I wish someone could tell me how we
ever found time to go to work. We have had our hands full each day
this week, but seem to have achieved next to nothing, however we have
had a lot of catching up to do after a few absences and the weather has
been against us.
Of course, there is cleaning after rain
storms or wind storms which leave either layers or streaks of dust
all round the house and outside. When we first arrived in Crete, we were amused that the locals scuttled inside and closed all the doors and windows for a seemingly insignificant shower of rain or a few gusts of wind. Now we know why and do just the same, as the dust blown in from Africa has made a few of us ill with nasty coughs and allergies this year. Watering
the plants, warding off insects and teaching snails to fly on top of
all the day to day stuff all takes time. We groan each time another windy day brings thick clouds of dust our way over the mountains; it means that everything will need cleaning again.
Mostly we find ourselves
doing irritating admin jobs and queuing up in different places to
pay bills. Now that Greek Easter has come and gone, the tourists are
all here, masses of hire cars are on the roads (driving slowly right
in the middle so no one can overtake them) and parking outside the
supermarket is no longer possible. In addition, a new Police Chief
has arrived from Athens and put up urban clearway signs and no
parking instructions all round Panormo. There are also speed limit
signs along the main road and more cameras. So we think that a fee
generating exercise is underway to go with the reduced pensions and
increased taxes. Bus stops along the main road are all crowded with
large, lobster pink people wearing (or nearly wearing) very brightly coloured
holiday clothes and, compared with all our neighbours who dress
entirely in black, look odd by comparison. The little trains of all
colours are chugging along the highways and byways taking holiday
makers on tours into town or off the beaten track. All the trappings
of high Summer are here!
Easter was spent at a traditional
family kafeneon nearby. I had followed the flower covered bier with the big church cross and candles around Panormo with the large Good Friday procession. On Easter Sunday, our lovely hosts cooked us traditional Easter dishes
followed by music and dancing. It was lovely that they made such an
effort to make it a special day for their guests. We started by
playing “conkers” with hard boiled eggs dyed red and went on to
eat and drink our way through a large variety of dishes. A young
relative played lyra for us and the daughters of the family danced
Cretan style.
The next week, we were supposed to be
going on an Archaeological jaunt, but it all got too difficult to
organise, so the main event had to be cancelled. A few of us decided
to keep our hotel bookings and spent a jolly weekend away in the East
of Crete at Sitea. It is smaller and not so busy as further West,
and the place is great for us with a hotel right on the promenade
with flat, easy access for tavernas, shops and cafes. Absolutely
great for K who could stump along checking out the fishing, the boats
in the harbour and enjoy the sunshine or the wind or the rain. We
spent half an hour or so at the museum until a cross Irishman gave us
a good telling off for being noisy! Oops, we felt like naughty second formers! Last visit, I climbed up hundreds of steps to the Church
(which was closed) and this time I climbed even more steps to the
castle (which was also closed) but it was good exercise. I gathered
photos of artefacts and a few photo-plans for making furniture out of
old pallets somehow knowing that we would never do it!
Ongoing projects: K getting his Greek
driving licence renewed to drive his quad bike. He visited the
Citizens Advice office KEP and they gave him a printed list of
doctors to visit to get his eyesight checked and a general doctor to
check his health otherwise. All these doctors are in Rethymnon in
the centre of the busiest part of town, so we drove to the outskirts
twice this week and Kimon jumped in a taxi which would be better able
to brave the crowded city streets than I could (Gunga Din). He needs
two medical reports, three cheques for different amounts made to
codes which he hasn't been notified about, various photocopies, and
some extra blood tests. It has taken four full days so far and he is
still not finished. I want to ensure that I keep my Driving Licence
for the UK and managed to renew it on line. So, as long as the
internet behaves, that at least is much easier.
Last Saturday was spent baking all day
in preparation for the Red Cross Coffee morning and on Sunday
morning, armed with boxes of goodies we set off in good time. Half
way along the road to Camping Elizabeth, I registered (with not quite
good enough glasses) that the car's water temperature gauge had
jumped well over the boiling point mark and great puffs of steam were
coming out of the bonnet. Yoiks! We stopped at one of the petrol
stations and telephoned a friend to see if we could get a lift.
Monday was spent trying to get ourselves back to the car so that we
could telephone a breakdown truck to get it taken to our local
garage. The truck would not help us get to the car – so we had to
phone our friend, yet again. That was another day gone but the car problem was not too serious after all. Yiorgos at the garage climbed about under the car and
replaced a tiny hose at not too much expense. Praise God that the
car is running perfectly again. We are relieved, but we know it is
time to start looking for a new one.
Meanwhile, sister in law Anna is still
laid up with a broken leg and not able to put any weight on it which
means that she has missed Santorini, Sitea and Easter so far. All
our mates have been good about dropping by, doing errands, bringing
treats and stopping to chat, but it has been a long haul and after
her second check up to the hospital on Tuesday, nobody could believe
that the doctor had advised two MORE weeks of the same, after six
weeks lying in state. Nightmare. We realise that between Anna and
Kimon, the family seem to have acquired three sets of crutches and a
wheelchair – which is almost the entirety of the CIC health
equipment reserves. We need to replace at least one pair of crutches
asap in case anyone else needs them.
Then in addition to Doctors, Dentists
and Kosta Kosta our Optician (not Costapacket the UK Coffee Shop), we
have had to make lots of repeat visits to shops to look for things.
After the ship, port and ferry strikes of recent weeks, many of the
big stores and supermarkets have had very bare shelves and Lidl was a
ghost town. I have dropped into the one supplier in Rethymnon three
times now to buy English tea bags, but the stock has run dry and we
are stuck with Liptons Sawdust Specials for the time being. Keeping up with whoever is on strike at the moment is also an issue; it was Lawyers and Accountants this week.
Ridiculous that such boring things keep
us occupied for days on end. Busy, busy, busy getting nowhere. I
expect you are too! Happy Days.
