Earthquake activity in
May:
Although the main reports here refer to Greece, following the
devastating Haiti earthquake in January, February brought a second devastation, this time to Chile
(Read
wikipedia Summary).
March brought a third 'quake, this
time with a magnitude of 6.0 Richter to the Basyurt area of eastern Turkey,
killing 42 villagers and injuring at least 60 on March 8th -
USGS report.
The last earthquake of note in Greece
in April. No Change.
21 Apr: 4.3 Richter Scale,
06.19am. Zakinthos. Undersea epicentre 35km from the
island.
(item 5)
Link to Story.
Earthquakes are a common feature of life in Greece and
it is unusual for deaths, injuries and or damage to buildings to occur.
The author of a ten year study at the National Technical University of
Athens says that Greece is sitting waiting for the next major
earthquake without doing anything to mitigate it's effects. (Our italics).
Link to Report.
There are certain existing buildings considered to be at risk from major
earthquakes. Link
to story. These buildings, which include a number of schools, are being
investigated with the objective of safety.
Link to story. Engineers have also called upon the government to
institute checks on old bridges in Greece.
Link
(Item6.)
_______________________________
A Little Extra News....
If April brought the first early visitor Ioanna Knoop from the 'Shorn
Sheep' weaving emporium on Lesvos, May brought what was for us a
very special visitor...
And a considerable amount of catching up and reminiscing. An
anxiously awaited first visit from a niece whom we had not seen for over
thirty years! A very long time. And all the way from my home town of Macclesfield in the UK. We had not visited there for many years either. When
we last saw our niece she was a young school-girl. She was a considerable
help to my then aging mother - her grandmother, something that one never
forgets. Now she was a grandmother in her own right. Over thirty years down
the road. Would we even be able to recognize her as she came out of
'Arrivals' at Chania's 'Ioannis
Daskalogiannis'
International Airport? Would she like
us? Would we burn out the reminiscences on the first day? And then wonder
what to talk about? Would it matter after so long?...
For us - yes it would, very much. Our niece, Sandi, is the oldest daughter of
my elder brother, from whom I had become estranged all those years ago. He
died shortly after Christmas last year, an event which led to a renewal of
communication between Sandi and ourselves. A chance to renew the long lost
contact with my own side of the family.
As usual for us life flows at two extremes - great happiness and great
sadness - almost at the same time. Sandi's arrival and stay fell into
the first group - and almost simultaneously into the second. I remember
once reading, on another Cretan website board, the comments of an internet visitor
here to Cretanvista. Our stories, he said, had provided him with many
laughs, but some had also caused him to shed a sad tear or two. I know now how he
felt.... The arrival brought also family heirlooms and mementos that I had
long given up hope of ever seeing again. Photographs which were part of my
own youth - including large original portraits of both my father and his
father - I remember both vividly - of my mother and her parents; of my
treasured sister Anne who died many years ago; and so many more.
More poignant were items which had belonged to my mother - a handkerchief; a
pair of leather gloves; two powder compacts with their mirrors into which
she had gazed so often; a pair of her spectacles... My feelings were in
absolute turmoil, but like all good Englishmen the stiff upper-lip took
precedence... Took precedence that is until the family bible made it's
appearance. It was so unexpected. My stiff-upper lip crumbled and I had to turn
away in an attempt to hide the tears - so much that I had presumed lost had
been passed to me. The bible contained not only it's own words, but between
it's pages were more photographs and memorabilia - including my mother's NHS
ID Card! And there was more. More in the form of my mother's engagement and
wedding rings. Maybe not priceless in the monetary terms of today but to
me - well, need you ask? Absolute treasures... The irreplaceable
miraculously replaced.
The final item came from another niece. It was a copy of the funeral service
and photograph of a nephew, (the elder son of my sister Anne), who had died unexpectedly but a
couple of months previously. He had spent several years living with my
family. He was more a younger brother than a nephew. There were, his
bereaved wife told us in an email, more than 200 people at his funeral... My
sadness plumbed the depths...
Life on Crete has always been a great pleasure to us. No two days are ever
the same. There is, more often than not, great pleasure in being here. But
of course sometimes there is great sadness - that hollow sense of personal
loss sometimes caused by bereavement. You can't catch a 'plane to put that
right.
But perhaps you can! The visit by our niece became a highlight of her week
with us. We took pleasure in dining out - on one occasion with a small group
of English, German and Greek friends. And in touring Nomos Chanion - a
monastery; a church; beaches at Afrata, Ravdoucha, Elafonnissos, Falasarna;
Chania itself; and generally trying to squeeze the impossible into one week!
When Sandi first caught that flight to Chania she was bringing very sad memories,
but as it turned out she was also bringing very happy ones too. Things long
given up as lost miraculously returned. Utter magic!
Oh, and by the way, for someone who is afraid of flying, she did a marvelous
job of bringing back at least part of my lost family! A real treasure...
Kalos Ithate Stin Kriti.
WB. Cretanvista. Bringing the sunshine, keeping the rain off!
________________________________
Messages. We receive some brilliant
messages - really -
and they are very welcome. We will ALWAYS reply so
please, if you have sent a message and not received an answer - resend
the message - we either didn't get it or have somehow overlooked it.
Our response time is usually within 48 hours.
Personal Information.. We have
been asked in the past to help locate people. We would love to be able
to assist but regret that are unable to do this.
Questions and Answers.. Quite a lot of
questions are received here at Cretanvista and, as with e-mails
and other forms of communication, we do our best to supply valid
answers. We never respond "Off the Top of our Heads" but always
research the answer - even if we already have one (things change) before
passing the information on.
We provide links to appropriate alternative
sources where we have them. The answers are given with the proviso
that recipients are responsible for any action taken by them.
________________________________ |
Site Content:-
Notices. |
We are still undertaking our upgrade of the site.
Changes here have left some pages outdated - new houses; hotels;
supermarkets; roads and all. But it all takes time; please
bear with us.
Contacting Cretanvista..
We have now discontinued all direct email
links. You can still reach us directly using our
new
Contact
form, and will still receive direct replies,
but if you see an email address please ignore it. |
Photo
Galleries...
Calendar Photo Galleries:
A new one every year for the past decade! The 2010 Calendar
gallery is complete and online now.. The 2009 calendar topic was 'Wild
Flowers of Crete' (after our wild flower galleries) and the result was
superb! Which is why we followed up the theme in 2010. Because
of our success we have already produced our 2011 wild flower calendar format
(and our other themes continue). But we can reprint any issue with next
year's dates - whatever year that happens to be! Have a look at the 2010
wild flowers calendar Link.
Wild Flower Gallery -
Now at 240
different wild flower photographs
online -
plus dozens in preparation - Galleries 13 - 15 are not far from uploading...
We have added more
reference information on redesigned pages -
with more photos of each specimen to follow later. You may find an
occasional duplicate, which we are keeping for the moment as the
actual photographs will be different and will be used in a later
planned re-organisation of the galleries.
We are now well en-route to putting the first 50% of our target 1020
individual flowers on-line. But it all takes time - first find the
flower (hopefully in full bloom); then get the photographs (sounds
easy); put the photographs on-line (simply work); with basic
information on each. If you know the location of a rare flower
please don't hesitate to help us photograph - we wont reveal your
information to anyone else.
Please note also that All
flower galleries have now been successfully re-coded to eliminate a
bug which affected some Firefox browser versions. All the information will remain
online at Cretanvista. With the advent of ipods, ipads, Blackberry's and other
gizmos it will be much easier to take Cretanvista galleries on your field trips - and
all the information that goes with them. |
Wildlife Gallery - the first two
pages - 48 unique photographs, including
some
rare specimens of
the Cretan fauna. Some is quite beautiful, some a bit scary/creepy, but
all now add to our wildlife page and the ornithology gallery pages.
Remember that it is always worth checking where you walk or sit before you do!
Start here.
Chania Photo Gallery.
Our Chania photograph galleries commenced with a presentation from Klaus
Dieter Thill, whose photographs of some old buildings in the area of the
Venetian Harbour show a little of what we all sometimes miss. Have a look -
it's worth it. Start here.
Miniature Chapels of Crete Gallery.
Klaus-Dieter Thill - author of
Minaturkapellen auf Krista,
a printed photo album detailing some of those enigmatic roadside shrines of
Crete, has now contributed the first page of his Chania on-line gallery.
Cretan Art and crafts - Weaving pages...
Weaving is in full swing and natural dyes are being made up and the
photographs taken to add to this section. We will be adding our
pages on our new looms, equipment and new projects started as soon as we
can. The weaving tends to take the time right now..
Our very first nature gallery...
Contributed by Anastasios Sakoulis, whose book on Cretan wildlife
Moments of Cretan Nature is
also on our site as a book review.
Anastasios contributed 18 pictures of birds for addition to a
gallery some time ago now. We will attach these to our bird-watching pages
as soon as possible.
GENERAL: There
are now 20 galleries featuring aspects
of Cretan life, including sunrise and sunset pictures; Souda Bay War
Cemetery; the gallery of magnificent wild-life pictures by Anastasios
Sakoulis; our own wildlife gallery; the wild flowers; Chania; Mhlia (Milia)
traditional village; etc.. etc...
Our improvements continue. We sincerely hope
that you notice little - apart from increased enjoyment and ease of use.
Keep visiting - your presence is what make all worthwhile.
________________________________
|
Living in Crete
by Carol Palioudakis
OUT NOW IN PAPERBACK!
Price £9.50 GBP
|
Amazon.co.uk & Selected Cretan bookstores |
________________________________
UK Nursing History - Schools of Nursing
Readers who have any
interest in the history of the UK nursing profession might well
be interested in looking at:-
www.schoolsofnursing.co.uk
There is a main site detailing every pre-university school of
nursing, the hospitals used for training and badge awarded.
A forum covering all aspects of nursing history
A 'National' nursing badge collection containing more than 2000
photographs.
Badges, nurses, hospitals et al
Web space for your own nursing related photographs.
*Membership is Free
*Membership is necessary to
use the forum and photograph Gallery areas.
Related Sites - also free.
'nursingbadges
historyofhospitals |
________________________________
|