September2015

the CHANIA POST

September 2015, Issue No. 27 www.cretepost.gr

Greece: The war is over; Let the occupation begin To

the victor goes the spoils.The ink was not yet dry on the new European bailout accord for Greece before German companies started their plundering of Greek assets.

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Per provisions of the “agreement” imposed on Greece, the Athens government awarded the German company that runs the Frankfurt Airport, Fraport, a concession to operate 14 regional airports, mostly on the islands like Mykonos and Santorini favored by tourists, for up to 50 years in the first privatization of government-owned assets demanded by the creditors.

The airport deal had been agreed upon last year by the previous Greek government and then suspended by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s newly elected government this year as part of his pledge to prevent the fire sale of valuable public assets at bargain-basement prices.

The airport deal gives Fraport the right to run the facilities as its own for 1.2 billion euros over the 50 years and an annual rent of 23 million euros. The German company is also pledging to invest significantly in upgrades for the airports.

Under the terms of the new bailout accord, which provides 86 billion euros of new debt to a government already vastly overindebted, the country must sequester 50 billion euros worth of public assets to sell off at distressed prices to mostly foreign bidders — with German companies first in line.

FRAPORT AG - SLENTEL LTD. IN CHANIA FOR THE NEXT 50 YEARS

Greek Government sold to German firm rights to operate 14 regional airports

In the end, Tsipras had no choice but to buckle under to the creditors’ demands if he wanted to fulfill his other pledge of keeping the country in the euro.

But the plundering that has now begun unmasks the whole euro charade for what it really is — a war of conquest by money rather than by arms.

Privatization is a standard feature of the neoliberal policy mix seeking smaller government, less state intervention and more free-market competition.

(Privatization, of course, leads just as often to crony capitalism, while some services, such as electricity and trains, are arguably more efficient as government-owned monopolies.)

But privatization in the context of the bailout accord is tantamount to expropriation, like forcing a bankrupt to sell the family silver in order to pay off debts.

After piling more and more unsustainable debt continued on p.2

Greece has agreed to sell to a German company the rights to operate 14 regional airports. The deal is the first in a wave of privatizations the government had until recently opposed but needs to make to qualify for bailout loans. The decision, which was published in the government gazette, would hand over the airports, including several on popular tourist island destinations, to Fraport AG, which runs Frankfurt Airport among others across the world. The concession, worth 1.23 billion euros ($1.37 billion), is the first privatization decision taken by the government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who was elected in January on promises to repeal the conditions of Greece’s previous two bailouts. > p. 16

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continued from p.1

onto the Greek government in two previous bailouts — most of which went back to banks in France and Germany — the victorious Northern European governments are now inviting their companies to partake in the spoils.

Fraport, which ironically is majority-owned by state and local governments in Germany, has cherry-picked among Greece’s network of regional airports to take over only those that make a profit. It is happy to leave the 30 other loss-making airports in the hands of a bankrupt state.

Greek Infrastructure Minister Christos Spirtzis told German television that this deal to take away the profitable airports and leave the ailing government with only those requiring subsidies “is

more fitting for a colony than for an EU member state.”

The official memorandum of understanding approved this week specifically mentions the airport deal and that it must be made with the buyer already agreed upon, even though the bulk of the privatizations that Greece must make will be finalized only in March of next year.

Sven Giegold, a German member of the European Parliament who represents the environmentalist party, the Greens, called this isolated provision “bizarre.” Even with the announcement of the concession by the Greek government, however, the German company indicated that it might seek better terms than those previously agreed upon.

This same pattern of taking

Life-sharing …is

by Pandelis Spiridakis gelamou.gr

- you bet – an enjoying experience to welcome & celebrate autumn…

Are you ready

p. 2

editorial

Autumnistas?

Saved by the September bell…time to unpack bags and discover the autumn joy!

You really believed that home coming in Crete is another boring routine?

No way my man …Keep your spirit open and ready!

wards?”

Catherine Pulsifer “Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow them.”

Louisa May Alcott “Even your past pain can be a blessing to someone. Hopelifters are willing to reach back and pass hope on.”

Kathe Wunnenberg, Hopelifter: Creative Ways to Spread Hope When Life Hurts “When you do nothing, you feel overwhelmed and powerless. But when you get involved, you feel the sense of hope and accomplishment that comes from knowing you are working to make things better.”

Pauline R. Kezer

over profitable assets at depressed prices will no doubt become evident in the other sales mandated by the agreement.

Other assets to be sold will include the ports of Piraeus and Thessaloniki and valuable waterfront properties for hotel and casino development. State-owned electricity and train operations are also targeted for privatization.

How anyone can view this blatant profiteering as furthering the process of European integration is a mystery.

How any European can look at this naked German aggression with equanimity is also baffling.

The irrepressible Yanis Varoufakis, unbowed after his resistance to capitulation ended his brief tenure as finance minister, notes in an

annotated version of the MOU that the Greek government in May had proposed an alternative path to privatization that would have leveraged the public assets to promote more investment and growth.

Under that plan, Greece would upgrade the public assets, fully utilizing aid available from EU sources like the European Investment Bank, to help drive growth and then privatize them at its own pace at a much higher price.

Like every other suggestion from the Greek side, this proposal was dismissed out of hand by the German-led EU negotiators. The war is over; let the occupation begin.

by Darrell Delamaide Market Watch

Live @ Love @ Laugh

Ok , yes it is…still a month with touristic interest, but it carries a returning This is really charming if you really think about it …who isn’t fed up with walks, tourings & summer stuff? It’s time to settle down and feel domesticated.

That thing ΄΄Home, sweet home΄΄…

And life in Crete is fulfilled with that : sheep haircut, harvest , making raki & wine.

I love this philosophy, the Cretan people had, every single different season they had something to do …in a celebration

way. They meet at the neighbour’s yard, they help, they make fun and finally they eat all together and sing. Such a wonderful but mainly wise built life.

These Cretan customs bring people together…

Being there at a sheep haircut is the perfect thing to live.

And I lived it in my village Pigi in Rethimno , going at my uncle’s Titos animals with my cousins!

Superb!!!

The farmer invites friends & relatives to help and in the end he treats food and wine , celebrating the animal’s haircut. In some villages of Crete they use to – not sell – but just exchange with peddler dealers the wool with the goods they sell.

And then we go to grape harvesting people.

They all get into the stone winepress and they get the Grape juice. They transfer it to raki cauldron & distilleries and every family gets the raki or wine for the homeuse.

This is custom story and really important celebration for every family in Crete, a chance to open their house, invite their friends, celebrate the goods they get from the animals and the products of the nature. And they always wel-

Your local free paper by FTP Publications 73, El. Venizelou str., Chania, 73100 Tel. +30 6977 295075 Owner/Publisher: FTP Publlications Web: http://www.chaniapost.eu E-mail: info@chaniapost.eu FB: http://www.facebook.com/chaniapost Twitter: @chaniapost Editors: Pandelis Giaitsis, Elpida “Hope” Katsarakis, Pandelis Spiridakis, Petros Chatzistavros, Giannis Kriaras, Nicos Lazakis, Miltiades Markatos, Giannis Venetakis, Giannis Xamonakis, Petros Marinakis, Antonia Tsakirakis., Giorgos Atsalakis, Stavros Tsihlis, Manolis Karpadakis, Katerina Polizou.

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A list of what Greek people are expected to pay in September... after the new measures Upon their return home from their holidays Greeks will be facing the bitter realities of bloated bills and taxes.

Here is a list of what Greek households should expect to pay from September onwards: -Unified property tax (ENFIA). It will be paid in 5 instalments (the first one in October), instead of last year’s 6-7 instalments.

-Farmers: A hike in diesel fuel. A rise in tax downpayment from 27.7% to 55%.

-Freelance professionals: An increase in tax downpayment from 55% to 75%.

-Businesses: The 26% preventative downpayment for transactions with countries (Bulgaria, Cyprus) under a privileged provisions in scrapped.

-VAT: Beef meat is set at 13% (from 23%). Private schools will be burdened with 23%, excluding pre-school establishments. Abolition of reduced coefficients in islands.

-Income seizure: The threshold for income seizure is reduced from 1,500 Euros to 1,000 for pensions, salaries and other retirement benefits.

-Tax payment: The 2% discount on immediate settlements is abolished.

-100 payment instalments: A hike of the interest rate from 3% to 5% for

debts over 5,000 Euro, for individuals whose objective property value exceeds 150,000 Euros or their debt is not over 50% of their income. People who miss an overdue payment or fail to make arrangements on overdue debts within 3 months will not be eligible for inclusion in the 100 payment provision.

-Solidarity contribution: A reduction of the tax-free limit of 12,000 Euros.

-Exemptions: Abolition of exceptions for a number of businesses.

-Inheritance and parental benefits: Revision of current provisions.

-Proof of living conditions: Radical overhaul before 2016.

-Automobiles: 150 Euro fines for failing to pass car worthy tests for over 6 months.

-OPAP: The discount on precarious demands up to 1.5% is abolished on agents’ sales.

-Rent: A rise in the taxation coefficients from 1% to 15% for revenue below 12,000 Euros generated from leasing. A rise for more news click on from 33% to 35% for reve- http://cretepost.gr nues over 12,000 Euros.

-Maritime: A limitation of tax exemptions. protothema.gr

Mac OS ECO friendly paper - Please recycle When you finish reading... give it to a friend Find CHANIA POST at the following points: CHANIA Municipal Market, Airport, Public Bus Central Station, Old Harbour, Municipal Tourist Information Desk PLATANIAS Central Square Infokiosk, Botanical Park

KISSAMOS Gramvousa and Balos boats, Elafonissi, Falassarna KANDANOS-SELINO Paleochora Info Desk, Sougia, Kandanos SFAKIA Hora Sfakion Infokiosk, Loutro, Agia Roumeli, ANENDYK boats APOKORONAS Georgioupoli, Kavros, Vamos, Kalyves, Vrysses Also in Chania taxis, Limnoupolis Water Park and in selected cafes, businesses and shops throughout Chania Prefecture.

come their visitors in the best way : they light grills, put on meat and have lots of red wine to drink.

The Same For Us Guys : Automnistas style - open your house, invite your friends, celebrate the goods you have! …cause sharing Is that Makes The Living ….GREAT!!!

Live it …in your own September…

Watch out Guys!

Greetings , Pantelis

In regards to the prominence of the strategic reserves Southern of Crete

South of Crete there are strategic hydrocarbon reserves, which are at least ten times larger than those found in the Ionian Sea. In order for this utilization to occur, we must have more accurate seismic data than those in our possession, so that they may have at least the precision we have in the Ionian Sea. It would then be more likely for us to have several reserves at different depths, depending on which of the marine plots from 12 to 20, they are located at.

There are so many cases which we have to analyze at a strategic level, in regards to the form of their exploitation.

If the reserves are situated relatively close to shore, then a dry liquefaction station could be created.

If it’s located at greater distances, but there is an easy way for the installation of a pipeline, then the same applies there as well.

If now there is a huge problem for the installation of a pipeline, then there is

also the solution type: FPSO, ie Floating Production Storage Offloading.

This system uses retrofitted gas processing tanker and storage area.

In the case that we want on-site production of liquefied natural gas, there is the FLNG Floating Liquefied Natural Gas solution at hand.

And this method has different scales to be used according to the needs and the demands.

Consequently, this means that it’s clearly an issue of strategic will, because the technical solutions for the field Southern of Crete are already available at this point of time. www.lygeros.org

Tourism set to hit new highs in 2015

Greek tourism is on course for a new record in 2015 thanks to increased visitor numbers from the US, Germany, Britain and elsewhere.

According to figures from the Bank of Greece, for the first six months of the year, foreign tourist arrivals increased by 20.8 percent to 7.56 million year-on-year. Net receipts from travel services offset 38.4 percent of the goods deficit.

Arrivals from the US rose by 41.6 percent, from Germany by 23.5 percent, Britain by 18 percent and from France by 12.5 percent, while the number from Russia decreased by 60.6 percent.

Revenues rose 32.9 percent from American tourists, 30.3 percent from the British, 21.2 percent from the French and 18.1 percent from the

Germans. Revenues from Russians fell by 63.2 percent.

The Greek Association of Tourism Enterprises (SETE) estimates that as long as the election process results in a stable government, arrivals of foreign visitors will exceed a total of 25 million this year.

The maintenance of stable, competitive holiday prices against foreign markets contributed to the positive figures as did the depreciation of the euro against the dollar and sterling. ekathimerini.com

p. 3

it.”

Catherine Pulsifer “No matter the number of times you fail you must be determined to succeed. You must not lose hope. Don’t stop in your storm. Don’t give up so easily.”

Tony Narams, Top Secret: You Can Fly Like An Eagle “You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it come true. You may have to work for it, however.”

Richard Bach

“What oxygen is to the lungs, such is hope to the meaning of life.”

Emil Brunner “Never talk defeat. Use words like hope, belief, faith, victory.”

Norman Vincent Peale “Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.”

Helen Keller “Hope is outreaching desire with expectancy of good. It is a characteristic of all living beings.”

Edward S. Ame “While wishing and hoping makes you a dreamer, acting and doing makes you someone who can turn dreams into reality.”

Nan S. Russell “To be without hope is like being without goals, what are you working to-

CHANIA POST

news & articles

www.gelamou.gr... only the good news !!!

by Elpida “Hope” Katsarakis NEA TV Journalist

“Hope is the last thing ever lost.”

Italian Proverb “ Never give up .

Expect only the best from life and take action to get

Hope is...

continued from August’s issue

EXAMPLE: A) A married couple that spends more than 183 days in Greece (tax resident in Greece) has a joined detached house and a joined car.

on for more news click r t.g os ep http://cret

So for this couple has been calculated imputed income of 9,400€ (18,800/2) for each one due to the cost of living. In order to cover the cost of living they must declare income that is generated in Greece or in abroad. In case that the couple has not have Greek income or worldwide income to cover the imputed income each one will be taxed according the above income tax bracket. The couple will not pay tax in case that he had transferred electronically (from bank to bank) money and he had declared them in his past tax returns, the first two years since he became tax residence in Greece or before he became tax resident in Greece. Failure to cover the imputed income of the 18,800€ the couple is liable to pay tax 4,888€ (2,444€ each).

If they fail to cover all of the money, they will be taxed on the difference.

The worldwide income that can be declared is: pension, interest, rent or any other source of income inside or outside of Greece. International tax agreements are applied for avoiding double taxation

So in the event that you will become tax resident in Greece, we suggest that you to move as much money as possible through international bank transfer to Greece during the first two years, since if you will become tax resident in Greece, you will have plenty of ‘pink or white slips’ to cover the imputed income for the follow years. In event that you transfer more money in one year than the minimum living cost, the balance remains for use in the next years.

In this example the tax resident in Greece is liable to collect expenditure receipts as is mentioned above (10% of their annual income from pension or salary in order to qualify the tax bracket).

EXAMPLE: B) A married couple that spends less than 183 days in Greece (non tax resident in Greece) has a joined detached house and a joined car, but he has income generated in Greece

from renting his house or bank interest.

In the above example if the couple is not tax resident in Greece (spends less than 183 days per calendar year in Greece), but it has income generated in Greece, the imputed income of the house is the half. So 3,480+3,200+3,640+5,000= 15,320€. Failure to cover the imputed income of the 15,320€ (7,660 each) the couple is liable to pay tax 3,984€ (1,992€ each) to the tax office. In this case the imputed income or the difference of the imputed income, can be covered by annual transfers of money electronically through the banks (pink or white slips)

or by remaining past transfers.

In this example the non taxable resident in Greece is not liable to collect expenditure receipts as is mentioned above (10% of their annual income in order to qualify the 0% tax bracket).

In the following tables you can calculate your own cost of living as a tax resident in Greece (fill and add the column “Make your calculation”). Also we present the most common case of living costs. We suggest that you ask professional advices because there are some more cases of cost of living that may be applied to you (boat, donations, etc).

Valid Until September 17

Imputed income (Deemed or notional income) due to the cost of living

All year deals

for our own people

Issue A

Drink, driving and insurance, a very bad relationship!

The effects of drink

– driving have been widely reported and will not be listed here, but how will

by Stavros Tsihlis driving under the Insurance & Investment Advisor influence affect your vehicle insurance when you had a little more to drink in that idillic Greek taverna?

According to Greek law the limits for driving under the influence of alcohol are as follows: - 0.50 grams per blood litre (0.5g / l) when measured by a blood alcohol test - 0.25 milligrams per liter of exhaled air when measured by the standard method of exhaling.

p. 4

How does this translate to a real life situation?

Well, it depends on many factors such as weight, age, sex and metabolism (the rate your body uses energy), the type

and amount of alcohol you’re drinking, what you’ve eaten recently and your stress levels at the time.

As a general rule a person can reach a concentration of 0.5g / l with 490 ml of beer, 200 ml of wine, 60 ml of ouzo, 55 ml of Whiskey or Vodka.

It is clear that it takes less quantity of a high alcohol beverage to exceed the legal limit, while fines start from 200 Euros up to imprisonment, criminal record and license revocation.

And what about insurance? Will you have cover if you cause an accident and you are above the legal alcohol limit?

Some insurers make absolutely clear in their plans that there will be no cover if their driver is found above the legal alcohol limit. Others do not include a specific mention and there have been several cases when the insurance company settled the claim (paid the

third party damages) and then legally demanded the money paid from the drunk driver!

A recent case taken to the Supreme Court took this a step further...

After two friends with their car caused an accident which resulted to the other driver’s fatal injury, the Supreme Court reasoned and decided that the co – passenger who was aware that the driver was under the influence is also responsible by 30%!

The consequences of drink – driving are financially, physically and psychologically devastating. UK’s THINK! Drink-driving Campaign is a very good example of how an initiative by the department of Transport can encourage safer behaviour to reduce the number of people killed and injured on the roads every year. nextdeal.gr iatropedia.gr http://think.direct.gov.uk/drink-driving.html

September Deals

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Together, We Stand By Our Society And Support Our Economy!

• • •

Holidaymaker spends thousands bringing home stray dog from Crete that stopped her being attacked by two men

Georgia Bradley was on beach when two men asked her to go for drink But when student, 25, rejected their advances they became aggressive As they grabbed her arm a dog ran over and started barking at them This scared away the men – and she has since taken home ‘Pepper’

A British woman saved by a stray dog

from an attack in Greece has spent thousands of pounds to bring the animal home to live with her.

Holidaymaker Georgia Bradley, 25 was on a remote beach in Crete when two men approached her and asked her to go for a drink.

When the student, whose boyfriend was in a nearby on ck cli ws ne cafe at the time, rejected e or m for r t.g os ep their advances, the men et cr :// http became aggressive.

But as one of them violently grabbed her arm, a small black dog ran over and started barking at them.

Miss Bradley said: ‘I decided to go for a walk along the beach, and found two Greek men who kept harassing me to go out for a drink. I kept telling them I didn’t want to.

‘Then one of them grabbed me on the

arm and I didn’t know what was going to happen. I was on my own and it was a very scary and difficult situation.’

She said the dog – which she has named Pepper – ‘shot out of nowhere, jumped up at me and began barking and licking my hand, and that made the men think twice. She saved me. She must have noticed something was wrong. When I went back to the apartment she followed me and finally let us stroke her.

‘We had an instant bond … We went right round the town to see if she had an owner, but we couldn’t find one and we had to fly the next day.’

Miss Bradley, who studies at Plymouth University, took the dog to an animal shelter and a local vet but was turned away by both.

She and her boyfriend suspected the dog was abandoned as they saw it wandering around the town alone.

She said: ‘Pretty much every evening we saw her around outside the bars and restaurants, trying to get the attention of the tourists.

‘Every time we got close to her she wouldn’t let you stroke her. She was very gentle, but was too scared to let you close.

‘Several times she followed us around and we wondered what we could do.

‘We would close the door and she would wait outside the apartment, but

disappear by the morning.’

Miss Bradley added: ‘When we left to go to the airport, we looked back and Pepper was running after the car. It was heartbreaking.

‘When I got home I couldn’t stop thinking about her so I took the soonest flight back out that I could, which was two weeks later.’

The student was amazed to find the stray on the same beach, in the small town of Georgioupoli.

‘It was a real risk because we may never have found her again,’ she added. ‘But when we saw Pepper on the beach, it was the best feeling ever.’

24-30 August / ICNFP2015 Conference

p. 6

news & articles

The International Conference on new Frontiers in Physics aimed to promote scientific exchange and development of novel ideas in science with a particular accent on interdisciplinarity.

The conference brought together worldwide experts and promising young scientists working on experimental and

theoretical aspects of particle, nuclear, heavy ion and astro-particle physics and cosmology, with colleagues from other disciplines, for example solid state physics, mathematics, mathematical physics, quantum optics, quantum entanglement and other.

This year one of the sessions was devoted to the 50th anniversary of Hagedorn’s Statistical Bootstrap Model, the Centenary of Einstein’s General Theory

of Relativity and the International Year of Light.

The conference was hosted in the Conference Center of the Orthodox Academy of Crete (OAC), an exceptionally beautiful location only a few meters from the mediteranean sea.

tion based on Bronze Age Crete demonstrates, as with other Minoan visual art forms, not only a sophisticated technological knowledge (in this case of metalwork) and an ingenuity of design but also a joy in vibrantly representing nature and a love of flowing, expressive, shapes and forms.

The dog was confirmed as a stray and Miss Bradley found a vet on the island to have Pepper microchipped, wormed with a rabies jab and given a pet passport.

The animal had to spend 21 days in quarantine in boarding kennels but was eventually allowed to travel to Britain.

When Miss Bradley returned to Crete for a third time to collect Pepper, the kennel owner told her that her new pet was pregnant.

A week after arriving back at Miss Bradley’s home in Calstock, Cornwall, Pepper gave birth to six puppies.

4th International Conference on New Frontiers in Physics was held in Chania •

The jewellery of the Minoan civiliza-

Daily Mail

Materials & Technology Initially influenced technically and artistically by Egypt and the East, in particular by the Babylonians via Syria, the Minoans, nevertheless, certainly evolved their own unique art in jewellery making. Smelting technology allowed for the refining of precious metals and Minoan jewellers possessed a full repertoire of techniques which transformed raw material into a staggering array of objects and designs.

The majority of pieces were constructed by hand but such pieces as rings were often made using three-piece moulds and the lost-wax technique. Beads were sometimes made that way, allowing a certain mass production of these items.

The materials utilised in the production of Minoan jewellery included metals such as gold, silver, bronze and gold-plated bronze. Semi-precious stones were used such as rock-crystal, carnelian, garnet, lapis lazuli, obsidian and red, green and yellow jasper. Amethyst was also popular and was imported from Egypt where it was no longer fashionable in jewellery, a fact which illustrates the Minoan independence of mind regarding materials and design. Faience, enamel, steatite (soapstone), ivory, shell, glass-paste and blue frit or Egyptian blue (a synthetic intermediate between faience and glass) were also at the disposal of Minoan jewellers.

Gold was most probably imported from Egypt, Anatolia or even Romania and was

consequently a rare and precious commodity, undoubtedly restricted to those of a higher economic status. It was used in many forms: beaten, engraved, embossed, moulded, and punched, sometimes with stamps. Other techniques included dot repoussé, filigree (fine gold wire), inlaying, gold leaf covering and finally, granulation, where tiny spheres of gold were attached to the main piece using a mixture of glue and copper salt which when heated, transformed into pure copper, soldering the two pieces together.

Form Jewellery took the form of diadems, necklaces, bracelets, beads (in glass, shell, semi-precious stones and in the case of gold, they often took the form of flowers such as lilies and in some cases with incised decorations or whorls added in filigree), pendants (particularly leaves, axes and cones but also animals and birds), armlets, headbands, clothes ornaments (for example wafer thin, sheet gold circles, stars and heart shapes which were sown on to garments), hair pins (two fine examples have crocus flower heads) and hair ornaments (most often in the form of gold leaves and flowers, an outstanding example of which is a large gold daisy from Mochlos), pectorals, chains (ranging from heavy gold links to very fine examples with minute rings) and earrings (solid gold bull’s heads being among the finest surviving examples).

Rings were also produced in large quantities, most often in gold. They deserve special mention as they were not only decorative but also used in an administrative capacity as seals. Although there are some examples of signet rings of chalcedony, the majority consisted of a slightly convex oval gold bezel at a right-angle to a plain hoop, also of gold. Some are often too small to be worn on a finger and were

therefore probably worn as pendants.

Although plain rings exist, ring bezels were most often engraved with detailed miniature scenes representing hunting, fighting, bull-leaping, goddesses, religious practices, chariots, butterflies, landscapes, plants, animals and mythical griffins.

These engraved pieces also illustrate the Minoan fondness for filling the entire available surface even if figures had to be distorted in order to be accommodated.

In this respect ring scenes are reminiscent of Minoan pottery decoration and fresco designs which also display similar subject matter. They were also inlaid with lapis lazuli, glass or coloured stones placed within gold cells - known as cloisonné.

Rings employed as seals were used to impress soft clay or wax with a recognisable design in relief. Documents with seals would have included orders for goods, receipts, political correspondence between cities or used simply to assign responsibility. More than two hundred rings and ring impressions survive and there is evidence that some ring seals were handed down and used over generations. Occasionally, replica rings were made so that seals could be prepared by different people in different locations yet representing a single identifiable authority.

Outstanding examples The oldest surviving examples of Minoan jewellery were found in tombs from the island of Mochlos, just east of Crete and date from 2300-2100 BCE. Thin sheet gold artefacts include a diadem with three ‘antennae’ and three Cretan ibexes marked out in dot-repoussé in an abstract fashion and a gold band with eyes marked out in repoussé which was probably placed over the deceased’s face.

Minoan jewellery manufacture, however, reached its zenith from 1700 to 1500 BCE and two of the most splendid examples

date from this period: the bee pendant and the Master of the Animals pendant; both are in gold and demonstrate the full repertoire of Minoan goldsmiths. The former was found at Malia and is in the form of two bees (possibly also wasps or hornets) rendered in great detail and realism, clutching between them a drop of honey which they are about to deposit into a circular, granulated honeycomb. Above the bees is a spherical filigree cage enclosing a solid sphere and below the pendant hang three cut out circular disks decorated with filigree and granulation.

The Master of the Animals pendant is from Aegina, although research has shown it to be of Cretan origin and most probably for more news click on looted in the Mycenaean http://cretep ost.gr period. The pendant consists of what appears to be a nature god or priest holding the neck of a water bird or goose in each hand and is dressed in typical Minoan costume - belt, loin-cloth and frontal sheath. Five disks hang from the base of the pendant.

The Minoan Legacy As in other branches of the arts, the innovative designs and use of materials employed by Minoan jewellers would have a strong influence not only on surrounding contemporary Aegean communities such as in the Cycladic islands but also on the successive civilizations which superseded the Minoans, in particular the Mycenaeans from mainland Greece. Mycenaean jewellery closely followed the styles and conventions of Cretan jewellers and, although extending their subject matter to include more martial themes and displaying a greater penchant for gold, they, nevertheless, continued to represent the subjects so dear to the Minoans such as plants, flowers and wildlife. ancient.eu

p. 7

•

The magic of Minoan jewellery

news & articles

Lady saves the tramp who came to her rescue

“The beach does not belong to Greeks”

U nbelievable incident on a beach

The Greek woman told mesaralive. gr that when she tried to talk to her, the other woman was yelling that Greeks should stay at home and not go to beaches owned by Germans and Hollands!

She told me... “Stay at home and think how you can pay your debts”, complained to mesaralive.gr.

“I did not leave from the beach and she started belching and doing obscene gestures to me”, said the woman from Tympaki.

at Tympaki, in the middle of August.

According to a complaint, made by a woman to mesaralive.gr, she went for swimming to the beach of Afrathias.

On the beach, she found a woman from the Netherlands.

When the tourist realized that the other woman was Greek, she started shouting that the beach does not belong to the Greeks!

on for more news click r http://cretepost.g

Wind

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news & articles

turbines have the potential to have adverse impacts because of the space needed and the potential for collisions.

Climate change is the greatest longterm threat to biodiversity and a grave threat to the lives and livelihoods of millions of people. Without radical action to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, we risk the potential extinction of at least onethird of land-based species. This is along with rising sea-levels, increased storminess, and severe droughts and floods, which will put massive strain on the world’s food production resources and infrastructure.

The reduction of our energy consumption and an energy efficiency revolution is essential. This is the main effort that all states, including the Greek government, should invest in. But instead of this, our politicians strive for more profit by investing in renewable energy technologies that will have adverse effects on Greek biodiversity. However, renewable sources are not without damaging consequences for nature conservation and ecosystems. These can include competition for areas of land with nature conservation value, and impacts on protected species, especially on large birds, such as storks,

Nature conservation and wind energy pelicans and birds of prey.

There is a need to ensure that wind developments are appropriately designed and sited, and to minimise any adverse effects on wildlife and their habitats. In the long term, maintaining Nature’s services is even more important as keeping climate change at bay.

How do wind farms affect birds?

Wind energy is an important part of renewable energy that has been making a growing contribution to energy generation worldwide, initially through onshore wind farms, but now the industry is orienting itself towards offshore installations. Instead of focusing on the production of renewable energy inside our already degraded urban environment, the industry is investing on the expansion of RES in our natural environment only.

There is evidence, from the US, Spain and now in Greece that wind farms can cause serious problems for birds if they are not appropriately designed, sited and managed. The main potentially detrimental effects of wind farms on birds are: • change to or loss of important habitats due to wind turbines and associated infrastructure • collision with the moving turbine blades, with the turbine tower or

•

•

associated infrastructure such as overhead powerlines, leading to bird deaths. HOS has filed a complaint to the Ministry inspectors regarding the numerous bird collisions of the Griffon Vulture (Gyps fulvus) in Asterousia mountains in Crete. disturbance caused by the presence of the turbines, and/or by maintenance vehicles/vessels and people, as well as during the construction of wind farms, can result in birds avoiding the area of wind farms barriers to movement between feeding, wintering, breeding and moulting areas. Wind farms can also have significant impacts on other species (e.g. bats and marine mammals).

What steps should be taken in developing new wind farms to prevent these impacts?

The Hellenic Ornithological Society (HOS) has long been monitoring the impacts of in farms in the most sensitive areas of Greece and has filled complaints and run court battles for more than 20 wind farm works in Greece.

In 2010, HOS run a nationwide campaign together with 175 other local and national environmental and cultural organizations, with the aim to change

by David Capon

Greek spatial planning of wind farms.

We produced the first sensitivity map in Greece and proposed specific areas to be excluded from wind farm planning. The Ministry never accepted HOS proposals, however courts in numerous cases use this scientific data to evaluate the effects of the works under scrutiny. However, after all these efforts, one important development is that the European Commission has instigated an infringement procedure against the Greek authorities for “inappropriate and insufficient planning” of wind farm projects in the Natura 2000 network in Greece.

HOS still advocates for: 1. Good strategic planning and impact assessment in new wind farm projects 2. Improved site selection so as to prevent impacts on wild birds. Projects should be not be situated within the Special Protection Areas of birds of the Natura 2000 network. The same holds for important wetlands and migratory flyways of birds.

3. Monitoring of the existing wind farms and collection of the carcasses to prevent vultures from feeding near the projects and colliding on the turbine’s blades Malamo Korbeti - Environmental Policy Coordinator Hellenic Ornithological Society

Visitors to scenic northwestern Crete can see a traditional stone mill, one of the world’s oldest olive trees, a modern olive oil factory and a botanical park and restaurant

Agrotourism

looked by the mezzanine tasting room and store.

Much like the mills of Roman times, but adapted to meet current health standards, Biolea’s may be the only stone mill licensed to sell olive oil in Greece today.

Visitors can watch the milling and pressing from the mezzanine during the winter, or see a video about it and tour the mill during the summer. They can hear about Biolea’s environmentally conscious use of dust (rather than pesticides) to repel the olive fly, its low water and energy consumption, and its burning of olive waste to produce heat. They can learn how whole lemons or bitter oranges are poured into the stone mill

along with the olives to produce pastes that become unique mixtures of oil and citrus, and how the stone milling produces an unusually mild, exceptionally healthy oil, and they can sample these distinctive products.

Next to the Olive Tree Museum in nearby Ano Vouves is a giant olive tree estimated to be at least two thousand years old (if not twice that, or more). Its age cannot be determined with radiocarbon dating, since the tree is hollow. However, much more remains than bark; attracting about 20,000 people each year, the tree looks like an amazing sculpture.

New growths have appeared both inside and outside the trunk’s shell, and some branches have swirled around each oth-

er, leaving picturesque holes in a trunk that still supports large boughs with healthy leaves. Starting with the Athens games in 2004, some of the sprigs cut during pruning have been used to make the wreaths that crown Olympic marathon champions, in a return to ancient tradition.

Emmanouil (Manolis) Karpadakis, Marketing Manager of Terra Creta, told Olive Oil Times that his company cooperated with the Municipality of Platanias to have a small olive mill built to extract oil from the 50 kilograms of olives produced by the ancient Vouves tree. At Terra Creta’s large, modern factory, a guide explains the olive oil production process as well as practical

things such as health benefits and how to choose, use and store olive oil.

Tourists can see the two identical production lines which enable continuous extraction of both conventionally grown and organic olive oil. They can hear about Terra Creta’s eco-friendly aspects: light comes from solar tubes, with mirrors to bring sunlight inside; dry pomace, an olive waste product, powers the mill’s heating system; farm animals eat the olive tree leaves; and washing water is used for irrigation or evaporated. In the shop and tasting area in the building up the driveway, visitors can look through the half walls of office windows to the roomy bottling plant beyond them, learn about olive oil tasting, and sample some of Terra Creta’s award winning olive oils.

Olive oil tasting may stimulate an appetite for lunch, perhaps at the acclaimed restaurant above the Botanical Park of Crete which uses the park’s organically grown produce and olive oil as well as other locally grown ingredients in both typical Greek foods such as small pies

with greens and cheese or artichokes with broad beans, and less common entrees including chicken with orange, lime, and lemon grass sauce.

The restaurant and park represent “a return to the Cretan soil and, at the same

time, return to Cretan Tradition and Diet,” according to their website, after a 2003 wildfire devastated the area, destroying the orange groves and olive trees that underpinned its economy.

Undaunted, the four Marinakis broth-

by Lisa Radinovsky Olive Oil Times

“CHANIOTIKA RUSKS...

tradition meets flavour...”

Traditional Cretan Rusks

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Follow the Path of an absolute gastronomic delight...

We use and promote local, quality products in combination with the revival of traditional flavours and new gastronomic proposals from 12:00 pm to 00:00 at midnight.

A plurality of rusks in shapes and sizes located in Crete, with spices, herbs and various fragrances and other materials The main types are defined but the main material, the raw material used for their preparation. The whole grain rusks, the rusks and barley rye rusks. All types of nut available in derived wholemeal, that most plant materials.

The rusks are made with whole grain wheat flour, one of the main ingredients of the Cretan diet.

You can also try something different.

Taste our rusks, made from: Carob Oaten Wheat Rye Barley

You may find a variety of our products ONLY to all local markets and cooperative

Platanias, Chania Tel. +30 6976 860573 www.olive-tree.gr

supermarkets

p. 11

p. 10

news & articles

and culinary tourism should be further developed in Greece to expand tourism beyond the summer and the beaches, so it can contribute more to the struggling Greek economy, according to Ioannis Michaletos at Balkanalysis. If the tourism, agriculture, and food production industries were more tightly linked, he argues, that could improve prospects for all three sectors by increasing foreigners’ recognition and appreciation of Greek products and, if stan- dardized products were offered, Greek brands. on ck In Crete, tourists can for more news cli r start by driving west of http://cretepost.g Chania on the oleander-bordered national road, beside rolling hills full of olive groves with a view of the sea, to a traditional stone mill, one of the world’s oldest olive trees, a modern olive oil factory, and a botanical park and restaurant that rose from the ashes of a great fire.

The scenery is most spectacular near the Astrikas Estate in Kolymvari, with rocky hills and sheer cliffs rising behind the olive trees, in front of the sky and the distant sea. George (Yiorgos) Dimitriadis is the fifth generation in his family to own the olive groves he and his wife, Christine Lacroix, rejuvenated to produce Biolea extra virgin olive oil in the PDO of Kolymvari.

Dimitriadis is filling a special niche by focusing on high quality, small-scale artisanal organic production and reaching out to people from various nations through sustainable agrotourism and exports. He invested in creating not just a factory, but “a destination” for visitors, with a traditional three-stone mill, olive press, and bottling machinery over-

ers set to work, gradually transforming their family’s burnt land into an agritourism and culinary tourism attraction that drew 32,000 visitors last year, according to Kostas Marinakis.

Guests walk through the extensive park, under banana trees, past tropical flowers, Grecian urns, fragrant rosemary, and orange trees to a pond with ducks, geese, and turkeys.

They pause at the shaded benches, then admire the roaming peacocks and the Cretan goats before climbing the hill past the kiwi and roses, through the cool grape arbor, past geometric artichokes and brilliant geraniums, near silvery green clumps of herbs under nectarine, plum, apricot, and pomegranate trees, past a tree hung with farming tools, around and up to the hilltop restau- for more news click on rant. Tourists pose for http://cretepost.gr photos next to scattered antiques and burnt olive tree trunks and gaze beyond them to neat rows of olive trees on surrounding hillsides.

news & articles

Olive Oil Times: Agro-Culinary Attractions in Crete Span Ages

Greece’s best come together A

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magical moment for a parent is when their child first walks. Uncertain, unsteady at first but learning, adapting, improving. The child grows in confidence almost as you watch until it is speeding away towards objectives it would not have seen before, let alone been able to reach. That was how it felt at the first ever one-day conference of the Toastmasters clubs in Greece, held in Athens on 13 June; Greece’s Toastmasters learning new skills, gaining confidence and looking forward to even greater things.

And a time of friendly competition.

Toastmasters is not intrinsically a c o m - petitive environment. Quite the reverse. A Toastmason ck cli ters evening is above ws ne e or for m r t.g os all a matter of learning ep et cr http:// through the supportive feedback given to each speaker by club members in what quickly becomes a group of encouraging friends. Just as important, those not yet in possession of good speaking skills learn by watching and listening to the club’s better speakers. So far, so good: but where do the better speakers themselves pick up tips? That’s where competition comes in. Toastmasters has two competition periods, one in the spring and one in the autumn. Autumn sees competitions in humorous speeches and in providing feedback. The spring competition is in two sections, one for two-minute impromptu speeches and the other a prepared “international speech” of 5 to 7 minutes in length.

It is a hierarchy of increasing quality.

Each Toastmasters club holds a competition, naturally enough won by one of the club’s best speakers - who suddenly finds herself or himself competing at the next level, the area (usually 5 to 6 clubs). Better talent, bigger stakes. The area winner then meets the best speakers from every area in their division, typically of 3 to 5 areas. The divisional champion competes at district level (all

of continental Europe, for example, is in either District 59 or District 95). The international speech competition runs all the way to the world title, for which over 100 district champions compete, this year in Las Vegas. At every one of these levels, the competitors learn an incredible amount from the other speakers, skills that they then pass on within their own districts, divisions, areas and clubs.

Up to now, Greece was entirely out of the picture. The first club in Greece was founded 10 years ago and although there are now flourishing clubs in both Athens and Thessaloniki, most did not hold club competitions, let alone compete against other clubs. That changed on 13 June this year. At the Athens conference, inter-club competitions were held in both English and Greek, both for the Table Topics (the two-minute impromptu speech) and the international speech. People in the audience who had watched and participated in competitions right up to district level were captivated by the high quality of the speeches, remarkable in a country so new to Toastmasters. Thoughtful, insightful - and frequently downright funny - the speeches couldn’t have been

more different from each other but they all had the “Toastmaster touch”. They were designed and presented to capture and keep the attention of the audience.

But it wouldn’t be a Toastmaster conference without the educational element. Before the competitions there were information presentations and workshops covering major aspects of public speaking and club management.

These well-attended sessions were given by more experienced Greek Toastmasters and by veteran international Toastmasters, in particular the current District 59 President, Jaap Russchenberg and Celeste Brown, Distinguished Toastmaster. Nearly 12 hours of fellow-

by Niall Finn

ship, learning and friendly rivalry then had a fitting conclusion at an Athens restaurant.

And the future? Existing clubs have been helped by the conference to grow as their members drew great inspiration from the skills on display. Those attending from areas still without a club (such as Crete) were encouraged to investigate founding a club. Equally importantly, a process has been started which will eventually lead to Greece’s membership of a District and thus access to the full system of educational conferences and competitions.

For information about Toastmasters, please contact niallafinn@yahoo.co.uk

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Samonas Traditional Villas Samonas - Apokoronas - Chania - Crete - GR 73003 mob: +30 698 678 3030 - fax: +30 2821 055 213 website: www.samonas.gr - email: info@samonas.gr facebook: /SamonasTraditionalVillas online availability: https://samonas.reserve-online.net Samonas traditional villas is a completed renovated neighborhood in the small village of Samonas, at an altitude of 400m and a distance of 20km from Chania. Our homes are built in a hill slope and have such an orientation that they offer an impressive mountain, valley and sea view.

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sis-ridden country in droves, but it is still a favorite destination for luxury tourists.

Greece accounted for 20 percent of the top 15 vacation spots for wealthy visitors, according to Switchfly, which ranked them by length of stay. Athens, site of the Acropolis and the Parthenon, as well as massive protests against proposed new austerity measures, was No. 4 behind Seoul, Dubai and Milan.

The picturesque islands of Crete and Mykonos are also among the top destinations for travelers flying first class and checking into five-star accommodation, acon ck cli ws ne e or cording to Switchfly. for m r t.g os ep et cr “Every year economhttp:// ic, social, and politi-

Crete and Rhodes on top

cal events affect travel trends,” said Daniel Farrar, chief executive officer at Switchfly, which compiled the list from its global booking engine. “This year, we’ve seen a rise in travel to Greece as the country’s economic crisis had made travel more affordable.”

The average luxury vacation is more than a week long, with the length of stay varying from 8.3 days in Miami, Florida, to 13 days in Seoul, according to Switchfly’s analysis. Europe has seven of the top 15 spots, while Asia has five. Miami is the sole North American destination, while in South America it’s Sao Paulo.

The news that more high-spending tourists may be headed to Greece is a rare bright spot in the midst of the gloom enveloping the country, whose

‘Mega-surge’ in Greece bookings, claims flight specialist. Crete up by 293%

Soaring

interest in travel to Greece has led to a “mega surge” in bookings despite the country’s financial uncertainty, according to a leading flight specialist.

CheapOair.co.uk claims to have seen demand at least triple to some of the most popular Greek islands in the first seven months of the year.

Bookings from London to Rhodes and Corfu have seen the biggest surge with year-on-year increases of 567% and 270% respectively based on bookings made between January and July compared with the same period in 2014.

Searches for flights from London to Crete have led to a 293% increase in bookings while Santorini is 200% up.

Bookings for flights to Athens are up

255% year-on-year.

The company is offering £99 return flights from Gatwick to Heraklion in Crete with Aegean Airlines between September 15 and October 24 if booked

by Sunday (August 16).

UK managing director, Peter Grover, said: “Both mainland Greece and the idyllic surrounding islands are continuing to show incredibly strong booking figures for us this summer.

“The hard work of the Greek tourist board to continue to attract holidaymakers, despite a financial crisis, and the support of airlines and tour operators in decreasing prices to the Mediterranean destination have combined to cause a mega-surge in bookings.” travelweekly.co.uk

Samaria Gorge in Top 10 European canyons and gorges for walking and hiking trips

news & articles

Crete is Europe’s gorge-hiking cen-

tral. Its south-west coast is riven with deep gashes into the glorious 2,000-plus metre White Mountains.

During the second world war such places were hiding spots for allied troops and resistance fighters.

The Samariá gorge is the most famous of these but don’t ignore the Imbros (near Chora Sfakia) and Kourtaliotiko.

Organised trips to the Samariá gorge leave from every major tourist centre on the island, but its remoteness means there’s a lot of travel involved: a bus journey to the head of the gorge near Omalos, and on completion of the walk, a ferry trip from Agia Rou-

to candianews.gr, thousands of ancient Greek coins and other archaeological “treasures” are sold in e-bay!

Several of those coins are coming from Crete and cost more than 10.000 dollars each.

p. 14

• The gorge is closed from October to April when rain makes sections too dangerous to traverse.

The Guardian

Noone knows the way these coins ended up in the hands of some people from other countries, who organize those auctions in e-bay and other web sites.

As candianews.gr reports, the Ministry of Culture has been informed, but nothing has been done so far!

“I will not be an MP candidate for SYRIZA on Crete in the elections”

SYRIZA MP in Lassithi, Mr. Costas

Dermitzakis, will be a candidsate for SYRIZA in the next elections, as he announced via a Press Release.

Mr. Dermitzakis will probable be a candidate for “Popular Unity”, the

tion, with many of those fleeing wartorn homelands landing on the very beaches favored by luxury travelers.

Bloomberg

Rethymno in the 10 most beautiful villages in Greece where you want to stay for a lifetime

Hola

magazine makes a tribute to Greece and selects the 10 most beautiful villages and islands located in the country and are able to enchant the visitor and make him want to stay there forever.

They are white, clean, located on the cliffs overlooking the sea, medieval, historical, with narrow streets adorned with bougainvillea.

The gaze never gets tired. The best summary of the Mediterranean essence.

At the southern Aegean Sea, Santorini is the most magical island e and is filled with romantic villages that spread through the walls of volcanic cliffs.

Fira and Firostefani are its most photogenic places, but Oia which offers the most recognizable sunset of the Cyclades, it is like a postcard.

In this gallery Hola magazine presents the 10 villages in Santorini and elsewhere in which anyone can spend an idyllic holiday in the Mediterranean.

Rethymno Occupying a wide bay with a beautiful beach in the center and a bustling harbor, the third largest city on the island of Crete delights for its medieval architecture and Venetians and Turks trace. ellines.com

Athens, Santorini Airports Top Europe’s with Surging Passenger Traffic in 1st Half of 2015 More than 1,15 mil. passengers in Heraklion on July

series of mixed emotions overcame me during a drive home from Elafonisi Beach in Western Crete. We took a detour to take the coastal road and visit some important sites from World War II history on this extraordinary island.

For students of history, the names Maleme and Kontomari are names out of history books.

Numerous epic events took place along the coastline of Western Crete in late May and early June of 1941. The town of Maleme, with its strategic airstrip, saw fierce fighting as thousands of Nazi Germans parachuted out of airplanes as hundreds of gliders descended on the island.

A few kilometers up the hillside is the village of Kontomari where on June 2, 1941, one of the most atrocious acts of all of World War II took place as the invading Nazis rounded up the entire village and led them into nearby olive groves where they separated the men from everyone else.

A half dozen soldiers lined up the men of the village and began shooting them in firing squad formation while the women and children sat as spectators to this disgusting German spectacle.

Fast forward seventy plus years and visit today, the areas of Maleme and Kontomari.

At Maleme, on a hill overlooking the blueness of the sea and the actual airstrip where they invaded is the German Cemetery– the final resting place for almost 5,000 Nazi soldiers who were killed while trying to take Crete. The site is spectacle to the eye and soul. The beauty of the location– fertile and hospitable and the historic irony of the fact that these men are resting so peacefully below the land they brutally and violently conquered.

meli to the nearest ports linked to the road network, where the bus will be waiting.

The 16km-walk is intoxicating: visitors descend down steps from near-Alpine altitudes to the bottom of the gorge in pine forest.

Halfway along is the ghost village of Samariá, a great place for a rest before the final stretches, when the gorge narrows to pass through the two-metre wide “Iron Gates”.

They sell ancient Greek coins in e-bay!

According

economy is forecast to contract in 2015, the seventh annual decline in eight years. The country also recently overtook Italy as a top refugee destina-

A

How Germans and Cretans Honor their Dead on Crete

new political party by Panagiotis Lafazanis.

It has to be mentioned that Mr. Dermitzakis, along with Heraklion MP Mr. Michalis Kritsotakis, did not vote in favour of the 3rd Memorandum.

The sight and thought is provoking– five thousand men, some still teenagers– are buried on a hillside overlooking the foreign land they were sent to conquer, on land that was given to their predecessors by the very people they occupied and tortured.

The land was given to a private organi-

zation based in Kassel, Germany by the Greek government in the 1970s to build and manage the cemetery.

Today, the German cemetery greets thousands of visitors annually— including family members in search of their ancestors to pay respects. The site is complete with a welcome center, a guest book that is signed by people entering the cemetery and a well-thought exhibition that tells the story of the Battle of Crete and the German invasion of the island.

The deceased are in tidy graves with headstones, each marking the name, birth and death date of the soldier, lined perfectly— in perfect German order one might say— along the hillside. ********** A few kilometers down the road towards Hania there’s a sign for Kontomari, up a windy road into the hills.

We entered the village looking for a sign or something to point us in the direction of a memorial or even a plaque.

OFF Athens

and Santorini airports welcomed an increasing number of travelers in the first half of 2015, recording the strongest growth in passenger traffic in Europe, in their respective categories, according to data released Wednesday, by the Airports Council Europe (ACI Europe).

The ACI Europe report found that passenger growth at Athens International Airport (AIA) grew by 23.3 percent, placing it at the top of its airport category, (Group 2) with a capacity of 1025 million passengers annually. London Stansted followed with 16.9 percent and Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen with 16.6 percent, both in the same category.

AIA also topped its group with a 21.9 percent rise in passenger traffic for the month of June, followed by Dublin airport at 18.0 percent and Lisbon airport at 12.7 percent.

The airport on the popular Cycladic isle of Santorini, meanwhile, saw a 33.2 percent increase in passenger traffic, recording the strongest performance among EU airports handling less than 5 million passengers yearly. In its group (4) the airports of Romanian cities Sibiu grew by 32.3 percent and Cluj by 30.5 percent.

Passenger traffic in Europe for the January-June period this year recorded a rise of 4.5 percent, while aircraft movement grew by 2 percent.

Representing over 450 airports in 45 European countries, Brussels-based ACI Europe serves the European airport industry and its world report includes data from 211 European airports, representing over 88 percent of passenger traffic in European air transport. news.gtp.gr

The village’s main road is named after those who were massacred— a fitting tribute indeed but without any English (or even German) translation underneath as many Greek road signs offer these days— especially in tourist areas.

After driving up and down the road and seeing nothing, I stopped to ask some locals if there was a memorial. “Go up a bit, you’ll see it,” an elderly man said to me.

I drove up a bit— and found nothing, turned around and went back down the hill when I realized I was almost upon the next village.

I asked another lady who was walking up the hill with her dog. “Keep going down, past a big house and down the drive way you’ll see it on the left. I continued— but didn’t see anything. I ended yup driving up and down the same road a half dozen times until parking and beginning to explore by foot. Villagers peered out their windows. I overheard one say from inside her window “enas Germanos einai…” (It’s a German).

I finally stumbled upon a wreck of a monument in between houses and trees, saddled by a crooked road that

seemed to have been built around the monument or vice versa.

I was shocked— and saddened.

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working on a short film that I want to produce, highlighting the story of the Kontomari massacre and how a Nazi photographer documented the events and secretly sent the images to the resistance to let the world know of the atrocities happening on Crete by the Nazis.

The photographer was eventually caught and sent to jail in Berlin. He survived to share his testimony at Nuremberg.

Dozens of Cretan men from Kontomari were brutally killed on June 2nd 1941 and in their memory, there is a ramshackle memorial with dead tree leaves and branches strewn about, an illegible monument that is covered in filth and a badly-faded photographic display bearing no explanation of anything.

Not only is the Kontomari monument hard to find in the village— if a wouldbe traveler were to stumble upon it, he/she would be hard pressed to know what it was or in whose memory it was created in.

The activist in me immediately thought— start a fundraising campaign, mo- for more news click on bilize the Cretans in http://cretepost.gr America, call the local town council and complain… But given that we are the nation of excuses and bureaucracy, I walked away quietly knowing that I had paid my tribute— and I will continue to do so via the short film that I will produce on the topic and hopefully, some day I’ll be able to do something.

Unless, of course someone with both deeper pockets and more political influence might be inspired to do something before me and give these men the memorial that their sacrifice truly deserves. pappaspost.com

p. 15

Greeks may be fleeing their cri-

The Two Faces of Memory

news & articles

Greece still a prime destination for wealthy tourists

Greek Government sold to German firm rights to operate 14 regional airports

news & articles

Greece has agreed to sell to a German company the rights to operate 14 regional airports. The deal is the first in a wave of privatizations the government had until recently opposed but needs to make to qualify for bailout loans.

The decision, which was published in the government gazette, would hand over the airports, including several on popular tourist island destinations, to Fraport AG, which runs Frankfurt Airport among others across the world.

The concession, worth 1.23 billion euros ($1.37 billion), is the first privatization decision taken by the government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who was elected in January on promises to repeal the conditions of on ck cli ws Greece’s previous two ne e or for m r t.g os bailouts. ep et cr http:// The government had initially vowed to cancel the country’s privatization program, but Tsipras has been forced to renege on his pre-election promises in order to win a deal on a third international bailout for Greece, worth 86 billion euros. Without the rescue loans, the country would default on its debts and risk being forced out of Europe’s joint currency.

Separately, the government slightly relaxed its restrictions on banking transactions, allowing small amounts to be sent abroad for the first time in about two months.

The finance ministry’s amendments, also published in the government gazette, include allowing Greeks to send up to 500 euros ($555) abroad per person per month, and allowing up to 8,000 euros per quarter to be sent to students studying abroad to cover accommodation costs.

Greeks can now also open new bank accounts that will have no withdrawal rights, in order to repay loans, social security contributions or tax debts.

The government restricted banking transactions in late June to prevent a bank run after Tsipras announced a referendum on creditors’ terms for a new bailout.

The government’s U-turn on pre-election promises to secure its new bailout has sparked a rebellion within Tsipras’ governing left-wing Syriza party, increasing the possibility of early elections being called as early as next month.

The prime minister is widely expected to call a confidence vote in his government this week, after dozens of Syriza lawmakers voted against him during the ratification of the new bailout deal in Parliament last Friday.

Government’s sources clarified that if Fraport AG wants to renegotiate the privatization of Greek Regional Airports, then, there will be a full re-negotiation and not partly, as the German company wants to.

The completion of the whole procedure will be with no change in terms and conditions, as it was agreed from the former Government. That was an explicit term in the agreement, after the 12th of July.

The Government follows the agreement and published the signed decision of four Ministers in the 240.B/2015 GG (Government’s Gazette).

p. 16

The reactions • Former PM Samaras Former Prime Minister Antonis Samaras criticized the government harshly for having accused his then-govern-

ment of “selling out” on the issue of privatizations by trying to sell some of Greece’s regional airports, when current premier Alexis Tsipras is now embracing it.

Samaras was commenting on the government’s decision to go ahead with the sale of 14 regional airports to the joint venture of Fraport-Slentel, a deal which had been vehemently contested by Syriza and which Tsipras had vowed to annul when he came to power.

“The government decided eventually to go ahead with the privatization of 14 airports, exactly in the way the previous government had agreed.

Then, it had denounced the decision as a suspicious sellout; now it is adopting it as a beneficial and important agreement,” the former leader of New Democracy said. “He could have apologized of course, but he has no shame…” he added.

• The Left Platform of SYRIZA SYRIZA’s Left Platform slammed the government over its decision to proceed with the concession deal for 14 regional Greek airports, accusing the coalition of “surrendering” public assets, as the rift in the party between those willing to implement the country’s new bailout agreement and those vehemently opposed to it grows.

The Left Platform-affiliated website iskra.gr published an article accusing the government of handing over the airports for a “measly sum as a prize to German interests.”

The 40-year contract for the airports has been awarded to a consortium led

by Germany’s Fraport AG but also including Greece’s Copelouzos Group.

The article referred to the deal as being the “first fire sale under a SYRIZA government” and a “large present to [Angela] Merkel and [Wolfgang] Schaeuble, clearly in return for their services in the formation of the new, deplorable memorandum.”

Stathis Leoutsakos, an MP who is part of the Left Platform, said that if Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras decides to hold a confidence vote, members of the radical faction would not back him.

The Left Platform is expected to step up pressure on Tsipras in the coming days to allow greater debate in the party bodies about the policy direction chosen by the prime minister.

• Popular Unity MPs of “Popular Unity”, the new po-

litical party of Panagiotis Lafazanis, submitted a question to Parliament for the cancellation of the privatization of 14 Greek Regional Airports to Fraport-Slentel, including Chania Airport “Daskalogiannis”.

The question is signed by 20 MPs, including Mr. Michalis Kritsotakis from Heraklion.

“Popular Unity” asks the Minister of Economics of his intentions for a possible immediate cancellation of the whole procedure.

• To Potami On his part, centrist Potami leader Stavros Theodorakis said the privatization of the airports was merely delayed and with nary an effort by the radical leftists to improve sale conditions.

“We went from ‘hard negotiations’ to ‘no negotiations’,” was his bitter comment.

The Potami leader reminded that his party was in favor of the agreement all along, given the need for foreign direct investments and necessary modernization of the airports.

He closed by saying that the current left-rightist coalition government is a “hostage to its unfeasible pre-election promises”.

• Chania Municipal Authority The Municipal Authority of Chania is ready to submit a new written objection to the Council of State, asking for the cancellation of the privatization of “Daskalogiannis” airport.

As announced during the last meeting of the City Council, the Council of State will decide on the first written objection of 18 Authorities of Western Crete, in November 3.

All Authorites were asking for the cancellation of the agreement between HRADF (Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund) and Fraport AG – Slentel Ltd. •

Employees Association in Chania Airport “The privatization of 14 Greek Regional Airports completes our surrender to Germans... unfortunately... by a Left Government.

We mention to all those who managed to elect as MPs in the last elections by syaing that they will stop the privatization procedure, that they are unwelcome to Chania Airport.

And because they will soon need our vote... again... we let them find it in oth-

er “friendly” areas.

They have to explain to people of Chania (i) the reason of not keeping their pre-election commitments and (ii) what will be the “profit” for Chania Prefecture and local economy from the privatization of “Daskalogiannis”?”

Fraport regional airport concessions ‘shaky’ The first privatization of the Greek government could be facing problems before it even gets off the ground.

German company Fraport, which was officially granted the 14 regional Greek airports, is finding it hard to raise investment funding due to the high risk involved, while the contractor is pressing the Greek government for guarantees regarding the concession.

According to Kathimerini newspaper, there are concerns whether the 1.2bln Euro concession price stipulated in the Government gazette will actually be raised in 2015.

The leftist Greek government is expediting the process in order to have the contracts signed by the end of November.

Fraport spokesman said the decision by the Greek economic cabinet council was ‘a base for resuming negotiations between Fraport and TAIPED - The Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund’, adding that the German company was in no position to disclose the nature of these talks.

He also added that there was no timeframe for the outcome of talks.

Greek market pundits believe the German company is stalling in order to get better concessions.

Fraport renew the letters of guarantee for the Greek Regional Airports As the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund officially announced: “According to reports for the privatization of 14 Greek Regional Airports, HRADF announces that in the last few months and due to the terms of the whole procedure, we are always in contact with the consortium of Fraport AG – Slentel Ltd. The consortium confirmed its interest for the completion of the agreement, by renewing the letters of guarantee (30 mil. euros) in April 2015.

The recent decision of the Government will soon lead to the sign of the contract of privatization”.

Crete among the best european autumn destinations Fall is arguably the best time to vis-

it Europe, according to the canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail. The crowds have thinned after the summer crush, the temperatures have cooled and the prices have dropped.

The newspaper presents 6 great autumn destinations that won’t bust the traveller’s budget and among them we find Crete.

• Pitlochry, Scotland Pitlochry arguably is the most beautiful place in Scotland this time of year. A hot spot for hikers and walkers, the area bursts into flaming reds and oranges during October and November. It’s not unlike New England – but with better whisky on for more news click to sip after a brisk stroll. http://cretepost.gr One of the biggest draws is the Enchanted Forest, an annual, mesmerizing illumination of the woods near Pitlochry, accompanied by hypnotic music and nature sounds (en-

chantedforest.org.uk).

• Alsace, France Alsace may be one of France’s most overlooked regions, despite being one of its most beautiful and a leading producer of wine. It’s best to visit in the autumn when the grape harvest is under way: The quaint villages that dot the valley between France’s Vosges mountains and Germany’s Black Forest are jampacked with related festivals. r.

• Crete, Greece Autumn in Europe need not require a jacket. Those looking to prolong summer into at least late October should head to the south of the Greek island Crete, along the Libyan Sea. From September to November, the temperature remains mostly in the 20s and cloud cover is scarce. Look for hotels and rooms around Elafonisi – arguably the most beautiful beach in Europe.

The island’s splendour not only lies on its coasts, but even more famously in it’s mountainous interior, with cliff-hanging villages that always have an open tavern to enjoy an excellent meal.

• Vaud, Switzerland Switzerland has always tended to be a seasonal destination, with hiking in summer and skiing in winter but little else in between.

Use this to your advantage and explore the canton of Vaud, a pleasing mix of mountain, lake and city scenery.

• Natisone Valley, Italy Tucked into one of the most mysterious and unvisited corners of Italy is the Natisone Valley, a heavily forested area in the foothills of the country’s eastern Alps.

Every autumn, this wild northeastern border region – that is neither fully Italian, nor Slovenian – throws one of the best food festivals in Italy. Invito a

Pranzo – “Come for Lunch” – brings together chefs from around the region to showcase one of Italy’s most interesting cuisines (invitoapranzo.it). The best place to stay while exploring the region is Cividale del Friuli, a medieval city designated a UNESCO World Heritage site.

• Bohuslan coast, Sweden Sweden’s west coast is typically reserved for summer months, when locals descend en masse to swim in cold waters and eat pickled herring. But those brave enough to face chillier temperatures will find the coastline blissfully empty except for the lobster lovers who head there for the freshest crustaceans on the continent.

The start of the lobster season is so important that it’s celebrated with more fanfare than Christmas, with festivals, cook-outs and so-called “lobster safari” fishing expeditions. ellines.com

A new jewel to visit

It all began with a few people getting

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together around a swimming pool.

They talked, swam and also said some prayers and read the Bible together.

Out of this small group under the leadership of Tony Lane came the church and congregation of St Thomas Kefalas, near Vamos.

There are many church buildings in Crete but this one is a very small chapel, too small for the people who come, and a tent…….. Yes a tent. It is called the Tabernacle and it is an old threshing floor which has been tiled. The roof is a heavy duty plastic supported by steel poles and in the winter it has plastic walls with windows and of course heaters.

It is a lovely space and if you haven’t been there you must come and visit. In the summer ..as we worship we

St Thomas Church - Kefalas

look out at the White Mountains, we hear the sounds of sheep clanking their bells, the insects buzzing and the light breeze wafts in the beautiful scents of warmed plants like thyme. In the winter and Spring it is surrounded by beautifully blue lupins, green olive trees as the clear birdsong accompanies our hymns.

In the small garden around it amongst olive trees we have barbecues and parties. It was dedicated in 2007 so it is very new.

Its an Anglican Church but it welcomes everyone from all denominations with their doubts as well as their faith.

We meet at least every Sunday for a service of Holy Communion at 11:00 am and then stay and chat afterwards. A chaplain serves us, which is me. I came in July 2014 and before that I was a rec-

tor and vicar of various churches in England and a canon at Truro Cathedral.

So where are we? If you come from Vamos direction towards Kefalas after Xirostirni and the monument to St Phanourios and the builders yard there is a sign on the right pointing to St Thomas’ Church down a small lane on the left. You go past some holiday apartments then a house and immediately on the right of the house there is a gravel drive and the church is a few metres down there.

Revd Canon Philip Lambert, Anglican Chaplain, Crete. www.theanglicanchurchincrete.co.uk E-Mail: creteanglicans@yahoo.co.uk

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“Aren’t Geckos Brilliant!”

About three to four years ago I was

asked to produce an illustrated talk on the reptiles and amphibians of Crete.

There was an interesting problem when I arrived at the venue – there was a power outage that would last the whole time I was there. The illustrated talk became non-illustrated and required a change of thought. After introductions and a little hilarity about the lack of power I asked the question “Who likes snakes?” I think you can probably guess the response, which was completely different when I asked who did not like snakes and who was afraid of snakes. There was not too much love for lizards and toads. But when I mentioned geckos there was a completely difon for more news click ferent reaction. Is it http://cretepost.gr because they are seen as pretty, odd or because they have big eyes and eat household insects?

Geckoes are small lizards with large heads and eyes. They are mainly nocturnal but they hunt mainly by sight and that is the reason for the large eyes. The eyes are usually covered by a transparent layer (as in snakes) and cannot be closed. Our geckos can lose their tails as an escape mechanism from predators and re-grow a replacement.

Most geckoes have a voice and communicate with each other. These little reptiles are especially fascinating because of their ability to walk on ceilings and perhaps that is another reason that people do not dislike them. More and more

is being learned about their movement.

For quite a long time now we have understood that setae on their toes allow geckos to cling to smooth surfaces, even upside down. These setae are very tiny hairs that are also multi-branched and allow for millions of minute contact points on a smooth surface.

About 14 years ago it was proved that geckos use the weak ‘van der Waals forces’ to stick to smooth surfaces (you will be pleased to know that I am not going to explain these forces but the atomic chemists or physicists among you will know what I mean). But what has been recently discovered is that the default situation is that these forces are turned off and that geckos need only apply a small shear force to turn them on.

When turned on, geckos can run at about 20 times body length per second while hanging from a ceiling and the setae could actually support 50 times the weight of the gecko. I think these two figures are remarkable. They have also now found that geckos can turn these forces off without expending any energy allowing it to flee a predator at speed or when on the ground. And if that is not enough, scientists have now discovered that these setae can absorb a huge amount of energy and allow geckos to fall from a ceiling without damage to their bodies.

Scientists at the American Institute of Physics are now looking at how this marvel of Nature could be adapted for use in general human life. For example,

ideas being considered are in medicine (e.g. bandaging), robotics (e.g. allowing robots to cling to smooth surfaces after an earthquake in the hunt for the living and dead), where large forces can be absorbed and uses where the ‘stickiness’ can be turned on and off.

As you probably know there is a lot of rubbish circling around this planet in space: as usual, this garbage (e.g. old satellite parts) has been put there by humans. The problem is that this garbage is not controlled and is moving around at very high speeds. Important satellites or spacecraft could be seriously damaged and lives lost. For instance, in July this year a satellite part missed the International Space Station by just over a mile. So how can Man clear up his mess?

Scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory are now working on adhesive tools to grip this garbage. The inspiration behind their work is our very special geckos and their feet. This equipment has many, many wedge shaped stalks and a slanted mushroom cap. (I believe they have not yet managed the fineness of gecko setae). When the gripping pad lightly touches an object only the tips of the ‘man-made hairs’ make contact with the surface. And similar to geckos the stickiness can be turned on and off by changing the direction of the stalks. So far they have managed to grapple a 20 pound cube as it floated and then release it They have also managed to grapple a researcher in a space suit. The next stage will be to integrate

Fire on the Apokoronas W ith recent fires on the outskirts

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of Athens in the news and the evacuation of many people from their homes as a result, it made me once again consider the risk of wild fires nearer to home and in particular on the Apokoranas.

The reduced frequency of control burning on the Apokoronas, which has the main object of creating fresh grazing and browsing for livestock, has in many areas long ceased.

The diverse mosaic of fire adapted vegetation that was once maintained under this practice has in many places been transformed into closed uniform thickets that not only form an extensive fire hazard, but has contributed to a decline in biodiversity and especially birds of prey due to continuous vegetative cover.

While past control burning frequency was 3-5 years, many areas have not been burnt for 20 years or longer, while it is not obvious that fire breaks have been created in an attempt to protect these areas from fire. This has resulted in an increase of highly flammable material.

The reason for lack of control burning has been severe rural depopulation with cultivation and grazing retreating from hill and mountain slopes.

Another more recent factor has been an increase in the value of certain agricultural lands near the coast during a building boom between 2003 and 2007.

Villages on the Apokoronas are historically compact while often being surrounded by cultivated land and heavily grazed areas.

This served to form a natural fire

break to these villages. However, during the past 20 years most new houses have been built outside of villages being mostly detached and often well separated and often adjacent to scrubland with some new houses amongst olive groves.

Brush fires in Greece usually occur by accident during hot weather fanned by strong winds from the Sahara and preceded by drought conditions. This combination of climatic conditions is common on Crete during the months of July and August when vegetation is at its most flammable.

With these ideal conditions for fire and with tinder dry and extensive fuel loads it might not be surprising to learn that runaway fires under these circumstances are uncontrollable and defy even the most modern firefighting techniques.

by David Capon

these ‘grabbers’ on to robotic arms and legs.

Our little ‘friends’ are providing inspiration for the space industry, medicine and robotics. They are just full of surprises!

There are two species of gecko on Crete.

The Moorish gecko can grow to 15cm, including its tail. It is a plump gecko and its body and head appear flattened.

It is usually brownish-grey and has dark bands that are more pronounced around the tail. The Turkish gecko is slightly smaller and a slender gecko. It is often pale and translucent. The back usually has irregular darker blotches. The call of this gecko is mournful whereas, I consider, that of the Moorish gecko sounds more like that of a young crocodile.

As Paul Whitehouse, a modern British comedian now seen often on a car insurance company’s advertisements, would say “Aren’t geckos’ feet brilliant!

Aren’t geckoes brilliant!”

Regular readers will remember an article in the January 2015 issue in which I described many of the problems of wind farms, especially in relation to eagles, bats and marine life.

On this issue there is an article by Malamo Korbeti, who is the Environmental Policy Coordinator for the Hellenic Ornithological Society.

In it you will see that he has outlined some of the problems similar to the article I wrote and has emphasised the problems that these farms would cause in Natura 2000 sites (protected areas).

I think all of us concerned with birds and other wildlife are very concerned and as an artist, as I have said before, these are eyesores and have a visual impact on the landscape, which is so important for many tourists.

by Anthony M. Whateley

Having had some experience of control burning and also having witnessed accidental fires in wildlife parks in Africa, it therefore surprises me that there is little consideration of the present potential risk posed by fire to many properties on the Apokoronas.

The unprecedented damage at Skoralou, where in October 2004, sixty thousand olive trees, some over 400 years old, were destroyed, is a stark reminder of uncontrollable fire that should not be ignored.

In future years fuel loads in many areas of the Apokoronas will only increase with age creating the potential for devastating fires that could become life threatening in some situations.

Fire breaks are therefore the most effective way of dealing with this ever present danger.

Long-Term Olive Oil Consumption Lowers Risk of Diabetes

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er risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared to those whose diet did not include any olive oil at all. Additionally, for every eight-gram increase in olive oil consumption, their risk of developing type 2 diabetes decreased by six percent. In this study, the highest daily olive oil intake was 13.25 grams in the NHS group and 20 grams in the NHS II group.

Further analysis showed that subjects who consumed healthier diets along with higher amounts of olive oil reduced their risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared to their peers who consumed high amounts of olive oil but a less healthy diet.

Interestingly, women who consumed olive oil were more likely to have Mediterranean or Southern European roots.

They ate more fish, whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and nut; exercised more and had a lower BMI compared to women who never consumed olive oil.

Furthermore, women of Mediterranean/Southern European lineage who consumed high amounts of olive oil had a 23 percent lower risk of developing

type 2 diabetes compared to subjects who consumed high intake of olive oil but did not have Mediterranean/Southern European ancestry. This could be because subjects from Mediterranean families probably consumed olive oil as part of their traditional diet for a longer time than those from non-Mediterranean families.

Another interesting finding of the study was that olive oil added to bread or food showed a stronger association in lowering risk of type 2 diabetes compared to olive oil salad dressing. A possible explanation – olive oil added to food or bread is more likely to be extra virgin olive oil while that present in salad dressings is less often based on extra virgin olive oil.

In an additional aspect of the study, the authors found that hypothetically replacing one tablespoon of margarine with one tablespoon of olive oil lowered risk of type 2 diabetes by five percent, while risk reduced by eight percent when replacing butter and by 15 percent when replacing mayonnaise. These results, although hypothetical, indicate

that use of olive oil over other sources of fat may lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

While this study provides evidence that higher intakes of olive oil lower risk of type 2 diabetes in US women, additional studies are needed to establish the role of olive for more news click on oil in lowering risk of di- http://cretepost.gr abetes. Diabetes is prevalent in 29 million or 9.3 percent of the US population and can lead to serious health problems such as heart disease, stroke, blindness and kidney failure according to the 2014 National Diabetes Statistics Report. It is also a serious health problem worldwide: diabetes incidence in adults was 8.3 percent in 2013 and is expected to rise to about 10 percent by 2035.

According to the authors, “Our results of a 10 percent lower risk of developing diabetes with higher olive oil intake lend additional support to olive oil’s potential role in diabetes prevention, even in populations outside the Mediterranean.”

Olive Oil Times

CFS is now operating online only, but always from Kalyves, Apokoronas, Crete.

With so much of our business now operating purely online we have made the hard decision to close our shop and focus on the success of our online webshops.

We are now operating from our admin office in Kalyves which will also be a click and collect point for online orders.

Please do Visit Us, Call us, Email us or visit our webshop at www.cfshome.com for further information.

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Scientific evidence suggests that the kind of dietary fat consumed affects risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Specifically, diets high in saturated fats increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, while replacing saturated fats with unsaturated fats is associated with a lower risk. Results of the PREDIMED study found that a Mediterranean diet supplemented with extra virgin olive oil was more effective in reducing diabetes risk than a diet low in total fat intake.

While studies conducted in the Mediterranean region show an association between olive oil intake and lowered risk of type 2 diabetes, no such study has been conducted in the US, where olive oil consumption is much lower than in Mediterranean countries, according to a recent article published in the August 2015 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

For the study, researchers from Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in the US and two Spanish universities — Rovira I Virgili University and University of Navarra — tested the hypothesis that higher olive oil consumption leads to a lower risk of developing diabetes in the US. Investigators followed 59,930 nurses, aged 37 to 65 years from the NHS group and 85,157 nurses, aged 26 to 45 years from the NHS II group, two large cohort Nurses Health Studies (NHS) that spanned a period of 22 years. Food frequency questionnaires, completed by the nurses every four years, assessed dietary food intake of more than 130 foods including olive oil consumption in two categories – olive oil as a salad dressing and that added to food or bread.

At the end of the study, the authors identified 5,738 cases of diabetes in the NHS group and 3914 cases in NHS II group.

Results show that nurses who consumed more than one tablespoon or eight grams of total olive oil had a low-

The Μonumental Οlive Τree of Vouves a symbol of culture and heritage

Often

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cretan nature

people are travelling thousands of kilometers to visit historical

by Manolis Karpadakis place or explore a piece of art.

Terra Creta Marketing Mngr Well, it is time to discover a natural and alive monument, very close to our place. The oldest but still alive olive tree of Vouves.

The Monumental Olive Tree of Vouves (in greek “Ελιά Βουβών”) is among the 20 ancient olive trees of Crete and it is probably the oldest olive trees in the world that still produces olives. There is a dispute on the exact age of this tree.

The use of tree ring analysis has proven the tree to be at least 2000 years old, but scientists from the University of Crete have estimated it to be 4,000 years old.

Due to its special aesthetic, ecological and historical s new characteristics the tree re natu e for mor was declared a natural gr click on http://cretepost. monument in 1997.

The impressive ‘olive tree of Vouves grows for centuries in the area where now lies the village Ano Vouves, near Kolymvari, 30 kilometers west of Chania. It has a diameter of 4,67 m. and a perimeter of 12,5 m. It started as a wild olive tree and was later domesticated with the ‘tsounati’ olive tree variety.

Olive trees are hardy and drought, disease and fire resistant, part of the reason for their longevity and their widespread use in the region.

The natural monument attracts 20.000 visitors each year.

The famous olive tree starred in a travel documentary for Crete, broadcasted

by German channel Arte/ZDF. The age of the tree was revealed to the journalists by Professor of pomology in the Technological Institute of Crete (TEI), Spyros Lionakis. He said that some of

the ancient olive trees of Crete go as far back as the Minoan Age. Besides the famous tree in Vouves there are 10 other ancient trees in the surrounding area.

This natural wealth is what the Olive Museum of Vouves tries to preserve and promote the age old relationship of olive tree and man.

Located next to the ‘Monumental Olive Tree of Vouves’ the Museum was the vision of Mayor Polychronis Polychronides. The next step is the conversion of the Museum to an ‘Olive Museum and Mediterranean Centre for the Study of Monumental Olive Trees’.

Since 2004 in Athens, olive branches “kotinos” from the ancient olive tree, used for the wreath of Marathon winners in every Olympic game.

In 2012, Municipality of Platanias and Terra Creta organized for first time, a harvesting event where 55 kgr of olives has been collected and 5.0 kgr of olive oil was produced in a special designed olive mill.

• • • • • •

http://www.olivemuseumvouves.com/pages.aspx?id=2&lang=en http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive_tree_ of_Vouves http://www.oliveoilsource.com/page/olive-tree-pruning http://en.goodnews.g r/Ar ticles/Theworld%CE%84s-most-ancient-olive-treeaged-3000-years--is-in-Crete_1574.html http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/photos/the-worlds-10oldest-living-trees/olive-tree-of-vouves http://www.terracreta.gr/downloads/ conference/images/00_content/galleryalbums/5/index.html

Tip Of The Month We are in a very difficult period for the olive fly control.

Just remember that in the area of Chania we measure relatively high population and intensive work is necessary in order to maintain this population in low level There is a variety of acceptable solutions available, like traps of different types and bait spraying with approved substances.

There is no golden rule on what we have to use, since every olive grove has particularities and different micro-climate Just remember that our goal is not only to keep the population of the olive fly low, but also to maintain the natural and healthy character of the olive fruit.

The greatest gallery on Crete opens

their doors on the 5th of September with a great opening party at 7:30 pm in Paleochora’s Town Hall. Attending the Paleochora Art Week are 40 artists, displaying their artwork in several disciplines up to the 20th of September: Painting, Photography and Sculpture.

“We want to bring art to the people and so we have 20 Art Points around Paleochora. So visitors can go around the town and see artwork in different Art Points, such as tavernas, bars, hotels or at the wonderful beaches of Paleochora”, so says Efi Fiotaki, painter and one of the organisers of the Art Week. “It is like a paper chase for art and you can explore different places and see a lot of artists from 10 different countries.

Most of them are living on Crete, coming from Paleochora, Plakias or Chania”, explains Gail Warham, painter and organiser.

The central display ws ne re ltu cu e point, where all artists for mor r t.g os ep et have up to five pieces, click on http://cr is the Town Hall on the Main Street. The Town Hall is open every evening from 7 to 11:30 pm and this year for the first time on Sunday mornings from 11 am – 1 pm.

Also for the first time there is an Un-

1 st Sfakian Pie was held at the old

Paleochora Art Week 2015

derwater Exhibition at Methexis Beach.

“You can go with a mask and snorkel and explore sculptures, paintings and much more that you will not expect to find there”, explains Gerhard Stelzhammer, sculptor and another organiser.

“For example a medicine wheel, underwater music and an underwater kafenion”. Every day from 5 – 7 pm there are events with underwater music and more.

And for people who don’t like to snorkel they can see photos of the underwa-

1st Sfakian Pie Festival… a total success!

harbour of Sfakia.

Hundreds of visitors and tourists tasted the famous Sfakian Pie, Cretan honey, Sfakian rusks, local wine and tsikoudia and… a lot of food, all “combined” with live Cretan music!

They all came closer to the customs and culture of Sfakia.

The event was organized by the Municipality of Sfakia, along with the citizens of Hora Sfakion.

Famous Cretan singer Giorgos Maggelakis and his band sang traditional songs.

culture

Shepherd And Cheese Festival in Zoniana

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When

humanity meets tradition, the result is often. Breeders from the village Zoniana in Rethymno, just as they did last year, made a giant cheese weighing a ton a venture they said was done in the name of solidarity.

On the initiative of the residents of the mountainous village and of the cultural association, the cheese was distributed to the people who were present at

ter exhibition in the Town Hall.

The program this year offers other exciting events: art for children, artists at work, guided art walks and workshops in painting and photography and also music.

Like last year there will be a tombola and the Astrini Night. For the tombola everybody can buy a ticket for 2 Euro with a chance of winning a piece of artwork from one of the artists.

The lottery will be drawn on 20th of September at the Closing Party. “At the

the Shepherd & Cheese Festival, which was organized for a 8th consecutive year at Zoniana.

The festival was organized by the village’s local bodies and with the support of the Region of Crete and the Municipality of Mylopotamos.

Besides making a big feed for the audience, the project shows off the capabilities of the cheese industry in the region and the activities of the shepherds.

Astrini Night local music and dance will await you. You are invited to come on the 11th September to the statue of Astrini on the sandy Beach”, so says Efi Fiotaki.

‘Artists at Work’ means that you can look over the shoulder of an artist. “So you can see how they work or you can ask whatever you want to know”, explains Gail Wareham.

One of these artists is Zoran Kocev and he will paint with other artists of the Art Week on the foot path of the Stony Boulevard. So at least the stony Boulevard gets some colour!.

Zoran starts on 6th September and every day you can see him or other artists of the Art Week painting the Boulevard from 5 – 8 pm.

The Paleochora Art Week is a non-profit organisation, organised by a few artists and financed with the money of the artists and by the support of local sponsors.

More information you will find at the new webpage www.paleochora-art-week.com or on Facebook.

Paleochora-art-week@outlook.com • Efi Fiotaki (Greek), 0030 6981 225898 • Gail Wareham, (English) 0030 694 346 3920 • Cornelia Lins (German) 0030 28230 41991

Cool place to eat

by Niall Finn

Tree-shaded in the green and cool Beneath an arch there is a pool That’s full of fish all sleek and fast.

At first we missed it, driving past In search of “Lapa” up the hill Through Argyroupoli but still No sign of Lapa’s ruins there Until, returning, in the square We stopped the car, went for a stroll And found we’d parked beside our goal!

A small and weed-strewn piece of ground (Perhaps there’s more we never found).

Then, simultaneous, “I’ve a hunch It’s time we found ourselves some lunch.” ws ne Back down the hill re ltu cu e for mor r to where we’d seen t.g os ep et click on http://cr Tavernas hidden in the green.

That’s when we found the pool, the fish; With some being caught to grace a

dish.

However fond of trout I am I opted for the slow-grilled lamb Called “Antikristo” and this meant The lamb in chunks, all succulent And salty, lean and mountain grown The flesh just falling from the bone. ********** On the up and up

by Niall Finn

I might be wrong but now the sea Seems higher than it used to be.

Georgeoupolis, the northern beach, The shower tap is hard to reach.

The blue paint on its wooden stand Stops now a metre from the sand.

So tons of beach have gone - what’s more The waves are breaking close to shore.

At Almiritha, further west The sunbeds are the litmus test: One spot last year had several rows But now just one, where no one

goes Because the wavelets still have strength For foaming halfway up their length And so will swirl their way around All bags and shoes left on ground.

It’s natural for a beach to change; But now in summer? That is strange.

In winter, waves will pound ashore Eroding sand and sometimes more.

In summer, though, they usually build Till winter gaps have all been filled With smooth, soft sand - a beach remade Without the need of human aid.

I hope next time I stop to look The sea’s returned the sand it took. ********** Hound Tor

by Anthony M. Whateley

High windswept tor, my father’s favourite on the moor.

Through Devon’s sunken winding

lanes he showed me Dartmoor’s many names.

A tor, the hills eroded core, through wind and rain and ice, yet more.

A ragged hawthorn blasted tree, with raven’s lonely croaking plea.

Short-cropped grass and springy heather, in summer walking at our leisure.

Across the moor where buzzards mew, And Devon rivers take their cue.

Wild winter cold and virgin rime, we walked and talked to catch up time.

I spent my life in foreign land, the years slipped by like blowing sand.

A brother too, I left behind, the missing years had marked their time.

But family ties so surely strong and childhood days of memories long, with summer days upon a beach.

We took our father to his tor, his favourite place upon the moor.

There was no talk or walk that day, the raven croaked a sad dismay.

We left his ashes on the moor, wild, windswept, at Hound Tor.

Can we really judge a book by its cover?

People claim we cannot get to know

p. 30

culture

by Elis. Pramateftakis Teacher

a person really well, unless we climb into his own skin and walk around it! In other words we must not judge others and jump into conclusions about their characters, their abilities and their everyday lives unless we find ourselves in the very same place.

This is exactly what I thought when I heard a central European citizen – during our interaction – telling me among others: “are you Greek? I know all about Greek people. They are considered to be lazy.”

These words resulted in feelings of anger and frustration on my part. It was obvious to me once again that only few people can actually question the rumours they hear and reject the rigid ideas of the “status quo”.

Most of them end up accusing others without being properly informed and such accusations create a tremendous gap among nations.

Ever since I was child various beliefs, like the above, were being discussed around me.

Were northern European citizens as “cold” as they said?

Were all English people distant and Turkish people hostile?

As I was growing up, I started questioning such absolute, generalized ideas. I wanted to find out the truth on my own

and not to be influenced by others. So having travelled a lot and having communicated with other tourists, I soon found out that we cannot characterize a whole group of people.

Each and every one of us is unique and deserves to be respected and appreciated for what he has to offer.

It is true that the climate, the land and the culture determine their every day life.

So some people may seem more distant than others but this is probably their way of being polite.

What is kind for a Chinese is not necessarily polite for a French citizen. And what is insulting for a Greek citizen

days is such, that no matter how much they try, it seems really hard for them to have a descent life.

And yet, no matter how much they struggle so as to survive and regardless of how unfair they are being treated, they can always find a reason to smile!!

They never give up, always manage to see light at the end of the tunnel and they teach their children to do the same.

After all, they have always been fighters – since ancient times – and never before have had they lost their optimism and love for life.

This is probably what some people find difficult to comprehend: how a small nation with so many problems can actually smile and have fun?

Well, as they say, you only live once and we must all keep our heads up and smile.

Tomorrow is always another day, a better day, and we must experience it all together.

can be socially acceptable in an Italian community. But this is what makes the world we live so fascinating.

We are all so different (in colour, in manners, way of life etc) and at the same time all so alike.

In our case, so as to inform my foreign friend, Greek people are high in the list of hard-working men receiving a low sal- - Books - Stationery ary.

- Consumables They work long hours so as to make a living but still the money they re- Popi Loupassaki-eodoraki ceive is never enough. Crossroads to Galatas Old National Road Chania-Kissamos The cost of living nowa- Tel.: +30 28210 32359

- Office supplies - Gis - Photocopies

9 Must-Have Tools Every Renter Needs at Home

Home Improvement

p. 32

Bathroom changes mainly involve plumbing, so spend time researching and hiring good plumbing contractors.

Planning well is important to maximize usage of a small space.

Potential pain points: Unintended delays can be created by problems in the floor—and any room below the floor.

Because waste plumbing is located in the floor, there is a risk of damage to the room beneath the bathroom. Proceeding carefully is key.

Plan your home renovation projects Here are general estimates for the time involved with different projects: Kitchen • Duration: 3 to 6 months What it entails: A complete remodel usually means replacing all appliances, cabinets and counters—and installing the backsplash and floors.

Potential pain points: Existing conditions in your home can affect the length

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of time needed to perform the job.

These might include moving ductwork, updating old plumbing or improving electrical wiring to accommodate more appliances.

Bathroom • Duration: 2 to 3 months What it entails: Bathroom remodels tend to take less time then kitchens.

They are smaller and usually don’t need extensive electrical and vent work.

Room addition (such as bedroom) • Duration: 1 to 2 months What it entails: The planner and contractor have to ex amine ground conditions and work with any structural and foundation issues.

Potential pain points: A good contractor will build the room outside of your house and complete electrical work in the room before opening the wall between your home and the new room.

That way, the construction will be less disruptive to your lifestyle.

“Oh,

the landlord will fix that.”

That’s probably a thought that went through your head as you were signing the lease to your new rental. For major things such as a leak or heat going out, you can and should expect your landlord to take care of it.

But for other things like changing a light bulb or hanging a picture… well, you’re on your own.

As a handy adult (or at least one that pretends to be), you should have a set of tools ready for when minor things go awry. Here’s our must-own tool list:

• Hammer Remember that cool wall gallery you planned on hanging up? Well, you’ll have a hard time hanging it without a hammer to complete the job. You can even put your hammer to use on furniture. If a dresser drawer is coming apart, lightly tap your hammer on the joint to push it back into place.

• Ladder A ladder will come in handy for any project – big or small. If you’re looking to hang up shelves way up high or just get those rarely used dish pieces way up on the top shelf, not having a ladder will have you kicking yourself. Get one that allows you to reach the ceiling and that’s narrow enough to tuck away. And if you can’t tuck it away, there’s always one of these ideas.

dentations, you’ll need at least one flathead and one Phillips screwdriver.

28210 91670 or 6944 822990

• Screwdriver An allen wrench won’t solve all your furniture problems. Sometimes you need a legitimate screwdriver. Since nail heads come with two different in-

• Drill Drill, baby, drill! Okay, maybe you don’t want to drill everything. But when it comes to mounting things on your wall, a drill is a must-have if you don’t want your items to keep falling down. Better yet, invest in an all-in-one electric drill.

This way you have your screwdriver

and drill all in one space-saving tool.

• Ruler Ever hear the phrase, “Measure twice, cut once”? This proves that even the most professional handymen and women need to measure everything. A long ruler or measuring tape will help you for basic projects. It’s particularly handy when decorating, so you know how much space you have and what will fit.

• Level Wall art, anyone? Whether you’re hang-

ing paintings or shelves, a level will help you keep them as aligned as possible.

Because the last thing you need is to hang up some shelves to show off your awesome camera display, just to have them sliding down to one side.

• Wall Anchors Speaking of walls, we suggest you invest in wall anchors and keep some extras lying around. Unless you plan on

nailing everything into a wall stud, you risk damaging both your wall and your hanging item. Without wall anchors to hold the nail in place, heavier items can fall down and leave a large hole in your drywall.

• Flashlight This is one of those tools that you don’t think you need until you actually need it. If your power goes out or even if you’re just trying to look in the farthest corner of your closet, a flashlight will come in handy. Keep your flashlight in an accessible place so when you need it,

it’s readily available.

• Scissors Every household should have scissors, preferably multiple pairs, since sometimes they’re never quite where you think they’ll be. For a simple projects such as cutting paper or trimming loose threads off your furniture, you’ll be grateful to have a pair or two lying around.

p. 33

outdated or inefficient areas of your home can increase your comfort and raise your home’s value, but it can also disrupt your life. The length of such a home renovation project can run from days for basic cosmetic alterations and painting to months for major remodeling.

Knowing what to expect is often half the battle in home renovation— without losing your mind.

Any remodeling project starts with interviewing the experts who will do the work—the architects, designers and contractors. With each person, check for licenses and ask for references. Don’t hire the first one you interview without talking to others. That first architect might have grand ideas, but the second may offer practical guidelines you hadn’t considered.

A kitchen renovation, for example, can cost a lot of money and time, so you should be completely satisfied with the design and the contractors involved.

The work you are paying for will be done in your most personal of spaces.

You want professionals who will listen to your needs, and whom you enjoy working with. Personality matters.

After you settle on the design, order essential items such as cabinets and appliances, before the work begins.

Poor planning can delay a job unnecessarily. Your contractor will seek permits, which could take a week to a month, depending on where you live.

Construction could also take weeks or months.

do it yourself

Renovating

home improvement

by Petros Chatzistavros Civil Engineer (T.E.)

How Long Will Home Renovation Take?

Four Dead, 65 Sick in New York City Legionnaires’ disease Outbreak A

deadly outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease, a severe type of pneumonia, has now killed four people and sickened 65 in the Bronx section of New

by Miltiades Markatos York City since July 10, New York City Pneumonologist health officials said on Saturday, 1st August.

This wave of Legionnaires’, which officials have called unusual, is now more than five times the number of cases recorded in the last outbreak, in which 12 people in the Bronx fell ill in December 2014.

The disease is caused by Legionella, a bacteria found in certain plumbing systems, including hot tubs, humidifiers, cooling towers and hot water tanks. It is spread by breathing in mist from water, and cannot be spread from person to person. for more health news The illness is most common in the summer click on http://cretepost.gr

and early fall, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Symptoms include fever, cough, headaches and muscle aches.

In response to the outbreak, the city’s health department has inspected 22

buildings in the Bronx, 17 of which have cooling towers. Five buildings, including the historic Opera House Hotel, Lincoln Medical Center and the Concourse Plaza mall and movie complex, tested positive for Legionella. Disinfec-

tion efforts are ongoing or have already been completed at all five sites.

Julio Vargas, general manager of the Opera House Hotel, said the water in the cooling tower used by the hotel has been treated and disinfected, and there have been no reports of hotel guests falling ill.

The department said the city’s drinking water supply, fountains and pools have not been affected.

The people who died from the disease were older adults with underlying medical problems, according to a city press release.

The disease earned its name following a 1976 outbreak among people who attended a Philadelphia convention of the American Legion, a veterans organization. Between 8,000 and 18,000 people are hospitalized with the disease each year in the United States, according to the CDC.

Cretan Scinetist’s Survey “More Sex, More Money – Employees Having Sex Up To 3 Times A Week Earn Almost 5% More”

I f you’ve ever pondered the impor-

p.34

health & nutrition

tance of sex (not including procreation), look no further than your paycheck. Sex not only keeps you physically, mentally, and emotionally healthy, it can also keep you from going broke. According to a forthcoming study (The Effect of Sexual Activity on Wages) in the International Journal of Manpower, healthy employees who have more frequent sex earn higher wages.

Individuals who are happier and more fulfilled in their lives tend to be more productive and successful in their work, leading to a better salary. This delves into the motivational theory known as Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, which states every individual is born with a set of needs, including physiological, safety, belongingness, esteem, and self-actualization. Basic needs such as food, water, and sexual activity must be met before any other motivations occur. If these needs aren’t satisfied, then the individual can’t function or attain further achievement.

The theory suggests we all need somebody to love and to be loved, in a sexual and non-sexual way, by

others. The absence of this can make people susceptible to loneliness, social anxiety, and depression, which can affect their working life, wrote Nick Drydakis, an economics lecturer at Angila Ruskin University in Cambridge, England, and his colleagues, in the paper.

Drydakis and his colleagues sought to examine the relationship between sexual activity and wages. Data collected on 7,500 people aged 26 to 50 who lived in Greece were analyzed in the study. Both straight and gay couples were included with 5.5 percent identifying as LGBT. Demographic information, health status, and their sexual activity levels were observed.

The participants were also asked about their employment status and how much money they made.

The findings revealed employees who had sex two or three times a week earn 4.5 percent more than their less sexually active counterparts, regardless of their physical or mental health. Those who reported not having sex at all made 3.2 percent less than those who were. The researchers also noticed a pattern: Those who had more sex were also

more likely to be outgoing, have lower rates of diabetes, heart disease, and arthritis. The positive association between regular sex and salary remained constant and stronger for those between ages 26 and 50, even when factors like higher education, sexual orientation, and job were taken into account.

Meanwhile, health-impaired employees who are sexually active earn 1.5 percent more money than those with similar symptoms who are not.

Employees taking medication had 5.4 percent less sex, while those with diabetes had 2.4 percent less, and those with arthritis and rheumatism are 3.9 percent less, according to the press release. Those with cancer are 5.4 percent less sexually active compared to those with psychiatric/ psychological symptoms who are 3.7 percent less.

Drydakis and his colleagues did find an association between sex and wages, but they stress that having more sex does not necessarily cause people to make more money. Rather, sexual activity is seen as an indicator of good health, which has been associated with higher earnings. The

A life changing visit to our pharmacy can make you change the way you see life and put your body and mind in harmony. Have you ever visited a pharmacy to taste health?

A different pharmacy in the centre of the old town of Chania is waiting to share with you secrets of well being and longevity. Taste the biolo gical honey, the royal jelly, tea from plants carefully chosen in therapeutic recipes, high concentration and purity juices of pomegranate, cranberry, aloe. Orthomolecular nutrition with suggestions on detox programs and a carefully selected range of supplements, vitamins an gluten free products from all over the world.

In the same premises you can find a live homeopathic lab with 6.000 homeopathic remedies in stock and the ability to produce any kind of homeopathic form i.e. pills, granules, solutions etc Evangelia Sakka is the pharmacist in charge who has created that special pharmacy and will be happy to introduce you to that fantastic world but also suggest whatever will be more settable for you.

Our philosophy doesn’t stop on food and supplements but we want you to think of your mind and body as well. That’s why we have created next to our pharmacy the Green Care SPA. A SPA that helps to uplift your mind and body with biological face an body treatments, reflexology, reiky, su jok and moxa treatment, Bach flower remedies, homeopathy sessions, bowtech as well as nail therapies.

We are waiting for you to restart your life at Daskalogianni 43 - 45, SAKKA Pharmacy www.my-pharmacy.gr / www.greencarespa.gr

study also picked up on the fact that disabled employees were 13 percent less likely to be sexually active and seemed to routinely suffer almost a 10 percent drop in work productivity.

A similar 2003 study by the Planned Parenthood Federation of America found a positive correlation between being sexually active and exercise.

Mental health, personal happiness, satisfaction, self-esteem, among many others is related to frequency of sexual activity. People with active sex lives also exercise more frequently, have more strength and endurance, and have better eating habits than their less sexually active counterparts.

All in all, more sex is not necessarily the cause of more money, but the benefits sex provides, such as good health, leads to career success.

Regardless of the outcome, most individuals can easily rally behind the idea sex sells — or in this case buys.

Drydakis N. The effect of sexual activity on wages. International Journal of Manpower. 2015. Planned Parenthood Federation of America. The Health Benefits of Sexual Expression. 2003.

marks the beginning of the wonderfully crisp and clear fall weather that so many of us enjoy for hiking, camping, and many other outdoor activities.

However, September is also the peak season for pesky ticks. So, if you are going to be outside to enjoy the nice weather with your best friend, you need to remember one pet care duty: always check for ticks. These little critters have a way of burrowing deep into your dog’s fur in an attempt to hide out and feed for as long as possible. Protect your pet by taking the time to do a thorough tick inspection every time you come back from the outdoors.

by Giannis Venetakis Zoo Technician

p.36

pets & vets

What you need to know about cat and dog ticks Ticks are gross—they are, essentially, blood-sucking parasites that feed off warm-blooded animals and they have a particular preference for dogs. So, it can be helpful to take a step back from the for more pets news click unpleasant aspects of a on http://cretepost.eu tick, and learn just a little about their biology. Knowing a little something about the organism and its feeding habits can also be helpful when you need to remove a tick from your pet.

Ticks are parasitic arachnids; this means they have eight legs and that they live on the blood and tissue of their host animal. They’re found in wooded, grassy areas and hang out on the edges of leaves, twigs, and grasses, so that they can drop on a potential host as it passes nearby. They do not jump or fly. (Please note: deer trails and human hiking trails are favorite stalking grounds for common dog tick species.)

Once a tick lands on its potential host, it will try to travel to a warm, dark crevice to attach and feed—think armpits, ears, and belly folds. A tick attaches to its host via its mandibles (jaw) and inserts a feeding tube directly into the superficial capillaries of the host organism. Because they attach with their head and jaw, they tend to burrow slightly beneath the skin. This is why it is vitally important to make sure

the tick head is removed with the tick body to prevent additional infection and discomfort.

Aside from being a parasite, a tick has many other bad-news features for dogs. There are a number of dangerous tick-borne diseases that can cause serious illness and sometimes death for any kind of host, humans included.

One of the big disease threats your dog may be susceptible to is Lyme disease.

Lyme disease is caused by a bacteria carried by the blacklegged or deer tick.

The bacteria are transferred to the host during the bite and work their way through the host’s system. Not all deer ticks carry the particular bacteria responsible for Lyme disease. However, if your dog has been bitten by ticks you should keep a close eye on your pet for symptoms of the disease. The disease manifests with the following initial symptoms: • • • •

Fever Lethargy Loss of appetite Joint pain

If you notice your dog has been exhibiting these signs, take him to the veterinarian immediately. The sooner your pet starts antibiotic treatment, the

better his odds are of overcoming the disease with the least amount of complications.

Another dangerous tick disease that dog owners should pay particular attention to is Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. This harmful disease is carried by the American dog tick and is a serious danger to dogs and humans alike.

Keep a close eye on your dog after you have removed a tick from his body and watch out for the same symptoms associated with Lyme disease. Do not hesitate to get your sick pooch to the veterinarian if you suspect a tick-borne infection.

Checking your dog or cat for ticks There is a similar protocol for checking both your cat and dog for ticks, but we all know cats can be a little more challenging when it comes to sitting through any kind of examination. So, to get started checking for cat ticks you may want to start by petting your cat to get her comfortable and relaxed.

This way, she’ll release her muscles and you can better manipulate her limbs to check in sensitive places, like armpits, where ticks love to hang out.

• Put on a pair of latex gloves. Humans are susceptible to infection from tick diseases, and taking this

precaution helps protect you from illness.

• Feel for small bumps and ridges all over your pet’s coat. Typically, you will first recognize a tick through touch. They are small, round, and smooth and most species have a hard exterior.

• Examine the crevices between skin folds, especially under the arms and legs of your pet. Ticks love a warm, dark place to hide out and are likely to be burrowed into these places on your pet’s body.

Also, don’t forget the areas in and around their ears!

• Pull back the fur around a suspicious area to inspect. Depending on the length and thickness of your pet’s fur, you may have to go to more trouble to part the hair so you can see your pet’s skin underneath. Shorthaired dogs and cats are often the easiest pets to check.

Be thorough with your inspection. This may mean that you have to get out a fine-tooth comb and go over every inch of your pet’s wiry and thick coat.

It may be a bit of a chore, but it is certainly worth it—the longer a tick stays on a dog or cat only increases the risk for disease transmission and infection. www.mypet.com

This fall-blooming herb with daisy-like flowers is also called the September flower and is said to symbolize love, faith, wisdom and colour, which blooms in pink, red, white, lilac and mauve.

All of these varieties will be yellow in the centre and although the flower resembles a daisy it is in actual fact a relative of the sunflower.

This flower has also been known as Michaelmas Daisy, starwort and frost flowers and was at one time thought to of as a love charm.

The Greek word for ‘star’ is how this plant was named, as the shape of the flower head resembles one.

The word aster, when used as the root of another word, refers back to the Greek connection. For example, the word asterisk, which is a punctuation mark resembling a tiny star shape, actually translates to mean ‘little star.’

The word disaster describes the result of a bad situation or, an event that was ‘ill-starred.’

The root word ‘star’ in the old flower name of ‘starwort’ also makes reference to the appearance of the flower. The root word ‘wort’ in ‘starwort’

Don’t say goodbye to summer too

soon. Thanks to today’s Mediterranean climate, summer now stretches into early October, and the traditional midsummer floral display seems like a flash in the pan. Where once we threw all the big guns at June and July, you now need a second set of late-flowering plants to see you through September and October.

Turn up the heat and try our plant choices to keep borders bubbling.

Flowers that peak in late-summer are pretty wide-ranging, as are shrubs, climbers and herbaceous perennials.

Most fashionable annuals, exotics and tender perennial patio plants should also stay in flower until late-September, or even early October, if properly looked after.

Don’t overlook ornamental grasses, which can lift a border into the designer league. And don’t forget to grow a

makes reference to the root of a plant believed to have healing properties.

The aster was used in ancient times for medicinal purposes.

The name ‘Michaelmas daisy’ makes reference to the blooming of the flower, which occurs at the same time as the feast of St. Michael.

It is because of this that Michaelmus became known as the date of beginnings.

A Greek legend tells the tale of Astraea,

the goddess of innocence, who went to live in the heavens as the constellation Virgo. A flood covered earth, created

by Zeus to wipe the planet clean of corruptness. Two humans survived on Mt. Parnassus, which the flood did not reach. Astraea created starlight to guide the pair and as she wept from pity she had for them, her tears landed on earth. From those locations asters grew.

Asters were said to also symbolize the

Late-summer colour

few spare plants in pots, so you can slot them into gaps that may appear in a scheme.

Crocosmia Also known as montbretia, this spreading plant features clumps of strappy leaves alongside sprays of trumpet flowers in shades of red, yellow and orange.

Japanese anemone This plant is ideal for the no-fuss gardener. The large, long-lasting flowers in pinks, mauves or white are held on strong, medium-tall wiry stems that don’t need supporting.

Penstemon This must-have plant has short stems of large bell-shaped flowers in purples, pinks and blues. It’s drought tolerant and pretty hardy, although it’s still advisable to take cuttings as a back-up,

yearning for an end to battle when they were placed on the graves of French soldiers and to others the aster speaks of elegance and refinement.

Folklore also states that the perfume generated from burning aster leaves was able to keep evil serpents at bay.

They were also believed to bring luck and one legend points to the aster as being able to foretell a change in weather. When the petals are closed, it is a signal of oncoming rain.

Another myth involves magical fairies who were thought to sleep under the aster petals after they close at sunset and as the plant was ruled by Venus, it was a common ingredient used in love potions and referred to as the ‘herb of Venus.’

There are hundreds of species of aster and the Monte Casino is considered the most popular.

The aster is also the for more gardening news flower used to celebrate click on http://cretepost.gr a 20th wedding anniversary.

The hidden message “Take Care Of Yourself For Me” is what is being sent with a gift of asters. www.whatsmybirthflower.com

which you can then overwinter.

attractive well into autumn.

Sedum Ice plants are very reliable in hot, dry positions. Varieties of Sedum spectabile and S. telephium are particularly lovely. The green, domed heads of buds are distinctive in midsummer, before they take on pink tints. Leave flowers after they’ve died, as they’ll continue to look attractive in winter.

Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’ This plant is a gem, with huge domes of white flowers dotted like plump cushions across a light-green leafy background. The huge heads last in semi-dried form until the first frosts.

Phlox paniculata This classic late-summer border perennial comes in a wide range of colours, and one or two have variegated foliage. They’re reliable and trouble-free plants.

Helenium For a zing of blood-orange, there’s little to beat heleniums, whose daisy-like flowers are loved by bees for their nectar. After flowering, the seedheads are

Ceanothus ‘Autumnal Blue’ Reliable, evergreen, easy to grow and doesn’t need pruning, this old favourite is covered in billowing deep-blue flowers from early July to the end of September.

Petunia surfinia The most reliable of bedding plants for containers, these will bloom right through to the very end of summer, as long as they’re looked after. Choose a sheltered spot with light shade to enjoy their delicious scent. gardenersworld.com

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The September flower is the Aster.

September

The September flower is...

plants and gardening

September Is Dog Tick Season

by Antonia Tsakirakis Cook

Lamb with Hylopites on for more news click r t.g http://cretepos

Ingredients: • 1 kg lamb • 1 onion

Traditional Cretan Taverna

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Preparation Cut the meat into cubes and sauté in very hot oil wit the finely chopped onion and garlic. Add the pepper and carrot.

After another 2 minutes, add I cup of water and as soon as it boils remove the scum that forms with a slotted spoon.

Leave the meat to simmer for about 1 hour. When it is half cooked, add the chopped tomatoes and seasonings. Add the hylopites and continue to cook for about another 20 minutes until the red sauce has thickened, the hylopites are cooked and the meat is tender. Serve hot, sprinkled with the grated cheese.

½ clove of garlic 4 tbs oil 1 carrot

Drakona, Kerameia (20 km from Chania)

“Tzaneris & Archontissa”

Tel.: +30 28210 75997

1 pepper 2 medium-sized tomatoes ½ kg hylopites ½ cup grated cheeseSalt, pepper

www.tzaneris-archontissa.gr

Mob.: +30 6973 210487 / +30 6973 786747

Blueberry galette with chocolate peanut ice cream

by Marilou - Chief executive chef at Marilou Cupcakes and more. info@marilous.gr

T hese

galettes are great for entertaining - serve with ready-made vanilla ice cream (as you see in photo) if you don’t want to make your own.

Equipment and preparation: For this recipe you will need an ice cream maker.

1-2 hours preparation time 30 mins to 1 hour cooking time Serves 8 Ingredients For the instant chocolate ice cream • 300ml/10½fl oz full-fat milk • 200ml/7fl oz double cream • 75g/2½oz caster sugar • 6 free-range egg yolks • 3 chocolate and peanut bars, chopped For the galettes • 200g/7oz plain flour, plus extra for dusting • 150g/5½oz unsalted butter, chopped • 75g/2½oz caster sugar • 2 free-range egg yolks • 400g/14oz fresh blueberries • 1 vanilla pod, split in half lengthways, seeds scraped out • 2 tbsp cornflour • 1 lemon, juice only • 2 tbsp demerara sugar

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food & wine

Preparation method 1. For the instant chocolate ice cream,

heat the milk and cream in a saucepan until just simmering. Whisk the caster sugar and egg yolks together in a bowl until pale and fluffy.

2. Slowly pour the warm cream mixture onto the egg mixture, whisking continuously.

3. Return the mixture to the saucepan and continue to cook over a low heat, whisking continuously, until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Add the chopped chocolate bars and stir until melted. Set aside to cool, then chill in the fridge.

4. Transfer the chilled custard to an ice cream machine and churn until frozen, then freeze until needed in an airtight container.

5. For the galettes, in a bowl, rub together the flour, butter and 25g/1oz of the caster sugar using your fingertips, until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

6. Add one of the egg yolks and stir the mixture until it comes together as a dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth. Flatten the dough to a 2cm/1in-thick disc, then wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

7. Meanwhile, in a bowl, stir together the blueberries, vanilla seeds, cornflour, lemon juice and the remaining caster sugar. Set aside.

FC PLATANIAS: The only Cretan team in Super League Fourth year in Super League...

Fourth year of dreams and hopes...

Platanias FC is here again, as the only representative of Crete in top Greek Division.

This year’s Super League dream began like a... nightmare at the Olympic Stadium of Athens against AEK FC (3-0).

The full schedule of match days for PlataniasFC: 1st/16th: AEK - Platanias 2nd/17th: Platanias - Atromitos 3rd/18th: Olympiacos - Platanias 4th/19th: Platanias - Iraklis 5th/20th: Panathinaikos - Platanias 6th/21st: Asteras Trip. - Platanias 7th/22nd: Platanias - Panthrakikos 8th/23rd: Panetolikos - Platanias 9th/24th: Platanias - Kalloni 10th/25th: Panionios - Platanias 11th/26th: Platanias - Levadiakos 12th/27th: Platanias - Veria 13th/28th: Xanthi - Platanias 14th/29th: Platanias - PAS Giannina 15th/30th: PAOK - Platanias HISTORY OF PLATANIAS FC Athlitikos Omilos Platania Chanion (commonly referred to as Platanias F.C. or simply Platanias) is a Greek football club based in Platanias, Chania. The association was founded in 1931 by Antonis Varouxakis. The club currently competes in the Superleague for the first time in their history, after winning the promotion play-offs of 2011–12 Football League.

The 1942–43 AO Platanias struggled in

8. Roll the chilled pastry out on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of 5mm/¼in. Cut eight 12cm/5in discs from the pastry and place them onto a baking tray lined with baking parchment. Pinch or fold the edges of each pastry disc to create pastry cases, then brush all over with the remaining egg yolk. Spoon in the blueberries and sprinkle over the demerara sugar.

Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

9. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C

Fan/Gas 6.

10. Bake the galettes in the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until crisp and golden-brown.

11. To serve, place the warm galettes on serving plates and place a scoop of ice cream on top of each.

Find us: www.marilous.gr www.facebook.com/marilous.gr twitter.com/marilouscupcake

Fourth year in a row playing in top level

the final Cup with the traditional association Talos but having significant absences as patients and goalkeeper Kouroupi ladaki and Galanis, who brought gun wound in the abdomen. Although Platanias lost the match, the final had a special importance because of the costumes of players.

The jerseys were made from flags that had been stolen from the warehouses of the Germans, and residents had turned into the athletic apparel seamstresses in the village! From this fact, probably introduced in the red jerseys of the team. With the same attire struggled even against groups of German soldiers, who indeed seemed sporting ethic and where lost.

In 1945 the team languished due to heavy immigration and the civil war that caused many players to leave their homeland. In 1958 the initiative was reestablished about Manolis Mathioulakis and first president Emmanuel Kallitsaki doctor and playing at local third category. Then he became a member of the Union of Football Associations (NSOs) and Chania first year climbed category, where it remained until 1969.

In 1970 he played for the first time in A “local class”. In 1971 she competed in Platanias an important game with the Renaissance Chania (today Ionia), but because of the political situation of the time, the team was wronged, was the conflict in court, punished and remained inactive until 1975. After

the restoration in 1975, reestablished, struggling to C “local class, where he remained for two years and then went to B ‘, where he played another two years to come to play in the A” category.

From 1980 begins the rise of Platanias, who participated in the National Amateur Championships (equivalent to the existing C “National”) contestant in Greece. After their first two matches, the team demoted and then took a radical renewal, with footballers – inhabitants of Platanias. In 1985 he moved category (D “National”), but relegated the same year. For three years he fought in the First local championship Chania.

In 1989 he went to the Fourth National class for two periods.

In 1993, after relegation, struggled for a year when the Regional Championship and won. After relegation in 2002 as he fought in the local league.

Between 2002 and the period from 2008 to 2009 played in Platanias Crete Regional Championship having a starring role in collecting 305 points in total! until that time was the second dynamic basis points, a team in Crete, after Chersonissos. The best, by then, football year history of Platanias, was the 2008–09 and after a stunning season champion emerging regional championship.

In 2009–10 season, the team fighting for the first time to Gamma Ethniki and manages, after a long race effort, remain in class. Specifically, he won 38 points in all 34 games, finishing in 12th position in the league!

The next year 2010–11 Football League 2 Platanias out excellent performances and managed to finish in the 5th place. but gained promotion due to Koriopolis scandal, when many teams were relegated from the Football League.

The period 2011–12 at Football League starts with the best conditions for Platanias, who manages to stand out from the beginning and even won the title of “champion of winter.”

The last day finds Platanias in fifth in the standings with 60 points, while promotion play-offs of 2011–12 Football League the team of Chania making excellent appearances against

Kallithea, Kalloni and Panachaiki to take first place and ascend to the Superleague, which is struggling in the period 2012–13 Superleague Greece, for the first time in their history, but also more generally in the history of Chania’s football.

FACILITIES The municipal ground of Platanias, built in 1959 and still exists today, was built by the same residents who were using hoes to dig the field with donkeys carrying soil used to fill the field. However, at that time were working on the basis of Marathi and an employee, resident of Platanias, Kostas Tsigounakis, volunteered to help build the stadium using a machine – loader base.

Today FC Platanias uses three pitches, two of which (grounds of Platanias and Maleme) belongs to Municipality of Platanias and one (Perivolia Municipal Stadium) in the Municipality of Chania. The ground of Platanias, which located within the for more sports news village, have plastic turf of click on http://cretepost. gr modern standards since 2008–09 period.

The municipal ground of Maleme is land granted by the Greek Air Force in Platanias, who built the stadium with natural grass. Platanias played in this ground, until 2011–12 period. In these, indeed, installations, contains another ground, which like the ground of Platanias use for their workouts teams Academies FC Platanias.

From the season 2012–13 the team competes in Perivolia Municipal Stadium of Chania, which took place in record time, extensive upgrading and modernization work at all levels to meet in full all the obligations set by the organizing principle of Superleague and NOVA TV. The Municipal Ground of Perivolia has now “morphed” into a modern football stadium, with two tiers (one of them covered), journalists theories, comfortable – brand new changing rooms for athletes and referees (female assistants are separate changing rooms), dispensary, gym, comfortable office for the observer of the match, great room for press conferences and other venues.

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sports & leisure

Recipes of the month...