Bad Gaddafi Good Gaddafi...stories from the local newspapers

When you live on Crete it is enough to look at the map to understand what a “nice neighborhood” we have here and where all those illegal immigrants come from due to the political situations in their own countries.

It is a huge problem for Greece and its islands where thousands of immigrants on the inflatable boats arrive , looking for the decent life far away from the regimes and dictatorships that are sustained in their countries.

Poverty is a horrible thing to look at! Nobody likes poverty and a very few people give it a thought where it comes from. We like it nice and glamorous …as today’s article in Xaniotika Nea proves.

I am so shocked that I can barely write! I couldn’t believe my eyes when I read it. Is the whole crisis getting into people’s minds??? Are we so desperate to write such things? If you know some Greek, read the below link:

http://www.haniotika-nea.gr/62052-%CE%A4%CE%B1%CE%BA%CF%84%CE%B9%CE%BA%CF%8C%CF%82%20%CF%80%CE%B1%CF%81%CE%B1%CE%B8%CE%B5%CF%81%CE%B9%CF%83%CF%84%CE%AE%CF%82%20%CE%BF%20%CE%B3%CE%B9%CE%BF%CF%82%20%CF%84%CE%BF%CF%85%20%CE%9A%CE%B1%CE%BD%CF%84%CE%AC%CF%86%CE%B9%20.html

I bet your eyes will pop out as well as mine! Libya is on fire, people lost their lives, thousands of Chinese people escape from Libya to China through Crete. Muammar al-Gaddafi has been sustaining his regime since 1969  (42 years, can you imagine to have your own country being ruled by one man for 42 years???!!!) and at the time of bloody riots when his own nation says BASTA to his destructive politics, he is not even thinking to say “good bye”  claiming with a smirk on his face, that it is all organized by Al Qaeda!   

So the whole world is watching those horrifying scenes from Libya, but in the local newspaper in Chania we read about the good blood in Gaddafi’s family, his son (one of seven biological sons Muammar al-Gaddafi has) – Saif al-Islam Muammar al-Gaddafi. And so by reading this article, we learn (and we really wonder why we are reading about it???!) :

• That Gaddafi’s son was a regular holiday maker in Chania (good for him, it is a nice place, I don’t blame him)
• He liked visiting one of local clubs in Agia Marina (tourist area next to Chania) where he was coming with two men of his escort, two men of Greek Police Security and the girls accompanied him too.
• That his every day bills were approximately 3.000 euro while staying in Chania
• What a deep knowledge he had about wine and champagne and that he always asked for Don Perignon ’96 and was brining it with him if the place didn’t have it! (again, what a kind and generous person he is!)
• Then we read that he was staying in five star hotels, he always behaved himself and was leaving big tips in taverns and coffee bars.

• What an easy going and friendly person he was – as the author of the article calls him    “ A REGULAR TOURIST!” (kanonikos touristas/ κανονικός τουρίστας). I have to admit that when I reached this fragment of the article, I almost fell off chair laughing so much! Till today I almost felt like a regular tourist wherever I went, but somehow my bills were a bit lower than 3.000 euro a day, I didn’t need any security escort and didn’t sleep in five star hotels. Looks like I have to reevaluate my idea of being a regular tourist! You tell me, time to change my routine?

• And then, Boom!, at the end of the article we reach, as for my taste, a pretty controversial statement:

“One world full of opulence and immense wealth that will not by missed by Libyans, but it will cost many Cretan businesses”.

" Ένας κόσμος απίστευτης χλιδής και τεράστιου πλουτισμού, που δεν θα λείψει από τους Λίβυους, αλλά θα κοστίσει σε πολλές επιχειρήσεις της Κρήτης".

In other words, is that a reason why we should feel sorry for the situation in Libya…because the local people will lose a rich customer from Gaddafi’s family visiting Chania? 

I get the idea that Mr. Saif al-Islam Muammar al-Gaddafi liked Chania and loved the town’s Old Harbor (we all do!)…but somehow I find it deeply improper to call the guy “ a regular tourist” with a 3.000 euro bill a day (especially now, with the crisis bursting our from every corner of Greek economy when people are struggling to get any income) and state that Libyan people will not miss the spent wealth! Does it mean that Greek people are not missing all the money that was stolen from them???

Even if so, Gaddafi's son was coming to Crete...do anyone else around the world openly admits how much they made out of Gaddafi's fortune or it's only us being so honest?

Is it all about money or we are preparing a ground to welcome Gaddafi’s family on Crete? 

Yours truley confused,

 A regular tourist - not anymore!