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JANUARY
WEATHER .....
Mostly very, very cold, very windy and very wet! BUT, there were
some absolutely gorgeous days weather-wise with high morning temperatures,
beautiful blue skies and the snow- capped 'White Mountains' -
the Omalos range standing proudly and clearly about 12-15Km away...Latest
Crete Weather Link.
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Night Time
Parthenon - Athens
Parthenon (Acropolis) Athens ©Burgess@ Cretanvista
Traveller's Tales II - Does not mention that this photograph of the stunning
Athens Parthenon was taken from the balcony of our room at the Acropolis View
Hotel - just 3 min walk away...
Astratigos Village Life - 'Traveller's
tales II'...
An ongoing saga of travel between Crete and the UK.
(If you want to read 'Travelers
tales I' first, start here)
Please don't read either at bed-time if you are about to travel yourself!
Since our last trip to the UK Pam had needed to make a an unexpected solo return in
November 2007, flying Aegean/Lufthansa via Athens, Munich and Heathrow return. She
had to attend a family funeral...
Her trip went OK, if you don't count the Munich transfer on the way out (baggage
men on sudden strike - captain leaving regardless...) or the unscheduled sudden
parking and engine closedown at Athens en-route back after her flight
had started to taxi (faulty instrument - a no, no captain), and her arrival back
at Chania on one of the stormiest nights we have had forever... Or.. Or.. but
that's another story - maybe later.
This trip starts en-route back from our annual Christmas trip to the UK, at
Luton airport. Where we had
flown in December with exactly the same baggage we were now leaving with (bar the dirty
washing we were taking back!) via Athens and Luton. Now, en-route back, we got as far
as the escalator to the security zone after a check-in with easyjet before
things started to go pear-shaped.
The very large notice in front of the escalator advised that any more than one bag
would cause inconvenient delays. Well, I only had my camera and my
(regulation size - "if it fits and you can lift it safely into the overhead
lockers it goes") hand-baggage and Pam had a laptop and handbag. The 6ft+
gentleman guarding the door was adamant - we had four pieces of hand
baggage. We would have to make them into two!! So that's what the people at the
tables behind us had been doing....
'So what do you want us to do?' I enquired.
'Put the camera in your bag - and the lady's handbag in her (laptop) bag'
he replied. 'A physical
impossibility' I informed him 'there is just no room'.... 'You can't pass
with four bags' he replied. 'So we can't fly then?' I asked.. 'No', he said, 'I
didn't mean that - you will have to return to check-in and check in the extra
bags'.
Visions of checking in a forbidden laptop or worse - my wife's handbag instead,
and perhaps my own hand baggage flashed before my eyes - followed swiftly by my
attempting to check-in my camera as an extra bag instead.. My imagination ran
riot - 'Would you like to
buy a bag from one of the airport shops to put that in sir - it will get lost or
broken on it's own?' 'But the security man said it is a bag' I would have
to reply. 'Yes, but that's only at the entrance to the security zone -
everywhere else it's just a camera' she would reply, poker-faced.... In reality
my own hand
baggage was full of 'forbidden to check-in' digital electronics - including my own
laptop. It must all have been worth at least two grand - even on ebay. I checked it
in!! At least it didn't contain gelignite, grenades or stolen jewels.... (also
banned).. Just one 'bag' (camera) left...
We broke the strap on Pam's new leather handbag stuffing the camera inside. Now
we only had two items - well, after paying easyjet another 68 quid anyway. The
lady who collected the extra smiled. Maybe that was the answer to this
unsmiling, poker
faced airport - you have to pay extra if you want a smile. But thanks anyway supergirl - your smile was worth a glass of water in an otherwise empty desert
on a relentlessly scorching day...
Back at the entrance to security '6ft+' waved us to him. 'Ok' he enquired. '68
Ok' said Pam. He looked shocked. 'No! Was that easyjet? You should fly BA'... What
is this I wondered, BA don't fly from Luton... I told him he would get a good
write-up in CV News! But I wasn't ready for the real treatment to come, not even
nearly.... Into security proper....
Laptop out and in scanner - bag, jacket, wallet and reading glasses likewise.
Shoes off, belt off (you should try this in a moving mixed sex/religion queue).
Fail the people scan - get frisked and 'Okayed. Then nailed by the obviously
retired/re-employee who had my jacket/laptop/belt/shoes (wallets come
after belts in a crisis). He didn't trust my laptop (or me - or both) and
proceeded to electronic feather dust and rescan the laptop - whilst distracting me from
attempting to get dressed and retrieve my belongings from their blue plastic boxes
in the still moving queue. A final, begrudging 'Ok' and I had the laptop back too.
Just no shoes on - but at least my pant's were belted up! Then, manna from heaven -
Chairs!! There were chairs at the end of the milling throng. Sit down, put my
shoes on! I should have known better by now - if a smile costs 68 quid, one of the
four (or was it six?) chairs between 100 or so shoeless people would be
worth another glass of water in a ......
I didn't have another glass of water with which to buy a way out, but the (contorted) smile I got from the young
lady in front as we bent towards each other in some weird 'excuse me' dance
whilst attempting to replace our footwear helped a lot right then. Another 'supergirl'
- sincere thanks...
But the nightmare wasn't quite over. As our flight was called and we again
joined the moving queue toward the segregated queues operated by easyjet. The
unsmiling young lady on the desk checking our boarding passes (and passports
again) became involved in something of an argument with a male passenger. It
seemed to be about the size of his bag - which could easily have taken our
original 'four' bags with room to spare... He apparently won.. The young lady
was replaced by a young man and she unsmilingly exited with determined alacrity!
The flight itself was good. On our arrival in Athens the only long faces seemed
to be from our flight! Why do we do it? To return to the land of the smiling
free of course - Kalos Ilthate stin Ellada!! |
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In the News and News Reviews..
Archbishop Christodoulos ...
Leader of the Orthodox church in Greece,
died during the early hours of February 28th at his home in Athens shortly after
5am Greek time....
A 'man of the people', putting Greece and it's people at the forefront of his
ministry, Christodoulos was a sometimes controversial figure, occasionally in
conflict with authority - both political and religious. Nevertheless, he took
his church to the people and sought also to bring Greek Orthodoxy and Roman
Catholicism closer to resolving their ancient differences. He will be sadly
missed by all thinking people.
Link
to Story.
Following a requiem mass at the Athens Mitropolis Cathedral, Archbishop
Christodoulos received a state funeral attended by thousands on Thursday, January 31st,2008.
The mass had been led by Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomaios, world head of the
Orthodox Church of Greece - who is based in Istanbul -and was attended by all
the state dignitaries of Greece.
Link to Story.
Taxis to go hybrid?...
But no, that doesn't mean that owners will share the fare, even though the
government will share the cost with taxi owners via 'incentives'...
Link
to Story.
But Greek bees are unaffected so far....
By 'Colony Collapse Disorder' which has caused the loss of honey bee
colonies around the world. Good news in a country which is the world's third
largest honey producer.
Link
to Story.
Greek Citizens apparently trust the EU...
More than they trust their own institutions - and the most
suspicious nation in the EU about the mass media!
Link
to story.
Even though...
The EU not infrequently punishes Greece because of it's inefficient handling
and disposal of waste...
Link
to story.
And on the health front....
Cerebral Palsy Greece celebrates it's 35th anniversary. British actor Daniel
Day-Lewis, a star of the (8)Oscar nominated film 'Let there be blood' is
the associations 'Guardian Angel'...
Link
to story.
But not all is healthy for everyone...
As some Greeks, understandably, seek a solution to their life-threatening
conditions outside recognized systems.
Link
to story.
Whilst others carve their own vanity...
No different to other 'sophisticated' societies, members tend to seek to
improve their own body-images via plastic surgery. Greeks seem to top the
leagues!
Link
to story.
And technology gallops on...
As Bill Gates, founder and head of Microsoft, arrive in Athens and seals a
deal with the Greek Government... Although there has been a suggestion that it
may not be that easy because of EU rules...
Link
to story.
But some Greeks already lead the field...
As a retired Greek mathematics professor is charged with hacking into the computers of a major French arms manufacturer and selling the
secrets he is alleged to have stolen at 700 Euros a time. On ebay perhaps?!
Link
to story.
..Plus some visit Greek government sites...
It is undoubtedly a serious issue, but one wonders - can't we get
confidential information more readily from the UK, where it is simply lost in
the post or left on laptops which are then stolen?! (With apologies UK).
Link
to story.
Changing the subject.....
Gavdos, that tiny, isolated and almost empty Greek island in the Libyan sea
- off the south coast of Crete, has been "rediscovered" (once again). This time
as 'The Med's "forgotten" island' by a BBC correspondent. It is
worth a read though, or even a short visit if you are in Crete. But unless
you seek an extended stay, do it in summer only.
Link
to story.
And Finally....
ERT television news tells us that Asteroid 2007 TU27 made a close pass by
earth on January 29th. The asteroid is expected to close to 55.000 Km as it
streaks by at around 07.30 Greek - only I.4 times the distance between the earth
and the moon away. Now that is reasonably close - especially as it is estimated
to be around 150-610 metres long.
Weight and speed are not given, but hopefully the scientific predictions of
distance in passing are not under estimated by 1.5 times.... (No Link).
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The Cretanvista Review of
Carol Palioudaki's
'Cool Guide to
Living in Crete'
(A gold mine of information)
is, like the book, available now.
Out Now - Get it
at www.livingincrete.net
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