Wednesday, December 18/2013

Haircut day. Have been putting it off, but all Cypriot hairdressers are closed on Thursdays  and after that we're into weekend and Christmas and New Year's, all busy times at the hairdressers. They don't take appointments, so it's a question of taking non-Wifi tasks to do, or a book to read, and waiting. Looks busy when I get there, but actually pretty short wait. I'm observing the old ladies, who seem to constitute the majority of clients when it occurs to me that they probably aren't any older than I am - just have what I regard. As old lady haircuts. Odd thought. The owner has been cutting my hair for 10+ years, and always well, so minimum of communication needed, though J says his English is fairly good. Certainly no problem with the haircut terms - layered, etc. Interesting advantage, from an introvert's point of view, to the language barrier. There's no need for the normally obligatory small talk re obvious weather changes, increasing nearness of Christmas, etc. Very peaceful and a decent haircut into the bargain.

Meet J down by the small pier, near a less-than-lifesize Santa and reindeer that have seen better days. Actually, Saint Nick is not doing too badly but Rudolph (identifiable by partly red nose) no longer has antlers and looks as if he's pleading for some in his Christmas stocking.

 

Tuesday, December 17/2013

Maggi brings Maxi, her new dog, for coffee outside McDonald's (virtually the only place in Cyprus that doesn't regard filter coffee as an exotic luxury - and most charge a lot more for Nescafe than for Greek coffee). She's a lovely little dog - quiet and happy to stay close to Maggi but very friendly to us as well. Curious too - M woke up in the morning to find nose prints on her ipad. 

Printed Label affixed to a packet of Cyprus coffee at Carrefour proclaiming it to be 'grounded coffee'.

Monday, December 16/2013

One of the primary bankruptcies in last winter's Cyprus debacle was that of Orphanides, a long standing chain of Cypriot supermarkets. Suppliers extended credit long after they should probably have ceased to do so in the hopes that throwing the good money after bad might possibly keep their outlet afloat, but eventually it went under. However, the Larnaca store has not stood empty, but is now occupied by Alphamega, an outfit that appears to have links to Tesco and carries a number of Tesco brand name products. We walk over to investigate - about a mile or so. It's not busy, and the reason is obvious. Neither prices nor produce are quite good enough. Always interesting to speculate on how and at what level the critical decisions are made. Does the manager's wife shop there and if not does he know why not. There are some very good buys in the liquor department though. And we take home a litre bottle of Famous Grouse whisky for €12.99. No exact equivalent in Canada, as Canadians insist on selling 1.14 litre bottles, but 1.14 litres of Famous Grouse at the Ontario liquor board stores is $42.40, or €28.93, more than twice what we paid. Decline to do the UK math, but we've got a bargain by London standards as well.

Sunday, December 15/2013

The perfect Sunday morning, or one variety thereof. Sun streaming into the flat and a glimpse of the Mediterranean. Fresh oranges, local eggs, streaky bacon so lean that it makes us wonder where on earth they find the North American damp fat. Different pigs altogether, or is the explanation even worse? Toasted seeded bread. Honey with orange essence. Music. And the Sunday papers. Well, the Sunday Cyprus Mail anyway. About as thick as the Homes section in a normal paper, but supplemented by bits from a number of other papers courtesy of the wifi that reaches our flat now more (or sometimes less) efficiently. And the Cyprus paper does have a couple of decent puzzles as well as the local opeds. 

Saturday, December 14/2013

Usually market day. The market here is as colourful as the one in Chania but much smaller. When we lived on Ermou Street it was our primary source of fruit and vegetables. But with time market prices went up, supermarket and greengrocer prices dropped, and we moved much closer to Carrefour and Prinos. So, while we still love to visit, our purchases are pretty modest. Stop first for coffee with M, where she gets a text to say that her dog is ready to be picked up - a little rescued dog from the shelter kennels.

Friday, December 13/2013

Friday the thirteenth. Doesn't feel all that unlucky. Although it's been an unlucky year for plenty of Cypriots, judging by the number of empty shops. Many are closed; it looks like Dublin in 2009. Hard to remember, too, when we look at the toothless gap in a street, what used to be there. Though most shops haven't been demolished - they're just empty with 'for rent' signs in the window. Sometimes three or four of them in a row. Some restaurants might just be closed for the season, but that's less usual here. Larnaca is Cyprus' third largest city, not a tourist town.

Thursday, December 12/2013

Set up day. First priority is the boxes we've stored here. Five in all, including the microwave - bought here 10 years ago and well worth the modest investment, considering that cooking facilities otherwise consist of two burners. A few Christmas decorations - coloured tinsel, some baubles, and the little wooden people. A couple of pots, one very large. Four mugs and four whiskey glasses. A bottle of wine and one of Cypriot brandy. The radio/tape player. As always, some things we'd forgotten about and are as pleased as kids to see again.

Then the shopping trip - Carrefour, Prinos greengrocer and Lidl, Smart discount.  Liquor prices up, food mostly not. So oranges, tomatoes, mushrooms, peppers, cauliflower, carrots, beans, bread and wine. It's a start. Temp about 8 - extremely rare for Cyprus - with a strong wind. But Sioux Lookout is -30. And Larnaca will warm up in a few days. Try to find a cash point to get more euros. Our handiest bank bit the dust in the crisis last spring. Pass one ATM with an out of order sign. Another has a maximum withdrawal limit of €300, not handy for paying the rent. Kiki isn't bothered. She tells us that she knows we're not about to decamp without paying. Cyprus, where so much depends on personal relationship - its strength and its weakness.

Dinner at the place across from the tennis courts (football supporters' club?) . Meze and wine - or beer. Jane and Bill, Harry and Ailsa, and Maggi. Haven't had meze in years, or seen this group since. Lovely to be together again and begin to catch up. And very nice to have dinner booked on our first night back. Feels like we're home again.

Wednesday, December 11/2013

Both mobiles have the alarms set for 5:30 to allow us to catch the 7:00 bus to Chania airport, as the 9:30 is too late for our 10:20 flight. Oddly, the woman at check in wants to know how long we plan to spend in Cyprus. Would have thought that was a question for the Cypriots not the Greeks. Because we're travelling on one way tickets? Five hour wait in Athens airport but this time the wifi works, 60 minutes gratis. The man at security takes each bit of electronics separately from me (now inconveniently amounting to a netbook, three tablets and two mobiles) and throws each into a separate basket, looking to me like theft invitation on the other side. Then asks me to take off my scarf ring, ignoring the four rings on my fingers. No one appears to focus on any of it - just an exercise in speed.

Short, but regrettably dry flight. Well, actually we don't regret the lack of predicted rain on arrival but do miss wine with the meal. What I estimate at force 5 - maybe 6 - winds on arrival and bumpy descent, but everything ok. One suitcase, magenta coloured, conspicuously  labelled Top Priority and RUSH, circles the carousel alone, eventually joined by our bags. Maggi picks us up, despite the airport's best efforts to restrict access so that only taxis can easily stop, and takes home for gin and cake. Lovely to see her again. Life looking up despite the cold winds.

Back at the Sunflower. Kiki greets us with hugs. Where else at a hotel? Flat looks the same.we're home.

Tuesday, December 10/2013

Last day. How did this happen? We've been completely charmed by the place, puzzling the young owners who are used to tourists coming in hot weather primarily for the beaches. First, of course, they think it's cold. We tell them that it's -30 at home, more or less beyond their comprehension. But what do you do, they ask. Walk, look at old buildings, eat koulouria in the sunshine, take photographs, drink coffee. They're pleased to have the business but look unconvinced. Feel like we have devised an inadequate cover story.

Monday, December 9/2013

It doesn't have the fame of Heraklion, but Chania lies atop the ruins of a Minoan settlement, virtually all of which is unexcavated. There are later layers as well, of course. Byzantine and Venetian most notably. A much conquered island. The Turkish mandate is not quite within anyone's memory but probably still rankles. Even the Egyptians occupied the island at one point. Union with Greece came only a hundred years ago. In fact exactly a hundred years ago and there is an exhibit at the old arsenali building on the waterfront commemorating it. The old town was walled and much of the wall still remains, mostly Venetian but some much earlier. We're staying in what was, at one point, the old Jewish quarter.

It's a short walk anywhere in the old town. The arsenali buildings along the waterfront are not, as their name suggests to my Anglo mind, former arsenals but former dry docks. These are Venetian but there must have been dry docks of a sort here almost from the beginning of time. There has always been a harbour and for hundreds of years a harbour wall. The lighthouse, or at least the oldest bits of it, is the oldest in Greece. Next to the Grand Arsenali are the donkey steps. Traditionally, and presumably into the last century, donkeys were used to carry goods from the ships at harbour into the town. The donkey steps are designed to accommodate the animals - wide enough to allow a donkey to place all four hooves on one step, rough surfaced to avoid slipping, and with white stone marking the edges as a guide.

Sunday. December8/2013

We go to the Catholic church round the corner on Chalidon Street. It's Franciscan, like most Catholic churches in the Mediterranean, and an ethnically mixed lot as one would expect in a country that's primarily Orthodox - Philippino, Polish, Italian, etc. The service is mostly Greek but partly Latin with bits of English. One of the Franciscans looks. Lot like our former colleague Ron Skitch. Seems weird to hear Ron talking in fluent Greek, though not nearly as strange as hearing his heavily accented English. 

We're lucky in the Sunday we picked. The second Sunday of each month there's coffee after Mass, and today it has been agreed, for the first time that everyone will bring some food from their own culture to share. It's crowded but friendly. J complements a Polish woman in Polish on her poppy seed roll - as well he should having had three. But there's tons of goodies and everyone happy. We chat with a retired English expat who lives in Plaka, a nearby village. He says there's a large expat community, and in his village it keeps three tavernas running all winter.

Saturday, December 7/2013

Market day. The farmers' market is on the eastern side of the old town and it's easy enough to spot. The double row of stalls must be nearly half a mile long, featuring mainly fruit and vegetables. Huge green bunches of herbs, tomatoes, oranges, lemons, carrots, potatoes, radishes - and much more. There are walnuts and almonds, dried apricots and figs, fresh soft cheeses and yoghurt. At the far end are several stalls with cheap cutlery, plastic dishes, handbags and clothing. A glass case outside a butcher shop displays chickens and we buy one, thinking chicken soup, stir fry, sandwiches. The butcher singes the remaining feather bits with a torch and then takes a cleaver to it - saving a great deal of work later with J's Swiss Army knife. Then, with soup in mind, we acquire some potatoes and carrots, a large bunch of parsley and a small cauliflower, as well as tomatoes.

Interesting how much more secure it feels in Chania compared to Athens. In Athens I was reluctant to take the ipad mini out to use it as a camera. It would have been so easy for someone to grab it and run, as a shopkeeper suggested to me, disapprovingly. In fact we did see a man, not young, racing away from the central Athens market on Athinas Street with a joint of meat he'd stolen, pursued unsuccessfully by two white coated butchers, one brandishing a stick. Comic in a way, but  there's a Dickensian desperation about stealing meat, as opposed to, say, an ipad - and no doubt it's a practice the butchers can ill afford to encourage. Unemployment in Crete is about 20%, lower than the national average, though youth unemployment is horrifically high everywhere.

Friday, December 6/2013

Stroll round the harbour. It's charming, reminiscent of Kyrenia's in North Cyprus, but bigger.  The Venetians are responsible for much of the harbour construction (they began building the harbour wall in the early to mid 14th century) and even the lighthouse is partly Venetian, the oldest existing in Greece though much repaired in later times. There are also some of the arsenali of the period (no, not arsenals as I'd assumed, but dry docks). Many of the cafes and restaurants are closed for the season, with repairs and painting proceeding, but some are open. Coffee not cheap (Starbucks filter €2.50 - £2.10, $3.65 - compared with £1.55 in London) but in Greece local shops outdraw the big name chains, their coffee being considered superior. 

The old town was originally walled and much of the wall and some (long dried out) moat remains. The earliest is Byzantine from the 10th century, built on earlier Hellenistic foundations. There are also significant remaining Venetian fortifications. We circle past the fishing boats, heading into town. Along the waterfront two or three men are fishing, one with no rod but a fairly efficient hand held reel. Don't know precisely what they're fishing for, but they must have fair expectation of a catch or they wouldn't bother. 

As we head inland the old town joins the new. We stop for koulouria. The old woman selling assumes we're German but only a few words are needed anyway. In addition to the standard, she has a whole grain koulouri with sesame, flax, and pumpkin seeds, as well as small loaves with raisins or olives. The whole grain are delicious and we sit on a bench outside the town market to eat them in the sun. Children seem to be everywhere by noon. Is this standard or the Friday custom or a Feast of St Nicholas special? There's also a major demonstration by older students going on in the streets, but our Greek isn't up to identifying the issues. The town market (covered) is primarily for tourists, though there is a butcher and a cheese shop. A larger version of those in Larnaca and Paphos.

Thursday, December 5/2013

Exploration day. We're in a little studio (have been upgraded because the studio booked was smaller - must have been really tiny. The bed fits well largely because it's three inches narrower than a standard double. Very cosy. Greek style loo, with the shower unenclosed - make sure towels and toilet roll are out of the way and depend on the central drain. Basic kitchen, once the daughter of the house has been assured that we do intend to cook and fetched the little burner/oven combo. The oven probably works, but if you move the unit to a point where the little fridge would not obstruct its door the cord wouldn't reach the socket. But there is a quaint charm about the place. No tv but pretty good wifi, which we'd always choose over tv.

We're just behind the harbour. In fact the houses on the other side of our lane back onto the harbour - or front onto the harbour and back onto our street, depending on point of view. Our place was apparently built in the Venetian era, over 500 years ago, fairly typical of the neighbourhood. There was a major earthquake in 1595 that did significant damage to the old town, as well as devastation caused by a week's concentrated bombing during 1941, but many old buildings remain in use and some have been restored to period. 

We left Canada a month ago today, and for the first time we can cook, so priority number one - after a walk along the harbour front - is the little supermarket near the top of Halidon Street. Very few processed foods, a modest produce section, northern wall almost entirely Greek wine, mostly Cretan. Prices good enough to gamble hopefully on quality. Whole grain spaghetti and bread, onions, mushrooms, tomatoes and spinach - as well as extra virgin olive oil and tomato puree and tinned chopped tomatoes. And oranges and a bottle of Cretan cabernet sauvignon. Still have cheese. Lovely doing our own meals again and the wine, rather to our surprise, is very good.

Wednesday, December 4/2013

Wednesday, December 4/2013

Moving day. Just when we'd got really efficient about living here. Learned to go outside to the koulouri lady at the corner to buy two koulouria to upgrade the breakfast. Found the best of the three spanakopita sellers on Zinonos and made friends. Learned the central streets without a map. Oh well. 

Metro to the airport. Takes close to an hour. There are gypsies "entertaining" for money in the carriages. The accordion music is cheerful enough. The depressing thing is that the children (there was more than one pair consisting of accordion playing young man and child collecting contributions in a plastic cup) were young - probably between seven and thirteen - and ought to have been in school and neither the Roma community nor the authorities seem to wish to enforce this. The other passengers ignored the musicians but the young woman sitting opposite did give two coins to an older Greek woman who came past speaking softly and holding out her hand.

At the airport we display our boarding passes and the girl is polite about our first time ever downloaded mobile device scannable boarding passes but says she'll print us some  - because it's easier. The promised 60 minutes free wifi at Athens airport doesn't materialise. Well, the little circle spins valiantly but to no avail. Leading us, of course, to think of a number of things that it is vital to find out before we land in Crete. The flight itself is all ascent and descent with a quick cup of coffee and a biscuit squeezed in. Fly in over a dark sea that is so scattered with white that I think, impossibly, of snow. But no, it's white caps and waves breaking wildly over rocks and shoals - a beautiful navigational nightmare.

Extremely lucky on landing. Suitcases through quickly. Bus arrives fifteen minutes after luggage claimed - and it was impossible to ascertain from the internet which, if any, of the schedules and dire warnings were to be believed. The driver speaks English, the bus goes to the station, and the station is a ten minute walk from our new home, Morfeas Nest. It's on a narrow cobbled street that can have changed little in the last several centuries. Too dark to explore tonight.

Tuesday, December 3/2013

Temperature plunge - yes, I know, not by Canadian standards.but about 10 degrees when we get up and very strong winds. Much warmer than we remember it 10? years ago, though, when it kept snowing and we decided it was time to go to Cyprus. Tomorrow to Crete. We buy the tickets at the metro station from the machine. It has both Greek and English instructions. The seniors' tickets are half price but you're warned to carry ID. Actually, there are few checks on the Greek metro and there is no difficulty in boarding without a ticket, but there are spot checks and apparently major fines for fare evasion.

Monday, December 2/2013

Interesting to look at Athens from the point of view of New York's experience. Unscientific observation here shows quite a lot of neighbourhood deterioration over the last 10 years - unrepaired buildings, much more (and less artistic) graffiti, presence of squatters, etc. The broken window theory suggests that dealing immediately with petty crimes and socially undesirable behaviour prevents escalation, and was the basis for New York's zero tolerance policy. After its implementation crime rates fell significantly and continued to fall for 10 years. On the other hand, unemployment fell by 39% over the same period. In Greece unemployment is 27.3% - youth unemployment nearly 65%.

Sunday, December 1/2013

The forecast is for rain so we take our umbrellas with us to the new Acropolis Museum. It's impressive - big and so shiny new that the marble approach is near lethal when wet. Technologically modern too. For a modest €5 you get a ticket with a bar code scannable at the entry barrier.

The first pediment we see is actually a bit of a disappointment. Close up, the figures are actually a bit rough and crude. And of course we've just come from a London visit to the Elgin marbles at the British Museum, a much larger collection than is here. An injustice not lost on the Greeks, as the short historical film on the acropolis depicts Lord Elgin as a vandal, although it also shows earlier Christians destroying "pagan" parthenon friezes with a self-righteous fury worthy of the Taliban (a portrayal that has occasioned protests from the Orthodox Church).  Most of the artefacts are a impressive, particularly because they are displayed on pedestals that can be completely circled, allowing you to lean in as closely as you like. Four of the six caryatids from the erechtheon are here, one nearly faceless - and missing other vital bits as well. A fifth is hidden behind screens, where it is the object of laser based restoration techniques.band number six resides at the British Museum. 

The museum cafe is a  pleasure too. It's large and glassed in and we stop for a Greek coffee there, sitting by the window with an excellent view of the (back) side of the acropolis.  

And before we leave we spot, almost accidentally, a brilliant little animated film on the history of the acropolis. It's witty in an almost Pythonesque way, with terrific visuals. Kudos to the producers!

Saturday, November 30/2013

Wander north of Omonia, in territory we used to frequent in the early years of retirement. This area too has seen decline, and quite a few businesses are closed. It's a mixed neighbourhood, with businesses increasingly mixed with residential quarters as one moves east. 

The youth hostel is on Victor Hugo Street, and we stayed there several times, most recently nine or ten years ago. We've heard that it has been completely renovated. This seems to be an overstatement. It's been privatised and given a lick of paint and bright new coverlets, as well as wifi. It has also lost its cafeteria, situated in a classic building across the road and gained much higher rates than we're paying for a hotel that includes  breakfast. We remember the main receptionist from the old days - a bit of a dragon lady then, but with kindness beneath the exterior. Now she's nearing retirement and reflective. The hostel isn't the same as when it was non-profit; it's a different philosophy. And Athens? As you see, it's suffered. Optimistic? Well, things will get worse before they get better. Originally German, she has a slightly more unemotional view of the situation. Things had to change: there were people collecting two pensions, people who could not read or write given sinecures with no duties, tax evasion, laundered money. Yes, Athenians still go for coffee - they would do that whether they could afford to or not. It's the culture. And the very rich are so hard to touch: they just move the money and maybe jobs as well. 

Friday, November 29/2013

More people watching in Athens. This time in Monastiraki we're watching the watchers. There's a wood and concrete structure at the north end of the square that could serve as either stage or bleachers. Right now it's occupied by a group of what looks like regulars. Actually a bit of a community, judging by sharing of cigarettes and concern when one man twists his leg. It's a mixed group, with more men than women; some young but many middle-aged. Mostly unemployed? A man, not of the community, goes by begging, without much success. He gets even shorter shrift when he tries his pitch on two Orthodox priests walking along Ermou Street. Today the centre of the square becomes theatre in the round, as a few lads show off their acrobatic routine. There's also a man with a unicycle, but his act is a bit lame - he expects applause for not falling off, a feat he can't always manage.

Zinonos Street, near Omonia Square, provides constant entertainment as well. It's definitely down on its luck, though a couple of expensive jewellery stores attest to a more affluent past. None of the well-heeled shoppers of Ermou Street here. But it's a rough, brave and vibrant community. Most of the people working or shopping on it are clearly local and they know each other well. Probably few own cars - the little shops sell fruit at a hundred percent above main market prices and can only be selling to neighbourhood residents who buy in small quantities and are ill-equipped for a major shopping expedition at any distance. The clothing too commands a premium, but less of one. Still, day or night the street is busy; bargaining, squabbling, joking, sharing a beer or a coffee. We overlook it from one side. From the other it's watched by a multistory building that has seen much better days. There's a clothing shop and a little cafe with orange tables and not a lot of business. It's a building that has spent the last ten years or more running downhill. A number of flats are occupied, with laundry hung outside in bunches that suggest lack of both female presence and clothespins. One apartment is missing a bit of wall, the deficiency covered by a pink quilt. A squat or can someone actually charge rent for it? Tough times, and if they don't fully extend to our side of the street, the fear of descent into third world is everywhere.

Round the corner we stop at a tiny cafe for a light supper - two Armenian (read minced lamb meatball) gyros and a half litre of house wine (vin tres ordinaire, but ok). The gyros are good, and we're full - at €4.70 (£3.95, $6.75 CAD). Well, that's the price it would have been if we hadn't asked for ketchup, which we got for an extra euro - nearly half the price of a half litre of wine!