Pedestrian Power?

Spring arrives and with it the annual saga of trying to keep cars and motorbikes out of the Old Town From the First of April until the end of November, the ‘Historical Centre of Rethymnon is supposed to be off limits to 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. So far, as you can see from the photo above, enforcement of the new traffic regulations has not been entirely successful!

The council is making an effort, though, to try and make town more pedestrian friendly. Car owners who use the official car parks on the outskirts of the Old Town will now find that in many places a free bicycle loan scheme is in operation (locations include Castro car park by the Fortezza, the car park by the municipal gardens, and the marina). So, now that the weather is getting better, let’s get pedalling!

Sporting News: Swings and Roundabouts

The sporting optimism expressed in March has unfortunately evaporated somewhat. Our local football heroes Asteras seem to have lost the plot a little bit recently. They are now fifth from bottom in their division, and as the bottom five teams will be relegated at the end of the season, they need to start winning soon (just nine matches left, chaps)! On the plus side, the women’s football team Krisses had a good end to their season, and will stay in their division.

Agor, the basketball team who were promoted last season narrowly failed to stay up. If only they had won one more game!

As for volley ball? Well, the men’s team has thrown in the towel for the time being and has withdrawn from their division. Back to the drawing board….

Oh well, some would say there’s more to life than sport. And, surely things can only get better next season (er, hang on a minute, didn’t we say this last year, too?).

Seasonal Fire Fighting

Incredible as it may seem, especially after the events of last year, but there have already been several forest fires in the region. Even with the arrival of additional seasonal firefighters, the resources of the Rethymnon Fire Brigade are stretched to the limit. Many of our readers will remember that during the heatwave in August last year, fires raged all across Greece resulting in loss of many lives. Here on Crete, three firefighters from the Rethymnon Fire Brigade died when trying to tackle one of the numerous blazes in the region. The causes of forest fires are diverse, but almost invariably a human factor is involved. Sadly, some fires are started deliberately by unscrupulous land owners seeking to clear forests to make way for development projects. More often than not though, fires are started by accident, as a result of people being negligent. The forecast is that this summer (like 2007} will be long and hot, and, according to the Chief of the Rethymnon Fire Brigade is likely to be a particularly difficult time for the Emergency Services. The message for 2008 is for everyone to be extra careful when out and about in the countryside. For those of you who don’t have these already, emergency phone numbers are as follows: 166 Ambulance, 199 Fire Brigade, 100 Police.

Crazy Paving?

In April, work started on re-paving many of the streets in the Old Town. A major undertaking, of course, which is long overdue. However, it is fair to say that the way in which the work has been carried out so far has generated mixed feelings amongst local business owners. The streets which have been re-paved certainly look much better than they did before. We also understand that the unfortunate timing of the project (coinciding with the beginning of the Tourist Season) was not entirely the Council’s fault. Apparently the money need to fund the work was held up by some national bureaucratic glitches, and once the money did arrive the view was ‘If we don’t do this now, when if ever, will we be able to do it?’. BUT….

Even the most generous of spirits would have to admit that ‘Crete’ ‘Construction work’ and ‘Tidiness’ are not words that sit happily together in the same sentence. Unfortunately, in early April (Easter holidays for many in Northern Europe, some of whom were visiting Rethymnon for the first time) parts of the Old Town were a real nightmare to negotiate. Our photo of the mess left outside the Mikri Panagia whilst work was going on gives you an example. Totally unnecessary, and really doesn’t present a good image of the town. We do understand that the work needs to be done. But there must be ways to minimise chaos and disruption in the meantime.