Hello again from a pleasantly warm Crete.
Well, there were a few comments about the first ‘test’ Blog thing I wrote but I will carry on regardless.
My XYL is clever. For the last few months she has been going to the free Greek Language lessons put on by the Government for immigrants and those who wish to stay in Greece. These are held three mornings a week and last from 10 until 1pm after which they are given homework!
Yes, Yes, I know I should have also signed up for the classes, but I now find that I just cannot remember things like I used to and with the Greeks having 15 ways of saying ‘the’ I would not have lasted more than about 10 minutes in the class . . .
Although she has been learning Greek for some time, and so found the course easy to start with, at the speed at which they are being taught, she will be an expert by the time the exams come round in May!
Those of you who have read ‘The Island’ by Victoria Hislop, (as mentioned last time) will know that most of it is set on the island of Spinalonga, until the mid-1950s, the last Leper Colony in Europe. The book has been a huge success and over here it has been turned into a very popular TV drama.
The picture below shows the island in a snap taken on the road to the QTH. This is the view of Elounda Bay we get every time we go shopping. We think that this is more pleasant than the previous views we used to get when going shopping up the A10 to Tesco’s at Brookfield Farm!
Spinalonga and Elounda Bay
The popularity of the TV series has meant that even over the past couple of months there have been coach-loads of tourists arriving in Plaka and Elounda for trips out to the island. Normally the island would be closed from the end of October until Easter but with the vast interest in the place and its history, it has been open most weekends this winter.
We really enjoy the TV series even though it is all in Greek and we like to watch some of the obvious ‘artistic’ errors. These include a family setting out to go to Neapoli, a town some 12 kms away, and looking back at the island from a vantage point that is just outside our village and from a road that is a dead end, only going to some windmills.
However, the acting and makeup in the series has been pretty damn good. How you make someone up to look like they have Leprosy and then gradually increase the infected area week after week has been excellent. So too has the ageing process of the people involved. The time frame for the series is a number of years from the 1930s until the islands closure in the mid 50s and some of the people would have lived through most, if not all of this time and so their appearance will have changed over the years. This ageing has been very well done.
Because of the fear of catching Leprosy, Spinalonga, or Kalidon to give it its proper name, was the only part of Crete that the Germans did not occupy during WW11 and on the road just outside Plaka they built a domed ‘Pill Box’ so the island could be watched day and night. The Pill Box is still there.
We have not visited the island for a good few years now but our neighbour, Stephanos, looks after the tiny Church on the island and travels out by boat from Plaka every day during the season and so with several visits from an ever increasing ‘extended family’ over the next 6 months, we will probably get to visit the place several times. [In fact the XYL will be visiting in a few days time!]
The Icom 7k played up this past month. All of a sudden it sounded like one of the relays was clicking over very fast. Could still transmit but receive was like switching the attenuator in. The problem turned out to be the SEC 1223 power supply not giving out the nominal 13.8 volts. Spent a lot time without a rig but got everything working in time for the Russian DX contest in which I just played on 15m.
Now here’s something different: In the Russian DX Contest, if you think you have a large score, capable of being in the top three in any section, you have to email your log in within 36 hours of the contest! Good job then that I only had 170 QSOs on 15m as after 10 days I still cannot get their stupid robot to accept my log!
Had a quick look at April RadComic and see that once again G3ZAY says in his IOTA column (page 15) that the UK participation in this stupid island chasing is falling whilst in other parts of the world, participation is on the rise. Could be then that, at last, many UK stations have seen the light and are not interested in this ridiculous activity anymore? While in the RadComic misprint department, on page 7 we have someone with the call: 2DSO5.
Fancy a new job? I hear there is one going at the RSGB.
Must say I like the new LEFARS colour Magazine! Question: Why the Marmite picture on the front cover? Answers please on the back of a €20 note to me QTHR.
Will be visiting the UK in early May so hope to ‘inspect’ the new Kenwood rig while I am over – also plan to be at the Robin Hood on Sunday 8th for a pint – if you are passing . . .
73
Dick SV0XBN/9
