Master chef Christos dishes up yellowfin tuna and mussel risotto
18.7.13 Crete Day 2
Mosquitos don’t appear to know about inner peace. Not a tranquil night despite usual precautions.
Sun still not happy – according to somebody’s app, thunderstorms today then sun for the rest of the week. Resort to usual remedy – train harder.
Self confined to barracks for the morning due to domestic duties. Using very small verandah to try out some prison training techniques in confined space. Have met some martial artists in China who were incarcerated during the Cultural Revolution – they all had survival strategies but their arts are still alive. Tried to put myself in their position but was really an exercise in imagination rather than a real experience.
Real slow-roast potatoes
Anyway, finally freed to go to the Bank. Remember the maths problem on the M25? Well this is a bit like a cross between mental maths and incarceration. There is a double security door like a glass elevator and one door has to be locked before the second one is opened. Once inside you get to pull a number ticket. 91 – now serving 74. It is now 12.38 – so, if there is one person serving customers at the bank and each transaction takes in the range of 5 minutes to 15 minutes, what is the probability that I will be served before the bank closes at 2? For a bonus, how many people have left the bank after giving up on their wait. What is the probability that someone will come back from lunch and open another counter? You see, reading “Thinking Fast and Slow” is paying off.
Escaped from The Bank at 13.38.
Fresh fruit
There is still a mega chess set at Christos’ restaurant (Kritiko) and once the edge is taken off hunger, a game gets under way. Often we are prevented from a serious game because toddlers find the huge chess pieces more fun than a day at Disneyland, so we let them have their fun. This explains why some of the pieces are held together with Sellotape. Last night the little darlings were elsewhere, or having an early night. So a rather serious game was played out. The opponents were a youngster and a novice. The umpire was a pro. Much drama – “it will all be over in one move……oh no! Not any more, ok three moves”. “You have to say “check” in case they haven’t noticed – it’s sporting”. ‘all right then, check,…..still check…….still check…..my move”. In danger of a stalemate as there is only the black king left on the board surrounded by white pawns (the “r” is apparently silent) then, “Say “Check Mate” and shake hands”. The black king topples and the battlefield is left, as the black army miraculously regroups to fight another day. Tomorrow night perhaps a re-run of last year’s Kung Fu chess – ahh Adam your pawn is legend, where are you now?
