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General news on the island ithaca 2007 |
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To revisit a previous Summer, click on Navigation Menu above and select the Summer Lodown from the drop down list on the right. |
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Ithaki General - Summer Lodown 2007 |
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For all the news and gossip from around the island, check in on Ithaki General to stay up to date with all ... well, at least some, of what's going on from Vathy to Kioni and all the villages inbetween. All the unrelated bits and pieces will end up right here. |
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Tue 22 May - Yesterday started off very gloomy, but by the afternoon the sun made its way through the black sky just a little, enough to make being outside enjoyable again. The restaurants in Frikes took a big breath in hope the rain would stay away after the muddy off-flow from the road washed building muck like a river through and onto their bayside sitting areas. Fiorendino and Isalos Cafes being the worst effected with the main road ending up directly at their door. Even a pressure hose wouldn't remove the cement that had washed up from a building site much further up the road. Seems everything on the road washes up here with a heavy rain. On a brighter note, Isalos Cafe now offers books and newspapers to read while you have breakfast, or any time of the day. The outdoor living room.
Thu 24 May - More thunderstorms and rain today around the island. We missed the main force, but Athens and the Peleponnese didn't. Cataclysmic we've been told, but then, Athens floods even at the smell of rain.
The noise in Frikes is over, no, not because the road work is finished, but due to a legal aspect not completely clarified as yet. For the Frikons it's a great relief as it is for the visitors to the island that make Frikes their place of choice. So now there's a big hole in the side of the mountain and excavating machinery to view.
Internet mayhem again. Ote has not only halted service to some of its competitors who share the lines, but due to extra traffic on its own lines, has all but given up the ghost itself. Getting connected is almost impossible. 50 attempts, 50 payments for a call to Ote, but not even 1 online connection.
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Sat 26 May - Right - Frikes bayside gets a new top layer of beach. The old bayside was looking a bit tatty so yesterday afternoon the dump truck delivered the new look. Seems the local shop owners have been wanting this for some time, but did they know they'd end up footing the bill?
The long weekend this weekend celebrates the Holy Ghost and the 40 days after Easter. Church bells were already tolling yesterday in preparation.
The worst of the recent storms by passed Ithaca leaving blue skies for us to enjoy again yesterday, while mainland Greece remained under black clouds and flooded roads from the massive rainfall.
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Thu 31 May - The weather over the past week has not been in the holiday spirit. Much wind mixed with cloud, rain and sunshine. When the sun is out you take everything off because its so hot, when it disappears behind a black cloud, on go the woollies. The wind has been relentless, driving women especially, a little crazy. Gotta watch that hair.
A rather large supermarket in Vathy has been advertising from one end of the island to the other with leaflets about their products and specials, but whoever was doing the delivery of these leaflets must have just mercilessly tossed them from his car window as they are strewn along the roadsides in every northern village from Lefki to Kioni. Now if they were a good little supermarket, they'd send the same Dill back to pick them all up. The rest of us are trying to keep Ithaca beautiful. ** No sooner said than done, the guy who littered went around the island this morning to collect the leaflets he had tossed.
If you're wondering how the long weekend went, I can tell you it went without anyone noticing. There were very few people on the island for this years 3 Dayer. Many businesses were disappointed. Things are looking a little better now however, as more people are coming for their early Summer breaks.
Anastasios from Kioni, Ithacas dedicated street sweeper and keeper of the island in regard to litter, is recovering after an accident on his motorbike had him on life support. All his friends wish him a complete and speedy recovery. Ithacan streets need his love and care.
Talking about accidents, there have been quite a few over the past months, mostly due to lack of concentration, joy riding and such, others out of utter carelessness. It's time to wake up. Speed and alcohol don't mix, and tragedy doesn't only knock on someone elses' door. Ithaca is equally vulnerable. Please be careful everyone. |
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Tue 5 June - So everything was going along all honky-dory, sunny skies, fun in the sun and all that, then this. When Ithaki woke this morning, it was rainy skies all around... and it didn't stop all day and night. Nice huh?
Wed 6 June - We all know there isn't much to complain about on Ithaca... other than when it rains the phone lines go on strike. Getting connected has been impossible again for the past few days as rainy weather interrupts the already interrupted service of OTE. To be perfectly clear, it isn't the fault of the Ithacans working for this monopoly Giant, if something goes wrong with the phone lines here, the employees of Ote are on it in a jiff to get it working again, but when it's to do with the internet, then forget it. It's something someone else is in charge of. Who that someone is, is a mystery to all of us, but just wait until we find him.
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Right - Jessica from Isalos Cafe Bar. Frikes humour goes completely over her head.
Wasting time
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Sun 10 June - Left - Caption One - 1, 1, 1, 1, 1. Tomorrow Rien, Grill man at Rementzo, learns the number 2. Caption Two - Finger pickin' good. Caption Three - "I've hurt my finger, can you kiss it better?" Caption Four - Kioni that way. Caption Five - Have finger will use it. Caption Six - Finger in the sky without diamonds. |
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Tue 12 June - Above George Douglas, Ithakis poet and activist. So what's so special about this picture, well, this is Georges' first time ever on the computer getting online with the help of Spilios at Isalos. Never thought I'd see the day. Will he get hooked? We'll see. |
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Fri 15 June - Frikes News - Now that we're heading to the end of June, the big question is - Will Frikes have a Panighiri? The same questions every year, the same confusion every year, the same last minute organization and then the same complaints that not enough people supported the festival by attending. When asking the president of Frikes, Niko Douglas, this questions, the answer was - a funny look on his face. When asking the various shop owners, they throw their hands in the air, signifying - who knows. Turn up on the 30th June and you will no doubt see the Panighiri, and if it's the usual event, it will seem quite mediocre to the onlooker, the band will be too loud and not good enough, and everyone who took the chance to turn up, will have a great time despite everything. In the past, this Panighiri has attracted the eccentrics of the island to the dance circle, making for some great entertainment, and despite the usual competition between the shop owners of the village, their quirky and sometimes over the top characters, really have this small bayside village cracking up with laughter.
This week visitors stopped at one of the restaurants in Frikes to ask where they can buy a Gyro (souvlaki in pita bread), the answer they got was "No, no gyro in Frikes" Of course there is gyro in Frikes at Piperato just behind the bayside, but this restaurant owner had the gift of the gab enough to dissuade the visitors from gyros to have them sit at his restaurant and spend up big on a big lunch instead.
Since the rock breaking noise has stopped in Frikes, the rock music noise is taking off. A certain bar in Frikes is being accused by visitors and locals of noise pollution when playing "I come from the land down under", " the final countdown" and other great hits to throw up to, on a rotation basis. Too loud, too bad and too often. People trying to enjoy their evening meal and drink are having their ears and senses battered, and if that's not bad enough, come 11.30pm, the volume goes up to 11. Hopefully when the bar fills up, the people will buffer some of the noise, or maybe the bar should close its doors or turn its speakers inward instead of out...better yet, turn it down and play some music from the better pile of the 80s, seeing that's where their passion lies.
ADSL news - ithacagreece.com made up some petitions to be signed for ADSL service in the north of the island. The support was fantastic with shop owners around the island getting signatures from all and sundry. Not suprisingly, Kioni had the least signatures, but the rest of the villages really got behind the push. Ithacas Director of OTE, has now asked for the petitions to take them to Cephalonia, and will be putting his strength behind it also. We're keeping our fingers crossed, but all is looking hopeful so far.
Thu 21 June - I've been hearing Frikes Panighiri noises. Could it be it will happen without a huge 'yes/no' extravaganza?
Ithaca is in the midst of a heatwave with temps of 39C every day and reaching 40+ on the weekend. So far, we've had some cooler breezes at night making it at least bareable to sleep. Coolest village to be in is Frikes, hottest, Vathy and Kioni. There have been 'power outs' in many places around Greece due to the over use of the air-conditioner, but so far not on Ithaca. We have sea breezes and beautiful beaches to keep us cool.
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Tue 26 June - Left - Yawning and laying back is all anyone has energy for on the island during this very physically depeleting heatwave we're all suffering under, with 38C in the shade. there is no escape. |
Items for the Calendar during the Summer are still being finalized by Fimios, so no news yet of concerts and events. Hopefully we'll have some information soon in order to get the ticket sales going before the concert lights shine across the Garden Theatre at the Vathy High School. |
Nikos and Viki from Mylos creperie in Vathy were married on Saturday 23 June. Click here for the pics. The Creperie is closed for a few days while they honeymoon. |
| It's definite. The Frikes Panighiri is on. |
Fri 29 June - The heatwave finally broke yesterday with a cooler wind clearing the heat mist to reveal great views again, and to relieve all the inhabitants and visitors who have been suffering. |
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Ote has been atrocious again, without, or with intermittent internet access most days. Everyone's asking, where is our ADSL? News is that we should have it by the end of the year, but let's hope it's better than the ADSL that Vathy has. Many who signed up still have no connection. Some people have been waiting in limbo for months.
Our side of the world deserves a pat on the back with no powercuts during this exhausting heatwave. With everyone using more air-conditioning, many thought it a certainty that Ithaca, through Cephalonia, would be left in the dark with the ice-cream melting in the freezer. We are happy to say we saw the light each time we meant to. This is only the beginning of Summer, so we will have more hot-ups to come. It's important that cigarettes are not tossed from car windows, Ithaca can't afford to lose its beauty or well-being due to a stupid action. The realty of cigarettes and dry grass is currently all over the tv news with areas of mainland Greece on fire, some completely devastated by it.
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Fri 6 July - Left - Niko Lourantos from Alpha Car and Bike Hire. Yes, Niko does actually work. Here is proof. Usually we see him on ithacagreece.com with a beer in his hand. Is that a pot under the bonnet? |
Yesterday Rementzo Restaurant was broken into in the early hours of the morning. Some petty cash and the staff tips were stolen. Thieves entered via the Loo window. Must have been a midget. Have you seen that window? |
Yesterday in Vathy center, a fight broke out between feuding families which led to the arrest of a worker who was unwittingly entangled in the street fight. Put the Kot down! It's off to the Police Station for you. |
Sun 8 July - Getting online with OTENET is like trying to get hit by lightning on a sunny day. 50 - 60 dial-ins, money charged for call and no connection. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr |
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