Cretan Vista Site News Archive March 2011

Cretanvista Site News & Reviews - March 2011 Issue 99

No links to sites with adult content accepted.

MARCH WEATHER..... Remained extremely changeable over short periods of time. Temperatures still on a see-saw. There were some extremely violent storms and squalls near the coast. Both air and sea traffic were halted on occasions...

  Current Chania Webcam             Current Cretan Weather Link
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                        The roof, at last, was going on...

A day that sometimes we despaired of ever seeing - the roof was at last, after all the efforts and emotional turmoil, was going on top. Not quite the way we had envisaged - pine joists and not cypress beams - and a bit lower than originally planned...
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Astratigos Village Life.... Getting some.. XII
(Continued from January - Previous click here).

At the end the last episode...
.... My goodness but it was good fun! By The time the roofer arrived on the Monday all was ready. Done.

Our agent was helping the roofer. My thoughts as he stood on the topmost bricks were, of course, anxiety that the mortar may not have set properly....

So there we were, back living our dream. The nightmare of the previous three days now on the way to being a distant memory - apart from the facts of my badly sprained wrists, stooping gait because of the strained back and sun-burnt head! My ego, however, lived on - we had done it - no delay, no extra brick deliveries, no further expense. We could only grin and let the other workers, our agent and the roofer, take a turn in the Astratigonian boiler room...

The first day consisted mainly of the delivery of the materials - roof beams and tiles - in a way a great relief, in another way a disappointment. It was a great relief to see another stage in our journey commencing, but in a way it was very disappointing that the roof beams could no longer be the hoped for Cypress trunks used by our agent in his own house. These could not now be obtained and we were having planed pine beams - knots and all - though these did look superb we had to admit.

Plus, as usual throughout our agent-managed (one less charitable might be tempted to say miss-managed) project, we had reached this point only after confronting some unexpected hurdles. The first was raised by the English owner of the holiday-home next door. Our agent was also her agent. He had somehow failed to tell her the height of our property, which stood in front of hers. Now it fell to Pam to pour oil onto the possibly turbulent water lest, after everything, she were to object to our building. In the event we had agreed to reduce the building height by 3 feet, which we had achieved. Now our (double) agent was suggesting that if we agreed to lower the roof pitch the eventual height would be even less, a plus in neighbourly relationships.

Our distant neighbour, the agent explained, advertised her house for holidays on the basis of uninterrupted views over the Bay of Chania, and our original proposed house height would have negated this.... So, being neighbourly, we had lowered the walls by the mentioned three feet, and would now lower the roof height by agreeing to lower the pitch of the roof - but only if our roofer guaranteed that such change would not affect it's performance.

Guarantee forthcoming - our Greek speaking agent assured us - we agreed. A decision we non-Greek speakers were, (some fourteen years or so later), to live to regret....

It is now perhaps a matter of interest only to those who have no need of a visit to 'Specsavers', but subsequent checks revealed that if our house was to block anyone's view they would need to be stood in a position impossible in the neighbours' house. But then we had to build ours in order to prove that, by which time the matter was purely academic...

On with the roofing!

On with the roof joists; on went the boards; on went the rigid insulation; on went the felt. - It was a sort of mesh-based very thin black plastic - but it was, we supposed, waterproof - and on went the tiles. And didn't it just look good - even when only the ridges remained to fit.

Lightening never, we are assured, strikes twice in the same place. We have this assurance from those who having been struck once and survived, but who have always refused to stand in the place they were struck the first time ever again. Those who didn't survive the first time remain ominously silent on the subject! The remainder of the 'Doesn't strike twice' advisors have never been struck at all, so are not really the best people to advise on the topic...

And so it is with building materials. Having just managed, by the skin of my teeth to survive the 'not enough bricks' situation our agent had what could only have been a 'Parthian Shot' in store for me. When the roof had reached the stage of adding the ridges, he advised me not to use any more 'stuff' (Mortar) for the job I was doing in the kitchen to be. The roofer needed all the ingredients that were left to complete the roof ridging - and he couldn't get more delivered until next week... Now where had I been standing last time I heard that?!

But this time there was no escape - if the roofer was not to have to return next week (more expense) to finish the job then I had to take the weekend off. Not difficult with all the bits of my body which either didn't work properly or didn't work at all.... I took the weekend off...

Astratigos Village Life.... Getting some.. Is condensed from the book 'Pamela's House' - in current preparation... Continued in April...

In the News Reviews...
Ryanair to Crete...
Hard on the heels of easyjet, which now has flights into both Iraklion and, in the summer, Chania, Irish Budget airline Ryanair is to launch flights between Chania, Frankfurt and Milan.....
                                                      Link to Story.

But perhaps Thomson holiday flights are still...
A reminder from last month - Thomson may still be the safest bet for getting here and back home without the financial surprises of the cheap airlines. Have a look and listen to this story, turn up the sound on you computer - ENJOY!...
                                                      Link to Story.

More seriously...
Not everyone is seeking to escape Crete - March saw a very high number of evacuees escaping war-torn Libya with the help of Greek ferry operators. Not all, apparently, wanted to go through the immigration controls (in this case in Souda Bay) and jumped ship before it docked - resulting in several deaths....
                                                      Link to Story.

By March 18th...
The Cretan coastguard had recovered a total of 13 bodies from the 49 people, all Bangladeshi nationals who had jumped ship outside Souda Bay. One Bangladeshi remained unaccounted for...
                                                      Link to Story.

Remaining on the migration issue...
237 illegal immigrants who had been on hunger strike in Athens for six weeks were due to return to Crete, their point of origin, after a government amnesty provided a six month period of grace to remain in Greece...
                                                      Link to Story.

But there was a temporary hitch...
When two of the migrants refused to accept the deal and threatened to set fire to themselves unless they were granted full residence permits...
                                                      Link to Story.

Plus, US troops and ships...
Began arriving in Souda Bay early in the month with the objective of helping establish a proposed 'no-fly zone' over libya....
                                                     Link to Story.

And Greek ferry companies...
Have never, apparently since Minoan times, had it so good as foreign governments seek to evacuate their nationals from the Libyan crisis. Business is booming. if you will forgive the pun....
                                                      Link to Story.

Greece - and Crete was noted...
Later received that thanks of the Chinese government for their help in evacuating Chinese nationals from Libya....
                                                      Link to Story.

Libya - by 20th March Greece...
And in particular the island of Crete had undoubtedly entered the 'frontline' of military operations connected with the Libyan crisis. Whilst the recently arrived US forces had departed Souda Bay to move their operations nearer Libya. Souda Bay air base - in reality also a functioning international airport - had become an important staging post in enforcing the 'no-fly zone' on Libya. Fighter aircraft from several NATO countries were operating from the base...
                                                      Link to Story.

On a different subject...
The police 'electronic crimes unit' traced the source of a bogus email spreading false information about Greece defaulting on it's debts on March 25th, to a 45 year-old machinist on Crete. A number of people have been charged in connection with the e-mail...
                                                      Link to Story.

Plus tsunamis...
Professor Costas Synolakis, Professor of natural hazards at the Technical University of Crete and Director of the Hellenic Centre for Maritime Research, cautions about the lack of a tsunami warning system. He points to what could be very important lessons from history in the Mediterranean region...
                                                       Link to Story

And we are not kidding...
When we say above about the weather in March, conditions really were very unstable - if you can't believe it - have a look at this...
                                                       Link to Story

Quicklink. Snow in Athens
White Christmas had nothing on this....
                                                      Link to Story.
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All of the material produced by Cretanvista is copyright and belongs to someone who has spent time, effort and money to produce it. We are often willing to allow the use of our material for personal (non-commercial) purposes. For example our calendar photographs can be used to reproduce the pictures for your own individual calendars, or to hang on granny's bedroom wall.

We will however, take action against anyone we discover using our materials in any mass distribution exercise, especially for financial gain, unless specifically authorized by us and we are acknowledged as the source in the reproduction.
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FREE...
Cretanvista is a free site. We accept neither cash nor gratuities and sell nothing. We don't carry paid-for advertising. But we do try to give you information which you might want to know about.

Accommodation in Astratigos - For rent/Sale again....
The first house on the left as you enter Astratigos from Afrata - a large cream and green affair sporting two apartments two balconies and a small pool at the front . Live in Astratigos maybe?

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HOLIDAY VILLAS...
Another local owner has carried out some superb traditional renovations in Astratigos and has renovated what was once his own accommodation - maybe for your holidays! Book and check availability at:-
Crete-escapes.com

In Kolimbari - right on the beach near the tavernas, is:-

The Grand Bay Beach Hotel

Visit Interdynamic's website.

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http://www.provencebeyond.com/ Well worth a visit if you are interested in France, especially the southern parts.

FERRY SERVICES.
SOUDA BAY - PIRAEUS (Chania-Athens).

ANEK LINES operate daily return sailings.
Souda     -    Piraeus
21.00Hrs         05.30Hrs
Piraeus     -    Souda
21.00Hrs         05.30Hrs

Blue Star Lines operate daily sailings between Souda and Piraeus.
Souda     -    Piraeus
23.00Hrs         06.15Hrs
Piraeus     -    Souda
14.45Hrs         22.00Hrs

PLEASE NOTE THAT YOU SHOULD ALWAYS CHECK TIMETABLES WITH THE COMPANIES OR THEIR AGENTS.

WEBSITE LINKS

Moving to Crete? Get Sound Practical Advice for free..

'Notes on Greece' is a British Embassy publication which gives information on matters relating to Greece. Obtaining a copy first hand from the British Consulate in Iraklion (Heraklion) will ensure that you have the most recent edition - and professional contacts with up-to-date and wide ranging knowledge on matters relating to Crete. Contact the consulate via:-

:crete@british-consulate.gr

An e-mail copy is available as a Microsoft word file - a very fast email of very useful information

Very rarely one of our sites
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If you do find one missing
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...One of our mirror sites is always available
24 hours a day 7 days a week!
Bringing the sunshine,
Keeping the rain off!

Earthquake activity:
Most recent earthquakes in Greece - LINK

Local of Note March:

30 Mar: 3.2 ML, 15.39pm. Crete. Undersea epicentre 86 Km south of Timbakion.
                                                                                                              Link to Story.

Although earthquakes most certainly are a common feature of life in Greece. It is however, unusual for deaths, injuries and or damage to buildings to occur, which could lead to a false sense of security.

The author of a ten year study at the National Technical University of Athens says that Greece is sitting waiting for the next major earthquake without doing anything to mitigate it's effects. (Our italics).
                                                                                                                                        Link to Report.

There are certain existing buildings considered to be at risk from major earthquakes. Link to story. These buildings, which include a number of schools, are being investigated with the objective of safety. Link to story. Engineers have also called upon the government to institute checks on old bridges in Greece. Link (Item6.)
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A Little Extra (Current) News....
Water, reflex action or was it instinct? It was the night before the UK Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, now the newly wedded Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. A superb event televised around the world as it happened on April 29th - and wasn't it all just perfect? 'Amazing' said HRH Queen Elizabeth afterwards, caught by a TV Camera as she left her car. It really was, and always will be. But I digress....

The night before, here in Astratigos, sitting at the base of the Rodopos Peninsula above the western edge of the Bay of Chania, dissolved, after a quite reasonable day, into ten hours or so of unmitigated torrential storm. And that's where the 'reflex action' came from - exiting the loo (apologies - the office) I opened the bathroom door and actually had one foot hovering over the floor when I froze. Something was different - very different - the floor was shimmering! I instinctively withdrew my foot and placed it beside the other in the dry corridor - safety! (I should explain at this point that the bathroom and toilet floors are below the level of the rest of the house to prevent flooding in the event of leaks). We didn't have a leak - we had an influx of storm water through the floor drains - designed to carry any flooding from bursts away! What my reflex action (stop dead - doesn't need thinking about) had done was give me a brief moment to respond instinctively (recognize a pattern - water - don't fall in!) and saved me standing shoe deep in water that had just surfaced via the cess-pit. Good move. Long in the past I had learned from a psychologist that chickens respond in the same way to a cut-out shape of a hawk. They dash for cover and remain motionless so as not to be taken on flying lessons by what they think is a hawk.... If they had laid eggs instead there would apparently have been enough to make a very large chicken omelet. Not being able to lay eggs and having no chicken coop available I I simply said 'Oh' and dashed for the mop bucket...

Long ago, when a student, I was working in a hospital operating theatre which developed the same problem - except that the cause was a tap to a sterilizer which had not closed properly and the fact that there was no floor drain. Being the first arrival I had found the same picture - a floor that didn't look quite right - smooth and very shiny! The sheen of water!! This may not seem relevant - apart from the fact that the theatre technician, arriving second - 'My god'.. Had shown me that the quickest way to get rid of it was not with a mop and bucket but with a dust pan and bucket... Scoop up the water, tip it into the bucket. Much faster... But no help in our present occasion - the mop bucket and mop were in the dry, the dust pan outside in the raging storm. I chose the mop over the dust-pan on the grounds that if I were to get wet and struck by lightening I would be of no help in rescuing the bathroom...

The problem was resolved an hour or two and a few mop-bucketfuls later when the water, intent on finding it's own more natural (sea) level, began to do just that and the drains began doing what they do best, draining... Since the bathroom is approximately 900 feet above sea level and only a mile or so away, the reversal of our fortunes was almost immediate when the rains stopped. Pity the poor villages further down, not only would they too be getting wet, but on top of that some of their wetness would have been filtered via our cess-pit!

Before you rush away with the news that our 'pit leaks into the bathroom, and that one needs the reflexes and instincts of a terrified chicken in order to survive - or take a bath - let me explain that it is only in weather extremis that such an event occurs. The last occurrence was over ten years ago - and this storm must have been fractionally less severe because on that occasion both bathroom and toilet flooded, and the dust-pan was used in favour of the mop. 'Oh, and on that previous occasion, the water was a curious brown colour and had a faintly curious smell - and only in sheer desperation would anyone have even considered sitting in the loo with that stuff round your ankles!

By the next morning, the day of the Royal Wedding, the sun was shining and there was only a faint smell of Dettol to remind us that we had had an exciting night. Well, that and our dog - who persisted in walking around with her nose high in the air, sniffing pointedly at what she obviously regarded as a curious, and lingering, aroma.

But, Royalists that we are, it spoiled nothing of the day of pageantry and pomp, of the sheer magnificence of two beautiful young people taking their marriage vows in Westminster Abbey before God, Queen and Country - and before an estimated 25 million TV viewers around the world, before that magical coach ride from the Abbey back to Buckingham palace. The ecstatic crowds; their appearance on the palace balcony; the RAF fly-past of the Battle of Britain flight; the rescue helicopter from William's own flight.... Magic!

But I wonder if William, the new Duke of Cambridge, has thought - that with a bathroom the size of what his must be that he might one day, during a heavy storm, require that 'copter rather than a lowly dust-pan?!!!

Kalos Ithate Stin Kriti.
WB. Cretanvista. Bringing the sunshine, keeping the rain off!
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Site Content:- NEW WILDFLOWER GALLERIES.

Notices.

We are still undertaking our upgrade of the site. Changes here have left some pages outdated - new houses; hotels; supermarkets; roads and all. But it all takes time; please bear with us.

Contacting Cretanvista..
We have now discontinued all direct email links. You can still reach us directly using our new Contact form, and will still receive direct replies, but if you see an email address please ignore it.

Photo Galleries...
Calendar Photo Galleries:
A new one every year for the past decade! The 2010 Calendar gallery is complete and online now.. The 2009 calendar topic was 'Wild Flowers of Crete' (after our wild flower galleries) and the result was superb! Which is why we followed up the theme in 2010. And again in 2011! Because of our success we have already produced our 2012 wild flower calendar format (and our other themes continue), but of course that is not available until later in the year. But we can reprint any issue with the next year's dates - whatever year that happens to be! Have a look at the 2011 wild flowers calendar Link.

Wild Flower Gallery - Now at 360 different wild flower photographs online - plus dozens in preparation - Galleries 13 - 15 are open. 360 flowers online. Gallery 16 is developing - which will mean 384 online.. Plus we have added more reference information on redesigned pages - with more photos of each specimen to follow later. You may find an occasional duplicate, which we are keeping for the moment as the actual photographs will be different and will be used in a later planned re-organization of the galleries.

We are now well en-route to putting the first 50% of our target 1020 individual flowers on-line. But it all takes time. First find the flower (hopefully in full bloom); then get the photographs (sounds easy); put the photographs on-line (simply work); with basic information on each, making certain that it is accurate...

If you know the location of a rare flower please don't hesitate to help us photograph - we wont reveal your information to anyone else.

Please note also that All flower galleries have now been successfully re-coded to eliminate a bug which affected some Firefox browser versions. All the information will remain online at Cretanvista. With the advent of ipods, ipads, Blackberry's and other gizmos it will be much easier to take Cretanvista galleries on your field trips - and all the information that goes with them. **Your Amazon Kindle will display cretanvista perfectly.

Wildlife Gallery - the first two pages - 48 unique photographs, including some rare specimens of the Cretan fauna. Some is quite beautiful, some a bit scary/creepy, but all now add to our wildlife page and the ornithology gallery pages. Remember that it is always worth checking where you walk or sit before you do! Start here.

Chania Photo Gallery.
Our Chania photograph galleries commenced with a presentation from Klaus Dieter Thill, whose photographs of some old buildings in the area of the Venetian Harbour show a little of what we all sometimes miss. Have a look - it's worth it. Start here.

Miniature Chapels of Crete Gallery.
Klaus-Dieter Thill - author of Minaturkapellen auf Krista, a printed photo album detailing some of those enigmatic roadside shrines of Crete, has now contributed the first page of his Chania on-line gallery.

Cretan Art and crafts - Weaving pages...
Weaving is in full swing and natural dyes are being made up and the photographs taken to add to this section. We will be adding our pages on our new looms, equipment and new projects started as soon as we can. The weaving tends to take the time right now..

Our very first nature gallery...
Contributed by Anastasios Sakoulis, whose book on Cretan wildlife Moments of Cretan Nature is also on our site as a book review. Anastasios contributed 18 pictures of birds for addition to a gallery some time ago now. We will attach these to our bird-watching pages as soon as possible.

GENERAL: There are now 37 galleries featuring aspects of Cretan life, including sunrise and sunset pictures; Souda Bay War Cemetery; the gallery of magnificent wild-life pictures by Anastasios Sakoulis; our own wildlife gallery; the wild flowers; Chania; Mhlia (Milia) traditional village; etc.. etc...

Our improvements continue. We sincerely hope that you notice little - apart from increased enjoyment and ease of use. Keep visiting - your presence is what make all worthwhile.

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	Living in Crete by Carol Palioudakis OUT NOW IN PAPERBACK! Price £9.50 GBP
	Amazon.co.uk & Selected Cretan bookstores

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