They are models, depictions, sculptures, and fun images.
The “Cow Parade” comes to Athens. A moving feast of an “art” event, first created by Walter Knapp in Zurich. Now after several cities have been exposed to sponsored sculptures, figures and representations of….cows, Athens is not be left out.

From May 8 major squares, the airport and some metro stations will cow-down to cows and this whimsical festival will have everyone in a very dairy mood….

On the Shipping News Front: Shipping owners have finally had enough. Understandably so. Even though we hate strikes. This time shipping companies are to keep their ships tied at port on May 16 in protest at the slow liberalization, to allow free competition on ferry routes within and to/from Greece.

The criticism of slowness and a lack of liberalization (encouragement of free enterprise) can be levelled fairly and squarely at all areas of Greek government, yes – even the current supposedly/allegedly enterprise-friendly government.

We can only hope that this government is slowly (but clearly too slowly) extricating itself from the outdated practices of its discredited predecessors.

Meanwhile laugh at the cows while the ships are in port.

Sunny days and hours of sunshine in each day seem now to be outnumbering the opposite type (those unnecessary winter days of gloom, rain and shabby shade that were an absurd invention to begin with ! ).

A national strike on the 15th day of March did not help us – we don’t strike, we work, we proceed, we move forward we create, we conquer (you know who does strike, you know the ones who stop work – did they ever start….don’t you ? ).

We receive handfuls of enquiries every day from those who wish to know when a ferry, a catamaran, perhaps out of desperation even a piece of floating wood might sail from Crete to Santorini and vice versa in April, next month (a few days away). These have not yet been published but we expect them any day and will try to rush them out on our Crete website.
But why oh why should we go through this every year ?
Instruction to the Minister in Greece responsible for shipping, my dear Manolis Kefaloiannis: Manoli – change the system – you are in power now, have you noticed ( ? ) – and make it so that shipping companies are assigned confirmed routes a year in advance if necessary, providing they publish schedules at least six months or more in advance. Now I’m waiting and expect action – get on with it!

(We cannot expect all these wonderful visitors coming to Greece to keep waiting year after year for a supposedly European country to get its act together – you listening Manoli ? )

Hey its March! Am I not permitted a Spring rant…. ! ?

After a few days of ferry strikes in Greece – ferry services have re-commenced activity and we anticipate freshly stocked shelves in shops and supermarkets. The rumbling and discussions continue over pay or disputed terms of work…. Meanhwile farmers, growers and those in the perishable goods businesses and industries can return to business as usual, though many have suffered losses due to delayed or cancelled shipments.

After howling high winds on Thursday and at night into Friday, Crete is under a pall of suspended haze and dust particles (not as bad as it may sound as this is a regular phenomenon), creating a Pasoliniesque-style haze, with the sun fighting through. The result is a rather dazzling bright white, hint-of-pink-tinged sky. Storms in much more southern climes bring this haze north every so often…as an impudent interruption, a contrast to our normally clear air and pure skies.
The better part of this is that the southern winds delivering this strange modification of vistas, bring warm air, temperatures meandering in the teens and early twenties (Celsius of course ! ).