Personal Websites
| The Gilmore/Bradshaw/Hinchley Family website
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| Companion Website for Practical Gamma-Ray Spectrometry
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Ikaria Past and Present - a Celebration of a Beautiful Aegean Island
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Update 5th March 2018
It's a long time since this page was updated, but then a lot has been going on in the meantime: holidays, work on Topsy's book, enjoying life on Ikaria and getting married. For the record that was 14th January 2017.As I've got older, my enthusiasm for keeping websites updated has waned. Most of my recent websites have had easy update facilities inbuilt. The Explore with Gordon Gilmore was one that wasn't easy to update and, bearing in mind that I only ever had two feedback messages since I set it up and that I have no reason to believe that anyone ever looks at it, I have deleted it.
Currently, I am wondering whether even the Family of Gordon Gilmore website is worth the bother of maintaining but, for the time being I will leave it.
The Gamma Spectrometry website I will remove when the domain registration expires in two years time. At that time if I have not found anybody who would like to take it over I will delete that. I have already removed the list of manufacturers because I am aware that it had out-of-date information within it and I am no longer in a position to update it.
Sic transit gloria!
Other GRG Created Websites
| The Douris Family Website
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Jeanette Akhtar's Website
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Why Ikaria? |
Ikaria is an island in the Agean, close to Samos. Aligned on an East-West axis, it is about 39 km long and
9 km across at its widest. It has a spine of mountains about 950 m (about 3000 ft) high, which is closer to the southern side of
the island. (The highest is Mt. Atheras at 3400 ft.) That means the whole of the southern side is backed by the very steep mountainside,
while the northern side has deep gorges cutting into the mountain. They are fantastically picturesque, but do mean that the roads are
very convoluted as they go in and out of the gorges. From the airport to Evdilos is 16 km away as the crow flies, but in practice it i
s a 47 km drive, including a climb over a 604 m hill, taking 45 minutes on average.
The island has some fantastic beaches, a lot of very fine walking (including a walk along the whole length of the mountain spine if you have the enthusiasm - and fitness.) The pace of life is slow and thoughtful. Ikaria was designated as one of the Blue Zones - an area of the world where the inhabitants live significantly longer average. Obviously, the climate is warmer than the UK, but we do have a winter and it might even snow - but only just. In July and August the weather can be very hot and, for some, unpleasant. Easter, Spring and September are great times to be on the island. In the winter, when many people retreat to their apartments in Athens, the island is quiet. In July and August, when Greeks tend to go on holiday, the prime beach areas are very busy. Yes, we do have tourists, but very seldom the objectionable type. Apart from the way of life - friendliness, politeness, concern for friends and family, almost total lack of crime and freedom - I love the way that, apart from July and August, every day is different - the sea and the mountains are never quite the same. Sunny days, calm days, stormy days come and go, always giving something to marvel at. Even over a series of sunny days, the cloud on the mountain will be different. One thing we don't get, I'm glad to say, is day-after-day-after-day of gloomy grey skies. Google knows all about Ikaria. If you intend to visit the island, beware! You could fall in love with it! |