24/010 Life in Northern Greece. Metro, dying & murder

30^th November. It has finally happened. We have an underground railway, 9.6km long with thirteen stations. I switched on the TV to watch the opening ceremony expecting a quick 20-minute speech from the PM followed by the pressing of a button. It did happen except that there were about six speeches and a religious blessing before the PM stepped up to the dais. The button was finally pressed 90 minutes later, and the PM, the President and all the invited dignitaries crammed into a carriage and made their way towards the town centre.  One nice touch was an aerial clip giving us a bird’s eye view as the train rolled out of the depot towards the main line.

It was interesting listening to the public being interviewed on TV. There was more caution than enthusiasm, a sort of we-will-believe-it-when-we-see-it attitude. And who can blame them? The idea was first floated in 1918! Yes, 106 years ago. In practical terms, however, it has been nearly forty years. When the project eventually got underway, and average of under 1 km a year was tunnelled. Contrast that with the greater challenge of building the Channel Tunnel or, indeed, the speed with which the three lines of the Athens Metro were completed.

Here’s a clip: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/1ieF8NrVMqY

And here is a picture of the PM on the front left of the carriage. Where was the president? She didn’t speak at the ceremony, and she is from Thessaloniki.

A couple of days ago, Greece’s best-known chef, Vefa Alexiadou, died. Fame came late. I think she was in her late 60s or 70s when she first hit the screens, and she seems to have been a shrewd businesswoman. She was 91, so on the face of it a good life well spent. However, in 2014 and 2015, in the space of a few months she lost both her daughters and her sister. She was never the same after that. Most of the money she earned seems to have been spent on doctors’ bills and medical care.

Some reports say that very few (or none) of those she worked with on TV bothered to show up at her funeral. There is a brief reference to this in this article, which gives quite a few interesting details of her life. https://en.protothema.gr/2024/11/27/vefa-alexiadou-funeral-family-and-friends-bid-farewell/

Vefa’s death has led me to wonder about levels of palliative or end-of-life care in Greece. Next to non-existent, it seems. In Britain, my sister’s father-in-law was diagnosed with stomach cancer about three years ago. He is in his late 80s now. Basically, he has been the ball in a lethal game of death tennis between the oncologist and cardiologist. As neither could agree if he would survive an operation, he has not been treated. Now he is nearing the end. A NHS hospital bed has been moved into his flat. Carers come twice a day. And MacMillan nurses are frequent visitors. Maybe some of this wonderful end-of-life care could have been avoided had the cancer been removed three years ago. In Greece, it seems the medical teams will do all they can to prolong life even when palliative care might be a better solution. Vefa died in the Papanikolaou Hospital. Surely, her end would have been happier if she had been at home or in a hospice? The word doesn’t appear to exist in Greek, Instead, dictionaries provide a definition of what a hospice is.

This article is about The Galilee Palliative Care Centre in Athens. It dates back to 2021 when it was the only hospice in the country for adults (This was specified. Maybe there is some end-of-life provision for sick children.) It would not surprise me if the Galilee were still the only hospice in Greece. As of 2021, Galilee was a charity with no contribution from central government.

“Galilee” Palliative Care Centre: A Greek Palliative Care Story

1^st December 2024. It has been a while since I have discussed femicide in Greece. This morning’s news has been covering the latest one. It occurred 8 km up the road from us in a very small village called Angelohori. The perpetrator and victim are, respectively, a 46-year-old Albanian and his 60-year-old Roma gipsy wife. Her 29-year-old son was also stabbed while trying to separate the couple. Fortunately, his injuries are not life threatening.

As this happened either last night or early this morning, news reports are just giving the basic facts:

https://www.voria.gr/article/sok-sti-thessaloniki-46hronos-skotose-ti-gynaika-toy-kai-mahairose-ton-gio-toys

https://www.iefimerida.gr/ellada/gynaikoktonia-stin-thessaloniki-skotose-tin-syzygo

The iefimerida article opens with “Ακόμη μια γυναικοκτονία, αυτή την φορά στην Θεσσαλονίκη, έρχεται να προστεθεί στην λίστα των δολοφονιών γυναικών από συζύγους και συντρόφους τους φέτος.” = “Yet another femicide … to be added to this year’s list of women murdered by their husbands or partners.”

I wonder how many it is. The article below published last week (Nov 25^th) lists 11 murders, so with yesterday’s incident, we’re looking at an average of one murder a month. God knows what the number of violent domestic incidents must amount to. It looks as the article will not load. Here is a recent one from ekathimerini. https://www.ekathimerini.com/in-depth/analysis/1254739/list-of-women-killed-by-partners-keeps-growing/

Οι 13 γυναικοκτονίες που σκίασαν την Ελλάδα το 2024: Μία δραματική πραγματικότητα

The authorities are trying to deal with the issue. Vulnerable women now have access to a mobile app called ‘Panic Button’. However, there was one violent but non-fatal episode earlier in the year where part of the assault involved the husband’s attempt to seize the wife’s phone so that she could not use the app. If you know your partner has the Panic Button mobile app, maybe you should recognise that it is time to dissolve the relationship as civilly as possible. The above murders are mainly stabbings, one with a screwdriver. Another woman was murdered in front of a police station. It is a distressing read.