Just back from a week in Greece with Terry, staying at his house in Stoupa, near to Kalamata. We had several tasks to perform which made for an interesting study in contrasts.
First the car had to be booked in for a service at the local garage and to have its towbar removed as this would not meet new legislation for the KTEO [MOT]
test later in the week. This remains a complete mystery to me, as as far as I can see, every towbar
in Greece is illegal as all extend beyond the rear
bumper. There must be a nice little business in removing and replacing towbars in Greece. The garage
was mostly outside and surrounded by the dying remains
of various vehicles that were either waiting for parts or just waiting. Each with a neat pile of
nuts and bolts and the offending part piled below it.
Our next trip was to the solicitor to make an income tax return. He had an office straight out of the
70s and would easily qualify for one Rosemary's
'Obviosly a man living on his own' comments, more usually reserved for distressed looking boats on the
cut.
The K.T.E.O. test was duly taken, AND passed, in a very modern, fully electronic testing station,
which was a model for efficiency, courtesy and viewing
comfort. Our final task was to pick up the outboard motor, this mechanic was clearly OCD and had an
immaculate workshop, organised and tidy, clearly he had
a woman in his life.
Otherwise we did holiday like things including:
Swimming and drinking Mythos
Walking up gorges to old monestaries
Day trip to the Mani
Shopping at the local supermarket
A regular trip was to Katerina's newly opened supermarket on the main road. It is a large store and has quite a big area on a mezzanine floor, this is completely dedicated to cleaning materials. I have never seen so much in one place and had to take a few pics to show Rosemary on my return. Unsurprisingly, she was in ecstacy when she saw them. There must be almost enough to sort out all single Greek men, boats and offices.