The
Island Of Crete
Dreaming
Of Crete ~
by Marialena Lioulia
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| July
2004
Athens,
Greece
Regarding the
"Escape from America" article about affordable vacation places, I was happy
to see that Crete is considered one of them! The family of my mother stems
from Crete and my grandma and aunts and cousins still live there, so I
think I can tell you more about this beautiful island. First of all it
is a very big place combining both steep mountain sides and a huge coast
line from north to south. It is divided into four counties, which have
four major cities as capitals, each one with a character of its own. The
biggest city on the north is Heraclion (named after the famous Greek mythology
hero Hercules) with all the pros and cons of a modern city, but do include
in your itinerary visits to the other three major cities which are Chania,
Rethymnon and Agios Nicolaos (St. Nicolas) all located on the north coast
of the Aegean Sea. In the south the enviroment is more tropical, since
the Libyan Sea is much hotter than the other waters that surround the island.
The area is less populated but there are some interesting villages and
towns you can go to such as Sitia, Ierapetra and Sfakia Coast. |
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Crete has
been inhabited since prehistoric times. The visitor can discover primitive
remains along with the very impressive up-to-date Minoan civilization (do
you remember the mythical Minotaur that was said to live in the palace
of King Minoas in Knossos?) which was affected by the eruption of the volcano
in the Aegean Sea that is said to have destroyed Atlantis. Then it was
colonized by mainland Greeks and was a significant trading post from mainland
Greece to Eygpt. Apostle Paul visited the island during the early Christian
era and then in the 1200's it was conquered by both Venetians (from Venice)
and Catholic knights (Franks as we call them). Then, around 1600 Ottomans
(Turks) came along and stayed until the late 1800's when Crete finally
became a Greek province once again.
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Looking
down on Dimosari Canyon on Crete
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You
can see influences of each era all around the island both in the architecture
and in the names of places. You will be impressed by the numerous small
churches that have been built across the island in the name sake of several
saints Cretans are very religious people, the majority of them Orthodox
Christians. Some mosques left from the Ottoman era can also be found in
Heraclion, Rethymnon and the city of Chania and are now part of the cultural
heritage of Crete.
The people
are very hospitable, righteous, loud and have developed a strong sense
of pride. Older people in the villages wear a characteristic uniform consisting
of a black shirt and trousers, white boots and a scarf to cover their heads.
They often grow mustaches as a sign of manhood and are competent in improvising
verses when they want to dedicate a song to those around them (which is
called mandinada in Greek and can only be heard in the villages of Crete).
They used to
carry guns as a self protective means, but now this habit is much restricted
to marriages or up in the mountains for the shepperds. The Cretans have
developed over the centuries a characteristic pronunciation of the Greek
language in which some consonants are more stressed than usual. |
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The local
cuisine is based on olive oil and it includes special dried breads made
of seeds like oats or barley. The cretan cheeses and wines are also very
distinct and tasteful. There's is a famous bi-product of wine (not vinegar)
which is called Raki in Crete. Have a sip during the mid-day siesta with
olive oil, graviera cheese, cucumbers, octapus and anything else that might
be handy at the time! You can find everything in Crete regarding Meditteranean
food since these goods are in abundance on Crete.
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staying in Crete won't be a problem since it offers up-to-date facilities
for everyone. From the 5 star exclusive resorts by the sea to rooms to
rent and organized camping sites. The choice is yours depending on your
finances and the service is mostly good especially for foreigners. The
majority of the locals can communicate in foreign languages such as English,
German, French or Italian. There are a lot of rent-a-bike or rent-a-car
agencies with reasonable prices. If you want to get to know Crete better,
then you would proabably need a good 7 to 8 days to discover the beauties
of Crete. I would suggest avoiding places like Hersonissos village near
Heraklion which was developed for the sole entertainment of Western backpack
tourists who live on beer and greek salad most of the time - instead go
for the genuine character of the island, like visiting Samaria Canyon with
the unique Kri-kri goats that live only in Crete, or the lake of Kournas
hidden into the mountains in Rethymnon or the famous birthplace of Zeus,
Mount Ida, or have a swim at the palmy beach of Vai in the south for instance.
Did you know
that Heraklion was the birthplace of Domenicus Theotocopoulos - known to
most of us as El Greco? Or that Nikos Kazantzakis, also Cretan, was the
writer of the famous play "Zorba the Greek" which was based on a true story?
Even Athens' international airport "Eleftherios Venizelos" was named after
the late Prime Minister who was Cretan as well. |
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Ah, Crete
is such a mesmerizing place to be! I always return with a desire to find
out more of its unique character. How can you go to Crete? Easily, with
a connecting flight through Athens' Intl' Airport (half an hour duration)
or direct charter flights from Europe. Alternatively, there are frequent
boat trips from the port of Pireus in Athens or Salonica to Rethymnon and
Heraclion. The day trip lasts around 6 hours and the overnight trip lasts
approximately 9 1/2 hours. The fleet is modern and spacious.
I hope I have
given you an alluring idea about how to get to know Crete better! Now all
you have to do is to set your mind on going to this very special island
that is part of Greece. Try to go during the Olympic Games. See you all
there!
To contact
Marialena Click Here
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