CVNewsOctober 2003

Cretanvista Site & Local News - OCTOBER 31st 2003 Issue 10
No links to sites with adult content accepted	SEPTEMBER WEATHER WAS... September weather remained, like August, absolutely superb! But, well into October it became a little hot a humid, very cool at night with the occasional Sirocco to keep us twitching! Right now the temperatures are well down and rain seems close enough to touch - it just won't fall - yet! Fires on Crete Fires above Maleme Copyright Burgess 2003 CLICK PICTURE TO ENLARGE Above: October 23rd 2003. Serious fires near the base of the eastern slopes of the White Mountains (Omalos) about 12Km directly west of Cretanvista. Only a few Kilometers above Maleme, Crete. These fires burned fiercely for a number of hours. Maleme is below bottom left corner of this picture - some of the lights above the old airfield are seen above the bottom left of the photograph. Link to News Story. I once owned a plaque: Cretanvista is a free site, not a business. We pay for our web hosting but do not generate (or seek) income. It is meant to be informative, but it is a bit difficult to collect information, take photographs, be intuitive and have sparklingly interesting content, for example, whilst at the same time washing the dirty dishes! I once owned a plaque which proclaimed: "when you are up to your (censored) (bottom) in Aligators, it is difficult to remember that the original objective was to drain the swamp". We now have two offers of free assistance - one from a German friend who has offered professional quality direct translation services of the whole site into German, and another from an English friend - a true Grecophile - who has offered help with the book reviews. I intend to accept both and will be back with the results in the November news page. Moving to Crete - Practical Advice.. Last month - we repeated our previous noteworthy comments about moving to Crete that getting information from the British Consulate in Iraklion (Heraklion) is perhaps somewhat better than word of mouth:- 'Notes on Greece' 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. Photo Galleries En-Route... 1. Gathering olives and makes oil with Kolimbari Co-op.. 2. A little countryside wildlife.... 3. Barrel making with the Cooper of Kastelli! 4. Cheese making the traditional way - real milk! 5. Another real mountain Village - Anogia. The picture strip: A trip to Anogia - long demanded by Pam - an avid weaver with a genuine working Cretan loom in excellent condition came about recently compliments of Andy and Sue Davies, who had just purchased a new Nissan X-trail 4WD and saw the chance to try it out by suggesting a trip to Anogia. Albeit in the prefecture of Rethymnou, not Chania it is justifiably site material as it can be included in 'Getting out and about...' section. (Home page). Either in 'Driving Days Out' or 'Some day trips' The whole story will be in one or the other shortly. Watch for the CVNewspage link right here. Anogia is wool; weaving; Nikos Xylouris; the small Grillios museum; the unsurpassed mountain scenery of Mount Psiloritis; the nearby Nida Plateau and Ideon Cave; of the Greek god Zeus; and real mountain village inhabitants! Get the feel, Spend an evening in the Eagle Taverna (barbequed lamb) and have nightcap in Agios Yiorgios Square, where you can just feel the atmosphere.... Meanwhile a few pictures from Anogia to wet your appetite: Left click any picture to enlarge.	In the News - Cretan Filoxenia........ An English holiday-maker who lost his false teeth - yes, his false teeth, whilst swimming received them back, courtesy of Cretan fishermen, a couple of weeks after returning to the UK. Cretan filoxenia - the friendliness and hospitality shown to visitors - especially strangers - is renowned throughout the world, but, if you will forgive the pun, this one takes the biscuit!!.... Link to Story: Not so funny - perhaps?... Was the September arrest on Cyprus of three official representatives of Anogia, Crete - the deputy mayor and two councilors - charged with espionage. The real purpose of their visit was the twinning of Anogia, in the Cretan prefecture Rethymnou, with the Cypriot village of Rizokarpaso in occupied northern Cyprus. They were later released and returned home without further incident. Link to Story. But then again..... We visited Anogia for a couple of days prior to this and had a superb time gathering information, taking photographs and just soaking up the hospitality - brilliant. Apart from being almost run down by a large van driven by a boy who could have been no more than twelve and co-piloted by his junior brother!! Maybe they may know who stole the hub-caps from the brand-new Nissan X-Trail we had arrived in? Maybe God was in Cyprus that day because..... On the other hand.... Was that good cause for Turkish officials on Cyprus to arrest a Greek Cypriot Donkey? Maybe it was the passport that upset them! Link to outstanding Story. A little background - Donkey only Cypriot species on Cyprus! The Result? A superb story ending. ___________________
Accommodation in Astratigos FOR RENT.... After the holiday season, the first house on the left as you enter Astratigos from Afrata - a magnificent cream and green affair sporting two balconies and a small pool at the front and containing two holiday apartments - is now for rent. Winter in Astratigos maybe? Tel: + 28240 222243. You can see inside at: www.villa-Astratigos.co.uk Maybe More shortly.. Another local owner has carried out some superb traditional renovation on a ruined house - and is currently renovating what was his own accommodation - maybe for your holidays! The New hotel in Kolimbari is open... If you want information visit:- The Grand Bay Beach Hotel At Interdynamic's website.
FERRY SERVICES Both ANEK and Blue Star Ferries have car ferry services between Souda Bay and Piraeus. Although an obvious competitor to the resident Anek Lines the Blue Star service times do not conflict from Souda. Anek currently leaves at 9.00pm whilst Blue Star leave at 11.30pm. WEBSITE LINKS
ROAD SAFETY REPEAT Following a series of fatal accidents involving heavy goods vehicles and passenger coaches in Greece earlier this year the Traffic Police are unlikely to overlook traffic violations of any kind. In some areas they test erring drivers not only for alcohol but also drugs. Although there have been recent reductions in Road accidents and deaths Greece is still bottom of the EU league table *Motorcyclists - the alcohol limit here is almost Nil.. Don't drink. Even school buses are being stopped!! And yes, the traffic police do work in the winter season!		MORE FUN & SERIOUS PLEASURE PLEASE! I offer no apologies for keeping the next paragraph - which seems to have taken root on the news page!..... To our visitors who have taken the time to tell us that they have found our site enjoyable/ informative/ helpful/ or otherwise complimented the site - very many thanks. We are trying very hard and it's really good to know that you like it". Besides, my wife notes that many of you are ladies! Please don't stop!! ___________________ Here's another Guest Book comment.......... Remote User:08 DEC 2002 Time:18:56:30 comments: Ηταν μια ευχαριστη εκπληξη...!! it was an exciting surprise!!!! we will give your site to our friends in Australia so they can get to know crete. Very good. Yiannis Rosmarakis, Kolimbari. "we will give your site to our friends in Australia !" .....? *Well..... Yiannis, if you give my site to your friends in Australia it won't be here anymore!.... (Sorry!- But I really enjoyed it...WB ____________________
Kid-safe. Free. Unbiased. Innovating. Informational.. Cretanvista! Mirror Sites at:- www.cretanvista.co.uk www.cretanvista.com www.cretanvista.info COPYRIGHT All material on the site is strictly copyright. Any use in mass distribution - in print or on websites for example, needs our consent. All the material on the site is original and represents considerable time; effort and no little expense.		Return visitors to Astratigos......... Viv and Leigh Jones from the UK (Right & centre) together with Pam Burgess and Indy outside the front doorway to Pam's house (Cretanvista) recently. A previous visit a couple of years back went entirely unpublished so we hope that this picture goes some way to making up for that!

Earthquakes.... Wobbles continue...More slowly!
Since the 4.8 Richter Scale undersea earthquake off Kos on 15th September there have been two further earthquakes affecting Greece worthy of note. None of these 'quakes caused damage or injuries and could be described as part of normal life in this region - not something to be concerned about under normal circumstances.

30 Sep: 4.8 Richter Scale 'Quake in Peloponnese.
17 Sep: 5.8 R undersea east of Kythira. Felt Kalamata.

None of these earthquakes caused damage or injuries and the rising magnitude should not be taken as an indication of increasing activity. There is constant activity in Greece and it's islands. Although at least one professor believes that there will be at least 4 major quakes in the future. Link.

A look at our earthquake page will show that there have been no serious quakes for some time - the last notable (not serious) on Crete occurring in May and June last year. No serious damage was reported. Our own page - earthquakes - will be updated shortly to include all recent 'quakes in Greece.
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Holidays in Greece sometimes go badly wrong ...
Recent press releases here about holidaying in Greece are hard to understand and explain.

Chania, Crete.
A 67 year old English holiday maker and his 67 year old wife were knocked down with by a moped and injured is reported to have confirmed that he has been ordered to Greece to face criminal charges - jaywalking!
                                                   Link to Chania Story.
Three years after...
A young British tourist died after he failed to receive adequate medical care after falling from the balcony of his Faliraki hotel room, it was reported that the doctors involved were convicted of criminal negligence and sentenced to three years imprisonment. All have appealed....

Corfu - from last month - Link added.
1st September: A Hotel owner was holding on to the bags of British tourists scheduled to leave because of a financial dispute with the tour operator.
                                                     Link to Corfu Story.
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Well, that's about it for now.....
Desperately late - mainly because there has not been a lot of relevant news since the September issue; partly because we refuse to waffle our way to the last full stop (we want quality); and partly because much time has been devoted to preparing our house here in Astratigos for the coming winter. Which includes obtaining and stacking a few tonnes of wood to (hopefully) see us through to the end of March. Last year, a very bad winter here, we ran out and only remained warm because a Greek friend sought and found for us extra supplies.

E-Mail Requests..
I receive some brilliant e-mails - really - and they are very welcome. But sometimes there is no acknowledgement that our answer has been received. We don't mind, but worry occasionally that someone may not have received an answer from us and think the worse of us! We will ALWAYS reply to e-mail so please, if you have mailed us and not received an answer - resend your mail - we didn't get it or have somehow overlooked it. Our response time is usually within 48 hours.

Personal Information..
We have been asked in the past to help locate people. We would love to be able to assist but regret that are unable to do this. There is fuller comment in previous issues of CV News.

Questions and Answers..
Quite a lot of questions are received here at Cretanvista and, as with e-mails and other forms of communication, we do our best to supply valid answers. We never respond "Off the Top of our Heads" but always research the answer - even if we already have one (things change) before passing the information on. We provide links to appropriate alternative sources where we have them. The answers are given with the proviso that recipients are responsible for any action taken by them.

Guest Book. E-mail links are accepted. Website links are removed automatically to prevent inclusion of sites without agreement.

Book Reviews.
Because each book review is original - we steal nothing from the book covers or the reviews of others - it takes a little longer to deal with each. No point our reviewing the reviews when what readers really want to know about is the content! 'Books and good reading'.

View Cretanvista Calendar Photos 2003
(2004 Calendar Photos en- route)

Bird Watchers.
Paul Smiths' bird watching diary page remains very popular and hopefully Paul is well into his October diary. We are sincerely indebted to visitors who have supplied photographs. Currently we are displaying these in CVNews, more next month, but hopefully we will receive enough to start a gallery of Cretan sightings.

mailto:Webmaster@cretanvista.gr

Book Reviews - 2 current - *new book received...
The last recent review - 'Moments of Cretan Nature' by Anastasios Sakoulis, (ISBN: 960-91979-0-6) "Stigmotipa Tis Kritikis Freesis" in Greek - is a super book with some magnificent photographs. Our review is accompanied by a small photo gallery - our first review to do so. Our site pictures (from the book) are, we think, nice! The printed pictures in the book are in almost all cases very much bigger, nicer!

Books and Good Reading - Moments in Cretan Nature

Reviews in Preparation...
'Eleni' by Nicolas Gage. Published by Harvill - (ISBN 1 86046 346 0) first published 1983. Reprinted.

This is his true story of a son seeking to avenge his mothers murder by ELAS Guerillas during the Greek civil war. Real. Compelling. Harrowing in the extreme. Revealing the Greek psych as nothing I have ever read. But, unless you have no feelings, it could haunt you forever...... 'Eleni' (in preparation).

Books Received..
A gift from American visitors. 'LAND OF CRETE' 360^o
Panoramic Photographs. Meis Studio^©ISBN 960-86736-0-7. Absolutely Beautiful. Hope I can get permission to include a photograph. Thank you Jim & Karen.

Can this be you.....or yours?
Every so often when I am out and about taking photographs I come across someone who could be you - or something which could be yours (or theirs!!). Maybe passing in the opposite direction on a full tandem bicycle (yes, that happened); an unattended car with foreign plates; something which catches my eye and leaves me not knowing......... Either there was no one to ask or they were moving too quickly! I thought that perhaps site visitors might like to see or be able to help identify one or two 'unknowns' which have left me wondering who, or what I have missed.   Can this be yours?



              Anogia, Rethymnou, Crete 3rd Sept 2003
        Multi-storey Volkswagen Van - a new VW Advert?

Until next month, best wishes from here on Crete. WB