Yesterday I shared some thoughts on hummus, and I think this story is going to run and run, ping-ponged back and forth between me and my oldest friend, the blogger Andrew Simpson. Today Andrew wrote about my blog, and he mentioned “The Mask of Demetrios” by Eric Ambler, published in 1939 – long, long, long before Andrew and I were born. It became a very popular film, released in 1944, and starring Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet, and I remember seeing it in black and white on television some time in the sixties (we were late in getting a TV!) If you are interested in the book read Andrew’s blog, and then maybe, like me, you’ll also buy the book.
The first time I went to Greece, our going was like one of those films where a group of young people are sitting around in a pub, bored, someone sees an article or advertisement in a discarded newspaper for a Greek holiday, and before they knew it flight was booked, holiday was booked, and off they went. I was in a pub one afternoon in the summer holidays (we were teachers then) picked up a random paper and the next day we flew to Greece! Obviously we had a fabulous time, and on our return we told Andrew all about it.
I guess it was inevitable that the following summer we went back to Greece, and this time Andrew accompanied us. My abiding memory is of Andrew going off on his own by ferry to explore some of the neighbouring islands. Unfortunately, when it was time to return, he couldn’t remember the name of the island we were staying on. There were no mobile phones in those days so he couldn’t call us. We were getting a little worried by late afternoon, so worried that we sat in our favourite café, drinking gorgeous wine and being anxious. Eventually he returned – I’m not sure how many other islands he had visited before he found the right one where we were waiting! He’s been back to Greece many more times since then, and as far as I know he hasn’t got lost since!
Here’s Andrew’s latest blog:
https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2026/06/travels-with-houmous.html
Lois Elsden 