Traffic Lights?

Don’t get over excited, no this doesn’t mean that the traffic lights at the Atsipopoulo junction (aka ‘Hell’s corner’ or ‘You cannot be serious!’) are going to be switched on again. Our headline was just a catchy title we came up with to highlight some seasonal changes to local logistics(!). Drivers take note. From April 1st until the end of November, summer traffic restrictions will be in place in the Old Town. The ‘Historical Centre of Rethymnon is supposed to be off limits to motorized traffic (including vespas!) between the hours of 11am and 6am (the following morning), concessions being made to allow access for delivery vehicles in the early morning. In the past it has been notoriously difficult to enforce these restrictions, however, this year it looks as if the council might be ready and able to take on the challenge.

New permanent ‘swing down’ barriers (like the ones you find at the exits to car parks) have been erected at various points across town—including the entrance to Arkadiou Street at Agnostou Square, and police are geared up to implement the restrictions with vigour!

On another note entirely, in the photo you can see the Vitsentzos Kornaros (formerly Pride of Winchester) which as we reported last month is currently our not-so-direct ferry connection to the mainland (not quite going via Venice to get to Piraeus, but almost). Please, someone, bring us a decent boat soon!

Sporting Sagas

As usual here, the sporting round up involves some highs and lows. Do you want the good news or the bad news? Too bad, here comes the bad news first. You have been warned.

Football: Asteras Rethymnon are in trouble, both on and off the field. The president of the club resigned after the league imposed hefty fines after some scuffles during the match against Rhodes. These fines included financial penalties and point deductions, which means they find themselves in the relegation zone. Mathematically speaking survival is still possible, but winning games is the only way out of their mess and they have not been very good at winning this season (or to put it another way, they’ve been losing quite a bit!). Krisses (our women’s football team) had a bit of a ying and yang month. On the one hand they weren’t very successful on the pitch, but neither were the teams below them, which means by default they have secured survival in the top division of women’s football.

Basketball: Rethymnon Aegean are on the right track again. After a troublesome February they have now have now had four wins in a row — which is nice. However, the teams above them in their division are also on similarly good form, so they’re not closing the gap at the top. Promotion, although not impossible, seems very unlikely this season. OKA Arkadi—well don’t give up the ghost just yet! They keep winning the odd game to raise people’s hopes, but we feel more is needed if they are going to stand a chance of staying in their division.

Volleyball: The volleyball scenario in Rethymnon never ceases to surprise us. When we first started the Bugle way back when in the mists of time (OK then, January 2007), local volleyball was seriously in the doldrums, and so it remained up until recently. Now it seems that volleyball in Rethymnon is undergoing its own Renaissance. Heroic OPER are the champions of the Cretan League with just one more game to play. The team have been unstoppable this season, losing only once. Now it’s onwards and upwards to the playoffs against teams from other regional Greek leagues to decide who will get to play in the A2 national division next season. Get that ball over the net!!!!

Health Care Issues

“What about the new extension to the Rethymnon hospital?” - you might well be asking at this point. Progress reports on this important construction project have been noticeable by their absence in recent months. To cut a long story short, after a delayed payment to the contractor was finally made, the workmen have now picked up their tools again…. Tentative forecasts have set the opening date as ‘possibly’ towards the end of May. We live in hope. Initially the new wing will host the Accident and Emergency Services and the Paediatric Clinic. In the meantime, discussions are still taking place regarding the building of a completely new hospital that is fit for a regional capital. Finding an appropriate plot to build on seems to be the sticking point at the moment. The university had agreed to provide the required size of ground near the National Road, but it would appear that the responsible (!) Ministry is not happy with the shape of the plot. A new proposal for the site on a piece of land owned by Rethymnon municipality near Somatas (on the road to Spili) has just been put forward. We’ll tell you more when we find out more!

On the plus side, a new and fully equipped eye clinic has been opened in the Rethymnon General Hospital and is expected to be fully operational very soon. This state of the art facility has been a long time in the making (25 years in the pipeline, apparently). It will be staffed with two specialist doctors and a nurse. The clinic is located on the first floor of the hospital.

Community Outreach: There is a community medical practice in Rethymnon which provides for people who have no health insurance. This service was set up by the Union of Doctors and ESI Medical Association in collaboration with the Social Services of the Municipality of Rethymnon. The practice is in the Δ’ ΚΑΠΗ building near the Sochoras Football Ground (round the corner from Police Station Square). The surgery is open every Wednesday evening from 6pm to 8pm. The contact phone number is 28310 21307.