52 Euro, I thought it was 120 Euro but would gladly have paid 300 Euro - this is snake business

And so I tracked down a shop in Kalamata which sells canisters of Herpotex, cans that emit a smell snakes find noxious and which will keep them away for three months. In theory at least. The guide says I only need two to be placed 10 yards from two diagonally opposed corners of the hovel. Fecking hell, we are talking snakes here. I asked for four, one for each corner. The lady said "they are 30 euros each."

I thought that the price had gone up quite a bit since last year. Perhaps the fantastic "snake harvest" referred to by Nicho the communist means that demand is outstripping supply and that Herpotex snake repellent is the one item in Greece seeing real inflation? But this is snakes so I found 120 Euro and prepared to hand over the cash and to do so gladly.

The till rang up 52 Euro. Either I had misheard or the lady was a bit confused about 13 and 30. I tried to explain that I would have happily paid her 120 Euro or for that matter 300 Euro. These are snakes we are talking about.

The canisters are now in place. In theory the snakes are fleeing the area around the hovel and thus tomorrow I shall be moving from my nice secure hotel in Kalamata and out to the hovel, to the snakes, rats and mice. The trip begins in earnest.