Messages

16

Plakias / Last summer

« on: March 12, 2006, 07:18:52 PM »

This bit bothered me:

John Murray published the first English edition, but it was pirated by Greek publishers who sold many copies for which George received no royalties.

That would be the Efstathiadis (sp?) edition which I bought in Plakias market some years or decades ago, I suppose.  I feel I should now go out and buy the Penguin so at least George's estate gets some royalties.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=5574\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

i have a few of their books, which look like scans of the originals... great if you're never likely to get the original but....
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I naively assumed, in my callow youth, that a Greek publisher would actually pay royalties to a Greek author ...

BTW I tossed down a raki in George's memory last night.  God it's vile stuff isn't it.       :'(

17

Plakias / Last summer

« on: March 11, 2006, 09:56:02 AM »

This bit bothered me:

John Murray published the first English edition, but it was pirated by Greek publishers who sold many copies for which George received no royalties.

That would be the Efstathiadis (sp?) edition which I bought in Plakias market some years or decades ago, I suppose.  I feel I should now go out and buy the Penguin so at least George's estate gets some royalties.

18

Gossip / DVD Who pays the ferryman

« on: February 21, 2006, 11:04:50 PM »

So who is Fix? Is that the guy to the right?

Fix is not a person, it was a brand of beer perpetrated by Greek Breweries in the days when some of us were young...

19

Gossip / DVD Who pays the ferryman

« on: February 17, 2006, 02:03:32 PM »

Well, this is what came up on Amazon.uk:

We were unable to find an exact match for your search, but close matches for this search include:

          Doctor Who - The Complete First Series Boxset

Close enough?

 

20

PlakChat / What I'd like is...

« on: February 12, 2006, 09:11:55 AM »

the one thing I'd love to added to Plakias is to be linked to the south coast ferry route

maybe it could stop at Frangokastello as well.

Failing that, they should reinstate the bus to sphakia.

21

Gossip / Butchers in Greece

« on: January 29, 2006, 05:18:45 PM »

I don't know about the "not to be opened by veggies", actually it makes me glad I've not eaten any meat in Greece (or anywhere else) for quite a few years now.

22

Plakias / Epiphany

« on: January 19, 2006, 03:58:16 PM »

men brave the chilly waters to dive for and retrieve a cross

Brave?  Chilly?

I heard on the BBC news this morning they have the same ritual in Moscow.  Where it's minus 30C.

23

Where to eat...or not! / This year

« on: January 12, 2006, 12:06:22 PM »

Don't worry Leen, as long as we understand, it's english right? Let the Brits remind us of their old words while we make up new ones.    

 Todays invention: unpainfull = very painless

Tom
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sadly, we Brits nowadays make up a minority of speakers of International World English so we're not really entitled to take umbrage at solecisms.  Of course, that won't stop us...

 

24

Plakias / January news Plakias

« on: January 12, 2006, 12:01:29 PM »

Having said this, we're under the impression that at least a number of the businesses are (being forced to) pay money for protection, or in other words: that a price is already being paid for the apparently authentical peace and quiet. There is more to this than meets the eye...

Traditionally theft has been almost unknown on Greek islands.  A couple of friends of mine once rented a house on Leros for 6 months, never locked their front door, and the only time they got robbed was when they left the car outside an army base.  Locals were shocked and incredulous that such a thing could happen.

It is disturbing to read suggestions of a "protection racket" in Plakias.  However I am reminded of what happened to Julia's Place, a taverna run by a South African couple, back in the 90s: what I heard was that they were basically run out of town by local heavies.  Any old-timers have any more accurate info on this?

(Julia's Place was on the site of what is now the apartment block run by Gio-ma.)

25

PlakChat / Beer, Beer we want more beer

« on: December 16, 2005, 08:27:53 AM »

aqua vita is a spirit/liquer isn't it Tom?

Yes, from Latin = Water of life.

As an aside: the word "whisk(e)y" derives from the Gaelic usquebaugh, which also means "water of life".

26

Where to go / Another interesting Crete site

« on: December 15, 2005, 11:57:44 AM »

It is quite a bizarre write-up.  He calls Plakias "Bavaria on Sea" and says that if you shut your eyes passing the Hapimag village at Damnoni, you could be outside a Munich beer garden.  Much as I loathe that development I wouldn't go that far - mind you, it's well over 20 years since I experienced a Munich beer garded.

27

Plakias / Plakias , where the summer never ends

« on: December 11, 2005, 10:38:45 PM »

We have some words which cannot by pronounced correctly by foreigners.

you mean, "cannot be pronounced correctly", I suppose.

Still, it's a great compliment that you're taking an interest in our language and culture ...

28

PlakChat / Beer, Beer we want more beer

« on: November 17, 2005, 01:15:38 PM »

having popped in my favourite pub for a quick pint of IPA this afternoon, i am very pleased to report they now have a a stock of Belgium beer to hand as well!!   

talk about being spoilt for choice
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I'm not convinced there is such a thing as a "quick pint".  I popped into the pub for "just the one" after work last night and managed to leave 3 hours and four and a half  pints of IPA  later.

29

Plakias / Towels on Loungers

« on: November 17, 2005, 01:11:01 PM »

All true - and we've been to Plakias in May, June, July and October previously but (as we found this year) September is definitely the best for sea and air temperature. October - if the weather's good, is great - we had the entire tree area to ourselves!
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I met a Cretan student last week, from Chania, and she also thought September was the best time of year, for similar reasons.

I went in July this year and actually found the heat quite comfortable, my only complaint was the tourist hordes in the Samaria Gorge.

30

Plakias / Plakias , where the summer never ends

« on: October 23, 2005, 07:45:11 PM »

still trying to learn some Greek

aren't we all?

I decided after coming back from Crete this summer, that after over 20 years of visiting the Hellenes I really should be a bit more proficient in their language - shamefully, I tend to make less of an effort lately since a lot more Greeks speak English than they did in the 1980s.

I'm far from alone in this, in fact I've met very few travellers who can manage much more than "mia birra, parakalo" and such.  At least I've more or less got the alphabet covered, so I know which bus to get on ...

So I invested in the Routledge Colloquial Greek book and ordered the accompanying CDs.  One of these days I'll get the CDs out of the case and give them a spin.  Real soon now.