Week 11 & 12 in Greece

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Week 11 & 12 in Greece. 25th Jan 2009
Last week there was a flock of about 100 sheep crossing the road and grazing near Mama’s house. Michael went out to take a photo of the shepherd and his flock ( it turned out the man was an Albanian) The sheep came from towards the hinterland, up higher where we went for a walk about a month ago and got so muddy. He said he gets about 1 litre of milk from each sheep. This seems a lot to me. Unless they only milk each alternative day.
Discount Sales officially started in the shops 15th Jan and go till end of January. You can not have sale prices outside the officially sanctioned period, if I have got this right. Unless you are closing down the shop, etc, then it does not apply. So both Michael and I have taken the opportunity to buy some new shoes and clothes. Things seem cheap ( leather shoes reduced to 55 Euro, but then you have to double that to get the price in $Australian.) Anyway we have done our bit for the Greek Economy!
Michael also bought a portable power drill, so no excuse for not undertaking some new projects. GST is 19% for all non food items and 9% for food. So that may help to account for electrical goods appearing to be more expensive than in Australia.
The next door neighbour, Kiria Ketty follows the Orthodox Gregorian Calendar religious dates, unlike the majority of Greeks who follow the Julian Calendar. She brought a Priest to bless her house three days ago and he also came over and blessed Mama’s house. I was in the house and he gave me his hand holding the cross and I kissed his hand, but he said “stavros”, so I then kissed the cross . Mama explained that I was not Greek and he said “You say Happy New” and I said, “Yes, Happy New Year”. He had some basil branches in the blessed water and flung the water droplets around the lounge room. Then you give the priest some money for blessing the house for the New Year.
I went to the “Hondos Centre” which is opposite the bus terminal/ IKEA landmark on Saturday evening. It is just like a small Myers store, although even with price reductions, it is still expensive. There was a display for Dame Edna Everage Cosmetics- one of the lip gels is called Possum Nose Pink. There was also a big photo of her at a pharmacy in Salonika, so that must have been very soon after her official Sydney launch of her cosmetics on 16th Jan 09.
Exiting the Hondos Centre we noticed that the police had closed the road from the bus terminal towards the Salonika Airport.( called Macedonia Airport) The farmers have been blockading the major roads in Greece with their tractors and managed to close the airport in Crete last week. They say the price they get for their product is not enough to cover costs. The Greek Government has offered then a package, but I think they feel it is not sufficient. They gave the example of them selling their mandarins for 1 cent a kilo to the middle man, but then see their mandarins sold in the shops for 1 Euro a kilo. I think cheap food comes in from Bulgaria and even some of the EU countries which may have been subsidized by their government.

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Photos

Farmers Protest Salonika
For five days, the Farmers have been congregating near the Salonika Airport in support of their campaign for fairer prices for their produce

Farmers and Tractors Salonika
This was taken from the bus and shows the tractors of the farmers rallying for their demands. The girl in the photo had just got off the bus.

Dame Edna and Gwen
Big photo display in a pharmacy in Salonika for launch of her cosmetic range. Could not resist the Australian Connection.

Meat Truck Salonika
This little truck is this size so small enough to go through the meat aisles at the Salonika Market

Goats for Sale at Salonika Market
These goats were outside the butcher shop near the Salonika Market. Guess they were destined to be cooked on a spit.

Bride Dolls at Market
This Bride Dolls display caught my eye outside the Salonika Market

Fresh Strawberries in Salonika Market
These strawberries are grown hydroponically in hot houses near Katerini, about 2.5 hours away from where we live. First time we have seen fresh strawberries since we arrived.

Large Bread Size
Carvelli I think is the name of this super size loaf of bread. Forget the writing behind it- graffiti is alive and well in Salonika.

Sale Sign
This was taken from the bus, hence the flash reflecting) but shows the markdown of goods during the official sale period.

Palm Trees on Wheels-wrapped in Hessian Bags
There was an earlier photo in an earlier blog of these palms on the Perea Beach front. Now they have their winter coats on and look even more unusual.

Sheep near Mama
This is the shepherd and his flock near Mama's house, looking towards Perea Beach in the distance.