Antonis Samaras

Over the last few days I kept getting messages on my mobile phone signed by Antonis Samaris.  Now not having enough knowledge of the greek language to completely translate them, I ignored them . This could have been a fatal error as he might have been offering me a job in his new political party now he has been elected as leader !
Perhaps he wanted an English speaking person to be shadow head of the Committee Of Culture, Knowledge,Understanding in the Provinces.......or indeed minister for the department of Smart Homes for Albanians, Macedonians, Bulgarians Living on Economic Subsistance !


In short departments of:-

COCK  UP  and
SHAMBLES

St Andrews Day

Quick - break out the dough and the honey.
It's the eve of the Feast of Saint Andrew, and a custom recently revived on the Greek island of Rhodes insists that if you don't make loukamades - fried honey doughnuts - today, the saint will knock holes in your frying pan. (The iron kind, not the ancient so-called Cycladic frying pans.)

St Andrew is of course not just the patron saint of Scotland, but also of Patras

Rain at night

A week ago I looked at the 10 day weather forecast for Kalamata and it predicted rain this weekend and to the day it was correct !  Rain overnight, a foggy-misty morning and now 22 C and humid. At least I do not have to water the newly planted trees and shrubs, so there is an upside.

Its hard to believe that we are nearly in December and Christmas is fast approaching. Whilst Greece (in this part anyway) does not appear to have the frantic materialistic retail ''push'' towards Christmas, decorations have appeared on sale in several stores. Fortunately the British custom of sending Christmas cards to friends (who probably only live next door), and to your cat or dog has not arrived.....I never could understand why you would send the next-door neighbour a card when you can personally wish them "'the seasons greetings"'. Surely the personal greeting has to be better?

6th December

«ΜΕΣΟΓΕΙΑΚΗ ΣΥΜΜΑΧΙΑ»

Δεκάδες Ιταλοί, Ισπανοί και Γάλλοι αναρχικοί ετοιμάζουν βαλίτσες, σύμφωνα με σήμα της ΕΥΠ προς την Αστυνομία

The  above warning from the Mediterranean Alliance that groups of anarchists will be heading from Spain, Italy, Germany & Serbia through the port of Patras to Athens for the 6th December anniversary to try and create an explosive situation in the capital must be viewed with great seriousness. Government officials need to act at the port and refuse entry to Greece. More so the governments of the world should unite and stop such groups leaving their countries to try and create unrest abroad.
Whilst I sympathise with the family of the dead teenager Alexis Grigoropoulos the Greek authorities must be trusted to investigate, take action and deal with home events.
Let us not forget the past unrest in Greece; 99% of the population of Greece live in peace and want to be left alone, this includes members of the police force who now more than ever need to have the support of the majority of people living in Athens.

A little bit of dirt.......

Looking through the greek newspapers today I came across an article stating professors at the Medical Faculty of the University of California have discovered that, the "dirty" game reinforces the existence of bacteria on the surface of the skin which act as a shield against inflammation and  that many parents obsessed with excessive cleanliness may be one of the main causes for the epidemic of allergies in the developed world.

Now in plain english I think what they are saying is what my grandparents said years and years ago '' A little bit of dirt did no one harm'' !!

Just how much money was spent on that research !!!!!!

Kalamata road signs

Gee...... I think the local authority in Kalamata must have been given a load of money. The city has sprouted masses of new road signs. There are now ''no left turn, no right turn and no entry'' signs on roads I have driven down over the last months obviously in the wrong direction (like all greeks do !!!). Now the 24 thousand dollar question is will the greek drivers take any notice of the new signs?

Also I bet the road around the port past the disused Shopping Mall will soon become one way.....

Car Insurance

As my car insurance and road tax on British plates expires at the end of this month, today Mary and I went off to Kalamata to insure the Citroen. Having already done the ''hard part'' of importing the car legally this is the easy part......easy but expensive. The cost of insurance in Greece is approximately three times what I paid in the UK, oh hum.

Anyway just enough pennies left to spend lunch time in the Yatch Club at Kalamata marina. We indeed feel lucky to be able to enjoy sunshine in late November with such a beautiful view.

Name dispute

The Prime Ministers of Macedonia and Greece are reported to have 10 days in order to resolve the name dispute between the two countries.

According to Macedonian TV channel A1, which cites diplomatic sources, the EU is expecting that Gruevski and Papandreu will resolve the dispute in the coming days so that on December 7 Macedonia could receive a date for starting its EU accession negotiations.

Lazy Sunday

Another bright day with temperatures around 22C, so we thought we would take a trip to the Sunday market in Kopenaki, about 30-40 minutes drive from us. Whilst most of the greek women were shopping most of the greek men, as usual were sitting in the cafes and resolving the economic problems of the country.
Back home around mid-day after stopping for Sunday afternoon treats ( cakes from the ζαχαροπλαστείο ) to contemplate a bit more gardening.......still giving that more thought it would be a shame to break the Sunday peace and quiet with a mower wouldn't it ?

I think my ''greekness'' will win and I'll just sit and have that coffee......

Video advert for Athens.....

Some good views in this short advert.....

Another hard day in Greece

Friday is market day in Petalidi, a small (once fishing) village a few miles from our home. This morning we set off picked up the fruit and vegetables for the weekend and the bread.
However today instead of heading back home we headed off to Methoni to a bookfair (bookswap) that is held every few months; a great opportunity to meet up with friends, swap a few books and also any money raised goes to local charities.

This was followed by a typically slow greek lunch in the square on the seafront in Methoni with our friends. I can not think of a better way to spend the day.......
Night fall now comes quick and 1730hrs its become dark, together with the darkness comes much cooler nights, indeed time to put the heating on, or so I am told by my wife. How come women are always cold, but never think of putting an extra pullover on first or wear a vest ????

Filmed in Greece

For you film buffs out there check out the new movie "My life in Ruins", starring Richard Dreyfuss and Nia Vardalos with a great support.A romantic comedy filmed in and around Athens.Beautiful location shots and the first Hollywood film since 1957 to be allowed to film at the Acropolis.

http://www.foxsearchlight.com/mylifeinruins/

Oil prices

This years oil price according to the Laconia barometer is between 2.50 - 2.60 per kilo.
Last year was the worst year for oil and the auctions closed at 3.12 euros per kilo in 2007 to 3.85 million in 2006 to 3.57 per kilo.
Increased production of oil at international level this year in conjunction with the financial crisis caused by the reluctance of traders to buy oil held prices back, furthermore, according to all estimates, the Spanish and Italian olive oil has increased the quantity of high quality oils and to some extent this meets the needs of industry.

What a shock !

Well someone may have noticed I have not posted a on this blog for a few days. Well the reason is last Wednesday night the modem got "blown up'' by a bolt of lightening. So off to the OTE shop, who replaced the modem FOC. (thanks guys). Being computer literate (or so I thought), I had all the electricity feed lines connected to a surge protector but not the telephone line (dumb eh?). So I bought a new protector that would also cover the telephone line before I installed the new modem.
Frustration came quick, the ADSL line was not available, had this also been effected I thought? So on the phone to the helpdesk to have it checked, and checked, and checked again. They could not find a fault, so after'several phone calls to the national help line my withdrawal symptoms became worse and I phoned the local OTE shop and spoke to one of the technicians........he came out to our house within the hour, checked the line.....yes it was OK, so the replacement modem was faulty also aahhhhhh !
New modem given on the spot, all is well in the world.

Can't really fault that for local service from a national company that often comes in for alot of criticism.

Road Tax

Well the new government decided to stop the car renewal subsidy, unlike most other EU counties the PASOK party stated "it offered no real benefit to the environment". More concerning is that those people who ordered a new car (provided this was before 2nd November), will also now suffer as I understand it they will not get the total subsidy that was previously given.

Now if it is no real benefit to the environment to have smaller, cleaner engined cars why has the government retained the tiered road tax system ? For those not yet familiar the new taxes for 2010 I include them below:-

2010 Road tax

Vehicle categories (a) 301- 785cc (b) 786 -1,357cc (c) 1,358 -1,928cc (d) 1,929 - 2,357cc (e) Above 2,357cc

Class A Registered since 1 January (a)2005 €28 (b)€94 (c)€184 (d)€428 (e)€562

Class B Registered since 1 January 2000 (a) €63 (b)€137 (c)€252 (d)€521 (e)€680

Class C Registered since 1 January 1996 (a)€79 (b)€162 (c)€302 (d)€596 (e)€780

Class D Registered before 31 December 1995 (a)€96 (b)€187 (c)€352 (d)€671 (e)€880

For those who fought, for peace

(photo Struma cemetery, Greece)

I am somewhat disappointed that to my knowledge there is no Remembrance Day Services in our location today.

Commonwealth forces fought in Greece during both world wars leaving behind more than 18,000 dead. Some of the Commonwealth cemeteries in Greece contain burials of both world wars, the majority of war cemeteries are around the Thessaloniki area.

WWI
After the landing in October 1915 Allied forces pushed along the Vardar valley into Serbia but were then compelled to retire to Salonika (now Thessaloniki) which was held as a fortified camp for a year. An Allied offensive in the second half of 1916 established a line running from Monastir to the
Gulf of Strimonikos, the British force holding the sector eastward from Doiran. This was to remain the Allied line until 15 September 1918 when the decisive break-out to the north led to the surrender of Bulgaria a fortnight later.

WWII
Italian troops invaded Greece in October 1940 but within weeks had been driven back by Greek forces. The Italian counter-attack of March 1941 also failed and Germany was forced to come to the aid of her ally. On 6 April 1941, German troops invaded Greece through Bulgaria. Although
the combined Greek and Commonwealth force (which had arrived from North Africa on 7 March) fought with great tenacity it was vastly outnumbered. Within 24 days Athens had fallen and the campaign was over, but not before some 50,000 Commonwealth troops were evacuated. More than 20,000 of them joined comrades that had been on Crete since November 1940.
On 20 May 1941 the Germans launched an airborne attack on Crete. Despite some early successes and stiff opposition, by 31 May the Commonwealth force was overcome. Of the
total land force of 32,000 men, 18,000 were successfully evacuated, 12,000 were taken prisoner and 2,000 were killed.

Whilst I attend the Remembrance Service for the Battle of Kalamata. which is gratefully supported by the local authorities, even this had to be instigated by an expat.

Come Greece, today more than ever remember your European and the cost of your freedom....

Eurovision

No not the song contest..... but the fact the EU have made a ruling that from 19th December TV transmissions in Europe must be made available throughout the union. This of course should make it illegal for BBC etc to block transmissions outside the UK, but there's appears to be a major loop hole in the fact the "free transmission" to all EU countries does not have to mean "free reception", hence allowing the pay to view channels. How long will it be do you think before the BBC start a pay to view service. This would of course also allow the British government to abolish the compulsory TV license and cut away from the BBC. We shall wait and see, meanwhile there are of course many ways to obtain BBC transmissions via the internet throughout the world, happy watching !

Greeks work longer

Greeks work longer hours than any other Europeans - about 42 hours a week on average - according to the results of a survey carried out by the European statistics agency Eurostat. According to the same survey, Greece has the lowest rate of part-time employment as a proportion of full-time employment in the EU, at 6 percent. The average is 18.8 percent in the EU27 and 20 percent in the Eurozone.

Now I dare not make a comment on this !!!!!

Taxation changes

The latest to come from the new government think tank on raising funds for the government "coffers" is to reintroduce inheritance taxes and place a FIVE times current tax on large properties. Whilst the plan is to tax "the rich" and hit people who own several properties and off shore investments, I am uncertain what is the criteria of a "big property". The uniform property tax rate of 1/1000th will be abolished and a new sliding rate scale will be introduced. Whilst the non taxable base will increase, and hence there are "promises" that small and average properties will be uneffected, the higher rate will be 3-5/1000ths of their tax value.

Of course there is only one problem with all this.......the government still does not have a complete database of all the properties in the country, and as we know many, many properties have been built illegally.

With inheritance tax changes will release the main home out of taxation and immediate relatives benefiting from more leniant allowances.

Guy Fawkes Night in UK.

In 1605, thirteen young men planned to blow up
the Houses of Parliament. Among them was
Guy Fawkes, Britain's most notorious traitor.

After Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603, English Catholics who had been persecuted under her rule had hoped that her successor, James I, would be more tolerant of their religion. James I had, after all, had a Catholic mother. Unfortunately, James did not turn out to be more tolerant than Elizabeth and a number of young men, 13 to be exact, decided that violent action was the answer.

A small group took shape, under the leadership of Robert Catesby. Catesby felt that violent action was warranted. Indeed, the thing to do was to blow up the Houses of Parliament. In doing so, they would kill the King, maybe even the Prince of Wales, and the Members of Parliament who were making life difficult for the Catholics. Today these conspirators would be known as extremists, or terrorists.

To carry out their plan, the conspirators got hold of 36 barrels of gunpowder - and stored them in a cellar, just under the House of Lords.

But as the group worked on the plot, it became clear that innocent people would be hurt or killed in the attack, including some people who even fought for more rights for Catholics. Some of the plotters started having second thoughts. One of the group members even sent an anonymous letter warning his friend, Lord Monteagle, to stay away from the Parliament on November 5th. Was the letter real?

The warning letter reached the King, and the King's forces made plans to stop the conspirators.

Guy Fawkes, who was in the cellar of the parliament with the 36 barrels of gunpowder when the authorities stormed it in the early hours of November 5th, was caught, tortured and executed.

Motorways in Greece have gone to POT

A man has been arrested in northern Greece for allegedly growing marijuana in the median strip of the country's main, um, highway. The pot plants weren't little seedlings, either, nor were they well-concealed.

Did the earth move for you?

Listening to the BBC news this morning I heard that during the early hours Patras suffered an earthquake of 5.1 This was a "great announcement" that had just come through as breaking news from Reuters. Turning to the Greek news TV channel I read that a "μικρός σεισμός" (small earthquake) did actually occur. I guess there can not be much news in the UK to report.......On the internet the size of the quake reported seems to vary from 5.1 - 5.9

In fact on and around the Peloponnese over the last three days there has been in excess of 12 quakes, (and I never felt a one) but few make news, its a fact of life living in Greece. We all pray however that we never suffer the quakes of Kalamata in the past, but life must go on.

Snow in Greece

Whenever the majority of people in the UK think of Greece, they think only of sun, sea and sand.....few realise that Greece has snow fields.

Some of the first snows came last night, whilst media reports first snows in Drama fell last night, the photo shows this mornings web cam taken at 0940hrs of Kelaria. Started in 1999, Snow Cam of Parnassos Ski Resort in Greece is considered to be one of the oldest Snow Cams in the world. Above left is a animation gif of 10 shots of 60 sec time difference updated daily. Installation altitude: 1950m. The snap shots and weather readings are taken every 60 mins during the winter season.