What would you do if it was your town square?

Many have said its puts Greek people in a very bad light. My own thoughts as a UK citizen living in Greece is that if this were to happen in Trafalgar Square Londoners would react exactly the same, as would French, Italians etc etc if it were their City.

The EU need to launch a massive public campaign in the counties where these people come from and show them what they must expect if they come any EU country illegally.......detention & repatriation immediately.

Those that use the correct procedures for immigration need to be treated differently and perhaps the Embassy's of the various EU counties should start becoming the first port of call for potential refugees before they plan their emigration.......

Illegal immigrants

In my previous posting I made reference to the EU supporting Greece in trying to prevent illegal immigrants from entering the country via Turkey. It appears no matter what the authorities try these people will always find a way and unfortunately there is always someone willing to take their money and "help" them.

This week in the very small tourist / fishing village of Finikounda, Messinias 56 illegal immigrants were stopped by the port authorities. A few miles further down the coast on the beach of Methoni another 102 illegal immigrants were arrested. The Greek owner of the boat mysteriously "got away".  Many of the 102 illegals at Methoni were thought to have made their way there on buses from the Athens location. All these people were planning to head for mainland Europe by boat....................

Having recently seen again the illegal immigrants camping in and around Patra it is clear this port is still being used as one of the main departure points to Italy. During my recent visit to the port police arrested people clinging to the underside of trucks boarding ferries. However the illegal camps are in strong evidence along the beach frontage. Perhaps the local farmers instead of planning protests against the government in January-February 2011 (it now seems an annual event at each New Year) should take their tractors and JCB's and plough the beaches, I recall the French doing a very successful job at Sangatte. 

EU Guards to Greece

At last the EU have taken action to help Greece try and stem the entry of illegal immigrants that are now numbering between 300-400 per day, many of them coming through Turkey. Greece has been receiving around 85% of Europe's total  illegal immigrants and can not continue to police the boarders without support.
The EU are placing armed boarder guards to support the Greek efforts made up from forces of several EU countries who will operate under Greek control

....and the cupboard was bare !

As the truckers strike in Greece continues against the government decision to end the closed shop agreement the average Greek citizen suffers. Grocery shops are stripped of basic food lines and most large retailers have totally empty dairy, meat, frozen and other fresh food fridges. A visit to a Lidl store in Messini the other day brought home the truth, besides no food basics there was little on the shelves. Even toiletries, paperware and cleaning materials were stripped. 

One can partly sympathise  with the truckers that may have spent thousands of euros on obtaining their truck licenses, but "free trade" must rule to benefit the majority. Too long have closed shops in Greece existed in too many trades, the Greek mentality must change, a fair days work for a fair days pay and pay your dues.  Get back to work and make your country GREAT again !

Messini Market - Fair

Each year in the town of Messini (which is the nearest town of any reasonable size to us) a giant fair / market visits. The local authority commences the building of the 

stalls late August on open land surrounding the town but the stalls also fill side streets and car parks in the town.

Traders from all over Greece and adjoining countries arrive with their wares. In true Greek style the market starts early but stall holders siesta in the afternoon (see above)......

Whilst visiting in the afternoon affords easy walking and looking around the best time is of course in the evening. Cooler temperatures and a virtual party atmosphere exists. Items on sale range from livestock, horses, donkeys, poultry etc. Kitchen wares, carpets, tools, clothes etc. indeed there is little you can not get ! The whole event continues until 29th September this year......

First fruits

 We started planting fruit trees on the land within a year of having the property built. The first trees planted were various citrus, plums, pomegranate and apples however a few of these fell foul to the local goats as at that time we had not had a gate to the property installed. Now four years on these trees and vines are producing what really is the first "good" harvest. 

Probably most successful have been the grape vines, that within 18 months of planting produced 25-30 kilo of excellent eating grapes which we have also dried to create our first home produced sultanas, ready for the Christmas cake bake.(samples pictured drying on the plate)

Fresh figs are a delight (bottom left of picture), but so are the very tasty dried figs (right of picture on tray) and of course these will store well for another Christmas delight. I guess many people will not recognise walnuts in their green husk (centre top  of picture), now nearly time to open up and set the more familiar brown cased nut aside for drying, once again for that Christmas treat. The quince (top left of picture) is an odd fruit,  cooked here at New Year as a traditional Greek pork dish. Then finally the variety of plums.....

Other trees are still in their infancy but we look forward to another "free fruity year" for 2011

Yippee school holidays are over!

The normally quiet roads in the Peloponnese change dramatically during the school holidays and unlike in the UK where roads are normally busier in the school term periods and quiet in the school holidays the exact reverse applies here. You see the "invasion of the Athenians" start. This is highly noticeable by the number of cars sporting registration plates commencing in "I" and getting confused between Peloponnese country roads and what they think is the Monaco formula 1 track!

This year I believe even more Greeks stayed on the mainland to holiday owing to the current economic situation, and as this beautiful landscape with its unspoilt beaches are only three and half hours drive from Athens, its ideal for family holidays. The small fishing villages became packed and even driving through at 1.30 in the morning people still adorned the tavernas and beach bars. Thank goodness for the massive coast time, whilst despite some beaches becoming a little too busy for me, few people know the local spots villagers keep hidden for themselves.

Well is nearly over and back to normal, villages have become quiet again with grandchildren sent back to mum and dad in the city. 

But truthfully locals rely on these busy months to make money in the businesses to enjoy the rest of the year in their piece of heaven!

Hot cars are death traps for dogs

Five reasons not to leave your dog in the car this summer, even for "just a minute"

Pet owners must avoid leaving their dogs in hot cars this summer – a practice that can lead to serious illness and even death.

Leaving a dog in a hot car is dangerous and often deadly. VisitMyDogIsCool.com to learn more.

“Often people leave their dogs in the car while they shop or run errands, but doing so when the weather is warm can literally be a death sentence for your pet,”  there are five reasons why leaving a dog in a hot car can be deadly:

1. Dogs are especially vulnerable to heat-related illness because they can only cool off by panting and through the pads in their feet.

2. Even on seemingly mild days, an enclosed car can be deadly., When it was 72 degrees outside, a car’s internal temperature climbed to 116 degrees within one hour.

3. Enclosed cars heat up quickly. It was 80 degrees outside, the temperature inside a car rose to 99 degrees in 10 minutes and 109 degrees in 20 minutes.

4. A dog’s normal body temperature is between 101 to 102.5 degrees; a dog can only withstand a high body temperature for a short time before suffering nerve damage, heart problems, liver damage, brain damage or even death.

5. Studies show that cracking the windows has little effect on a car’s internal temperature.

·                            To learn more about the dangers of leaving dogs in hot cars, visit www.MyDogIsCool.com.

*** FACTS ABOUT DOGS AND HOT CARS ***

What happens to dogs left in hot cars?

·                            Exposure to excessive heat causes the body’s cells to stop working properly and release dangerous chemicals, which can lead to nerve damage, heart problems, liver damage, brain damage and even death. Essentially, all of the dog’s organ systems shut down at once.

·                            Signs a dog is suffering from a heat-related illness include:

·                                               Excessive panting

·                                               Excessive drooling

·                                               Increased heart rate

·                                               Trouble breathing

·                                               Disorientation

·                                               Collapse or loss of consciousness

·                                               Seizure

·                                               Respiratory arrest

Visit MyDogIsCool.com to get educational materials, like this visually powerful poster.

·                                                “Don’t Leave Me in Here – It’s Hot!” fliers that can be left on windshields

·                                               Free downloadable posters that can be hung in store windows to remind customers not to leave their dogs in the car on a warm day

A Greek on Turkish POT........

I don't think Greeks will ever love the Turks or vice versa. Recently Greek pensioner Minas Karatsoglu, 74, suing to stop a Swedish dairy from using his image to promote its yoghurts stated that in principle, he wasn't against his face adorning the cartons – although he was shocked to get a call from a friend informing him it had happened. It was more, he said, that the yoghurt was branded "Turkish" and by inference the self-styled patriot from Delphi was "baptised" Turkish, too.

Mr Karatsoglu lawers said "For my client that was perhaps the biggest insult, they were trying to convince consumers that the product was made according to a genuine Turkish recipe with a Greek man in Greek dress adorning it".

Just why oh why.......

There can not be anyone in the western world that is not aware of the financial situation Greece has found itself in. Living most of the time in Greece I dearly love the country, but why oh why can its people not see the damage continual industrial disputes are bringing? 

Over the last couple of years the euro has depreciated against many currencies, holiday makers are looking at non-euro countries for better deals in holidays, and Turkey is "laughing all the way to the bank". Recently we have seen Greek air traffic controllers work to rule and strike, with more industrial action probably to come. Now we have fuel tanker drivers striking and most cities & towns in Greece without petrol at the fuel stations......linking both of these together is it a wonder tourists will think twice before coming to Greece.

With tourism a mainstay of the economy the Greek people are damaging THEMSELVES. 

If you carry on striking.....showing your right to march & demonstrate, destroying your country.....you will soon be stepping back into the dark ages when the economy crashes with millions out of work, unable to feed their families.

COME ON GREECE....you have one of the oldest cultures in the world, your men fought for independence, a free world and a better life. FIGHT again WITH your government to make Greece GREAT, and not against it. Suffer the small pains and avoid an agonizing death!

ALDI to withdraw from Greece ?

 

The German grocery retailer ALDI who a few months back put all expansion in Greece on hold looks like withdrawing completely from the Greek market after only 20 months of trading in the country. ALDI Hellas has not yet commented formally but I suspect we shall not see ALDI in Greece during 2011

Wild fires near Athens

Wild fires (video)

(Reuters) - Dozens of wildfires broke out in Greece on Saturday, threatening homes and forcing the evacuation of a nunnery and a children's camp near Athens.

Fanned by strong winds, 45 fires raged across the country, burning large swathes of vegetation but causing little damage to property, the fire brigade said.

Seven fires flared up around Athens, sending thick clouds of smoke over the capital, the first serious wildfires to occur near the city this summer.

The flames wiped out forest left unharmed by a major blaze last year, which destroyed scores of homes and thousands of acres of vegetation.

"The two major fronts in Athens are clearly abating now, we're doing very well, there is no danger," fire brigade chief Stelios Stefanidis said on Skai television.

Earlier, authorities ordered the evacuation of a nunnery near Lake Marathon and a children's camp in the town of Lavrio. Several citizens left their homes to avoid the smoke, while others stayed behind to protect their property using water hoses and tree branches.

More than 150 firefighters, 32 engines, six airplanes and four helicopters were battling to put out the flames.

Wildfires, often laid by arsonists to clear land for development, are frequent in Greece. Anarchic town-planning and illegal rubbish dumps also help the fires break out and spread.

Elliot Ness style DOES work........

Reproduced from ""The Daily Frappe""


It's the equivalent of shutting down the best Hamptons hangouts of the rich and famous and then following them to their beachfront homes to seize the places for unpaid real estate taxes. That's what Greece's tax agents are doing this weekend in a desperate crackdown on its most notorious tax cheats living in posh holiday enclaves dotting Greece's Mediterranean coast. Greece earlier provoked widespread revolt and weeks of riots, fire bombings and wildcat strikes to protest belt-tightening and pay cuts of civil servants made to tame Greece's bloated budget and forestall default. Now, authorities are going after the rich. Taxmen first padlocked 10 of the top nightclubs and entertainment centers, starting in Athens and spreading to hip city Thessaloniki, for not collecting taxes from their rich party crowds. Agents then went knocking on the doors of 990 well-to-do individuals identified by the Ministry of Finance as tax cheats who owe more than $8.5 million in back real estate taxes on their vacation homes and seaside hideaways, on which they failed to report their values totaling $721 million, the ministry said. "Unless they pay their debts to the Greek state by July 20, the assets will be seized," the ministry said in a statement to The Post. In recent weeks, such storm-trooper methods have shaken out $2.33 billion from businesses that failed to report sales taxes -- double the amount collected for the entire prior year, the ministry said. The darkened nightclubs will be padlocked for the indefinite future. The ministry intends to auction seized homes for quick proceeds. Some real estate experts think a giant fire sale could be developing in the Greek isles. 

My transport over the years

Supermarket share

 

Few in Greece and probably even fewer outside Greece are aware of the absorption of Dia Hellas (Greek supermarket chain) by Carrefour-Marinopoulos. Whilst Greece has the lowest percentage of concentration in Europe with the top three chains having just over a third of the total grocery market I do hope Greece will not see a move of large group domination.

Having spent all my working life in supermarket retailing in the UK I feel qualified to make the statement that Greek society is the richer for having a wide variety of private retailers. There is room for both the giant superstore and  private business if legislation is introduced controlling trading practices. Let us not see Greece go the way of the UK with Sunday opening and late night / 24 hour trading in supermarkets. A restriction on stores in excess of 400sq m on trading times will allow the private man to prosper on a local level.

I wholeheartedly support free trade, but there are times when society and family values far outweigh commercialism. 

Caution ahead..........

Traffic signal ‘attention to the prostitutes’ has been placed the town of Treviso in northern Italy creating confusion among drivers. Drivers can not understand if the sign means “caution not to hit the prostitutes who often cross the street ‘or’ attention to the work of prostitutes in the area. The triangle warning for traffic has a red border and in the centre instead of the symbol of the dangerous turn etc, is the figure of a woman with large breasts, mini dress, heeled shoes and a handbag. At the bottom of the label indicates “attention to prostitutes.

Now in Greece establishments for the same are often marked with symbols of mermaids, dolphins etc.   I guess here it means a warning of semen  seamen .................

Happy Easter

 

Spending Easter in Greece is just so different from being the UK.  Yes the weather will be better, but the main point I am making is the Greek understanding of the "real  meaning" of Easter.

To start with, whilst there are some Easter eggs in the shops, it is far more traditional to give red painted eggs; even more traditional is the giving of candles, and they are in the shops in their thousands ranging from religious painted to candles to "power rangers!!"  

The religious ceremony starts of course on Good Friday and continues daily through to the Monday. Processions are seen in the villages at midnight on the Friday and Saturday (it is on the Saturday the candles are lit at the churches and carried home by the villagers). There are plenty of details on the internet (and my blog from last year) as to what actually takes place in these ceremonies rather than me write again.

More so however is the bringing together of families. People come together mostly in their birth villages with their extended family for the tradition Sunday roast lamb feast; and here its not roast lamb dinner but whole lamb roasted on a spit in the open.

I'm off to have mine with my friends here in Greece.......thankfully they were up at 0700hrs roasting the lamb and turning the spit !!!!!

                                             

Euros" & military security

I am uncertain what to make on the recent agreement by Greece to buy new military hardware from France and Germany. Greece already spends about 2.8% of its GDP on the military. Clearly this has been historic due to the relationships in the region, especially with Turkey. Obviously Turkey has criticised Greece for this purchase agreement, but even today we hear about Turkish intervention to Greek waters etc., and we are far from settling the Cypriot land disputes. 

One another front the financial crisis of Greece much published shows up strongly the weakness of having one European currency with out one European government. Now God forbid we should suffer such monstrous European controls, but I bet owing to what has been seen as the weakness in controlling the currency the "little grey cells" in politicians minds will be working overtime.

Spring has sprung, the grass has ris...I wonder where the mower is?

The economy in Greece may not be growing too well at the moment but the grass certainly is!  Having just spent two days mowing and strimming it seems to lay down flat when I approach and jump up again when I turn my back.

Now there is an upside to this. Horta is free, snails abound and the veg grows much faster than in the UK. 

Now talking of food, why is fish so expensive?  Not just here in Greece but in many European countries..................

UK versus Greece

Having just returned from the UK after spending 3 weeks there it is interesting to see and hear just how people see the reported financial problems Greece is experiencing.  Now despite us beginning to feel the pinch in rising prices here in Greece it is all too easy to forget prices in the UK are going up as well, and the UK budget is yet to come.  Some time back on my blog I stated as the UK was not in the Eurozone (money) people were not looking at the massive debt it has also incurred, now the headlines are as prominent as the financial headlines are in Greece.  

Despite this clothes & footwear remain a fraction the price in the UK compared to Greece, as does many electronic items. We are all aware of the used car market differences, but prices of good used cars are creeping up as the result of the car scrapage allowances; fuel prices are now virtually equal. 

Despite all this we have one great asset over the UK.........Weather and the relaxed way of life !!!!!

Once again Greece became paralyzed by strike action of thousands of workers. With the (Greece) current financial crisis just when are the citizens of Greece going to realise the damage they are doing to the reputation of this beautiful country? One of the main incomes for the Greek economy is of course tourism, the threat of strike action by transport workers or the threat of blockages by farmers is totally off putting to the family tourist. With the euro / pound exchange still not that good holiday makers this year may well choose to holiday outside the euro-zone, and Turkey is an easy alternative.

Now on a more personal note, I will be flying to the UK from Athens this weekend, please NO MORE industrial action !

House tax

There are probably few people in the EU that have not heard about the Greek national debit and budget deficit. As I have posted my comments on this previously, I will not dwell on it.  Today however we went to Kalamata to pay the annual property tax, a tax that was introduced last year. Now there are many things in Greece are are quite expensive, cars, car insurance to name but two!  However the Greek equivalent of council tax is  not one of those things.  Whilst we do not have door to door refuse collections (we have several drop off points in the village), we do have street lighting (and extra lights on our land), the normal police, fire and ambulance services, free state schooling etc etc. The premium for the whole year is LESS than the premium for ONE MONTH in the UK. One has to question what the councils spend our money on in Britain.

Spring has sprung ?

Two days in a row of glorious sunshine; perhaps not summer but temperatures around 19 C and the first daffodils showing on the drive lead me to believe winter here is now over. For those who have not experienced winter in Greece let me say its does get cold, after all Greece has snow fields and ski slopes!  The up side to that is of course despite heavy thunder storms and winds in winter months the winter season is much shorter than in the UK and often broken by bright sunny days.

This morning a pleasant walk along the beach with the dog, a visit to the garden centre buying a couple of fruit trees and rosemary shrub ( at the very affordable price of 14 euro ) then to friends in the afternoon for coffee makes this life of retirement GREAT....
Now tomorrow I have to plant those trees !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

School expulsion

A female student in Crete has been expelled from school because she started a page on Facebook "I hate my school Head Teacher"!!!  The Facebook page has also been removed.
Now I find this quite amusing, as in the seat of democracy it appears the freedom of speech has been curtailed. If the site contained offensive language I could understand some of the actions, but placed along side the fact the Greek government give students in university virtually total protection by way of asylum, even police can not enter university; along side this farmers blockage roads, bring the country to a standstill; government officials close virtually the whole country down for a day because they do not like the new tax proposals........what real damage has this kid done !!!!!!!

Time.........

 One of the good things about retirement is the fact I have now time to watch TV and any sport I choose to follow on the weekends.  During my working life in retail I had no option but to work each and every Saturday, and one in four Sundays; as such it became very evident at an early stage I would not be able to follow 90% of the sporting fixtures.  This becomes very much a "mind set" and you just do not make the effort to follow sport.

Now I am able to watch at my leisure and looking forward to the new season of F1. Being a Welshman (in Greece) today can not go past without mentioning the tremendous turn around of the game in the last minutes of the match at Arms Park (Millennium Stadium), seldom have I seen (or been at) such a great finish.

Pan fydd y mynd yn cael caled, y caled yn cael mynd

Virtually ever newspaper carries headlines of the Greek debt crisis. Even friends have contacted us and asked if we will be OK on a personal basis living here!  Now whilst I accept this is a drastic situation for the country and in past years Greece has been overspending, lets put this debt in prospective.

The budget deficit as a percentage of GDP is LOWER than that of the UK, but of course the UK is not in the Euro Zone of currencies, so UK news reporters together with politicians have the audacity to criticize; the overall debt as a percentage of GDP is LESS than Italy.......so lets not get too excited!  What is now required is for Greeks to "bite the bullet", whatever the government propose is rebelled against by unions that are far too powerful and hold the country to ransom. 

Current proposals of raising the retirement age from 60 to 63....so what? It is that in many countries.........

Personal tax levels are extremely attractive, people earning below 12000 Euro pa. are tax free (subject to some minor requirement), yet tax evasion rules, its almost a national past time! Heavy fines for tax evasion are required.

Unions need to realize if they really care for their members they will support the basic policies the government are trying to implement, their current actions have the potential of causing mass civil unrest.....The Greek prime Minister perhaps should look back in history and make a phone call to Margaret Thatcher..

Brown Muddy Rain !!!

The last few days has not been good weather wise, and this morning it is just as bad. However the rain has in the night (and even now) bringing in brown mud.  The car, patios, windows and balcony are covered in muddy brown muck !   I recall last year the same thing occurring.

Means when it stops I'll have to get the jet hose out.......

COSTA NAVARINO

Sir Nick Faldo announced that the inaugural Faldo Series Greece Championship will take place on 26–28 July at the newly completed Costa Navarino Resort in Messinia, South West Greece. The Greece Championship is set to provide a stern test and an important development opportunity for many of the region’s young golfers, boys and girls aged 12 to 21, as they look to secure one of five available spots for the 2010 Faldo Series Grand Final, hosted by the six-time Major winner himself.

Lightening strikes AGAIN

As is my now custom each night before I retire I pull out the phone lines, no not because I do not want to be disturbed but because I have now had three computer modems "fried" by lightening strikes......Again last night this proved to be a very good precaution.  Being awakened at 0405hrs by the most enormous bang and the howl of the dog (no she was not shot), to find no power but lots of lightening around the Messinian bay. 

In the UK when the power goes off, its off until all returns to normal, here in Greece somehow they give you "low power", which results in the boiling of a kettle taking 20 minutes and many electronic items requiring 230/240 volts not working.  ie. computer monitor, DVD player & phone line power adapter.  Now items that would run on 110 volts either through adapters or otherwise all worked OK. LCD computer screen was fine!

I tolerated this until 1600hrs whilst waiting to see full power return....it did not, so a call in my best Greek to the ΔΕH seen two workmen arrive within 20 minutes (now that would happen in UK wouldn't it?). Some two hours later, men climbing poles and other workmen arriving with a crane to replace a mains transformer all is well again.......

It is said the lightening never strikes twice.......believe me it DOES

Normally in the village tractors are working in the fields or seen taking the whole family to church on Sunday mornings. Recently however local farmers have taken to the towns and main road causing total chaos and road blocks demonstrating in respect of the lack of payment of EU subsidies from the government.  To my eyes (the eyes of a foreigner living in Greece) this seems to happen this time of year, every year!  With the current economic climate and especially the position Greece finds itself in financially within the EU surely there must be a bit of give and take on both sides.  These road blocks in the rural towns and villages inconvenience only the locals; the road blocks on main motorways in and out of the country preventing entry of foreign trucks etc. may be a way of demonstrating, but will actually costing the Greek government millions of euros in damages to other EU counties......worsening the Greek debt and hence reducing even more the money available for internal expansion and payment.

If farmers want negotiations with the new government then plan them through the correct channels, have your unions represent you at both local and national levels....if they can not do this why have a union at all? This is a new government in power that you the people voted in......give them a chance..........................

Earthquakes No2

Since 18th January 2010, the Corinth region is experiencing an important seismic crises with more than 130 earthquakes of magnitude spanning from 2.5 to 5.3 in less than 5 days.

The Corinth rift has been long identified as a site of major importance for earthquake studies in Europe, producing one of the highest seismic activities in the Euro-Mediterranean region: five earthquakes of magnitude greater than 5.8 in the last 35 years, 1 to 1.5 cm/year of north–south extension, frequent seismic swarms, and destructive historical earthquakes (Source: Corinth Rift Laboratory). Visit Corinth Rift Laboratory web page for more information. 


as reported on :-
http://www.emsc-csem.org/index.php?page=current⊂=recent&evt=GREECE_january_2010

Earthquakes...

When a severe earthquake or volcanic eruption occurs in part of the world I often query the knock on effect across the globe. After the devastating quake in Haiti we have seen an increased number of quakes in and around Greece, indeed over the last two days various sizes of quakes going up to 5.4 have been noted by the Geophysics stations in Patras (see http://www.geophysics.geol.uoa.gr/stations/maps/recent.html ). Of these only two were felt in and around our area of Messini (to my knowledge).

Cadbury & Kraft

The result of the newly announced takeover

TAXING YOUR TRAILER !!!!

 

Back late last year I imported along with my UK registered car my caravan. Now without being repetitive on the blog, the customs import, whilst lengthly went quite well and all the papers were issued and cost me around 400 Euros. As I needed to use the car I obviously had to pay the Greek road tax, but I did not require the caravan so held back taxing this until today.....Now the first hurdle was that you needed an "engineer'' (draftsman) to draw up plans of the caravan (no don't ask me why...you just do!!), and we had that sorted at a cost of 50 Euro. So off with my import papers from customs and plans to the registration office for the plates.

PROBELM ONE:-

The caravan was in my name and the car in my wifes.  So we had to go to the tax office and make a written statement that I "sold" a percentage of the caravan to her.....(I sold her 10%, bet I never get the money though). Paid 5.40 E to have the paperwork verified and lots of rubber stamps later this was sorted.

So off back to the registration office....

PROBLEM TWO:-

They asked for residency certificates, now when we registered the car and obtained Greek plates they did not want residency certificates...why now (don't ask, they just DO!). So not yet having these its off to the police station tomorrow

Watch this space for more "exciting" tales of time wasting.........

War crimes

News that diaries naming German soldiers involved in reprisal killings in Cephalonia (as depicted in the movie Captain Corelli's Mandolin)  have emerged and that Italian authorities have opened new investigations into ex-soldiers that are still alive that were involved in the massacre must raise questions with many.

Whilst such incidents brings an abhorrence in my mind to embark on what will be a long legal trial costing many millions of euros against men that are now well in their 80's should also be given consideration. Yes, these guys deserved to be punished, but after all this time perhaps a public apology for their actions that were probably created by total "brain washing" by German authorities during war years; a look at their current life style, and their contribution to society in the years after the wars could be more productive.

The money that would have been spent on the war crime trials would be far more use allocated to current day charities giving aid to war and disaster victims.  I bet many relatives of brave soldiers who died in such tragic circumstances in Cephalonia would see such aid as a fitting commemoration.

Its rains in Greece as well !!!!

Two days in a row rain !  This is just not acceptable, I even got wet yesterday when I had to go to Kalamata on business. 

With the start of the new year and the system Greece has of road tax I decided it was time I started the bureaucracy to obtain road tax for my caravan (yes they have to be taxed as well as your car). I had previously late last year obtained all the import papers when I arrived with it from the UK, but I decided  not to tax it (92 Euro) for just two months. (as in Greece you pay for a whole year no matter when you tax a vehicle....no exceptions).

I now needed an "engineers" inspection and drawing before I could complete the papers for the tax office. Again last year I was introduced to a person who could do this, but when I got to his offices next to the tax office they had been converted to a cafe !!!!  However in true Greek form in the corner of the cafe with papers piled high on a desk was a lady sorting some road tax forms for people.  Now call me cinical but I think this was a person trying to capitalise on the business that was there and make a euro on the side.......

She spoke no English, and my attempts to ask where Nikos the engineer had gone had her leave the table and go and serve coffee !  Anyway the people in the licensing office told me where he had moved to, so problem solved.

So giving Nikos all the forms, measurements, details and photos of my caravan I wait to see what he presents me with next week.............I just know this is going to be    h  a  r  d  ........

Greece tax proposals

Almost all news channels in Greece are currently covering the tax proposals being put forward by the government to resolve the current critical situation the country finds itself in. The task of preventing tax evasion is mammoth as few Greeks appear to declare true earnings. Now if, like me your earnings (pension) is taxed in the UK then many of the current proposals will have little / no effect on us, however I do have some concerns for the future effect should proposals relating to property & inheritance tax be applied.

If I read the proposals correctly (slightly difficult as they are all in Greek and the best online translator seems to struggle) then it is proposed to give allowances against tax returns for many, many personal purchases. These include installation of heating, air conditioning, some fuel costs, certain household maintenance, insurances and even some food purchases. The purpose is to force the retailers to give receipts (as you will have to produce these to claim the allowance) and this means even the local market stall holder.

Other allowances will be forthcoming for disabled personnel.

I am uncertain if the proposals will resolve the current tax evasion, as I see the local traders having two tariffs, one for the cost with a receipt and one for the cost without !!!!

The alternative solution becomes far more of a worry to me. The potential massive government tax hike that could be applied to food and other basic necessities.

Its all GO but no SNOW

With Christmas and New Year celebrations behind us and all the Christmas decorations taken down and packed away for another I guess its is now time to concentrate on the garden, olive trees and other such “winter” jobs. Now I have to be careful not to make my UK friends too envious, so I will not dwell on our morning stroll on the beach at Velika with the dog this morning in 19 C temperatures, nor will I make fun of snow bound Britain where it appears nobody has ever heard of SNOW CHAINS and risk life and limb whilst slipping and sliding on the roads whilst using all year round tyres totally unsuited to winter weather.

No, giving it second thought I will dwell on the tyres issue! In several European counties if you have an accident in snowy weather and have ventured to some areas without the correct tyres or snow chains you are heavily fined by the police. Listening to the UK news I have yet to hear any reporter or motoring expert raise the issue of snow chains. It hit home this morning that any person under 30 years old will not have experienced snowy weather conditions (or will not remember it) if they have not ventured outside the UK. During my trips to Greece in winter months I would not venture through Austria & Italy without my snow chains !!!!

Anyway back to normal Greek village life and the garden………second thoughts again, I think its time for an Ouzo and listen to the noise of chain cutters downing olive branches as the harvest is collected in…….

New Year's Party

I hope all my friends and readers had great New Year celebrations (and can remember it!). I was a little surprised how quiet the village was and indeed few houses seemed to be celebrating; there was no one to be seen in the street at the stroke of midnight.

We had our own party (a few ex-pats) and after the evening meal we were joined by some of our Greek village friends who brought with them a home made Vassilopita (which was just as well as the one we had brought in the local supermarket was awful, being no more than a dried type of bread) which got ceremoniously cut according to tradition after we toasted the New Year and sang Auld Lang Syne as we watched from the balcony  fireworks exploding over the city of Kalamata and town of Messini.

Being some two hours ahead of the UK it was too early to call relatives there (as one of our friends did a previous year only to be asked if they were @#*!ed as it was only 10pm.), so family greetings had to wait until New Years Day.