House of Culture Opens

In Spring 2007 work started on building a new square and cultural centre for Rethymnon Old Town. On Monday 22nd December 2008, the centre was officially opened by the Mayor of Rethymnon, George Marinakis. There are still a few finishing touches to be made, but as you can see from the photos, creating this huge new space has been a major undertaking! The aim of the designers was to provide a multi-functional public area to be used by everyone - be they young or old, local inhabitant or visitor. A place for children (and adults!) to play games, a meeting point, and an outdoor concert hall are just some of the possibilities! It’s all a bit mind boggling at the moment—not least because of the sheer size of the area (and squeaky clean and new!), but as time goes by we are sure that this facility will become a pivotal hub of social activity in Rethymnon.

The House of Culture will be used as a venue for exhibitions, musical and theatrical performances and seminars. The first art exhibition to be hosted in the centre has just opened. This exhibition, which has as its theme ‘liquid’, features work by contemporary artists from all over Greece. It will run until January 29th.

Well Restored!

The curious ‘Well in a Box’, by the Guora Gate - as pictured in last month’s issue of the Bugle has now been unveiled. Incredibly, after having been abandoned for centuries, the well is apparently still capable of providing clean water! Meanwhile, in other parts of town, the buzz words ‘renovation’ and ‘rejuvenation’ continue to be put into action. For example, the redevelopment of Agnostou Square is nearing completion, and work at Metropolis Square is due to start soon. We’ll keep you posted!

Sporting Parables

‘Smile, though your heart is breaking….’ Actually, it’s not all bad news, but at the moment the sporting scene in Rethymnon is not exactly what one might wish. To use a shipping metaphor, our local football Gods ‘Asteras’ seem to be somewhat ‘becalmed’ right now. They’re not sinking, but they’re not sailing full steam ahead either. It’s just one draw after another…. Let’s hope that Santa has brought Asteras some additional power to those twinkle toes for 2009! Krisses, our local women’s football team is made up of young and inexperienced players, and are experiencing a steep learning curve. So far this season they have won two matches and have lost four. The team has lots of fighting spirit, though, so shouldn’t be underestimated!

Optimists might say that the basketball scenario is akin to the story of the tortoise and the hare. The end of November and the first half of December were not good for AGOR, not good at all. Four defeats in a row for a team with championship ambitions hardly paints the rosiest of pictures. .However, they may have recently turned the tide as they won against the league leaders in the last game before Christmas. And apparently morale and spirits are currently high (let’s hope they are the right type of spirits!), so it’s all to play for this year. OKA Arkadi finally had their first win in December. Which was nice…But then they lost a few games before the Christmas break. But it’s not just about winning, it’s about playing the game???

And, oh, yes, volleyball. Well, the men’s team seems to have fallen off the edge of the planet. BUT the women’s team OPER is flying the flag. They’ve won all six of their matches so far. Keep up the good work!

Rethymnon Ferry Update

As we reported last year, after ANEK pulled the plug on its ferry service between Rethymnon and the mainland, the decision was made to set up a local maritime co-operative company. The company will operate under the name ‘Cretan Sea Lines. The statutes of the company have yet to be presented to the court. In the meantime however, bank accounts in about 14 different banks have been opened, so if anybody is interested in buying a share in the company you can now start depositing money to do so! The initial value shares have been set at €500 each. Share certificates will be issued once all the administrative requirements of the company have been fulfilled. The current global financial crisis is obviously making people wary about investing money, on the other hand the prices of ferries have recently gone down in price, too (apparently!). In the first instance the company will be looking to rent a ferry so they can start running a (desperately needed) direct connection between Rethymnon and Piraeus as soon as possible. The purchase of Cretan Sea Lines’ own ferry will follow once enough money has been deposited. Fingers crossed….!