All cats at the moment

After many telephone calls back and forth we eventually were given the name of a vet who was prepared to sterilise our cats at a reasonable rate. So yesterday in we went to Kalamata, two cats safely in the cat carrier, howling, first time in a carrier, first time in a car. Our appointment was at ten o’clock, and after a phone call from the vet to say they were ‘done’; we collected them at four fifteen. The vet gave us two lots of antibiotics, we think, and two of those nasty plastic ‘cones’ to stop them from licking the wound. We left with two very sorrowful and frightened little pussies and 150 euros worse off. Tara cried all the way back to Stoupa, a journey of about forty minutes and was definitely glad to be home, that is until we tried to put their ‘cones’ on. Poor little things not only were they disorientated because of the anaesthetic but now they had the ‘cones’ to contend with. They howled, walked backwards, bumped into everything and were thoroughly miserable. I found this all very upsetting. Each time we took the ‘cones’ off they would try and get to the wound so we had no choice after sitting cuddling them for hours but to put the ‘cones’ back on and go to bed. Not to sleep I might add, we spent half the night listening to them dragging their ‘cones’ up and down the doors and walls and making pathetic yowling noises. Anyway this morning they looked much brighter. The vet had no cat collars to hold the ‘cones’ in place so this morning, leaving Ashley pussy sitting, I went off in search of some. Having exhausted my search in Stoupa I set off for Agios Nikolaos to see if I could get them there, I actually found them in the builders merchants.

Just sidetracking here for a moment; not difficult for me as my friends know only too well. A few days ago we went into this particular builders merchants, armed with a piece of wood, as we wanted to try various colours of stain for our wood ceilings upstairs. The owner is a very nice man and without hesitation took five cans of different coloured stain from the shelf, opened them and painted a section of our wood with each colour. Unfortunately whilst trying to replace one of the lids he must have applied just a bit too much pressure. The lid vanished inside the tin and the varnish went everywhere, all over the bench and it contents, all over his hands and down his trousers. He was actually on his mobile at the time and carried on talking as if nothing had happened. When he finished the call, far from being upset, he simply mentioned this had never happened before. Ashley and I felt responsible said a few quick appropriate words and left hastily. Still, I expect the response would be the same in the UK.

Back to the cats. It was becoming nigh on impossible hanging onto both cats every time we wanted to open a door or window. I thought, in my infinite wisdom, it would be a good idea to make leads for them; this was supposed to make it easier for us. WRONG. It turned out to be one of my ‘not so good ideas’. Have you ever seen two frantic cats fighting for their freedom as if their lives depended on it, trying to make their escape over the veranda never to be seen again? I’ll leave it there but will add that it is getting better, both for them and us. Anyone who saw the Jasper Carrot sketch about the cat will have some idea what I’m talking about.

Just another day

Early this morning, about 6am, Dolly, one of our cats, decided to check everything was in the right place in our apartment, problem was she forgot to take off her size 12 boots. I decided what she really wanted to do was take an early morning walk and gently sent her outside onto the veranda. Back to bed, great, another two hours of sleep ahead of me.

About twenty minutes later my hopes began to fade. Have you ever heard large stones or rubble being tipped from a lorry? If so, you have some idea what I’m talking about. I was puzzled and wide-awake, no chance of going back to sleep, I got up and went onto the veranda to see what was going on. As I looked over Stoupa in the pre-dawn light it only took me a few seconds to realise what the noise was. Just down the road some chickens are kept in a fenced area and their shed has a wonderful corrugated tin roof. A week ago about 5 or 6 goats arrived and were put in with the chickens and these clever little goats had obviously decided it was time they learnt to tap dance and the best place to do this? You guessed it, the corrugated tin roof.

After a whole week of very pleasant weather, today seemed a little disappointing. The sun disappeared behind a haze and there it remained, although it still felt warm. The sea was quite rough and as the waves broke on the seashore they threw up lots of spray. At first we thought the spray was the cause of the haze but as the day went on it became heavier and heavier. Then a little sprinkle of rain revealed the real cause, it was a present from North Africa, the remains of a sandstorm. As the rain dried everywhere was coated with a fine red dust, including our car.

We went to Olympia on Thursday, to the ancient Olympic stadium to watch the lighting of the Olympic flame. It was Independence Day and a public holiday so we expected the worst but the roads were clear. It took only about three and a quarter hours and that was after following a Greek bus driver who, we thought wrongly as it turned out, should know the way. But obviously like us it was his first trip and he took a wrong turn and had to ask for directions. Anyway it was a brilliant day, very exciting, not much chance of us witnessing this historic event again and we were really looking forward to it. The place was buzzing, press and TV cameras everywhere, the cafes were full and all the shops were open, the atmosphere was great. A cameraman stuck a microphone in Ashley’s face and asked “And where have you come from?” “From here” says Ashley “I live here in Greece” the reporters face showed it all, I bet he thought clever dick. I hope it didn’t go out live!

They tried to make the ceremony atmospheric by asking for quiet, but trying to keep a Greek crowd quiet is nigh on impossible. Nevertheless it was good to have experienced the event and we were glad we went. There are some pictures in the gallery.

Ancient Greece

Setting off early, after calling for our friends, we headed for Mystras to explore the ruins of the medieval town. The weather has been absolutely perfect for the last week and we did wonder whether or not it would break today, but we were lucky. Just throw in a bit of history here: Guillaume II de Villehardouin built the castle of Mystras in 1249 high on a hill. Below the Frankish castle lie the old upper and lower town.

The sun shone on us as we walked among the ruins, exploring the monastery and churches, up and down many steps, taking in the history.

After the liberation of Greece in 1834 the population of Mystras moved to the newly formed town of Sparta. We left the “City of Ruins” at 3pm, when the site closed, and headed for Sparta. The city of Sparta is just 7 kilometres from Mystras and has a very spacious feel to it with wide streets and palms planted in the centre. The thing that was most noticeable for me was the fact that everywhere was so clean. To save backtracking we decided to do a round trip and drive down to Gythio. We broke the journey at Areopolis where we stretched our legs and explored the market town. From there it was a relatively short journey from the south of the Mani to home where we arrived tired but happy after our lovely day.

Popular Cats

The two cats have become extremely popular and have had a lot of interest FROM THE LOCAL TOMS. We have spent many nights shooing away the whaling tomcats all of them waiting for a turn to woo our innocent little girls. Well we don’t think they are quiet as innocent as they were. We inquired at a vet in Kalamata how much it would be to have them spayed and were told it would be 100 euros each, we thought this was outrageous. Wouldn’t you think with the cat population, as it is here the charge would be a lower so as to encourage people to have their pets neutered? However, we were walking the other day when we met a lady with a donkey. She told us the donkey had very over grown front hooves and she had contacted The Kalamata Animal Welfare Society known as KAWS, who were able to help. They arranged for someone to come and cut back the poor little donkeys’ feet. They also found it a new home, however the donkey has now wandered off. Anyway the point is she thought they might be able to help us. We got in touch and have spoken to a very nice English gentleman who is doing his best to find us a vet who will perform the operations for a lower price. We hope he hurries or he might have to help find homes for lots of kittens.

The roof has finally been started, we were so excited, the roof is such a big step and totally changes everything; the building will now become a house. Wednesday, last week the roofers came and made the timber construction. Thursday they were nowhere to be seen. We have been told they will be back next week to finish it. The plasterers are still off and on site. When we were first told the plasterers were coming to plaster the house we thought great, a few days and it will be finished. No chance! Don’t forget this is not England and what we didn’t realise was that plastering isn’t the same out here and takes a lot longer. Now, several weeks on and they are still off and on site. Same with the plumbers they come do a bit and then just when you think things are running smoothly they disappear. Contractors may show up maybe they wont. Other jobs, the weather, holidays are some of the reasons not everything goes to plan. Well, We have decided we must be Greek! As we seem un-phased by it all and take it in our stride. It will all come together in the end and we are sure we will be very happy with the result.

Earlier last week we had a lovely walk from Agios Nikolaos up to Pigi. Nearly this entire walk was on a kaldrimi, the steps of which were carpeted with wild flowers. We went on a little higher to Platsa, where we sat and had some lunch, then walked back through Kotroni and finally Agios Dimitris. The views were quite stunning looking down across to Agios Nikolaos and we took the opportunity of taking a few pictures of our house from high up.

This is a very good time to visit the area! Spring is very beautiful and as you walk the number of different birds you see makes it even more so. One bird in particular was extremely striking. It sat about ten or so metres in front of us for some time and at first we thought it might be a woodpecker because of its size. When we looked through the binoculars and saw it in more detail it obviously wasn’t. It stood about seven inches high, was a pinkie beige colour with black lines on its head and on the back of its wings and a long, slender beak about two inches in length.

Ashley’s toes were hurting by the time we got back and my calf muscle were a bit tight we suspect it was from all the steps up as it was quite steep in places.

Little Earthquakes (Sorry Tori)

Once again we have driven to Kalamata to pick up two friends who were here for a week to see how their house was coming along and to go over some points with their builder. They found the apartment they were staying in so cold that we lit our fire and they came to our apartment every night to keep warm. Before they came they emailed to ask if we wanted anything bringing from the UK. We mentioned a couple of bits, although you can get most things here if you look hard enough, and I jokingly added, “don’t forget to bring plenty of chocolate biscuits”. Anyway, to our amusement, they turned up with a carrier bag full, but by the time they left, Wednesday, they had managed to eat more than their fair share. The first evening they arrived at our apartment we could not believe how cold they looked decked out in coat, scarf and gloves. The temperatures here are still usually in the 60’s, except at night when it can drop dramatically.

On Monday the first of March we were awoken, between about 3am and 4am, by a rumbling followed by the room shaking for a few seconds. It was an earthquake! The epicentre was around Kalamata and our friends there told us it was short but very strong, measuring about 5.4. After the initial shake many people in Kalamata left their homes and headed for safety in the main square. There were no casualties except for one man; he panicked, jumped from his balcony and broke his legs. The next day they had an after shock, which apparently is when most damage is caused, but this time all was well. Just a few cracked buildings and a balcony fell on a car. Surprisingly enough the last big earthquake in the eighties also followed a very cold spell when they had snow.

Today, Saturday, while we were walking back from the house along the coastal path I almost stood on a snake. Luckily I had taken my sunglasses off and was looking down. I saw what looked at first like a length of rope across the path. We took a step backwards and while we were looking and discussing it the snake slithered away. It was about a meter long and was a pinky, red colour. Of course now we will have to be more careful with spring upon us as the snakes will be coming out of hibernation.

House update. We now have stairs to the bedrooms, the electrician has finished the entire first fix and the plasterers are all but finished. The plumbers are now on site, the roofers were due last week but obviously they had other roofs to finish before they could start ours, lets hope they come next week. And we have chosen the front door, which is a traditional Greek design.

Radio, television (not that we have one), and papers are dominated by the election. The place is buzzing and the bars are full. More bars and restaurants are open than we have seen in over four months. This is because tomorrow, Sunday, is voting day for the elections. Greek people registered to vote in this area have to return from their winter homes to the place of registration in order to vote. Basically it’s the same as in the UK, you can only vote where you are registered. The difference in Greece is that most people seem to have two or three homes and often are registered in their village but live in a city.