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JUNE
WEATHER
..... Hot and
Windy. Very windy up here above the bay of Chania. And the heat
continued to increase (as usual at this time of the year) and was
bordering on 30C at the end of the month. August should be really
good!
Chania
Webcam Current Cretan Weather
Link
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Next Month in Astratigos Village life...
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Ah well, better get on with it.
Complaining about who changed which plan won't get the bricks laid..
But wait! Who are those strange men working with rubble and a wheel
barrow?..... Don't miss next month!
Click picture to enlarge. |
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Astratigos Village Life.... Getting some..IV
(Continued from April - Previous click here).
At the end of last month...
"the Notary's assistant read the whole thing through in
English, confirmed that we understood and agreed, and asked us to
sign for the start of our dream proper.. On the morning of October
26th 1990, at Chania - we signed!..." |
But just what had we signed for...
Our dream in the sunshine, or the nightmare which could well result
from our attempts to renovate what in reality was an old ruined house in a
remote Cretan village? Even the surrounding roads were only tracks
- mostly just wide enough for one vehicle and, as we were to discover at
first hand, even tourists turned round at the nearby villages.
Where
the tarmac ended!
Whatever, any anxieties about going backwards instead of forwards had
been largely removed before we caught our flight home to the UK.
Anything that happened now would have to be via telephone lines or
mail.... But just for now we were on a high - we owned a bit of an
island in the sun - our Crete...
We were blissfully unaware of the real costs, still clinging like a
couple of bewitched children to our agent's 'guestimates' - about
£20,000
to buy about
£20,000
to renovate -
£40,000
all done
at the worst. At 1990 prices of course...
One other important thing that did happen before we left was that we managed
to meet the architect who was to draw up the
renovation plans on site.
Selected by our agent he seemed confident that we could realise our
dream, and went off to draw up the plans and building materials list. The
latter, the building materials list, was to become a rather elusive item - ala
the Scarlet Pimpernel.
Even getting back to work at our local hospital didn't dampen our
spirits. Many of our colleagues seemed to enjoy listening to the Cretan
adventures of a couple of their more lunatic prone peers. Many must have
wondered, like we ourselves did on many occasions in the early days,
just what would happen before the trip was over....
The first indication of what would happen was not too long in raising
its head. Our agent faxed us with the good news that all was proceeding
well in the planning stage, and the bad news that the 'problem' that we
had briefly discussed on our last visit - that of making a temporary
repair to a corner of our 'barn' which appeared to be in danger of
falling down was going to need around a thousand pounds... Coming so
soon after paying over what was to us at that time a reasonable sum of
money - about xx% of our agents total 'guesstimate' of around
£40.000,
another grand for what was to be a temporary measure paying up was not
without pain!
It was deemed essential. We were assured that the Cretan winters were
severe, and lack of reinforcement could result in severe damage and
possibly injury to people who might be passing when it fell down! A
possible legal bill for injury or death would mean bankruptcy beyond a
shadow of doubt. Could that 'shadow' of doubt be a ghost, waving his
or her bill for the cost of passage to the land of Hades - the
underworld of Greek mythology...
No, better to pay up and have the corner reinforced before the winter
brought more falling down house, injury to persons, or even the grim
reaper, Charon, himself. Any or all of which could, and probably
would, turn our dream in the sunshine into some terrifying
uncontrollable nightmare. A thousand? Done my lord. Well done!
But yet more was to come, or do I mean 'go'... We also 'owed'
another
£300
because our original payment, covering, as we understood it, all aspects
of the house purchase, including all legal fees and fees for the
architect, had left our account that amount in the red. As our agent
deftly pointed out...
Ok. We were in no position to argue with the man on the spot... With
letters reputedly taking up to a fortnight; phone calls at around
35pence a minute and fax-less - no position at all...
Pay up! Smile! Grin! Bear it! It's only money after all. What else
would you do with it - feed and clothe the kids?! Pay up, but get the
account sent on paper....
(Continued next month) |
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In the News
Reviews...
Iraklion court clears British mother...
Charged last year after killing her
newborn son in her hotel room on Crete...
(item 1)
Link to Story.
Explosive device...
An explosive device caused damage to property in Chania on
June 5th at around 1.40am. There were no injuries...
(item 4)
Link to
Story.
Three men injured in truck crash...
A truck crashed into two stores in Agia Marina, Chania at 6am on June
8th leaving three people, including a holiday maker and the driver with
serious injuries...
(item 2)
Link to Story.
Malia again a centre of holiday woes...
And again British holiday-makers appear to be leading the fray as
"This extreme behaviour suggests that visitors' safety will be in danger
but they also sully our land throughout the world" the local mayor told
reporters.
Bar crawls organized by some tour company Reps and cheap alcohol consumption are
blamed for extreme behaviour...
Link to Story.
And the British Press carry the Malia story...
This one in the Guardian.co.uk. Britain now has a new battle to
fight - our reputation on Crete - tarnished by the (possibly criminal)
behaviour of our own holiday-makers and tour companies...
Link to Story.
Social Networking - and libel charges...
Come to the fore as a 22 year old Cretan student puts landlady
profile on the Facebook social networking website and as a result is
facing libel and other charges...
(item
6)
Link to Story.
Zoniana trial continues in Athens...
With the father of an officer left paralyzed
after the 2007 reportedly botched police raid blaming the local (ex)
police chief ...
Link to Story.
And a brawl in Korydallos Prison, Attica...
On June 29, which left four prisoners in hospital, also
involved several from Zoniana...
(item 4)
Link to Story.
Chania jail break...
As an Albanian carries out failed attempt to assist a Belarusian
convict escape the Cretan prison and himself escapes posse using a car
hijacked from prison guard - June 25th...
(item 5)
Link to Story.
Paid ransom fails to save businessman...
The charred remains of Iraklion businessman abducted from his home were
subsequently discovered in a burning car at around the time that the
ransom money was paid... He was reported to have been strangled...
Link to
Story.
Children's summer camp...
Costs the lives of two 9 year old girls in Larissa (mainland Greece)
where the owners were reportedly facing charges of 'manslaughter through
neglect'...
Whilst on Crete another nine year old girl was in a critical condition
in Chania hospital after losing consciousness in a hotel pool...
Link to Story.
Plus, Corfu trial relating to holiday deaths...
Of 7 year old Christianne Shepherd and her 6 year old brother Robert who
died of carbon monoxide poisoning in a Corfu hotel complex bungalow in
October 2006* has been postponed until February 2010...
(item 1)
Link to
Current Story.
*2006 Ekathimerini Report.
And, still on the subject of the British...
Cambridge University Classics Professor Mary Beard appeared to enjoy
talking about what is becoming an increasingly intense debate about the
return (or not) of the Parthenon (Acropolis) Marbles, but seemed unable
to reach a solid conclusion - other than to say, in effect, that she
couldn't reach one!
Sounds a bit eccentric (the argument not the professor), but the reality
is plain enough - Britain has something which belongs to Greece and
would gain tremendous international accolade by returning it...
Link to Story.
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