19th March 2008
For those of you who wonder why we like living in Crete here are two videos from 'You Tube' which convey the feeling of where we live better than any other. (The audio is in Greek)
16th March 2008
Today I uploaded the third and final video of the Rethymno Carnival - see the 9th March entry below.
10th March 2008
A photograph from this site was recently featured on the web site of one of the biggest weather services in the world Accuweather.com with the tag - 'A picture is worth a thousand words' . Unfortunately the page has been updated and now features a different photograph.
We spent today at the Rethymno Carnival. The parade lasted almost four hours and the party went on all night. These people sure know how to enjoy themselves with their clothes on. Check out the three videos below.
6th March 2008
The weather is becoming hotter and the temperature today reached the mid twenties. We are using sun cream to prevent sunburn and are winding out the sunshades in front of the house daily. We are told that the weather can still turn nasty at this time of year but with every day that passes it seems that summer is on the way.
Another power cut this week has prompted the purchase of a 3.5kw/hr Mitsubishi generator to guarantee an uninterrupted electrical supply. Power cuts were very common during the heat wave last summer and have been fairly frequent during the winter due mainly to industrial action over pension rights. A simple switch in the fuse box now allows us to generate our own electricity when required.
The other concern at the moment is the ever worsening exchange rate between the UK Pound and the Euro. Rates have fallen approximately 15% in the last year and all the financial web sites are predicting that the Pound will continue to fall for the rest of the year with an anticipated rate of exchange of €1.17 before the Pound bottoms out. This will effectively reduce the value of our pensions by 25% in just over a year. Hopefully the pundits have got it wrong and it may rise again.
There has been an ongoing problem here concerning planning regulations which for several months has effectively prevented new houses being built. This has had a severe effect on cash-flow for many builders with subsequent lay-offs for all those involved in the building trade. Many house-owners (including us) are having to consult lawyers as this situation could possibly leave us with a large bill for unpaid building taxes (EKA). Warranty problems on our property currently remain unresolved.
Just to complete today's tale of woes - another Greek lady driver reversed into our car today when it was parked. She did a much better job than the last lady, managing to get up quite a speed before the collision, necessitating at least three panels to be replaced or repaired. This is becoming quite a regular occurrence.
Despite all the above we still prefer it here to the UK!
29th January 2008
Another night on the town in Rethymno. Last night was Tsiknopemti - the last meat eating night before Lent. The next ten days are non-stop parties and celebrations leading up to the huge carnival parade on Sunday March 9th. The Rethymno carnival is said to be the second biggest in Greece, rivalled only by the town of Patras on the mainland. These videos were shot on a mobile phone early in the evening - long before the party really got into full swing.
The sun is now back in Crete and the temperatures are again hovering around the 22 - 23 degrees Celcius mark in the afternoons. A marked contrast from the snows and wind of last weekend. The photographs below were taken outside our house on 18th February (one day after the previous entry was published).
17th February 2008
2130 hours. Today most of Greece ground to a halt due to snow and ice. In our area of Crete we had several hours of snow and strong winds but the ground is still reasonably warm and so the snow only settled over 200 metres above sea level (approx) and on cold surfaces such as tiled roof-tops and parked cars. Most roads in the hills and mountains are now blocked. According to the AcuWeather forecast the actual air temperature is only just below zero but the wind chill takes it down to a Real Feel of minus eleven degrees. According to Crete television high seas have also breached coastal defences with the Venetian harbour area in Chania particularly badly effected. Some television channels appear to be off the air.
The picture below shows the snow settling on our car port which now covers our famous car parking slot.
The green structure on the right will support grape vines in the summer which should provide us with some well needed shade.
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