“A plunge in the Greek real estate sector”. That’s what a number of local newspaper headlined over the past days. It was about time, not the action of the newspapers, but the plunge.
Read more →Remember the strike of the garbage collectors a couple of weeks ago? We are slowly entering a period where every non-priviliged Greek will feel the effects of the latest strike where it hurts most: on his diner table and in his (parked out of necessity) car(s). I’m talking of course about the strike of...
Read more →Within one month after the news that the Archaeological Museum in Iraklio will remain closed in 2008, and the next year, and probably the one after that, I have more unpleasant news for you ancient history buffs. The most important archaeological site in Crete, the oldest in Europe, and second only to the Acropolis...
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 →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 →As I mentioned before, we live in a small street off Leofóro Knossoú, which is the main road from the center of Iraklio to the archeological site of Knossós. It goes all the way down from the Palace to the sea. We usually call it Knossoú Road, except in the winter when we rename...
Read more →Oh my, I’ve gone all philosophical an moralistic on you in my last post. Never mind, let’s blame it on the weather. Or something. The thing that brought this along was a memory flash that I had, from a period some 50 years ago. I was in my first year at primary school in...
Read more →Everybody’s been talking about snow on the Intahrnet today. A friend from Belgium even sent me an e-mail this morning inquiring about the situation. Quite frankly, I had no idea what they were all talking about. Here, about 1 kilometer north of the archaeological site of Knossós and some 4 kilometers south of the...
Read more →For those who keep track of this, we have been going through some extremely rough weather lately. The whole of Crete has been hit with strong – 10 Beaufort – winds, with the usual, to-be-expected results: roofs flying off, electricity poles (wooden, waddayathink?) uprooted or snapped, cables broken, the works. Large areas have been...
Read more →The Greek authorities are finally going to be cracking down on misbehaving tourists in the Gouves-Chersonissos-Malia area this year. The three resorts, about 40 kilometers east of Iraklio, Crete, are probably the most popular holiday destinations for tourists in Crete, each year attracting hundreds of thousands of youngsters, mainly from Great Britain and the...
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