No links to sites with adult content accepted
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FEBRUARY WEATHER ...
Definitely not funny! Or maybe it was. It was very cold, very wet and, although there were several clear sunny spells which had the spring flowers started, this Crete was definitely for enthusiasts only.
Dimitris Vassiliou
Acropolis View, Athens
Above: Manager of the Acropolis View Hotel, Robertou Gallie, Athens. Five minutes walk will take you to the gates of the Acropolis (Parthenon) by the Herodeon Atticus theatre. Ten minutes (take 15!) to Plaka or Mitropolis square and the Greek Orthodox cathedral.
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Astratigos Village life... A Continued Saga..
Dear Brian,
Hello and good afternoon from a still bright and sunny Crete - almost all the doors and windows are open. But for the most part the weather has been 'iffy' to say the least. In my last missive I promised to finish my story of the tilers by telling the tale of taking the surplus tiles (no, we didn't break them all) back to their local point of origin, the very grand Terzis tile emporium at Chania.
So here we go, or more accurately, there we went. And how!!
Mrs Terzis greeted us like new customers... No, we are bringing our surplus tiles back from the last job. She didn't look like a pools winner.. Until we added quickly that we wanted to part-exchange them for more tiles - this time for the bathroom walls. Bingo. No problem!! "Take the returns round the back. Give them to the 'lad'. He will give you a
note. Bring the note back here". I comply, edging the car between pallet loads of tiles on either side about twice the height of the car at all angles. Being a 'good driver' I couldn't back out... I made it around the last corner, around an impossibly obstructed entrance and reversed onto the entrance ramp. Unloaded my tiles, got my note and made full circle without problems.
No Problem...
"Will you take the new tiles in your car" Mrs Terzis enquired innocently. "How much do they weigh", I ask. "19 boxes" was the rapid reply - "you can fit 19 boxes in your car".... Her tone and expression adds, "easily, can't you, or are you a sissy?" I'm no sissy Brian, I can put 19 boxes in my car..... I had a very uneasy
feeling that Mrs Terzis had not answered my question....
Accompanied by Pam, I repeat my good driver exhibition. Perfection. I reverse into the loading bay like a real pro. Pam is clearly impressed. I leap out, hail the 'boy', hand over my paperwork and await his response. "You must move your car to the other bay", says he with a big grin.
Not backing off I do so. Not a pallet knocked over. "Inside" says he. Inside I go. 19 boxes - boot and rear seat - are loaded leaving only about 2-3 inches movement left in the suspension. "Put some on top maybe", I mutter darkly. "It's OK" says he, "just drive carefully out of the doors!" I suddenly notice a 10 degree ramp which wasn't
there when I came in. I edged out over the drop without taking my eyes off the wing mirror, which contained a picture of the boy - hand indicating the seriously decreasing gap between the floor and my undercarriage... We won!
I am now able to tell you the answer to my question to Mrs Terzis. 19 boxes of tiles weigh about 302 Kilo's, better known as 668Ibs, 5.5cwt or, one quarter of one ton. I can also confirm that the number of paces one has to take carrying the tiles from my car boot to the vestibule of our house is 45-46. for each box. 32 of them up that 1 in 3 slope, 6 up the 1in1 steps and the remainder on the level
- which is an attitude that my car returned to after the event. I was more horizontal. Level level.. Counted out..
Today we are starting the final clean of the big bedroom. We also have a little more stone to clean in the corridor, but we should be able to contain the dust easily in there. The new tiles really do look good, and without taking away the 'village house' feel - although perhaps a 'posh' village house. The real ones have earthen floors.
Admirers. Not everyone felt our own sense of a very fine achievement. One of our occasional visitors, examining our super new tiles, said that things here wouldn't be the same for her without the previous concrete floors... Always been 'posh' haven't we? Well, after we first concreted the floors anyway...
We are both very well. Katina has returned from he winter sojourn in Chania. Always a good sign of warmer weather. The sheep and goats have finished multiplying for a while - though Easter is approaching and it is not a good time for some of them. The almonds are blossoming, though not half as well as last year, whilst the other villagers here in Astratigos continue life as always, the way it is!
However, it is as well to remember Brian, especially when things are going as well as they are just now, that somewhere out there maybe gremlins..... And perhaps even Mrs Terzis!!
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Site News.
And egg on my 'Webmaster' face!! I know that none of us are perfect (like me) but that was a classic... The link to our 2005 calendar gallery took anyone trying it direct to our food & drink page. Apologies... And no, our calendar does not feature a spit-roasting lamb or Sfakion Cheese Pie! Try the correct link below yourself.
Cretan Vista Calendars.
The calendar picture gallery went on line as planned by 18th February. Being the creator I hesitate to claim accolades, since the real kudos belong to the people who created the reality - builders to barrel-makers.
Books & Good Reading.
Still
growing rapidly and is now - the new introductory pages are open. Hopefully this style of presentation will make selection and navigation in this area of the site much, much easier. Further books have already been added, the first available 'A Place for Us' - is essential reading for anyone who has read Nicolas Gages 'Eleni':-
1.A Place for Us by Nicolas Gage.
Photo Galleries. (Homepage links).
The 2005 Calendar gallery
is of course already on-line, (Cretan Vista calendars - link above). The 2004 Calendar - a specialist product featuring old cars, buses and lorries is moving forward, although not many of the vehicles featured are moving at all.. Wild Flowers: The next two pages of the flower galleries, another 24 wild-flowers will be next, followed shortly afterwards with a further two pages. The galleries of our
Athens visit at Christmas and New Year will follow soon afterwards.
We now have 13 galleries featuring several aspects of Cretan life. A very nice gallery of sunrise and sunset pictures; the Souda Bay War Cemetery; and a gallery of magnificent wild-life pictures by Anastasios Sakoulis, author of "Stigmotipa Tis Kritikis Freesis" - (Links below - bottom right column); our infant gallery about house renovation; and of course our annual calendar galleries
containing 60 or so pictures of north western Crete. Some of them good!
A total of around 180 gallery quality photographs of Crete. Have a look. All our site photographs (more than 800 in all) are the result of much hard work and we hope of interest to our visitors. We know that some of the general pictures can be replaced with better ones - watch this space....
There are of course many other developments going on all the time - including new ones which I have to bite my tongue rather than reveal until opening day.
Are we listening, do we hear?
We are and we do. The continuously increasing numbers of visitors and complimentary e-mails seem to show that our visitors - 21,000 plus individual visits in our best month last year - appreciate our efforts.
In previous months I have confessed to being at a loss to understand the motives of
those who bombard with rubbish spam and viruses the e-mail of a free site, which
diverts any offered finance to sick and handicapped children, a bit difficult to
understand... Much of this has now stopped - Thank-you. But..
I still
find it difficult. We do not compete with commercial sites and we
don't abuse the work of other people. Why then do some individuals continue to add garbled rubbish to our guest book? Please, help us keep
our site tidy - put your rubbish in the bin. Please.
If necessary, we will complain directly to the ISP's hosting the sites abusing our work.
WEBMASTERS PLEASE
NOTE. If you have any of our work on your site without our consent - we will be contacting you shortly. You may not know that it is ours, but you still need our consent to keep it.
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MORE FUN & SERIOUS PLEASURE PLEASE!
To our visitors who have taken the time to tell us that they have found our site enjoyable/ informative/ helpful/ or otherwise complimented the site - very many thanks. We are trying very hard and it's really good to know that you like it". Besides, my wife notes that many of you are ladies! Please don't stop!!
GUEST BOOK LINK
NB. Please don't use the Guest Book to place website links - any URLs - or contact style messages, are automatically disabled/removed in the interests of minors. Questions can be sent to us privately at:
cretanvista.gr
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