Just call me Bond, Mr T Bond - licenced to spill.
My van (the one that I let Mr B drive) is only allowed to be in Greece for 180 days because it has non-Greek number plates.
Mr B brought it out here at the start of October last year and he was due to go away again in March but plague rules put a spanner in the works. So one day (weeks ago) we took a trip in the van following our neighbour Panagiota and she led us way round the docks to the place where the Coastguard park their boats.
I watch the Coastguards go past here most days. They are generally going very fast.
F and I stayed in the van and Mr B disappeared into a building behind a very tall barbed wire fence. F said I'd get arrested if we were caught photographing the building but I made her photograph it just the same. The barbed wire was decorated with purple and yellow kite strings and a very sad looking kite remnant.
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| You can, just, make out the yellow kite string....look in the mirror too (That's the CG building.) |
This isn't the Coastguard building (that's across the road). I don't know what happens in this building but after we had been there a man came to visit us at home and put a lock on my van. We can't drive it anywhere.
Mr B told me it has been BONDED.
Next week 'bond man' is going to come back and take his lock away and then Mr B is going back to England for the summer.
F says that she and me, she and I, we, might experiment with travelling by bus and train this summer. I have never been on a bus or a train.
Hari OM
ReplyDeleteOMC... that's all a bit cloak and dungaroo, Mr T!!! All that officialdom stuff brings out my inner anarchist, it must be admitted.
As for bus and train, I'm all for them and I think you might well enjoy them too. Well, trains anyway. Buses in Greece? hmmm... hugs and whiskeries, YAM-aunty xxx
It is just one of hundreds of measures Greece has had to take to fulfil promises to EU. They used to be one of the lowest tax jurisdictions in Europe until just over a decade ago (and we all know how that ended), and even then they were notorious for not paying what they owed. Their tax system has gone from 'smoke signals to satellite comms' with little in between in the space of just over a decade. There is a tax on new cars here (something one might be inclined to support if it discouraged cars entirely, but probably just has the effect of inefficient old bangers staying on the roads instead). People avoided the tax by buying cars in Bulgaria, or leasing cars in Bulgaria... you get the picture. So now foreign plates can only be here a limited time and then must get Greek plates - AND PAY THE TAXES. And they now have ways of checking up on that.
Deletehmm you're not allowed to take photos of buildings, I'm trying to fhink why?
ReplyDeleteA while back some Brit plane-spotters got arrested in Greece taking photos of aeroplanes. They might have been military planes but it was in a public place - like an air show or something. Now we think plane/train/ship spotting is a bit weird - but harmless. Some regimes don't see it that way. We got stopped in Thrace last October (by military or police - hard to tell the difference) and quizzed about whether we were taking photos of the road we were travelling on (and not in a nice way, like 'enjoy the scenery', but like they would confiscate our cameras or take us for interrogation type way...) Even in London you might get questioned about photographing key buildings, train or tube stations etc if they thought you might be a terrorist casing the place for an attack.
DeletePS you could understand why someone might want to blow up the Customs building.
DeleteAnother hidden hassle of Brexit - but hey... we plod on. I hope your summer adventures are fun - I can't wait to come abroad again; perhaps we'll pass your van on the motorway.
ReplyDeletei read your post and Yams comment and your answer to yam. We are the same way here in Florida. If you come to Florida and get a job, you have only a few days to license and pay taxes. it is very expensive. the police go around to parking lots and if they see car with another state tag on it they check to see if the owner is living and working here. Tourists can drive their cars, but if you own a car and live here and or work here, gotta change it. that is because we have millions of people who buy winter homes here and stay for 4 to six months. Yep, gotta license that car... sorry yours i bonded but glad they will free it for the drive back to UK.. I love trains but it has been years since I traveled on one, never on a bus though
ReplyDelete