Sofitel Heathrow Terminal 5

Sofitel Heathrow

I had never heard of Sofitel before this holiday, they have both city centre hotels (including London) and airport locations.

Star Rating

*****

It is important to note that hotel ratings have not yet been standardised internationally, meaning that the rating listed above is the official rating provided by the relevant agency in the hotel’s locale.

Location

The Walkway

Sofitel’s Terminal 5 hotel is a bit special, primarily because the entrance is actually inside the terminal. It is a surprisingly long walk down a corridor to get to the hotel itself, but when you are checking in at about 5 in the morning, staggering out of your room and 5 minutes later finding yourself in the airport is a pleasant experience. There is also a bus which you can use to reach the other terminals.

5/5

First Impressions

The hotel itself is lovely. I am sure the temptation is there to take advantage of the location to bump up the prices without really providing an experience to match. I didn’t have to check in myself, arriving late, but the check-in desk were extremely helpful in providing me with a door card and all that stuff. You can immediately tell it’s a nice hotel, with plenty of open space, a few bars and restaurants and a few little shops and things; there’s even an Audi R8 on show.

Now, if you aren’t staying there, access to any floor but the lobby is restricted. That is to say, you can go anywhere you want to spend money, but getting to a room is only possible if you have a room key, which you will need in order to operate the lifts.

4.5/5

Amenities

The bars are pretty straightforward and I didn’t get the chance to eat there. Apart from that there is plenty of room. The hotel is split up into a number of different sections within the main shell of the building, each with rooms running up and down a corridor and windows facing out into one of the open spaces, whether that is the bar or the ‘Zen Garden’, which our room faced.

‘Zen Garden’

To be quite honest, I don’t really understand the Zen Garden. To me it looks like one of those things that architects put there to make their plans look pretty. You know the ones, you see this attractive sketch, usually with pastel colours, or something that looks like it’s been painted in watercolour. The plans talk about amazing open spaces for people to hang out, the Zen Garden offering the chance to stop for a contemplative thought or the chance to ‘escape from the hustle and bustle’. The reality never matches up, with the open spaces left unused because they are totally impractical, and the reality of the buildings never matching up to their imaginary forefathers. What I am trying to say, with this unnecessarily long ramble is that the Zen Garden is pointless. There was never anyone in it, there were a couple of benches and a few ornaments, but certainly no ‘garden’ and all it really offered is the chance to charge a bit more for a room that overlooks it.

There is a spa and relaxation suite, perfect for pampering groups of hens on their way out of the country for a wild holiday, or the over 50s with too much money to spend. There are apparently 5x treatment rooms, sauna, steam and a ‘Vitality Pool’ which is ponce-speak for a pool which is too small to actually swim in.

There is also a hair salon and jewellery shop although if you have a 6am flight I doubt you’ll find much time to make the most of these! Perhaps more practical is the car park, which means that you can purchase both a room and parking for your trip, perfect for the more busy travellers out there.

In reality though, the hotel has pretty much anything a traveller could need, with hard liquor or relaxation available… although it all comes at a price.

4.5/5

The Room

Until recently, my hotel related experience was pretty non-existent. Between the ages of 0 and 12 my holidays consisted almost exclusively of Mathews caravan holidays on the French Atlantic Coast. From there on family holidays were usually spent in Spanish apartments, with the odd trip to Center Parcs thrown in.

What all this means is that I was far from qualified to hold any type of opinion on where I stayed, because I had almost no point of reference. Since then I have been lucky enough to stay in a few hotels and I have tended to find that regardless of whether you spend £90 for a night or £290 for a night, much of what you find in your room is the same.

Anyway, what I am trying to say is, the ratings in this area are pretty tight, unless a room is dire, but things like cleanliness and spaciousness will have a big impact an my views, because things like beds and toilets are items you’d hope to find in all rooms. I suppose decor and the like will also count for a lot.

Sofitel ‘Classic Room’

I believe I stayed in a ‘classic room’, which is, as you might expect, one of the rooms at the cheap end of the spectrum. There are suites available, with the largest offering 3 bedrooms. If that’s what you’re aiming for, I imagine your experience will be 100x nicer than mine and I can tell you now, my impressions were pretty darn good.

Like many business and higher end hotels, Sofitel Heathrow’s rooms are relatively generous in terms of the space afforded and the decor is clean and inoffensive. You won’t be surprised to learn that everything also feels modern, with the hotel only having been open for a few years.

There is a flat screen TV, mini-bar, safe and internet access in the room via an ethernet cable. In the bathroom, there is a bath and a walk in shower, rather than the more predictable ‘shower over the bath’ arrangement that is popular in hotels and homes across the country. It is worth noting that in these cheaper rooms, the broadband access, be it WiFi or through the cable is chargeable, whilst in all other types of room it is free.

The bed, which was queen sized, was nice. Slightly on the firmer side, which is how I like it. I didn’t like the pillows, which were some kind of unnecessarily soft feather based affair. Apparently they have 5 varieties available and a call down to reception would have sorted me out, but I’m not the sort to make a fuss (it’s the British way), so I soldiered on, with my face increasingly engulfed by pillow as the night wore on.

I can’t really have any complaints about the room though and given that it was really just a stop-over for a night before flying out, it was more than comfortable.

4.5/5

Food

Unfortunately, with an early flight and the choice of a room that doesn’t have breakfast included, unfortunately I didn’t get the chance to sample the hotel’s cuisine. I understand the restaurant, well, Brasserie; Brasserie Roux serves fantastic food if you are at the hotel for dinner, whilst there is Breakfast included with all of the nicer rooms at either the Vivre Restaurant or La Belle Époque. If you have had the chance to eat at any of Sofitel’s restaurants, please do leave a comment with your thoughts below.

I did have breakfast in the terminal though, at Giraffe, a review of which is on this blog. (It’s not yet, hence the lack of a link, but it will be, then there will be a link and not this bit in brackets, which is temporary…)

Costs

Rooms cost upwards of £130 if you book at least 2 weeks in advace or closer to £170 for something more flexible, meaning that although it’s not cheap, what you save on catching the National Express Coach (see my earlier review) you can spend staying here, instead of with Lenny Henry at the big purple Premier Inn. Once again though, in a section I have poorly labelled ‘cost’ it is the value for money that counts and although it’s not cheap and you don’t get a great deal included, it certainly isn’t bad value for money.

3.5/5

Overall

A lovely hotel, with an unrivalled location, particularly if you happen to by flying with BA from Heathrow. It’s modern classy and has a fresh design which sets you up nicely before a long journey, or allows you to have an ideal night of rest on your way back home.

If you plan on staying at Sofitel, you can book with them here. In case you’re wondering, I don’t make a penny when you click-through to any of the sites I link to from my blog, I am just trying to make your life easier!

I’d love to have the chance to stay again and if I have the money, I will certainly opt to stay here over any of the budget alternatives.

4.5/5

1,460

Toothpaste, it’s all the same, right? …Wrong! Macleans Whitening

Macleans Whitening 'toothpaste'

I can tell you now, I am a man who favours toothpaste with milder flavours and I was brought up on Aquafresh Mild & Minty. I’m far less picky now, I can handle the various different varieties, the difference between which I don’t fully understand. I mean, honestly, what’s the difference between Aquafresh Total Care +Whitening and Aquafresh Ultimate? Surely you can’t get much better than something which offers to totally care for your teeth and even make them a bit whiter than they used to be? Perhaps I am becoming cynical in my old age. I am actually using Colgate at the moment, but it’s just what I found in the flat, it doesn’t really matter to me; I have come to the conclusion that toothpaste is toothpaste… or so I thought.

I stayed at my parents’ house this weekend and since they expect to have their kids drop in on them with almost no prior warning, they are well prepared for such an occasion, keeping, as they do, a supply of toothpaste and other bathroom essentials for everyone to use. They currently have, probably because it’s cheap, more than one tube of Macleans Whitening toothpaste.

Macleans toothpaste, according to the research I have done over the last 18 seconds, is made by GlaxoSmithKline, the exact same company that produces my preferred brand teeth cleaning and mouth freshening products. You would hope that this is a good sign. It is not.

Macleans have apparently strived to produce a toothpaste which, regardless of its cleaning properties, tastes like you are having pepper (freshly ground, not red) shoved up your nose through the back entrance. The first sign that there is something strange going on is when you sqeeze the stuff out of the tube. Instead of being white, or having some interesting colours involved, you are faced with a white and clear/translucent striped mess. At this stage it’s easy to judge on appearances and on my first attempt I made a big effort not to do-so. Putting it in my mouth, instead of being treated to an immediate hit of mint, you are immediately conscious that the mint flavouring, which is pretty pathetic, is doing an appalling job of masking whatever disaster is going on underneath.

If we can all accept that regardless of what promises are made on the box in order to bump up the price that most toothpaste is, indeed, pretty similar. (Over the two days I used it my teeth certainly aren’t noticably whiter) Then we should also be able to agree that personal preference will be in no-small-part down to taste. All things being equal then, if it doesn’t whiten and doesn’t taste good, this is a toothpaste to be avoided like the plague. Do yourself a favour and step away from the special offer! 1/5

474

National Express Coach between Woking and Heathrow

A National Express coach, in Woking, in case you can't imagine what that looks like.

I’ve been so lazy and let’s be blunt, this is not going to be long, or interesting, because it’s about a ride on a coach; so unless you’ve never been on a coach journey before, or really need to know how to get from Woking to Heathrow, I’d leave now.

Honestly… go!

Ok, so, you’re still reading, so coaches are new to you, huh? Well, they are big metal things that go on the road, they have about 50 seats, and windows down each side which help to distinguish them from lorries. You know what lorries are, yeah?

Fine, I’ll stop being a dick. If you’re going to Heathrow, you think (like me) taxis are a bit expensive and you’d rather not pay actual cash-money to have your car earn a few dents and scratches in an enormous car park, so far away from the terminal you might as well be at home, then public transport is the obvious choice.

You really have 2 main options, the coach, or the train. For me, the train means either going up to Waterloo, making my way across to Paddington and catching the extortionately expensive Heathrow Express in a journey that would take upwards of an hour and a half. I could get on the Piccadilly Line and make my way down that way, which would also take about an hour and a half,  or there’s the RailAir Coach from Woking. Obviously, this limits your options and really you have to be able to get to the coach stop easily. There is another RailAir coach from Reading I think, I live in Guildford, so Woking is only 10 minutes away on the train.

You can either buy your ticket for the journey online here, for about £11.00 including booking fees, although that requires a printer; or you can purchase from the driver. I would recommend at least checking the coach times online though, they run approximately every half an hour.

Neither of my trips were at particularly busy times (Woking to Heathrow on Friday evening, after about 8pm, return journey on Thursday evening), meaning that I don’t know how long the journey can be. For me though, the journey up to Terminal 5, the first stop, took 20 minutes, the journey home took less than 15. I couldn’t believe how quick and easy it was and I have to admit, although I normally hate busses, I wouldn’t go up to Heathrow any other way.

Understandably, there may be other issues, like a multitude of bags, or a multitude of children, which makes the coach less viable, but to be honest if you’re one of those people, you probably have your taxi or car parking booked already?

However, if you are still contemplating how best to get up to Heathrow and you live within spitting (or train journey) distance of Woking, it’s not fancy and it’s not particularly exciting, but I can’t think of a better way to get there. 5/5

For the record, the rating doesn’t really mean anything in this instance, but since it’s all I have to reflect how good something is it will have to do!

526

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (movie)

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

What an incredibly hard film to write about.

I never read other reviews before writing my own. It’s not that I don’t think that there is value in them, or I wouldn’t be sat here tapping away at my keyboard, I just feel like now I am doing this I want to remain unbiased. The downside here is that, given my inexperience, I have no idea whether I have completely missed something or give away far too much. However, it’s important to me that I don’t just regurgitate someone else’s opinion as my own.

The difficulty with Tinker, Tailor is that it’s a completely different animal to the majority of mainstream films making their way to your nearest Odeon, making me feel completely out of my depth. However, before you stop reading, I can tell you now, this is a good thing, because what it means is the film is so good, I am concerned I won’t do it justice.

I had hoped to read the book before seeing the film, it seems to be that 99% of the time, the book is substantially better. However, my busy holiday itinerary didn’t allow me the opportunity to sit down and get into it.

It’s a pretty famous story, both as a novel, John Le Carré’s most celebrated work, and a TV series aired in 1979 and starring Alec Guinness. If, like me, you weren’t aware of it until more recently; I am sure you can guess, this is a Spy story. However, something else you may have already established is that this isn’t a James Bond or Jason Bourne type thriller. With Gary Oldman playing the main protagonist, this is a contemplative and far more realistic tale.

Gary Oldman is an increasingly rare beast. One of those rare actors whose presence in a film is virtually a guarantee of quality. Tinker, Tailor meets those expectations, with substance prevailing over style and a victory of plot over shock and awe effects.

Playing veteran spy George Smiley, Oldman is beyond reproach. His supporting cast, including the likes of Tom Hardy, Colin Firth and Mark Strong are also excellent; I could find little fault.

In terms of the film itself, it doesn’t follow the plot of Le Carré’s novel to the letter, at least in terms of the first few chapters I’ve read; with the order of the scenes somewhat different. I’ve not read any of Le Carré’s work before, so I don’t know if George Smiley is an oft used protagonist; but little time is given to describing the characters or the setting, with the action, such as it is, beginning immediately. The film is the same, with a few different scenes coving a number of sub-plots, providing no indication of what is to come. Although initially harder to follow, it’s refreshing, because the audience are not treated like idiots who need the characters and plot to be spoon fed to them in advance. Whilst this may end up prompting questions from girlfriends up and down the country along the lines of ‘who’s he’, ‘what are they doing’ and ‘who’s the goodie and who’s the baddie’, it doesn’t take that long to pick up the threads. (Sexist comment for effect, not because I really believe it, there are substantially more idiotic boyfriends than the other way around!).

Some may find the pace of the film slow and it is one of those films that your dad will invariably fall asleep whilst watching. But I would definitely call this a thinking man’s film (more casual sexism there, I blame the English language for that one). If you are in the mood for something clever and realistic, this is definitely for you, as I have said, James Bond it is not. I should probably have mentioned by now Le Carré is a former spy, so there is a decent chance that this sort of thing really did go on.

By the end of this film, you genuinely feel like you’ve been on a journey and that something has happened, there is anough going on that you aren’t ever spending your time trying to work out who has done what but in the end it all comes together nicely. Without wanting to labour the point, although I probably have done, this is not a friday night flick, it is not a date movie and it is certainly not for people who wear Reebok Classics, this is a film for people who appreciate good cinema, if that’s you, go and see it. 4.5/5

757

Gay Paris at the Witching Hour. A.k.a. Midnight In Paris

Midnight In Paris

I had never planned to see this film (and it’s definitely a film, not a movie, this one). In fact, I wasn’t even aware of its existence until I learned that it would be playing during my flight home from Athens; which does mean I had to watch it on the small screen. By small screen I mean super old school 14″ CRTs perched up above the aisles.

Woody Allen’s latest effort was chosen to open the Cannes Film Festival this year, quite an honour in itself, particularly for a film boasting Owen Wilson as the lead.

I didn’t know what to expect, although when you find out Woody Allen is directing you immediately get an idea, until the presence of Mr Wilson chucks you a bit of a curve-ball.

Technically the film is something of a Rom-Com, although like many it’s pretty long on Rom and short on Com, not that it’s any the worse for it. It’s not from the Notting Hill end of the genre, aiming for far greater depth and subtlety.

Owen Wilson as the lead is actually a good casting choice, despite my initial reservations. As soon as you shake off the Wedding Crashers memories and accept the film for what it is, he’s actually ideal for the role. A typical writer, self involved, scatty and with an attractive girl, he wants to move to Paris on something of a whim, not just Paris though, 1920s Paris, the subject of his first proper Novel.

Bit of a spoiler from here on, so you might want to skip down to the last paragraph if you want to go and see this one knowing as much as me. I promise though, if you do read on, it doesn’t tell you anything you can’t work out for yourself pretty damn easily during the course of the film.

The story takes one of the traditional old formulas… Man with endearing innocence and friendly demeanor is with an attractive outside but ugly inside woman who he is so besotted with he doesn’t notice she’s wrong for him. He then meets someone else, who he slowly realises he is also into.

I can’t decide if Woody Allen is trying to be incredibly artistic with the character choices or if he is just being a little bit ridiculous because he can. In many ways the film only works because of their inclusion, and the main premise of the film isn’t very realistic; however although there is a fantasy plot-line, the film is not based in a fantasy world and there are times where I felt it was taken just a little too far.

All in all though, despite not blowing you away, it’s a solid film that has managed to derive a decent level of originality from a collection of ideas which have all been done before in different ways. Woody Allen is clearly a man who knows the formula for a good film and although it hasn’t been hyped, this is a nailed on third date movie and brownie points will be awarded if you go with the wife, which I am sure most men could handle quite comfortably. With that in mind, I’m going to give the film a solid 3.5/5, which sounds low, but it works out as a 7 out of 10, which isn’t bad at all. In fact, if I did ratings out of 10 it’d probably get 7.5, so there you go. Worth seeing, but unless you’ve got a 3rd date, or need to find an alternative to flowers for your wife, not necessarily at the cinema, because in a year or so it’s gonna be £4 in a bargain bucket somewhere.

616

Greece: Athens (Αθήνα)

So, I’ve not written about anything for a little while because I’ve been out of the country! To be fair I was around at the weekend and could have done a few articles by now, but I am lazy, so I haven’t, because playing the demo of FIFA 12 was more important.

I am going to do a bit of a series on the things I did in Greece, starting with this page. Then what I’ll probably do is set up some kind of link at the top there so that if you ever decide to go on holiday to one of the places I’ve been you can have a look through all the stuff I did and decide if it sounds any good.

I’ll do a separate post on each of the individual things, so apologies for the very general nature of this one. As I write a review of each aspect, I will add links to the below. There’s more below the itinerary!

The Parthenon in the evening.

Itinerary

Day 0
09/09/2011

National Express Coach: Woking to Heathrow (T5)
Hotel: Sofitel – Heathrow (T5)

Day 1
10/09/2011

Breakfast: Giraffe – Heathrow (T5)
Flight: Heathrow (T5) to Athens – British Airways
Transfer to Athens by ‘limo’
Hotel: Divani Palace Acropolis (5*)
Visit to Temple of Zeus
Dinner: Dionysos
Cocktails at the bar on the roof of Divani Palace Acropolis

Day 2
11/09/2011

Transfer to Ancient Olympia by ‘limo’
Hotel: Hotel Europa (4*)
Guided tour of the site of Ancient Olympia and Museum
Dinner: Hotel Europa

Day 3
12/09/2011

Transfer to Athens by ‘limo’
Hotel: Divani Palace Acropolis (5*)
Dinner: Plaka – Kosmikon Grill House

Day 4
13/09/2011

Transfer to Acropolis by ‘limo’
Guided tour of the Ancient Acropolis
Guided tour of the Acropolis Museum
Lunch: Acropolis Museum Restaurant
Transfer to Megara Airfield by ‘limo’
Flight over Athens (Global Aviation)
Dinner: Plaka – Estiatopion Taverna

Day 5
14/09/2011

Kalamaki Beach
Lunch: Kalamaki Beach Bar
Dinner: Diogenes
Cocktails: Grande Bretagne Hotel – Roof Garden Bar & Restaurant

Day 6
15/09/2011

Tour of Panathenaic Stadium
Transfer to Athens Airport by ‘limo’
Lunch: Everest (Athens Airport)
Flight: Athens Airport to Heathrow (T5) – British Airways
National Express Coach: Heathrow (T5) to Woking

Athens

Having never visited Greece (or the surrounding countries) before I didn’t really know what to expect, in fact, even my experience with Greek food was limited to pitta bread, so I was going in pretty blind.

My assumption was that, as a mediterranean country, there would be some similarities with Spain, with white buildings, swimming pools-a-plenty and olive-skinned locals. I wasn’t far off, although Athens as a large city doesn’t have many pools and the like.

The airport is a fair distance from the city and was built with the 2004 Olympic Games in mind. Once you arrive, you are immediately struck by the state of the city in general. Whilst many cities have areas which are in a poor state of repair, Athens is a city which, outwardly, really looks like it is struggling, with graffiti on almost every building and many in a poor state of repair. There are no high-rise buildings, with the majority of the city restricted to 3 stories and, the centre (Syntagma), not exceeding around 7 stories tall. This all relates to the Acropolis and a requirement to keep every building below the height of the iconic hill.

However, once you begin to explore the city, your impression changes. The best way to look around is almost certainly on foot, particularly if your base is towards the centre of the city (known colloquially as Downtown). The first thing you will notice is that it is hard to walk for more than 5 minutes without stumbling across an ancient building or relic of some kind. Syntagma Metro Station has a whole area behind glass reflecting what was found when the station was built as part of a network also needed for the 2004 Olympics. South of there you will find the Temple of Zeus and in between, if you walk via the Plaka you will stumble across once or two fenced off areas with excavated columns and buildings. The Acropolis Museum and even our hotel are built on top of ancient buildings which have been excavated and preserved behind glass.

The city centre has a number of areas which are well worth visiting for their individual charms. Many of the areas worth a visit are pedestrianised, however, this isn’t quite as strict as you might expect and you will often find mopeds or city vehicles travelling up and down, sometimes with scant regard for public safety! Whilst there are a number of places to visit, the must see areas are as follows: –

Plaka (πλάκα)

Plaka is where you will find a glut of restaurants and Tavernas. Based at the foot of The Acropolis on the Eastern side, it is an area which is buzzing every night, generally with tourists. As you walk through in the evening you will find that every restaurateur is quite happy to promise you the best food in all of Athens and won’t leave you alone until you come in for dinner. All I can say is a good wall through will give you an idea of what’s there and help you decide where you want to eat; don’t be bullied! The two restaurants we visited there were both generally good and I’d suggest there are some bargains to be had, but you also get what you pay for in general. There’s also a small outdoor Cinema in Plaka playing newly released films in English with Greek subtitling, if you’re looking for something to keep you entertained, it’s an option!

Syntagma (Σύνταγμα)

Syntagma is the name for the centre of the city. It is here you will find the Parliament Building, which has a changing of the guards ceremony every hour. In front of the building is a large three level square, which is where the protests of recent times have been held, but for the majority of the time a good starting point and somewhere to spend lunch. Lining the square’s North and North Western sides are hotels including the beautiful Grande Bretagne, which has a fantastic view of the city, including the Acropolis and Panathenaic Stadium from the bar on the roof. Syntagma also has fantastic transport links, with the Tram lines starting from here, buses and the Metro station allowing you to reach almost anywhere in the city.

Ermou (Ερμού)

Ermou isn’t so much an area as a street. It is to Athens what Oxford Street is to London, the shopping destination. It’s a good place to have a look with a number of familiar names and a host of new shops to get your teeth into. Ermou runs from Syntagma, north of The Plaka, so if you have a spare day or even an afternoon before dinner, it’s easy enough to walk between the two via this street (free maps are available from the tourist board offices). Simply walk about 2 thirds of the way down and turn left, keep going until you’re past the flea market shops and it’s all restaurants and tavernas unless one takes your fancy on the way.

Kolonaki (Κολωνάκι)

Kolonaki is where all the hip young things go in the evenings! Unfortunately I am not nearly cool enough to go there, so I can’t give you loads of first hand knowledge, but it’s where the local celebs, the rich and the pretty people hang out. Got to be worth checking out, even if you do look like Quasimodo… Although you might find it hard to get in anywhere if you do.

Koukaki (Κουκάκι)

Koukaki is where our hotel was located. It’s just to the south of the Acropolis and boasts one of the most expensive residential streets in the city – the pedestrianised road Dionissiou Areopagitou. This road is the best way to get to the Acropolis, the location of the excellent Acropolis Museum and if you go down there, not far up from the main road, you’ll find a little yoghurt bar, which is great for a refreshing snack.

The Good

A few general things because overall Greece is a really great place, but you will be struck by…

• The people. Greeks are generally exceptionally friendly, but they are honest too. Many Greek people speak English and almost all of those I spoke to went through some higher education in the UK. I was amazed by how willing to help and to chat some of the people were.
• The food. I did have one meal I didn’t love, although that was probably more my taste than the food itself. In general though the standard of the food was excellent. I didn’t have to resort to ordering a burger once and the dry, hot heat leaves you wanting salad, which is almost enforced healthiness!
• The weather. It’s totally predictable. It’s going to be sunny! Everyone there will tell you that for 8 months of the year there isn’t a drop of rain. I am sure this is a bit of an exaggeration and there was the odd cloud every so often, but they were right, glorious sunshine every day, a lovely comfortable temperature in the evening and fortunately, not too much humidity, making the shade a welcome sanctuary.

The Bad

A confession. I am being entirely picky now, but I have to say something here, right?

• The roads. They are incredibly busy in the city and the drivers (and riders) care little about the safety of people on foot. Driving down the main highway out of Athens and into the countryside, it is not unusual to see cars weaving their way through the traffic, although where they are hurrying to in such a laid back society I do not know. In town, travel by public transport or on foot where possible.
• The taxis. I was lucky enough to have a driver in town, but the Taxi drivers do not have a good rep. They are known for ripping off punters, speaking little English and, at the moment, striking a lot. Make sure if you use one that the meter is on. The one way streets make it hard to tell if the route is the quickest, but it is good to try to get an idea of cost before you set off. Public transport is cheap and well worth taking advantage of.
• The civil service. Again, not something you’ll have to deal with unless you’re moving there, but they can’t be sacked and they aren’t happy about the cuts the government would like to make. The striking garbage collectors meant there were over-flowing bins outside of the most important areas, providing one example of the current situation.

The Ugly

• I am sad to say graffiti is a massive problem in Athens. There is a culture in Greece that people should be allowed to express themselves and there certainly does appear to be respect for ancient monuments and the like. However, little else avoids the spray can and with much of it taking the form of tags, rather than a proper attempt at art it has left some areas looking particularly shabby.
• For a city with so much history, much of it with a genuine beauty, it’s a shame to say that the architecture of residential Athens is uninspired and unflattering. A sea of low-rise cheap boxes in many areas let the city down. The height restrictions mean Athens is a low sprawling city.

As I have said, it’s easy to overlook the less good parts because, as a tourist, on foot, you see little of the negatives. The ancient monuments are well-preserved and the Olympics have brought some modern transport and architecture to the city. I really do recommend that you visit.

As a city break, I would have to give Athens 4/5, although you’d be able to achieve much of what you want to over the course of a long weekend with some good planning. However, the fact you can also visit some of the islands easily by boat, either for a day, or longer means that there is potential to have a top drawer holiday for a week or two, with Athens as your base.

2,051

To my dear readers… a request!

I say dear readers… in reality, most of you are people who have stumbled here from some google search; 80% of the time, it was probably related to a post and you might have gotten some use out of it, the remaining 20% is because you’ve googled a strange collection of words and it has brought you here, if this is you, you probably didn’t find this site useful, but then if you’re reading this at least you’re giving it your best shot, have a gold star, don’t spend it all at once.

What I really want though, the whole purpose of this little missive, is to ask you a favour, not a big one, a little tiny weeny one that won’t take you 5 minutes. If you read a post and you notice a spelling mistake, or a grammatical faux pas, please could you let me know? I’m quite a good spellerist, so it’s probably just a typo, so don’t just ignore it and think yourself a pedant for noticing, let me know!

The problem is, once I’ve banged out a post and, on average, mine are around 1,000 words, I tend to be a bit bored of the whole thing. That means I don’t proof read it and I don’t want to save it for later to proof read it either. As a result, I hit publish and allow my words to float out into the interwebby ether. That’s not to say they can’t be changed though, I am forever clicking edit and correcting ‘just one last thing’, so perhaps if you aren’t too busy you could just leave a comment or drop me an e-mail and help me get the job done a bit quicker?

Oh and while you’re here and since you’ve reached this point in my ramble, which might just mean you’re amenable to the odd favour. Please (please, please) could you rate any post you think is good… or bad, with the relevant number of stars. That will help me know what I’m doing well, what I’m doing badly and keep me honest! Oh and perhaps you wouldn’t mind clicking one of the little icons at the bottom of any posts you particularly like the taste of. That will help publicise the post and, ultimately, the blog on Twitter, Facebook or whatever other medium there is an icon for. It’d be doing me a great favour and help keep me blogging.

Thank you muchly kind readers and all you other waifs and strays passing by. 🙂

Paramore ‘Monster’

Paramore - Monster

I rather like it.

That is all.

Ok, smart arse, it’s not all. I wanted it to be all, when I posted it, it was all, but then I wanted to say more, I had opinions, not clever well formed ones, just little ones, that needed to come out…

1. I think Hayley looks hot in this video, even if the tattoo on her thigh is a bit silly.
2. I thought Paramore might turn rubbish when the Farro brothers left, but it seems they have almost stepped back to the really good days, before they went all commercial on our asses. Good times.
3. The video is a bit boring, I don’t understand the water, but Hayley is hot, so maybe it is to cool her down?
4. Where are the drum noises coming from? There is no drummer! :-p
5. I still don’t think I can see them live again now their fans are all little screaming girls.
6. Do you think Hayley Williams would consider having my babies?
7. If all of their next record is as good as this song my Paramore love might just come back a little bit. 4/5