2011: Some Happier Moments….Continued

So, we’re still revisiting the amazing trip to Anogia and surrounding countryside in April: Where were we? Ah, yes, after lunch. We drove to Axos and went to see the wooden sculpture museum which is massive. There were some up-and-down Anogia exercises which were healthy and a great impromptu lyra recital in a folk museum which had some quite extraordinary art work.

The evening meal was great, and then a few people ended the night singing 70s Eurovision hits, drinking even more raki and eating kiwi fruit in the ‘No Name’ bar (no photos either, well if there were photos, they’ve been conveniently wiped). There were several adventures in the early hours of the morning involving lost keys, but some of us (e.g. Dr Kate, psychologist in another life) are actually bound by professional ethical codes of conduct that prevent us from revealing all the details. Suffice to say that at least one member of the crew was heard to say the next day that Anogia has ‘too many steps’. The following morning the clan assembled after a great breakfast where we swapped stories about the night before (but as we have already said, some of these details will remain anonymous and confidential) and we headed off to the caves at Zoniana. Then we visited the wax museum that as we reported in May ‘defies description’. And Tassos had to bring the coach into the village which was difficult. And we finished the trip with a fine lunch at a historical theme park near Heraklion. Fantastic!

Summer Fun

In May there was the inspirational poetry workshop given by Roger McGough, organised by the Kalamitsi Arts Group (read more about KAG events on one of our Out and About pages) The Rethymnon Wine Festival took place at the end of June and was deemed to be a success. But yet again the Bugle team’s tasting notes ended up being illegible, so all we can tell you is that the wine from the West definitely passes the test. In August the Bugle team went walkabout which involved hanging out with Mongolian musicians at the Kilkenny Arts Festival in Ireland. We also visited the all new Ashmolean museum in Oxford (partially to gain a new perspective on ancient Greek culture) where we kept getting lost in the lifts. And during the height of the season we also made a few lovely ‘get away from it all’ therapeutic trips to the simply wonderful Ligres beach and taverna.

Autumn Breezes

During September and October we enjoyed the cooler and calmer atmosphere on the island as the tourist season started to gently wind down. How was the season? Well the jury is still out on this one, but the popular consensus seems to be that it wasn’t as bad as people had feared it would be. There were certainly plenty of visitors, but once again, the issue of ‘all-inclusive holidays’ was raised by many locals here, and the debate about how tourism can actually contribute to the local economy continued. Moving on. At the end of October the charter flights stopped, and then it was raki tasting time! We had a great afternoon in Thronos sampling the Cretan nectar. The CIC archaeology group took off in a big way, and we are looking forward to so much more from the group in the New Year. We rounded off the end of 2011 with several great parties hosted in an optimistic atmosphere with good cheer. Happy 2012 everyone!

| Front Page | Around Town | Sources and Resources | This Month 1 | This Month 2 | Retro Chic 1 | Retro Chic 2 | Out and About 1 | Out and About 2 |
| Out and About 3 | Green Page | Lifestyle 1 | Gourmet Goodies | Fun & Games | Fun & Games Too | Community 1 | Community 2 |
| Community 3 | Enterprising Locals 1 | Enterprising Locals 2 | Enterprising Locals 3 | Classified 1 | Classified 2 | The Back Page |