Peter's Grand Tour

As we made our descent at Tempelhof Airport, I was certain we were going to land in someone’s back garden. The airport seems to be right in the middle of the city. Close by were boating lakes, rivers and forests. I learned on a tour of the city that water sports are popular in Berlin and that pigs can be seen walking the streets. I looked forward to a weekend of surprises.

The tour of the city recounted Germany’s history form WW2 to present day. The account of the division of Berlin, with barbed wire overnight, in 1961 and the subsequent building of the Wall, caging the residents of East Berlin in for nearly 30 years sent chills down my spine. Many escaped. Many were shot dead. It’s the first time I’ve been to Germany. It was disturbing to see the destruction of the city, but encouraging to see how it has totally rebuilt itself not once, but twice in 60 years. There’s a bombed out church here, Liz the Lunch. Interesting project for USL in future years?

I was only in the city for two days but met with several people working in the creative sector. Few had memories of 1988 when West Berlin was European Capital of Culture. The only surviving memories were of a huge party and no investment in the future of the arts.

I wonder if Capital of Culture has a ‘shelf life’ of around 10 years - 4 before, the year itself and then the 5 years of recovery and rebuilding afterwards. Perhaps Guimaeres 2012 is on to something. Of course there are lasting legacies, development of skills; renovation of old, and construction of new buildings; opening of minds and eyes.

For Liverpool (2008) it is considered to be as the saviour of the city. Perhaps we are depending on it just a little too much. For Istanbul (2010) it is an opportunity to strengthen its position to become an EU member state and to engage local people in the arts. For Sibiu (2007), it is riding the crest of a wave. For Thessaloniki (1997) there was a legacy of 5 years. For Graz (2003) it was a year that they are only just recovering from now. And for Porto (2001), it is best forgotten.

I’m not a fan of musicals, but I thoroughly enjoyed Roman Polanski’s production of Tanz der Vampire, a brilliant musical with music by Jim Steinman (he what wrote Meat Loaf’s good songs). I also met up with an opera singer friend who I met in Croatia, who introduced me to some of the nightlife in Berlin. Quite a musical weekend. I was in Berlin on 16th September, the 30th anniversary of Marc Bolan’s death. As I walked the streets, I saw a poster for Suzi Quatro and the Sweet in concert. I wonder if T.Rex would still be dragging themselves around the 70s nostalgia tour circuit? I wasn’t quite sure who the Sweet would be. Brian Connolly and Mick Tucker (singer and drummer respectively) died some years ago, and Steve Priest lives in America and doesn’t do the nostalgia thing.

I connected with Berlin. I’m not sure whether is was the stunning modern architecture; its history and recovery, or that Germany produces the best EuroDisco music! Maybe it was the free and easy attitude, the openness. Maybe the friendliness of the people.

Maybe I was connecting with some of my heritage. For years my family thought that my maternal great great great grandparents, Esberge originated from Scandinavia. They didn’t. They were from Berlin. And after visiting here I was chuffed that they were.

Ich bin ein Berliner. Well, I’m not but I did eat one.

I took the train to Graz. Beautiful scenery - wooden houses, snow capped mountains, lowly goat herds, men drinking beer... Having banished Ultravox from my internal iPod, I now had Julie Andrews on a continuous loop.

I saw the huge station clock. I’d left Vienna at 2pm; the journey to Graz was three hours, yet the clock said 7pm. I then noticed that the clock was transparent and mounted on clear glass. It was 5pm. I walked through a door, above which was the sign ‘Tourist Information’. I queued, walked to the desk, asked the kindly gentleman for a street map. He told me they don’t have maps. I asked if this was Tourist Information. “No”, he replied, “Tourist Information is the phone over there in the corner”. He then gave me a street map. A very disorientating welcome to the city.

Things got better. Graz (population around 220,000) was Capital of Culture 2003. It’s a beautiful city and boasts four contemporary structures including the Cafe in the River, and the Künsthaus - both funded by the Cultural Capital of Europe programme, managed by Graz 2003 Ltd. Both buildings opened in 2003. More later.

It has a thriving small/medium arts sector and I visited as many organisations as I could. I’d set up three meetings prior to my arrival and inevitably each meeting led to a further three. I’ve found that this is the best way to establish a varied and focussed programme. Too many pre-organised meetings through internet/e-mail limits the possibilities. My two key organisations in Graz were Theatre im Bahnhof (TiM) and IG Kultur who are at the centre of the small/medium arts sector. TiM was also a co-founder of a networking organisation Das Andere Theater, set up in 1998 and the closest I’ve found to SMAC (Liverpool’s collective of small/medium arts organisations led by Hope Street Ltd).

There are around 80 (mostly unfunded theatre companies). I attended the Best Off Styria Festival (Styria being the surrounding region) and saw one or two productions each day (www.theaterland.at). I also met with the directors of a number of festivals and organisations including Tanz & Theater Zentrum, Steierischer Herbst’s International Theatre Festival, Forum Stadtberg and Theatre am Ortweinplatz. Individuals who informed my research were Eberhard Schrempf (Graz 2003 Ltd, Producing Director), Hansjürgen Schmolzer (Graz 2003 Ltd, Marketing Director) and Thomas Wokinger (member of the programming team for youth and young people and culture journalist).

Of course there a differing opinions of the impact 2003 had on the arts infrastructure. One thing was agreed by all: no thought went into what happened to the arts and cultural life of the city after 2003. Everyone’s efforts were focussed on the year itself. No cultural strategy was written, no-one from the local council took responsibility for art and culture and no money was invested in sustaining the small to medium arts sector.

The ‘party’ in 2003, according to the majority was fantastic; all local arts organisations and artists were involved (though some not in the way they thought they would be); there was a sense of real celebration of arts and culture.

The ‘hangover’ kicked in towards the end of 2003 and it lasted for two and a half years. Artists and arts organisations were left exhausted and burnt out. Many of those employed by Graz 2003 Ltd. moved on to other jobs and all but the large institutions (the venues and government cultural institutions) received cuts of around 5% from the local council each year. The larger institutions continue to receive increases of around 1% each year.

Like Porto, the political party changed from left to right after 2003 and so the debt and problems that arose during 2003 were blamed on culture, leading to a disinvestment in culture by the newly elected local government. An auction of props and scenery at the end of 2003 was meant to benefit emerging artists. Instead, the 100,000 Euros raised went to the council to help pay off the debt.

One person I spoke to regrets that the council and politicians were not more courageous. They took the easy option of investing money in large scale ‘impressive’ buildings and photogenic large events (cf. Thessaloniki). Instead they should have invested in the small and medium arts organisations and theatre companies and into developing and strengthening the arts infrastructure.

During 2004 and 2005, when the ageing artists (thirty to forty-somethings) had exhausted themselves, there was an uprising of young artists, a subculture (that had had no connection with 2003) who began to make new and exciting work. This was not planned for but it breathed new life into the arts and is something that I felt excited about, that we can actually prepare for this in Liverpool - after all, it’s one of the things we do best. We just need to make sure there is investment and there is a commitment from funding partners and politicians.

It is agreed by all, that the professionalism of all the small to medium organisations was aided by 2003, but not necessarily artistically. Few felt that the quality of production had improved, and this is regrettable as this was a golden opportunity for arts organisations to increase their levels of artistic quality. But all felt that improvements had been made in evaluating projects, financial accounting, managing larger projects, marketing and liaising with the press. All important of course...

Just wait until they discover risk assessments...

As I step up onto my Health & Safety soap box, I recall the evening at Theater am Ortweinplatz’s production of “Kabale und Liebe”. The theatre was full. Once all the seats were filled, the front of house staff brought out extra chairs and put them in the aisles. Once all the spare chairs had run out, people sat on the steps of the seating block. Everyone got in, everyone thoroughly enjoyed the play and no-one died. This time...

After the ‘hangover’ things have finally begun to improve. I was encouraged by the energy and enthusiasm of all the arts organisations and artists, who understood that after 2003, things were going to take a dip. It would seem things are back to what they were around 2001/2002.

Graz helped me focus on what Liverpool’s future strategy should be. We need to give the ‘legacy’ some substance and we can do this through the collective work of LARC (Liverpool's Big 8 cultural organisations - the building based ones)and SMAC. We have a direct route into the Cultural Strategy. We have a voice. No doubt we will be heard, but it’’s more important that we’re listened to.

The advice given from the artistic community here was that Liverpool should invest in its future generation of theatre makers and artists, it should focus on 2009 and beyond and concentrate its effort on developing a cultural strategy that invests in the future of creativity in the city, and that there should be investment in the small and medium sized sector on an equal level to the larger organisations. I’m looking forward to feeding this information into the strategy. But I can wait. The journey’s not over yet...

On my last day in Graz, I heard the news of another shake up at Liverpool Culture Company that Phil Redmond has become Artistic Adviser to the 2008 programme and that the leader of the council, Warren Bradley has been appointed Vice Chair of a greatly reduced board of directors. I hope things settle quickly and everyone gets on with the important business.

As I sent my thank you e-mails I recalled the two part question posed by Victoria Kaup-Hasler, Director of the International Theatre Festival here in Graz:

Culturally, where will Liverpool be in 2015? What will be its future archive?

The answer should not be, “only time will tell”. The answer(s) should be embedded in the cultural strategy. Let’s learn from others’ successes - and not make the same mistakes. It’s not going to be easy, but it’s not rocket science.

After the 35 degrees heat of Thessaloniki, I arrived in Vienna at four in the morning and was welcomed by a torrential downpour. As we alighted the plane, we walked in the cold air, collected our suitcases and made our way out of the airport. I stayed in the newest hotel in Vienna. The shower was a design feature in the middle of the room. Dead posh!  

I arrived the same day as the Pope. He too stayed for three days. The service was screened live, as the rain poured down. Crowds assembled in Stephanplatz and watched on three or four big screens. Each time I visited the square over the next three days they were repeating it over and over. Clearly it was meaningful to those watching, and I respect this. But as a devout atheist, it means nothing to me.

I later learned that he was condemning abortion and encouraging people in Europe to have more babies. He should check out the statistics of teenage pregnancy, the number of abandoned babies and talk to some single mums and dads. No doubt the Vatican will continue to encourage unprotected sex and thereby contribute further to the increase in number of new cases of chlamydia, HIV and syphilis...

To lighter matters... With the exception of one day, the rain poured down and I walked the streets under a cold grey sky absorbing Vienna’s breathtaking architecture - the Opera House, Parliament, the theatres and museums. The mystic and soulful Cathedral, the centre point of the city, looms high above the ground, and its spire (clad in scaffolding at the moment) fades to the distance.

I took advantage of visiting Vienna en route to Graz. It is becoming an interesting (though) not essential feature of the research to visit the capital city in addition to the cultural capital.

Here I met with Andres Beck, Artistic Director of the Schauspielhaus, Vienna’s equivalent to the Royal Court, London. We met earlier in the year and he has assisted with some of my meetings in Graz. He helped contextualise Austria’s theatre structure. The Schauspielhaus is currently being renovated. The rain had caused problems with the electricity, so I only saw the auditorium vaguely from the balcony. Below was a cool empty silence, a darkened space stripped of its seats. I hope to return to Vienna to see the theatre with lights and to see some of the work of Austria's emerging writers.

Oh, Vienna...

Greece’s second city was the 1997 Cultural Capital of Europe. I’d heard that the year was remembered for U2, the renovation of large buildings and some questions over where the money went. Some described Thessaloniki 2007 and the years that followed as a “sad story”.

Whilst mistakes were made and opportunities were missed, the year had a positive energy and left a legacy for the city that is still evident today. The legacy was not planned. There was no thought given to what would follow 1997. Local politicians, artists, arts organisations and the government thought only of 1997. A cultural strategy was not even considered and there was no development of the artistic infrastructure.

I was met with enthusiasm from local artists, arts managers and producers about the research I am doing, and how it will inform Liverpool’s future. On describing Liverpool’s arts infrastructure, its programme in the lead up to, and during 2008, its current investment in local emerging artists, I was told that this is now, only something that the artistic community of Thessaloniki can dream of.

There was also no creative or strategic plan in Thessaloniki to renovate the buildings that were chosen, which is why the city ended up with three National Theatre proscenium arch stages (capacity of 700). The need for a state of the art, small to medium scale (150/ 250 seat venue) was overlooked. Having three theatres to fill provides the National Theatre with programming problems and having no adaptable smaller space limits the production of innovative and cutting edge work.

The Organisation of the Cultural Capital of Thessaloniki 1997 (the equivalent to the Liverpool Culture Company) had problems in retaining an artistic director. There were four appointed one after the other. It would seem that the first three left because the artistic programme was ‘never good enough’ and/or the pressure became too much.

There was infighting between the political parties over the finances and this often got in the way of this one-off opportunity that the city had. This was, after all the first time that culture had been invested in in the city. one of the failings of the programme, which I was told repeatedly, was that there was no education programme, no workshops led by visiting artists.

Everyone I spoke to was enthusiastic about the year. They saw it as a golden opportunity to raise the profile of the city and to enter the international arena. It was also an opportunity to introduce new and exciting artistic experiences for local artists, organisations and the public. It also introduced new concepts and ideas. It opened people’s eyes to what could be and encouraged artistic excellence locally.

Ten years on, there has been significant progress in the cultural infrastructure. New organisations emerged and have a healthy existence today (the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Photographic Museum). But there was not enough investment in individual artists or the small to medium sector or in developing an infrastructure that would continue the enthusiasm generated by 1997.

An independent journalist and the PR Director for the Thessaloniki Biennale, Yorta Sotiropoulou told me that contemporary art was never seen before in Thessaloniki; that without 1997, the Bienalle would never have existed (www.thessalonikibiennale.gr). Some of the international theatre companies that visited also provided an artistic inspiration for local artists and their work continued to be influenced by what they’d seen for around five years or so.

I was also told that the city had never experienced a concert on the scale of U2, and that when the band came to town, there was an excitement that the whole city shared. It was a momentous occasion - “a miracle for us”. It’s something that we take too much for granted in other parts of Europe. We should have more respect and appreciation for art and culture of all types, and not dismiss it because of personal taste. Certainly it should be of high quality, but it is a concern when personal taste affects programming, or even worse, funding.

I had great pleasure in meeting people who’d been in the city prior to, during and after 1997. Some believe that the work produced locally has recently become mediocre and audiences are accepting of this, but the same people and others are optimistic about the city’s future, artistically, and are hoping that there is something around the corner that will reinvigorate the arts....

Perhaps it is the Biennale which is a world class festival and is focussing the spotlight back on Thessaloniki. Perhaps it is the continued efforts of Nikiforos Papandreou, the director of the Piramatiki Skini Texnis (Experimental Art Scene), who continues to produce and promote experimental work. Perhaps it is the passion exuded by Eleni Papazoglou, a professor at the university, who has her finger on the pulse of what is happening with the emerging artists in the city and has aspirations for strengthening links internationally. Or maybe it is the international collaborations led by Iphigenia Taxopolov at the National Theatre that project the city into the international theatre arena (www.ntng.gr).

I was enthused by positivity and feel think that I’ll return professionally to Thessaloniki. There is something about the city and its artistic energy that fits with Hope Street’s international artistic work. The starting point for this might be a collaboration with an actor and director working both at the National Theatre and on the independent scene, Yannis Paraskevopoulos, who is keen to work on future projects with us. Perhaps Hope Street can be part of the city’s reinvigoration.

There may be sad elements in Thessaloniki’s story since 1997, but this is is an amazing country, a world leader when it comes to culture. Greece gave us the Olympics, Sophocles, Aristophanes and the spectacular amphitheatres. It’s also the originator and birthplace of European Capital of Culture, Athens being the first in 1985. It also provided us with the unforgettable 2006 Eurovision Song Contest winner.

Other cultural highlights....? Well, the food... I had the most fantastic grilled octopus ever. not the scrawny tentacles that you get on Skiathos, Lesbos or Zakynthos, but thick and chunky whoppers, and so tender. Calamari baked in the oven and Aubergine Salad went down an absolute treat with the Ouzo.

The weather....? On the days it was sunny, I was inside. And on the day I had off, it rained! I did manage to grab three hours of sun one afternoon. My hotel had no balcony, but if I placed myself strategically on the floor, just inside the full length windows, I could sunbathe inside the room, with the sun streaming in. Who cared what the neighbours opposite thought...? It was only later I realised it was the police headquarters.

And did the teacher I met earlier in the year provide an accurate description of what to expect when I visited? Certainly I experienced the impact he promised, and the energy definitely exceeded my expectation.

I arrived with my three co-passengers and three flight crew in the Capital of Culture 2007, (sharing the title with Luxembourg). My vanity got the better of me. I was terrified that I’d die in this tiny plane. I thought how awful it would be to crash, with only two other passengers and three crew. Would it be reported on the news? Would anybody notice the disappearance of a piddly little plane like this?

A city in the centre of Romania with a population of 155,000, Sibiu’s story of economic growth in the last five years is astonishing. Five new hotels are being built, the streets have been transformed, the tourists visiting the city this year have almost trebled in number and there are new international businesses moving in almost weekly. Many claim this is wholly down to the city’s status as Capital of Culture. There are few concerns that the growth will cease after 2007. It would appear that this city will be Romania’s foremost tourist destination in the future.

I don’t have the key to the secret of Sibiu’s success, but during my six-day stay I met many of the organisations working in the creative industries. I was hosted by the small but superb team in the Coordinating Office for Sibiu 2007 (www.sibiu2007.ro), equivalent to Liverpool Culture Company, in terms of their role. I initially contacted the office via Cosmin Manulescu, Director of DCM Dance and director of the Sibiu Dans Festival. I was a delegate of the festival and as such saw all the performances during my stay by choreographers and companies from France, Spain, Belgium, Estonia, England, Holland, Romania and Italy.

When I contacted the Office’s Project Director, Stella Matioc in December last year, she offered help in setting up meetings with local organisations and offered a volunteer to assist me. She lived up to this promise and thanks to the Volunteers Coordinator, Lavinia Alexe my access to the arts and cultural producers in the city was easy.

All organisations are playing a role in the year, have received additional funding to deliver extra programmes or festivals. I met with Ioan Bojin, the Director of Thalia Hall, the Philharmonic Hall which is programming twice the number of concerts this year than usual and is welcoming twice the number of audiences. Whilst their funding was increased significantly, it was not doubled and the organisation is running the programme with the same number of staff. Mr Bojin states that they see this year as a fantastic opportunity and are happy to work at an increased rate to deliver the world class programme. Walking around the Hall (newly refurbished due to Capital of Culture), during the Stuttgart Orchestra’s rehearsal was a bonus. Mr Bojin is confident that Thalia Hall will continue to attract international and national audiences in the future and claims to have no concerns about the prosperity of the hall in the forthcoming years.

Smaller organisations also received additional funding but do have some concerns about the future. I met with several: briefly with Liliana Salchnu, director of the Gong Theatre (receiving venue for a varied programme of touring show and producer of children’s and puppet theatre). The theatre was also renovated thanks to Capital of Culture; Dumitru Budrala and Csilla Kató of Astra Film Studio which is screening a different documentary film on each day of the year; and Professor Corneliu Bucur, director of the Astra Open Air Museum which specialises in the anthropological history of the region and as such is important for local people.

My visit of arts organisations concluded with a meeting with the Artistic Director of the National Theatre - Radu Stanca, Mr Constantin Chiriac, a truly inspirational figure who made my jaw drop with his achievements, and those of the city. He is the Vice President of Sibiu 2007 and it was he who drove forward the idea and bid for Sibiu to be Capital of Culture. The International Theatre Festival is the third largest in the world. Initiated by Mr Chiriac in 1993, it presented 8 shows and hosted 3 international countries. More recently it has presented 328 shows in 42 locations by 72 countries over 11 days involving 1,000 employees and 400 volunteers. I can’t conceive of this happening in the UK. Edinburgh is much bigger of course, but does it boast the quality of this festival? If you have money, you can play Edinburgh. It is a commercial festival. That doesn’t always equate to quality.

I was chaperoned by Stefania, a young woman of 17 years, highly intelligent and astute. She attended all of my meetings and made considered observations about each of them. I introduced her to the European Youth Parliament. I think she’ll make a perfect candidate and, in the not so distant future will do things in Romania that will contribute to its increasingly swift development. If there are others like Stefania, Romania will have a prosperous future.

The Organising Office of Sibiu 2007 employs around 15 people. I met with several members of the team: Rares Craiut, one of the programming team and Silviu Scrob, the Technical Director, responsible for all technical aspect of the year, including the International Theatre Festival. He is self taught - there is no technical training in Romania. He was preparing for one of the year’s highlights: Jethro Tull. The other musical highlights of the year have been Chris Norman of 70s band Smokie and Julio Iglesias.

Speaking of music... (Glenn Noble, skip this section!) Because Romania had no access to the ever changing face of music until the early 90s, it is less discerning of what’s “in” and “out”. They missed the glam of the 70s and camp of the 80s (not a bad thing, some of you say). Here, there is now EuroDisco from those halcyon days played everywhere. My ears thought they’d gone to bpm heaven as they absorbed fabulous music from Modern Talking, Baccara, Sandra, Bad Boys Blue and Fancy.... And speaking of which....

Thanks to a cancelled meeting, I came face to face with a face that I recognised from the dozens of CD booklets, 12” singles covers, LP sleeves I have... It was my musical hero, the King of EuroDisco, Fancy!!! He was so charming, so polite, told me his reason for visiting Sibiu and that he’d like to come to Liverpool when it’s Capital of Culture. There’ll be some wondering who Fancy is... He never broke into the mainstream in the UK, but was played in the clubs. Whilst you listened to Kylie & Jason, Simply Red and The Smiths in the 80s and the Spice Girls, REM and BritPop in the 90s, the rest of Europe (and me) were listening to brilliant songs from across the continent.

Fancy is greatest of them all. One of his songs was Number 1 in Spain for 6 months. As a taster, visit the website for some audio clips. (www.fancy-online.net/flash/). Patrick Dineen, you’ll love him!

I thought of Sibiu as probably the largest split-site ‘creation centre’ in the world. It has firmly embedded culture into the fabric of the city. Being Capital of Culture is huge for the city. It has opened minds and eyes and has moved the city on significantly. It has a strong and committed number of arts managers who are ensuring the work they produce continues. It also has a city council, mayor and government committed to ensuring that culture is a driver in the city’s economic growth. I wish the city every success and recommend it as a place to visit.

I had to go to Bucharest to get a connecting flight to Sibiu. I could’ve done the journey in a day, but I was intrigued to see the capital, so I spent four days there.

I’d imagined it to be similar to Prague and Budapest: an architecturally beautiful city that had, following the changes between 1989 and 1991, developed as a tourist centre. It has the architectural beauty but it is not a city that attracts many tourists. I imagine that if low cost airlines continue to move in, it soon will. Though it has buildings and places of beauty (Parliament Palace, Piata Victoriei, Lipscan, Herástrau Park) and fascinating museums (Satulul Museum, the Museum of Romania), it doesn’t appear to have a cafe culture or bar culture that will be one of the keys to its tourism success.

What do I know?

I was encouraged to see Sibiu promoted here in the form of posters advertising events, festival and performances. There are also banners with the Sibiu 2007 logo, and in the book stores there are numerous books about the city. A visit to the Ministry of Culture confirmed the country’s pride in Sibiu as Capital of Culture.

I hope that London will raise Liverpool’s profile next year in similar ways, but I felt a tinge of doubt. I figure it will be so absorbed in 2012 that Liverpool 2008 will not be well promoted. I hope I’m wrong. And actually, I do have confidence that the Culture Company will make every effort to ensure our profile is raised outside of the city.

It’s outside the city that the banners, posters and 08 logos need to be, not in Liverpool. We who live and work there, know that it is Capital of Culture next year...

My time in Bucharest was a useful precursor to my visit to Sibiu. I talked with numerous people about the city; what their awareness was, their views about its status as Capital of Culture. Responses varied from lack of awareness of what was happening during the year, to intense enthusiasm; that it is positive for the city and for Romania. One person I met, an international transaction manager for a tyre company, a native of Sibiu, told me that Capital of Culture is “like a gift from heaven”, that for the first five years after the changes in 1989, nothing changed in Sibiu, but now it has been transformed because of 2007. He felt some anxiety about the future and stressed that it is essential that Sibiu’s development does not cease.

I spent two full days absorbing the history, vibrancy of the city and sights whilst walking around in temperatures of 35-40 degrees. Getting around on foot and by metro is easy. Taxis are cheap - around 25p per kilometre. But if you visit, watch out for Auto Taxis who charge around £2 per kilometre. On arriving in the city I unknowingly got one of these, went on a tour of the city en route to my hotel (not requested) and was charged £14 for a fare that cost me £1 the following day when I used a reputable company. Humph...

I’d recommend Bucharest for a short break. The cuisine is fantastic, the Bilberry Brandy, delicious, the climate is perfect (if you like it hot) and the architecture is stunning and its history important. Don’t come for a pair of Levi’s or Lee Cooper’s, though. In the sale they were around £45, reduced from £90...

Culture of a completely different kind... I booked a flight to the island that never sleeps and met up with Yorgos Karamalegos, co-director of Momentum Physical Theatre (www.momentumtheatre.com) for some late nights and lazy days. The nightlife doesn’t kick in until around 1.30am and it goes on until the unnatural hour of 6am, at which point the beach club opens and the revellers start the day shift. Not me. Apart from a short burst of sabbatical business from Elia Beach taverna, the week was entirely devoted to hedonism, fulfilling the mind, body and soul... Well, maybe not the soul. There were one or two opportunities to network too and I met a teacher from Thessaloniki who gave me a good idea of what to expect when I visited there later in the month.

On the 7th day I needed a rest...

My unexpected return was due to a cracked tooth and abscess. I had emergency treatment in Portugal. I’ll not go into detail, suffice to say I looked like a hamster and I could hear my tooth clicking under the pressure.

I heard that the Mathew Street Festival had been cancelled due to Health & Safety reasons... I’d almost forgotten how ridiculous things were getting, or rather, have got. I don’t know the details, so I may be way off beam, but I reckon it’ll have been something to do with the public being in danger of attending public events.

If we did a risk assessment on life, we’d never get out of bed in the morning.

Whilst in Liverpool I spent a day with my mum and dad. We had a lovely meal at Ego. I met with Bob Scott and Myriam Tahir to briefly talk about the Cities on the Edge programme and La Frîche. I also took the ladies of Hope Street for afternoon tea and cakes in the Everyman Bistro. Really nice to catch up with them and hear about projects, and all sorts of cracking work that they’re doing.