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Read more →My “short break” turned out to be a rather longish break. Everything went fine with the trip to Brussels. We had some problems at the car rental desk due to my credit card having extended it’s limit for the month (I didn’t keep track carefully enough) but after 3 hours of phone calls and...
Read more →We will be taking a short trip to the Low Lands as per tonight. I will (finally) attend a Zhineng Qigong workshop with Patricia van Walstijn in Nijkerk (The Netherlands). I’ve been looking forward to that for a long time. Back in 2003 I learned about Zhineng Qigong through a symposium that Yvonne had...
Read more →Bad news for the culture buffs amongst you tourists visiting Crete this season: the Archaeological Museum in Iráklio, Xanthoudidou Street, will remain closed until at least 2010. The second most important museum in Greece next to Athens, it hosts (or rather: will host when it is finished) the most magnificent collection of Minoan art...
Read more →When you come to Crete this year be prepared to be interrogated by friendly hosts and hostesses when you leave. Starting in May they’ll intercept you at airports and ferry ports and will question you on your experiences. Have any complaints? Not satisfied with your tour operator?
Read more →ERT’s fine journalists had me cringe again today. Consider the following quotes from a recent article: According to results of two recent gallops, the ND party is firmly in the lead against PASOK party and… In a gallop conducted by Public Issue on behalf of Skai channel and Kathimerini newspaper, and finally… Another...
Read more →Greece is currently subdivided into 13 Regions (‘Περιφέρειες’), 54 Prefectures (‘Νομαρχίες’) and 1034 Municipalities (‘Δήμοι’). This was the result of a major administrative reorganization in 1996, called the “Kapodistrias” plan. Initially some, but not all, Prefectures were further subdivided into Provinces (‘Επαρχίες’), but the latter were abolished after a couple of years. Municipalities were...
Read more →This from “Het Nieuwsblad”, a Belgian newspaper that I read online once in a while: Zeebeving schudt Kreta wakker ATHENE – Een zeebeving met de kracht van 5,7 op de schaal van Richter heeft donderdagnacht het eiland Kreta in de Middellandse Zee door elkaar geschud. Duizenden mensen werden uit hun slaap gerukt. De beving...
Read more →No, this is not an old sepia photograph that you’re looking at right now. This is how the world looked like here in Iraklio, Crete, yesterday in the afternoon. “Bloody rain”, that’s how Homer called it in the Iliad. It’s tons of African dust carried over from the Sahara through strong South winds, the...
Read more →At the end of the year, Fabian left his shop and visited all the people who owed him money. Some had more than they borrowed, but this meant that others had less, since there were only a certain number of coins issued in the first place. Those who had more than they borrowed paid...
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