Treasure Hunts?

When wandering around Rethymnon, it is always worth having a camera to hand! Our photo on the left shows ‘installation’ art being assembled outside the Church of the Four Martyrs. From the accompanying posters and from the information that we could glean we think that this is something to do with the replacement of a traditional sun dial (?!) and organizing a treasure hunt in Carnival style as part of this summer’s festivities for visitors. Anyway, our curiosity has been aroused, and when we get further details we will let you know on the www.rethymnon.biz website!

July promises to be a very busy month for cultural and sporting activities. We have the Renaissance Festival which promises to be something special — you can read more about this on our ’This Month’ page. As we were going to press, volunteers (including some of the Bugle crew) were going flat out to make sure that everything would be ready in time. We’ll provide a full report in our August issue.

Summer Sport: 24th Vardinoyannia Athletics Meeting

After the somewhat damp squib that was Euro 2008 (and probably the less said about Greece’s performance the better) we’re looking forward to some decent summer sport here in Rethymnon in July. A number of beach events have been planned under the general heading “Sports for all”. However, as you can see from the picture there is some way to go in terms of preparing the site!

Anyway, fingers crossed, the first event, which is the 11th Kourobelo Beach Volleyball Tournament, should take place on 7th July. Other beach events that are in the pipeline include a worker’s tournament including tennis and football, and also ‘beach chess’, though here again we spot a potential flaw.

On Monday 14 July the 24th Vardinoyannia International Track and Field Meeting (a European Athletics Association Premium Meeting) takes place at the National Stadium of Gallos (3km South West of Rethymnon). This is a prestigious event attracting international competitors, and is a unique opportunity to witness top quality athletics for free. Events start at 4.15 pm with the Men’s Hammer Throw and finish at 9.25 pm with the Women’s 4x100 metre relay.

Local team sports such as basketball, football and volleyball take a break for the summer. Time for a bit of soul searching and reorganization!

‘Happy Train’ and Taxi Wars

According to our local sources relationships between taxi drivers and the so-called ‘Happy Trains’ are actually none too happy at the moment. Over the last few years the number of happy trains — motorized trolley cars which provide round trips to places of interest in open carriages — has grown exponentially. In fact there are very few places on the island where you will not come across one of these garishly decorated modes of transports (and these along with sheep can take the driver by surprise on mountain roads). They’re fun for the tourists, but conflict is arising because taxi drivers are complaining that people are using the ‘Happy Trains’ as shuttle buses between the hotels and Rethymnon town centre, which is damaging their trade. We see some heated exchanges ahead…..!

Blue Flag Beaches

Congratulations to the 16 local beaches which were awarded with Blue Flags this year. To be awarded blue flags, beaches have to fulfill several criteria. The main criteria for these awards include provisions of environmental information and education, complying with water quality specifications, good environmental management, conforming to safety standards and provision of first aid services (for a full list of the criteria please see www.blueflag.org/Criteria/Beaches ).Of the awarded beaches, 13 are on the North Coast, 3 on the South Coast (Given the list of criteria, and the fact that many of the beaches on the South Coast are wild, it is hardly surprising that fewer of these will qualify for an award). The beaches on the North Coast are Koubes-Rethymnon (Hotel Petradi), Rethymnon (Porto Rethymno), Rethymnon (Hotel Steris), Rethymnon (Hotel Pearl Beach), Missiria (Hotel Creta Palace), Platanias (Hotel Minos Mare), Adelianos Kampos (Hotel Rithymna Beach), Pigianos Kampos (Hotel El Greco), Lianos kavos Lavris (Gerapotamos River), Panormo Limni (Marine Palace Hotel), Bali Livadi (Bali Paradise Hotel), and Bali Varkotopos (Bali Star Hotel). The beaches on the South Coast that qualify are Damnoni (Hotel Hapimag), Plakias (Alianthos Hotel) and Souda, Plakias.