I woke up because my mobile phone rang. It was Yvonne. I was beaten. The fatigue of the journey had taken its toll. After a shower I got out on the streets and bought the local newspaper which I read through the adverts while having a cup of coffee at Carola’s coffee shop on the Lion’s square. The name of the square is officially “Plateia Venizélou”, named after Elefteríos Venezélos, a Cretan politician and former independence fighter who made it to prime minister of Greece. You’ll find statues of him all over Crete.

I visited two real estate agents and went to see an apartment near Chania Porta. Passing the central office of the former state owned telephone company (OTE) I went in and inquired about the state of affairs in the internet realm. There is no such thing as a free connection here. You have to subscribe to an ISP for the duration of 3, 6 or 12 months. Hereafter are the rates of OTENET and PanaFonet, 2 of the major players.

OTENET PanaFonet
PSTN ISDN PSTN
3 months 48,42 74,82 51,92
6 months 93,24 142,14 100,30
12 months *117,00 *177,00 189,98

* This is a temporary offer in which you pay for 8 months and get 4 months free.

There is a reduced fare for the local calls to the access points, which is lower than in Belgium in any case: €0,35 per hour during office hours (from 8 in the morning to 10 in the evening, which they call the afternoon here), and €0,18 per hour in the off hours.

From OTE I went shopping for a printer. Plenty of choice, there is no shortage of brands and models. Prices are also very reasonable. I didn’t buy one yet. Next I visited the offices of the local newspaper to place an advert for a job, under the catching title “WOULD YOU HIRE THIS MAN”, listing as my main qualifications that I spoke four languages fluently and also had some experience in IT matters. The advert was in English since I wanted to make it absolutely clear that Greek was not among the four languages. I had more coffee at Manolis’ place at around 5 in the afternoon. While musing over my activities of the last 24 hours I dropped the plan to search for temporary dwellings in Ammoudara and to stay in my hotel until I had found an apartment. That would also keep some pressure on the kettle…

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