Exercise - a Panacea within our reach? (introduction)

The other day I went to a talk by a physiotherapist, ostensibly concerning lower back pain but in reality largely covering the perils of inactivity and how it affects our body in general and our lower back in particular. It is amazing to hear what can go wrong from simply failing to move regularly, and how serious some of the consequences can be, especially when the speaker is not trying to sell you anything.

Our life has become more and more sedentary, with technology often anchoring us to a workspace for most of the day so that we barely move other than to satisfy our basic needs; we often also work out the easiest way of doing that, so as to require minimum physical exertion. When this is allied to our increasing use of labour-saving devices in every aspect of our everyday lives you can see we are very much 'homo inactivus'.

There is another factor, however, complicating this seemingly simple equation: It is, I believe, a fact that more of us are exercising today than ever before, yet there are also more of us suffering either from obesity or from lifestyle-dependent diseases like type 2 diabetes. Our speaker, a young, slim man, made it abundantly clear that structured exercise - such as in a gym - is only part of the answer, that we should tweak our day to day existence to move more and so improve our health. Most of the things we need to do are simple, straightforward and surprisingly effective.

Exercise in all its forms, structured or unstructured, should be about improving our quality of life by boosting our fitness, and so our health. The path we choose - and hence the results - is down to us, our willpower and what we want to achieve; it does not have to involve anything extreme, nor hardship, and we must understand accept that results come in time and in small measures.

As we are constantly urged to be more active, we are also tempted to consume more and more that is fattening, unhealthy or unnatural. Despite the popularity of cooking shows on television and the plentiful availability of good raw materials, many of us regard cooking fresh food as a bit of a waste of time, unproductive, and prefer ready, easy solutions. This has obvious, disastrous results not only for physical health (due to the poor quality or nutritional value of what we consume) but also to our psychological state as eating and relaxing as part of a group (family/peers/friends), that most civilising and civilised activity, is lost to solitary eating in front of the computer.

Yes, we live longer than ever before. It is my belief that we should be looking to improve the quality of this at the same time. Please allow me to return to this subject shortly in order to discuss it in more detail.

London : The Pain and the Glory

My love affair with London is long-standing and passionate, far stronger than any relationship I've had with the opposite sex, much as I've adored women throughout my life. It has survived highs and lows, both personal and general; it has recently been sorely tested again by events rocking the capital one way or the other. Terrorists have tried - and failed miserably - to spread alarm and unhappiness to the populace of our great city, cowardly killing and maiming in the name, ostensibly, of some religious belief. Now a massive fire has devastated a tower block, killing many (we are not sure of the number yet) and traumatising all of Britain, such was the severity of the blaze. London under attack from the gods, man or both?

Yet these events have had the opposite effect on Londoners than people would have predicted. Yes, there is fury that terrorists can strike in the city we love, maiming and killing. Yes, there is anger that a simple fire can consume a building in such a short period of time, making escape for residents next to impossible. Londoners of course want answers, and their city to be safer.

But we have not succumbed to despair and negativity. Even the politicians, lowest of the low in many peoples' books - have refrained from making much political capital out of the tragedies. And it is ordinary Londoners who have shown the true glory of this city, one which disregards all distinctions, rushing in to help in any way possible. Heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time, the latest tragedies bring London together and make all Londoners sadder yet prouder, more determined to improve their city and, hopefully, eliminate tragedies in the future.

To talk of the heroism of the emergency services is to say things that have been said many times before, but these must be repeated time and again so these amazing people receive the recognition and protection that they deserve. They have shown that they are always there in our hour of need and it is society's duty to cherish and reward them adequately so that they can continue to do so. I have always been in awe of the selflessness of the emergency services and feel that now is the time to draw a line on financial cutbacks where they are concerned. London's finest must not have their life made any harder.

It is very difficult, almost impossible actually, to restrict the movement of potential criminals with terrorist intentions in a truly free country, and this freedom is cherished nowhere more so than in London. We know of the problem posed by these rogues (who pretend to be ideologues) but continue to go about our daily business as usual, wary but unfazed and fully cognisant of the risks of our open, accepting society. This is our city, our freedom, not to be diminished or compromised by any Tom, Dick or Harry.

That we love London does not mean that we think it's perfect; the tragedy of the Grenfell Tower fire is indeed proof that it is not. All of us must work to put things right so things like that cannot happen again, nor other horrible things. Let us pressure government, local and central and of whatever colour. Let us try and make our city as close to perfect as possible for all Londoners, so others can fall in love with it also. Much as I did over all those years

ago.

London is beautiful and welcoming but can have an ugly and brutal side - it is, after all a mega-city, home to disparate millions. It also has a big heart, though, a very big heart that events, throughout history, have been unable to crush. And while I cannot vouch for Londoners of the distant past, most of the people I have met over the many years of living here have been decent, caring and considerate, ready to help those in need.

The world will have seen this too after the latest tragedies, as we have had to cope with events in the full glare of the media. I hope that they will understand that we feel the pain, deep inside, because we love our city and those we share it with. I hope that they have also noticed the pride in the community, in humanity, in our city.

Is it any wonder that the most successful beer brewed in London is called London Pride? Or that it is one of my all-time favourites?

St. Peter's donkey

I am not certain if Saint Peter had a donkey and, if so, what kind it was; my knowledge of donkeys is limited, my interest in them also. It pains me very little to admit that my knowledge of Saint Peter - or any other saint for that matter - is pretty sketchy too but, in any case, the donkey I am referring to is not alive, at least not in any hee-hawing sense, though it has plenty of life in it... It is, in many ways, a Funky Donkey.

This Funky Donkey resides on Andros, one of the largest islands of the Cyclades, that group of islands in the Aegean Sea famous for being arid and full of little white houses glittering in the sun. Traditionally Andros has neither, but is water rich, verdant and with a neoclassical architectural heritage (now being eroded by said white constructions), so does not feature in the typical cycladic postcard. This is a wealthy island, mainly from shipping and trading, with its own significant production of fruit and veg, a livestock industry and even its own bottled mineral water - so it is an unlikely tourist hotspot. But it is blessed with some stunning scenery, including excellent beaches, one of which is called St. Peter's Beach.

Did St. Peter himself ever visit Andros and spend time on her beaches? Did he prance around in his bathing costume, sunning himself while preaching to people he hoped to convert? I fancy not, but it is irrelevant anyway, as the name exists and persists, derived it seems from a ruined edifice called St. Peter's Tower, which is on the hill behind the beach; I am informed that this was probably a signal beacon tower built in the 3rd or 4th century BC, part of an elaborate inter-island warning system. Why that, or the nearby village,  acquired the name of the saint who ended up in Rome I don't know, and in the immortal words of Rhett Butler 'Frankly my dear, I don't give a ----' (you can insert your own variation, should you wish, the original is damn...).

Our Funky Donkey then is a beach bar, one of three along the length of St. Peter's beach, and the last on your right hand side as you leave Gavrion, the main port of the island, to head to Chora and most everywhere else on the island. All three enjoy access to the same clear (most of the time, anyway) waters and offer seemingly similar services, including beach umbrellas, sun loungers and a bar providing refreshments and snacks. A quick look may leave you wondering why I choose to write about one of the three, as they all appear to be similar... bear with me!

The difference, as with most things in life, is in the detail, something you will notice should you be fortunate enough to spend leisure time on the island and try these places. The proprietor of the Donkey, Stelios Mamais, is keen that his customers enjoy the best possible service for their money, so has excellent quality sun loungers (sturdy and comfortable), better than anything else on the island, or most islands for that matter. These not only give the customers pleasure, but provide him with years and years of loyal service, so were well worth the investment. An investment that was a leap of faith on his part as, until this year when he was granted a 3-year deal, his concession had always been on a year by year basis making all investment a risk. Stelios himself - and why are they all called Stelios?? - is a quiet man, hiding behind the bar and overseeing all activity.

A couple of years ago I was able to take an extended break on Andros, staying in a small holiday apartment belonging to a friend, and took full advantage of the facilities provided by said Funky Donkey, including ice-cold beer and light snacks. I reserved my greatest appreciation for the complimentary bottle of water they included with the umbrella/sun lounger rental, a nice touch and so necessary during hot Greek summer days, but especially for their kindness and hospitality, which was not proportional to the size of the bill you ran up.

This isn't some slick corporate setup, with marketing budgets and an impersonal feel, nor is it a luxurious establishment of the kind found on the island of Mykonos, full of bells and whistles. Nobody splashes champagne about, it isn't a showy kind of place. Rather, this is a local small business, run by local people and contributing directly to the local economy. It's imperfect, quirky, put together by the owners and not a design team; it offers decent service, value for money and is struggles to make a living. But it deserves to do well, as Stelios stubbornly continues to improve his little domaine; with security of tenure for three years he should be able to do much more than before, as he's always looking for new ideas and ways to improve.

If your idea of a good holiday is clubbing all night and sleeping all day, then Andros is not for you and the Funky Donkey will leave you cold. In fact, most of the Greek islands don't cater for you, though there are one or two that do, heaven help them. Andros is about the simple beauty of the place, which can be seen both on foot/bus and by car/motorbike, the good beaches (organised like our funky friend, or remote and bare where you need to carry your own refreshments and shade) with the clear, cool waters and some excellent if simple food in traditional restaurants all over. You will not be bumping into the jet set here - there is, after all, no airport on the island - and most of the glamorous stuff happens in the big houses of Chora belonging to the shipping families, tucked away on the other side of the island. The rest is simple and largely welcoming, easy to get to from Athens airport (a short boat ride away) and with something to offer for most of the year.

The Funky Donkey lives during the summer, however, appearing every year around the end of May and disappearing almost without trace before the end of September, as the summer slowly winds down and its disciples return to whence they came, making its presence unnecessary. It's a good little Donkey, really, though I'll leave the funkiness rating up to you; as no bolt of lightning has destroyed it so far I can only assume St. Peter approves its presence on his beach too, maybe almost as much as I do.