Sales and Sails

It’s July which means it’s summer sales time in the standard (i.e. ‘non seasonal’) shops. The sales run for about six weeks from mid-July until the end of August. So, look out for some decent bargains in town. Legislation regarding sales in Greece is stricter than it is in some other countries such as the UK. Sales can only take place at certain times of the year, and most of the shops will hold sales simultaneously which goes some way towards counteracting undercutting. You will find discounts in many places, the main hunting grounds are the streets of Arkadiou and E. Antistaseous.

As for sails? Well July of course is also one of the better months for water sports here. Rethymnon beach has all manner of fun options to entertain even the most active holiday maker. And, as you can see, the occasional snazzy yacht, too!

For windsurfing, though, whilst there’s nothing wrong with the town beach we recommend taking a trip further afield, to Plakias on the South Coast. The hurricane style breezes from Libya do have some advantages!

New Noodles in Rethymnon!

A new noodle bar has now opened up in Rethymnon. For some of our international readers who have sushi at every street corner and round the clock access to Bagels, this might not seem like something worthy of comment. However, even for the Bugle team who are Greek food addicts, this is big news. And the noodle bar doesn’t just do noodles. Other things on the menu include Thai hot and sour soup, Mango salad, Szechuan beef and Chinese beer. OK so it’s part of a chain, but in our view a vast improvement on the Macdonald’s franchise which now seems to have gone out of business….When we went, our food was cooked to order, the portions were substantial, and it was a surprisingly cool and refreshing place to have lunch on one of the most meltingly hot days last month. The Noodle Bar is at Sof. Venizelou 50 (beach front, near Porto Rethymno Hotel), opening hours 11am to midnight daily, phone 28310 51198, menus in Greek and English, home delivery available.

And, in keeping with the zeitgeist, see our recipe below….

Cocktail of the Month: ‘Have a Nice Day’ (and forget about the rest of the week)

We were going to give you a ‘Summer Breeze’ Cocktail, but the one we found on the internet involved using ‘elderflower cordial’. Which is just not fair. And for my Cretan friends who are now asking “Elderflower cordial τι ειναι αυτο;” I reply: “Some concepts are not cross-culturally transmissible regardless of the dictionary you are using”. It’s a bit like fish. Have you ever seen a haddock in the Mediterranean? “τι ειναι χάδδοκ;” response “seriously lost Northern fish”. Anyway. At great expense the Bugle Team have invented the following:

Vodka: Stolichnaya or Absolut at a pinch (if you’ve gone out and bought Smirnoff, shame on you for this recipe). Strawberry juice (there are loads of nice versions in the supermarkets here which are fresh, organic etc. but anyway the vodka should take care of any DDT issues), shed loads of ice, touch of soda if you want to be snazzy (or even faintly sensible), sprig of mint and slice of lime.