09-28-2011, 08:28 PM
We had no trouble with the civil authorities. In fact, after some initial and rather eventful misunderstandings that featured me and Giannis undergoing fairly hostile interrogation by the town authorities... oh, what fun that was... anyway, after that,w e got increasing cooperation from the town--starting slowly, but as the event went on, more warmth, more responsiveness, and more fresh water... We went from hesitant toleration to genuine acceptance (and even some hero worship) which was lovely.
I'm a veteran military officer and sometime member of the US military's NCIS, and I played both cards early and often with some success with the local firemen. My friends Jevon and Derek (both have badges) did the same or similar. I think it helped--it certainly didn't hinder. But we never had a problem about, say, weapons or armour.
On balance, the fears of the local authorities came down to just two things--ancient religion, and fires. The fear in Greece of an sudden outbreak of pagan religion is--well, you have to see it to believe it. And truth to tell, we saw that they have reasons for their fears, in the establishment. Not from the reenactors, though...
Fires were a bigger issue. the fear of fire is real, and based entirely on fact, unlike the religious problem. We were camped in a very, very valuable resource--the beach park at Schinias, with magnificent old trees. They would have burned like torches had we screwed up, and as a responsible adult, I could totally understand the hesitation of the security services and the town at letting us build fires. They don't know how much we train for this in North America; they only know that if we prove to be yaboes, their beautiful forest will burn. So we spent a fair amount of time on that subject, nearly every day.
I'm a veteran military officer and sometime member of the US military's NCIS, and I played both cards early and often with some success with the local firemen. My friends Jevon and Derek (both have badges) did the same or similar. I think it helped--it certainly didn't hinder. But we never had a problem about, say, weapons or armour.
On balance, the fears of the local authorities came down to just two things--ancient religion, and fires. The fear in Greece of an sudden outbreak of pagan religion is--well, you have to see it to believe it. And truth to tell, we saw that they have reasons for their fears, in the establishment. Not from the reenactors, though...
Fires were a bigger issue. the fear of fire is real, and based entirely on fact, unlike the religious problem. We were camped in a very, very valuable resource--the beach park at Schinias, with magnificent old trees. They would have burned like torches had we screwed up, and as a responsible adult, I could totally understand the hesitation of the security services and the town at letting us build fires. They don't know how much we train for this in North America; they only know that if we prove to be yaboes, their beautiful forest will burn. So we spent a fair amount of time on that subject, nearly every day.
Qui plus fait, miex vault.
