Cretan Diary - Chapter 18

Monday - Collecting The Car

October 5, 2009

We arose early and Jenny drove us to Xaniá in the little Atoz. We dropped the car off at the usual car park and took the ticket. It costs 3.50 Euros for the first hour and 1 Euro for each subsequent hour. You may think this is expensive but you probably haven't tried to park in Xaniá at rush-hour!

We walked to the "Clock" café and had a sandwich while taking in the sights and sounds.

Then we walked to our bank and spoke to a helpful man about our change of address, since they still had our UK address. I told him we now lived in a house with no number in a street with no name and he didn't look surprised. There's obviously a lot of it about.

We had taken a utility bill with our name on it but someone had forgotten to tell us that we should also have provided an official document with our tax numbers. So our address has been noted but we'll have to go back again to get it changed officially. We are getting used to this!

I suggested to Jenny that we needed to withdraw a LOT of money because we had the prospect of paying for the car service, the car insurance, the satellite dish installation, the wood-burning stove installation, and the office and kitchen furniture. She disagreed and withdrew 300 Euros.

We wandered towards the harbour, into the "tourist" area, in search of UK plug adapters. We had brought some in the van, but not enough. Finally, we came upon a little electrical shop where we had bought an energy-saver bulb previously. The helpful man knew what I wanted as soon as I said "Creasomai ena UK..." and handed me one. We bought three for 3 Euros each. (They sell them in the UK for 95p + VAT.) Then we went on a bedding hunt and found a shop that had duvet covers in stock. Jenny bought two. Finally, we headed for "Multirama" where I bought a 750 Watt "UPS" to maintain power to my computer during short power cuts. (Had one already.) It weighs about a hundredweight. Luckily, the shop is close to the car park so I was able to hump the UPS there without doing any permanent damage to myself or passers by!

On the subject of damage, Jenny has always objected to my wearing socks with sandals so today I put none on. By the time we reached the car park, I had a large blister under the strap on my right foot.

We collected the Atoz and drove towards the National Highway on the Souda road until we found the Car Store.

Yannis (=John) the proprietor was friendly and helpful and spoke somewhat broken English, which was often difficult to understand. (I bet my attempts to speak Greek sound even worse!) The car was completely ready and we could have it right away but firstly, Dimitris was going to drive it away to get a headlamp lens replaced. The reason is that they'd had to replace one headlamp unit because it had been damaged when the bonnet was damaged and now the old one looked quite yellowed and scratched in comparison. I thought that was rather nice of them. Apparently they had fitted a brand new bonnet and sprayed it to match. They'd had the air-conditioning system repaired. They had replaced the footwell carpets and also had the car fully serviced. The charge for this additional work was 300 Euros (as agreed at the initial meeting) and, as the bill from the servicing garage read 380 Euros, we paid up with good grace.

The car had a certificate for the two-year "MOT" (equivalent) and the 1 year emissions certificate - included in the price. So now we had to arrange the insurance. Yannis phoned Manolis, an insurance agent, who explained the options. As this was unknown territory for me and as money was no object (hahaha) I agreed to pay 580 Euros for 12 months insurance with a 400 Euro excess (the minimum). I believe the excess is payable only if I (the driver) am at fault.

Dimitris, having returned with the car looking brand new, was now ordered to drive us to the nearby Toyota garage where photos of the car would be taken for insurance purposes! So off we went.
The photos were taken by a smart young lady who photgraphed the chassis number and the dashboard, too!
We returned to the Car Store to await the arrival of Manolis, the Insurance Man. He arrived after a few minutes. He was very pleasant, spoke excellent English, and took 350 Euros deposit in return for a Cover Note. We could pay the balance when he had the policy ready for collection.
This will probably be "avrio" but, hopefully, less than a month.

Jenny wants to tell the story from here because I tell lies about her.

Aftermath of collecting the new car - Jenny

The Peugeot needed petrol and I wanted to top up the Atoz before returning it. We were directed back towards Xaniá for the best price. We pulled in to the first station only to find it was non functional as it was getting a delivery and the petrol tanker took up the whole of the forecourt. We reversed out and continued, during which time I managed to lose Mike and had to phone him to find which direction he had driven. As we finally got petrol Mike said, "you lead the way because I haven't the faintest idea where I am going." So I pulled into the side of the road to wait for him to catch me up. He'd been delayed pulling onto the main road. Unfortunately there was a deep kerb I hadn't seen and, as I pulled out the front wheel went over it with a bang. "Oh S**t" I thought, "That sounds expensive". The Atoz kept moving but pulling to the right, so I pulled over as soon as I could, into what turned out to be a furniture shop's forecourt, next door to where we had bought the Peugeot. Mike hadn't noticed anything happening to the front wheel, but had seen the back wheel drop into a gulley as I pulled away in front of him. He followed me onto the forecourt. I was so annoyed with myself! I'd had the car a week and was really getting the hang of driving on the wrong side of the road and changing gear with the wrong hand. Then, literally at the last moment, as we were driving to return the car, I'd broken it.

We got the spare wheel out and managed to swap it for the damaged wheel. It was a joint effort; we were both equally filthy by the time we'd finished. The furniture store owner was having a quiet morning, so he came out to supervise. Heading homewards, we pulled in to yet another petrol station and had air put into the spare tyre by a helpful attendant who refused to take a cent. We also asked where we could get the damaged tyre fixed. The attendant indicated the Volvo dealership further up the road, saying to use their service department. We found the Volvo place easily as it is one of our landmarks to know we are on the right road. There was no sign of a service department though. Mike asked inside and the very pleasant man pointed over the road saying, "Go there, our friends will help you." We looked. 'Bridgestone' it said in very large letters above a window full of alloy wheels. Hmm, yes - obvious really. I drove across the road. Mike left the Peugeot in the shade at the Volvo place.

The tyre man was busy but said he'd be finished in a couple of minutes. While we waited I confessed to Mike that I only had ¤26 left. He counted up his change and found that after buying petrol he had 13 Euros. Oh dear. When it was our turn and the man declared our tyre irreparable Mike warily asked how much a new one would cost "40 Euros" was the answer. We owned up that we only had 39 and the man said that would be OK. We offered him our credit card, yes, he took cards, so we let him get on with his work with our consciences clear.

Then I noticed a puddle under the car, near the offending wheel. I moved the car and drew the puddle to Mike's attention. He thought he was due a rest and was indoors sitting down! He grovelled under the car and tasted the leaking fluid. Luckily it was plain water so it must have been just the air conditioning causing condensation. After checking the wheel itself and fitting the tyre, the mechanic balanced the wheel and swapped it back into its rightful place, returning the spare to the boot. Mike gave him his credit card, but it was waved away with the words, "39 euros, cash" (in Greek, of course). Which was very nice of him. Of course now we had only 20 cents left to buy lunch, but, as Mike's clothes were filthy, too, from lying under the car, we decided to put off returning the Atoz and to go home first for a wash and some funds. It was nearly 3 pm now. However as I drove the little car very carefully along the National Highway I realised that, if we used the Vrises junction, we would virtually pass Eleni's house and, if we dropped the car off then, it would save me driving it up Seven Bends Road and back again. Besides, I was keen to return the car before anything else happened to it. Also, if Eleni felt sorry for us she might offer us a cup of tea!

I missed the Vrises turning! There is no warning. The sign appears in both Greek and English. There is an opening in the bushes to the right, then you are past the junction! I must learn to recognise it! So Georgioupolis it is. That junction has a sign in Greek at 800 metres and a sign in English at 400 metres, that's how a proper junction should be labelled! Anyway that route takes us even nearer Eleni's so we called in, returned the car and confessed my crimes. And yes she did make us a cup of tea.

Mike let me write this for myself as I accused him of using the story forever to humiliate me. With each telling it would have got more extreme and further from the truth. So this is MY version and I'm getting it in first. So whatever you hear in the future .... Lies, all lies.

Mike: I'm saying nuffin.

Driving may be a bit questionable but she can cook! Stuffed things with sausage in a pastry. Very yummy!

Chapter 19 - The Walk

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