Volume 3, Issue 7, July 2009 Journalism as never before  

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Around Town

Works in Progress?

Rethymnon Coffee Morning Bugle - Around TownHmmm. Not as joyful a scenario as one might hope on the construction side of things in town right now. Questions being asked in the house (or this house at least) include: ‘What is going on in Misiria?’, ‘When are they going to finish the hospital?’ and ‘Where are my flip-flops?’. First things first. In 2008 work started on the National Road in Misiria with a view to creating an underpass that would link up with a new ‘Amari junction’. However, right now, not a lot of progress is being made (to put it mildly). There seem to be problems with the electrics. DEH haven’t as yet made the required changes to the network, and these changes need to be made before the contractor can continue with the work. Then there’s the land thing. Try forming a sentence with the words ’State’, ’private property’, ’compensation’ and ’pending court cases’ and you’ll get the general idea.

So now to the hospital. Work on the new wing has stalled. The contractor has apparently not been paid (by the Greek Government) for at least some of the work that has already been carried out. Understandably, perhaps, tools have been downed. The project is co-financed with EU money, the initial deadline for completion of the project has already passed which in turn means that money may have to be repaid to Brussels. Need we say more?

As for the flip-flops? The editor has just realised that she no longer has any. Time to go shopping. Which brings us to….

Market Forces

Rethymnon Coffee Morning Bugle - Market ForcesAs we reported last month, there are problems regarding the relocation of the Thursday market from the marina. The latest proposal that has been put forward by the Municipality is to move the market to Machis Potamon Street. This street runs parallel to the beach road in Kallithea. The proposal has been sent to the Prefectural Council, which apparently has the final word (Ed: I’m saying nothing at this point). The ‘Market Issue’ has created a lot of tension in Rethymnon and has even led to fist fights in Council chambers. Exasperated officials are now talking about abolishing the Thursday market altogether if ‘no civilized consensus can be found’. Time to take stock and reflect perhaps? And we still have the Monday and Saturday markets after all….

Yippee! Sport on the Beach!

After the faint (!) cynicism of the first part of this page we lighten up the mood. Sport in July in the Rethymnon region looks as if it is going to be very good indeed. Our ‘not to be missed’ showcase event for the summer is the 25th Rethymnon Coffee Morning Bugle - SportsVardinoyiannia International Athletics Meeting which will take place at the Sports Centre in Gallou (just up the hill, near the university) on 20th July. This international event is categorized as an EA Premium meeting - or to put it another way, ‘serious stuff’. In 2007 the Bugle team watched in awe as a certain Usain Bolt did a little practice run. He was trying to see if he could run 100 metres in a decent time…. Best of all, if policy hasn’t changed since last year, it’s FREE!!!!! No word on schedules as yet, but on the basis of previous experience, field events will start late afternoon, and track events will take place in the evening.

Beach sports come into their own this month. Beach volley, tennis, basket, football, you name it, we’ve got it here in Rethymnon. Throughout the summer several local tournaments will be taking place on the beach, so look out for the posters around town. And if you’re going a little further afield, you may like to know that the 3rd Pan-Hellenic Beach Volley Masters Tournament will take place in Agia Galini from 9th-11th July.

On a more sedentary (but no less exciting) note: The Rethymno International Open Chess Tournament will take place from 12th-19th July at the House of Culture by the New Square in the Old Town. Further information and a registration form can be found at the website of the Municipal Sports Services - www.daor.gr - you can also follow the link in the events section of the www.rethymnon.biz website.

STOP PRESS! HOLD THE FRONT PAGE! FAST FERRY FOR RETHYMNON!

Ticker tape…ticker tape…ticker tape… OK, enough already of that ‘We’re pretending to be Reuters’ silly printer font. Let’s switch to something that’s easier to read…

Rethymnon Coffee Morning Bugle - New Fast FerrySo… ‘What’s the story, Morning Glory?’ Well, just as we were putting this edition to bed (having already written a worthy piece about landfill sites and fire hazards which you will now have to wait until August for), word came in that we are going to get some form of speedy boat connection between Rethymnon and Continental Europe for the summer. Don’t get too excited, though… Sea-Jets, the company that currently runs a catamaran service between Rethymnon and Santorini on Tuesdays and Saturdays have announced that they will now provide a connection to Pireaus as well. Or in easy speak: You’ll be able to get to Pireaus from Rethymnon on a catamaran if you go via Santorini (scenic volcanic island, lots of cruise ships, blue and white churches, sunsets etc. etc). For further details phone 28310 35567 or click on to the www.seajets.gr website.