have already done your ingeniously named Greecap!”

    Well, thank you, dear reader, for the compliment, and also, YOU SILLY FOOL.

    I will tell you about what I want! Like that hilarious time when Allegra and I were sitting in the car listening to Sabrina Carpenter (who we will see in concert!!) and I said “this is my favourite song in that album!” And she said, “I couldn’t pick a favourite, but I could pick a least favourite”, and I said, “yeah? Which one?” Already knowing, and she confirmed by saying, “the one about forks” and I said, “aghh I hate that song!” Because really it’s terrible, and, I can’t make this up, but the previous song had come to an end, and we hear Sabrina say, “You used a fork once…” and we YELLED in reaction to this because it was so funny and the comedic timing of the universe can not be beaten.

    Oh, also, I said I was going to elaborate! So, here you go!

    Some are self-explanatory, such as: Beaches, boats, laughs, pools, walks, restaurants, jokes, arguments, dresses, transitions, sea sickness, injuries, taylor swift, olympics, rizzing, sharing pancakes, snorkels, and lie-ins.

    So.

    Alfredo is self-explanatory now, but he is the rock that could have killed me and also my kindred spirit.

    Marriage proposals. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this? But I keep proposing to Tate. She always says no. Weird.

    True Loves. Well, sometimes there are people who are good looking, so we say they are our true loves. Which leads us to…

    Norwegians. Allegra’s true love was from a Norwegian family, she also took a picture of him and he is the lock-screen in her (now broken) phone.

    Broken phones. The back of mine is smashed (and no-one knows how, I didn’t drop it, and it has gotten worse without me touching it, so a bit worrying) and Allegra’s got in the water.

    Turds. I call people turds. Mum hates it. Simple.

    Penguins. It is just because of our transition. Which leads us to…

    Ratatouille. In our Penguins transition, Lily looks like the food critic in Ratatouille.

    Butt naked and riding the waves. Worry not, no one was doing this, it was just something funny that Olivia said when she saw a guy in his boat speed by, and I think he was wearing skin coloured swimmers? I am unsure, and Olivia is upstairs, so wayyy too far for me to go ask her. Sorry!

    Alps. I really don’t remember. I think someone said something about the alps while I was writing that part of the blog. Hey weirdly I just got massive deja vu about a dream, I think. I was writing a blog like this and when I finished it was like, the apocalypse?? I thought you should know. That was really weird. Anyway.

    Seven stitches. Tate scratched herself on a fence, and told everyone that she got seven stitches for it. She actually got none. It was a tinyyy cut.

    Goblin runs! A favourite of mine. We stayed somewhere with a mezzanine bedroom, too small to fully stand in, so we had to sort of duck as we walked. Tate mentioned that she ran like a goblin making plans and holding treasure, so naturally we all ran like that (out-turned feet, raised knees, hands clasped in front of you, head bowed. It caused problems late at night.)

    Nighttime pics! I will explain later hehe.

    K dramas! Olivia explains them in great detail, leading to hilarious quotes such as “Say it to my face, sonny boy” or “he had to go deal with 9/11”.

    Ginger cousins. Everytime we see a ginger, we say, “look! It’s your cousin/sister/brother…” to Allegra. It is hilarious. Really timeless comedy.

    Patronisers and Condescenders. This is dad. I said this to him once, but he is not men, he is man, and took offence.

    Sublime. I think you know? Our “winner takes it all” remake turned perfume add at Steve’s suggestion.

    Gaslighting. This is a goood one! The twins and I convinced dad that the green-ish melon we were eating was actually orange. He was perplexed and began to slowly doubt his eyesight, leading to a hilarious moment where he picked up the plate and held it under the light, desperately saying, “it’s green! I know it must be!”. The twins and I laughed a lot.

    Teasing. In a similar vein, dad was being teased (i don’t remember what about, probably a pronunciation) and he said sulkily, “stop teasing meeee”. The twins and I laughed.

    Swiftopoly. My plans for the eras tour monopoly began!

    Middle part old money. We people watched at restaurants and decided if they had the old money aesthetic, or not. Mostly, they didn’t but there were a few (such as Allegra’s Norwegian true love).

    Name King. A book at a place we stayed, we said like one says, “go off, king!” And it was very funny. It turned out that it was actually called “In the Name of the King” which was a sad discovery.

    Losing bets. Dad lost a bet against me, explained in…

    Lights as churches. We saw lights in the distance, and he was adamant, and I mean adamant that it was a church window. I said, “it’s a streetlight” so naturally we had to look. It was, in fact, a streetlight, and Dad is now a fool.

    Potato sack prince’s coats. In an amazing dream I had, this prince offered me his coat and it was actually a potato sack. I cannot stress enough how much I do not understand why the prince was wearing a potato sack?? But there you go.

    2 litres of blood. In the same amazing dream, the punishment for thievery in the kingdom was that two litres of blood were drawn from you. This woke me up since I was accused of thievery, and they began to draw blood. I hate needles. I am still mad about this, since that was near the beginning if the story that could have happened, and also, I am perplexed. Why two litres of blood? What do they do with it??? I’ll never learn.

    Insane asylum dreams. The following night, I had an equally good dream, in which I was put in an insane asylum by Mum, for not doing sport, and I uncovered a secret: the asylum was killing the kids. No one believed me since I was in an asylum. It was an awesome dream though.

    Sugar lip competitions. It was in fact explained in a previous blog, but once again I will reiterate that I won.

    Sea urchins. Tate got stung by one and it was hilarious, she sped through the water screaming “I’m gonna die! I’m actually going to die!” She did not, in fact, die.

    Tough crowd. I said this once when no one laughed at my joke, and Allegra found this to be the height of comedy and now says it every time people don’t laugh at her. Which is a lot 😉.

    Where’s the sound? I think I explained this one, but Allegra was doing really badly at her part in the transition, and exaggerated so much that it was hilarious.

    No ice cream: until Lily came, we never really had ice cream, and it was shocking. We always get ice cream! It’s like our thing! Luckily, the ice cream consumption went up exponentially once our fallen comrade arrived.

    Endless running. From when the winner took it all.

    National anthems. I may have said this before, but this was a dialogue had at one point:

    Mum: soon enough you’ll be a climate change denier!
    Ruby (hilariously): what’s wrong with the climate?
    Mum: and a right wing supporter!!
    Allegra: *to the tune of the national anthem* Donald Trump our gracious president!

    It was quite hilarious. Mum didn’t see the funny side.

    Finally, Who put that wave there? I am in the habit of saying “who put that _____ there?” When I hit something (examples include: who put that wall there, who put that table there…). I was treading water and a wave smacked me in the face, so I said, “who put that wave there?” And Olivia had apparently never heard me say this before, and died of laughter.

    And there you go!

    Expect for nighttime pics. Well, every night we spent in Greece, Olivia and I waited until Allegra was asleep to take a picture with her. It was about the best part of every day, and absolutely hilarious. This is what our secret club is for. Yes you get some pics!!

    And now, this is actually it. For real.

    “How can I be sure?” You ask.

    Well, I’m out of albums. So you know.

    I feel myself obliged to look back and think about my writing. It started as a joke, and then I took a break, and then I returned and was objectively hilarious and then angry and then I made it about Taylor Swift.

    It was a voyage comparable to the one I took to Greece. I suppose art imitated life accidentally. How cool!!

    And now, for the actual last time, an honorary mention. See I had an idea for the last honorary mention, but I’ve forgotten it. Guess I have to improvise!!

    Honorary mention goes to the people who read my blog! As a wise person once said, this is all for you and because of you.

    I will conclude this blog in the way that Taylor Swift concludes TTPD.

    “The only thing that’s left is the manuscript. One last souvenir from my trip to your shores… Now and then I reread the manuscript. But the story isn’t mine anymore.”

    Peace right out.

    Cheeeeese!!
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  • Steve Martin wishes he were me

    August 7, 2024 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    At long last the recap you have all really been waiting for is here. The others were just the ads before the movie, those Pixar shorts they used to include in dvds as it was the only way people would watch them.
    Well what can I say except Greece (much like Big D) rocks.
    There is always the debate to be had over whether Greece really rocked or whether it was the break from my minimum wage job that rocked, but for the sake of the blog and my parents happiness, we'll say that it is Greece that rocks (shout out Alfredo, Ruby's loml).
    I discovered on our last night that my family had all made bets on how much I would say the f bomb in the week that I was there. Ruby doesn't seem to know me at all as her guess was in the forties. The twins did a bit better, both of them guessing in the eighties. In my opinion, they still aimed low. According to their count I said the f bomb (not even including all the other times I swore) 77 times during that week. I think they miscounted. After all, Tate was only awake for half the time.
    My motto for the trip was Euro Summer. Basically euro summer is what white Americans call their trip to Europe in the summer, which then seems to invade their instagram feeds and also every single conversation they have for the rest of their lives. I decided to put my own spin on it and take away the negative white privilege connotations, and instead decided that it was the new YOLO. So basically that meant when doing something foolish (such as jumping into a rather shallow pool and banging up my shins) it was justified by the loud obnoxious yelling of "Euro Summer!". I don't think I helped change the locals opinion of euro summer at all to be honest.
    As to my listing of my favourite islands, I would have to go with my favourite being Alonissos, my least favourite being Alonissos, and oh yeah, Alonissos wasn't bad either (this is funny as I only did one island). I also pit stopped (title!) at Athens, which was lowkey exactly as I pictured it.
    Much like my sisters, I was also disappointed and shocked at the revelation that movies lied to me and that Greece is not all stone white houses with blue shutters. However, the abundance of mopeds and motorbikes was no lie and seemed to be the primary form of transportation so that assuaged me a tad.
    We are approaching the end of the blog, and seeing as we saved the best blog for last, this also means the end of our euro summer adventures. It is sad to see it go, sadder still when we add the fact that I have gone back to my minimum wage job, but all things have their time. I assure you this wont be the last you see of us, as my mother is determined to keep travelling until she physically cannot, and if you know my mother, you know that what she sets her mind to, happens.
    A little last recap of the people with who I spent my euro summer. Ruby is, as always, hilarious and over obsessed with Taylor Swift. The twins are the twins, but they seem to be getting funnier as they go along and I am shocked to discover that they are actually individuals and not a package deal. Paps is paps, Man not men, and will forever remain a child, to our joy and annoyance. And mother is our general, the reason we go to Greece and all these other amazing locations, and none of us would be here without her.
    With this I leave you, a fallen comrade no more.
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  • Just like living in paradise…

    August 7, 2024 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Today is basically just a long journey home. This means that Jess made us get up about an hour too early so that we had enough time to get organised. The trip involves leaving our villa about 11am, walking to the port, catching a ferry, a bus, the Athens metro and then finally a plane home, where we will hopefully find Notorious waiting for us to drive home to redacted, arriving at approximately 2am local time (3am Greek time), if everything goes to plan. So there is not much there of interest to blog about so I won’t bother.
    But I will rate the places we have visited. Alonissos and Paxos were awesome, the highlights of the trip. Kefalonia was pretty cool for a big island and we did have an amazing boat day. Athens was cool for a short visit as a disruption when we were tiring of island life. Skiathos and Skopelos were nice enough although a bit over touristy for my liking, we did manage to find cool places with pools though. And lastly Corfu, I feel no desire to ever visit there again, it was massively over touristy and very rough, it’s only redeeming quality as far as I am concerned was the amazing accommodation, pool and taverna that we managed to find.
    I will also finish off with a random list of thoughts and highlights, some of which made it into previous blogs and some of which didn’t. So, in no particular order there were family days, family evenings, just us, fallen comrade, beaches, swimming pools, crystal clear water, ferries, buses, private boat days, skippered boat days, snorkelling, feta cheese, Greek yoghurt, Greek salad, snacking on bros, gyatts, incomprehensible blogs, brackets, leprechaun biscuit delivery service, toasties, pasta salad, beer, ouzo, racing for the best seats on the ferries, excessive amounts of suncream, new dresses, cinnamon biscuits, bread dicks, spanakopita, cheese pie, freddo cappuccino, not much ice cream, meeting Lily at the airport, Ruby not being a lover of much (Taylor Swift excepted), Tate sleeping forever, Allegra the leprechaun, transitions, little videos, Mamma Mia church, sublime, Euro 24 disappointment, Sokraki Serpentine and very narrow roads, Jeepster McBuggy, Fiat McPanda and various unnamed cars, the four Greek men’s names (Spyros, Stavros, Dimitris and Vasilis), nanna naps, the entire McGee family, deteriorating hat, olive trees, pine trees, pot plants everywhere, free range pigs, too narrow tracks, sea urchins, Fisho and Eely, the Russian bot spam commenting on our photos (it turned out to be Tim), selfies, eye makeup, feta cheese, Greek yoghurt, Greek salad, parakalo, efharisto, Olympic Games, one rainy hour among endless sunshine, Antipaxos, verbally funny Allegra, literarily funny Ruby, calm Tate, Euro summer Lily, my favourite child, my amazing wife, my perfect family, my amazing life, sugar lips competitions, it’s hot in Greece, Kirkwood’s travel blog, Ruby getting 18 in her bac, twins snorkel talking, 40 shades of eye makeup, fridge magnets, sadly too much plastic and non vegan eating, Leon Marchand, unnecessarily visible dongs, did you tell John about Fraaance, 77 f-bombs in a week, memories to last a lifetime, death threats and empty threats, redacted redacted, feta cheese, Greek yoghurt, Greek salad, Taylor bloody Swift, connected, homo erotic Olympic imagery, fire warnings, unconditional love, endless love, I just love spending time with my family.
    I could go on but I think you get the point. It has been an awesome trip, Greece is an amazing place and we have all had one of the times of our lives. How lucky we are that we get to do it all together. Jessica, Lily, Ruby, Allegra and Olivia, thank you for making everything fun, I love you all.
    xxxxx
    BigD
    August 2024
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  • …and I dont want to go home!

    August 7, 2024 in Greece ⋅ 🌙 28 °C

    Paul our master blogger has requested that we write a summary blog. As he requested this yesterday we all thought it meant write on our last day but apparently not. So hence here is the summary from me (Jess). What can I say, I am a nomad at heart like my parents before me who lived the first 8 years of my life in various different countries. So it was inevitable I would have a nomad calling. So my mission in life once the girls were born was to travel with them as much as possible. So Lily was born in Australia and the rest in Wales but we travelled with them as much as we could from Euro 2014 campervan to 7 months in Asia and Australia to summers and trips in Norway, Canada and now it’s Greece 2024. Greece is somewhere I have always wanted to go and mostly imagined myself doing a Shirley Valentine which I do bring out when my family are getting on my nerves. But given my favourite thing in the world is hanging out with them I don’t think a Shirley Greece was ever going to be. So a Simpson Greece it was. 3 weeks without a Comrade and one with the whole crew. We have travelled across 7 Islands and if you include boat day trips it’s more Iike 9. We have been on planes, cars, metros, buses, ferries, water taxis and a very cool red beach buggy called Little red bugette or Jeepster McBuggy depending on who you ask. We have stayed in small places, fancy places and next door to a pig, horse and savage dogs farm. Every new home a new adventure to explore. I love this part of not knowing what the next house will be like and learning to live with its weird side. I also love how comfortable we all are anywhere it seems as I truly believe home is where we all are. So anywhere we all are will be perfect for us. Although we did spend 3 very cool weeks in Greece pre Lily I have to say my favourite week was when she was there. Have I mentioned my happiest moments are when we are all together? So in terms of favourite places it’s hard to say, Corfu is not a very nice destination but was the best food and one of the nicest places we stayed. Paxos is very special and you can’t move for nice beaches. However it was super yacht central which is both interesting to look at and also depressing to see. We loved Alonissos as it still had that Greek island charm that has not been gentrified and felt more authentic as a result. Athens is like India, chaotic at the time but you can feel there is something unique and special there. We did of course get our Greek slump in which we had had enough of beaches and tzatziki but Lily’s arrival brought us back to life and I didn’t want it to end. I would definitely go back to Greece again but this time I would not book our accommodation on Airbnb or booking.com as it’s much cheaper and better to go directly to the owners or find individual owner websites online for each island. We definitely paid more for booking through the corporations. Next time we will be sticking it to the man and going direct. Will we be back with the girls? Who knows as there are still so many countries to explore and Korea and Japan are calling. But I recommend Greece and I recommend travelling with your kids as much as you can, go anywhere and everywhere. Don’t spend on material things and spend on experiences. Travel respectfully and think about the environment so buses and trains are great and they all add to the adventure and experience. Talk to people as you go, find out their stories as it will broaden your horizon and mind. Don’t be afraid of trying new things and places which are off the beaten track. Enjoy sleeping in the best of places and the worst of places as sometimes the challenges, the surprises the things that go horribly wrong are the best parts of your adventure. I will do this for as long as me and Paul can and for as long as our girls will want to come with us. We thought last year was the end of our travels with Lily but she is now booked in for next year so it seems to my delight that hopefully our girls will adventure with us for many years to come before we are officially not cool enough for them.Read more