Contents
Out And About
Country Life: Raki and Cider
October was ‘kazani’ (raki distilling) party time and, oh yes, it was just fine. There were many celebrations in many villages and a great deal of fun was had by all. Hot, hot hot, but still….
Put it this way, last month there were a lot of apples around so a few of us also started on the great ‘Cretan cider making experiment of autumn 2009.’ We’ll let you know at some point in January 2010 how this turns out (or possibly a bit earlier if things go incredibly pear shaped). In the dictionary the word for cider is given as ’μηλίτης’ in Greek. We could find no translation for ‘scrumpy’ (which is the authentic organic - if slightly brutal - Devonshire version, and what we think we are actually making). Next year, apple raki!
Halloween Snapshots
Cheers to Laina and everyone else who helped us have an absolutely fabulous Halloween night. Halloween is not exactly a traditional Cretan occasion, but everyone around us seemed to get into the spirit of things. Trying to track down face paint out of Carnival season is a bit of a challenge, but we got there in the end. Our roving reporter Luc went out on a mission and can tell you the following: A fair few toy shops will stock face paint during high season for the ‘Kids’ Clubs’ in the larger hotels, but after the beginning of September, forget it. Kiosks don’t have face paint in October (or at least not this year). Anyway, to cut a long story short, our intrepid explorer eventually ended up in the Art and Hobby shop near the old baked potato raki bar, where the dialogue went something like this: Shop Owner “What is it with the English and face paint today?” Intrepid reporter / explorer “Beats me, I’m Belgian, but it’s something like ‘Apokries’ that also involves pumpkins”. Face paint sorted.
The party was great, and we loved the magic show from Captain George. Here are just a few of our photos.
Winter Excursions
As the title of this page suggests, get out and about! Loads to do, and loads to go and see. So fling away those flip flops and get those boots back on! And for those of you out there who are planning a visit to Crete at this time of year but aren’t quite sure about what might be on offer in the way of guided tours - rest assured, help is at hand. There are companies here who are dedicated to providing services for winter tourists. For example, Albert Van Elst - in conjunction with Anso Travel and Tourist Services Satellite - has now just brought out his winter programme of excursions, which includes some great walks through wonderful scenery, tours to monasteries and archaeological sites, and trips to some of the more beautiful towns on the island, including Hania. For more information phone +30 28320 31712 / +30 28310 56641 or log on to
www.winterincrete.com (you’ll also find a link via the
www.rethymnon.biz website). Happy travels!
