When you come to Crete this year be prepared to be interrogated by friendly hosts and hostesses when you leave. Starting in May they’ll intercept you at airports and ferry ports and will question you on your experiences. Have any complaints? Not satisfied with your tour operator?
Read more →Greece is currently subdivided into 13 Regions (‘Περιφέρειες’), 54 Prefectures (‘Νομαρχίες’) and 1034 Municipalities (‘Δήμοι’). This was the result of a major administrative reorganization in 1996, called the “Kapodistrias” plan. Initially some, but not all, Prefectures were further subdivided into Provinces (‘Επαρχίες’), but the latter were abolished after a couple of years. Municipalities were...
Read more →For those who keep track of this, we have been going through some extremely rough weather lately. The whole of Crete has been hit with strong – 10 Beaufort – winds, with the usual, to-be-expected results: roofs flying off, electricity poles (wooden, waddayathink?) uprooted or snapped, cables broken, the works. Large areas have been...
Read more →Yes, yes, we are still doing fine. We had a beautiful summer this year. The weather was absolutely fantastic and we practically went “camping” every weekend at some remote beach in the south of the provinces of Iraklio and Rethymno. We covered the whole stretch from Tertsá, west of Ierapetra, to Rodákino, just short...
Read more →Everything they do differently here. I’ve never heard people wishing each other a “nice first of May”. Here they do that starting on the eve of May 1st, and all through the day itself. It’s very nice. By the way, people also wish each other a “nice week” on Monday and a “nice month”...
Read more →We finally made it. Everything is unpacked, bar those items that we need to store elsewhere for lack of space. You can’t believe how hard it is to move from a place with 420 square meters of floor space (including various storage areas) to 90 square meters of floor space, not counting the balcony....
Read more →I hadn’t taken all these risks of driving off a cliff or getting stuck in the snow for no good reason. I had come to this region (the Messará valley, see my previous post) because there is a chance that I will be able to work here. The idea is that, because of the...
Read more →At around 8 o’clock in the morning we started to see the shores of Crete. Everybody rushed to the car decks where the usual display of seemingly absolute chaotic behaviour took place: all the engines were revved up, cars were being moved to better position them for the exit, all without the boat crew...
Read more →I got up late. Breakfast at the hotel was excellent. The view from the windows was nothing but extraordinary. You could see as far as the sea in the Gulf of Itéa. There was a group of young American students in one corner eating calmly and minding there own business. I chose a table...
Read more →Around one in the afternoon we were sailing close to a couple of small uninhabited islands off the shores of Igoumenitsa. The weather was excellent, clear skies, bright sun. Igoumenitsa was sparkling white in the near distance. As we came nearer it struck me how small the port and the town was. I had...
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