Driving standards in Greece are reasonably good and predictable. Things can go wrong because of the poor condition and build-quality of the roads as well as the weather. In the rain cars can concertina into each other mainly due to poor drainage and shit tyres. On salaries of €700 a month, replacing a set of tyres after 4 years or so can amount to a month’s salary for many people. To summarise: Greece is a country with Balkan salaries and Nordic prices.
Last week I had an “Only in Greece” moment ie an experience – positive or negative – that you would not expect to happen in your own country. For example, one of our musicians left his tin whistle in a photocopying shop. As my email was on the cover page of the sheet music, the shopkeeper contacted me, assuming I was the owner. By the time I traced the real owner on Saturday, the shop was closed. The shopkeeper turned up at our session the following day to return the tin-whistle to the owner. An astonishing act of kindness. Only in Greece! In the UK or Ireland the instrument would have been allowed to gather dust.
Now for a less positive “Only in Greece” moment. In the city, parking is anarchic and chaotic. A state of anomie also exists in the city’s back streets. The photos illustrate this. They were taken in Angelopoulou St, the last street in Ano Toumba adjacent to the Seikh Sou Forest. As the road was created in the late 80s and early 90s, one wonders why the authorities did not make it wider.
I could not access the street because the road was blocked with a rubbish skip. As the road is on a hill, I wondered if the skip had rolled there naturally or if kids had done it for fun. It turned out that a company was doing a removal further down the road using a removal hoist (ανυψωτήρας), which blocked the road. An employee – to stop traffic entering the street – put the skip at the entrance. Of course, no employee stood at the street entrance to explain things to the public. Also, shouldn’t the decision to close a road be a matter for the police and the municipality?
On a lighter note, someone has painted over the first syllable (Κλει), so the street name in Greek reads ‘Drunk St’ or ‘Piss-up St’. Klisoura/Κλεισούρα is a small village near Kastoria.
