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Greek Blues Journey To Crete ~ by Steenie Harvey

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“There is a land in the midst of the wine-dark sea, rich and fair, washed around by waves, full of people in ninety cities...” So rhapsodized Homer about Crete—though I’ve never understood the “wine-dark” description. Under skies of pure Greek blue, the sea surrounding this fabled island of soaring mountains and steep ravines shimmers like a silvered mirror of turquoise. And the magic remains as potent as in Homer’s day. Although his 90 cities crumbled long ago, reminders of the ancient lore are all around. Many Greek myths have Cretan settings. This was where Zeus was born in a cave, where Theseus fought the monstrous Minotaur in the Labyrinth, where Icarus’s waxen-winged attempt to fly from the wrath of King Minos ended in disaster.  Crete offers more than beaches, water-sports, and endless summer sunshine. Scores of secret byways meander the hills, age-old trails where you’re met by footloose sheep with tinkling bells around their necks. Spring is when to experience the countryside’s explosion of wildflowers, but the scent of wild herbs leaves you reeling any time of year. Oregano, basil, sage, mint...islanders still use them meadow-fresh in herb teas. In honey, too—bee-keeping plays a big part in Crete’s agricultural life.

Sidestreet in old Rethymnon

All the color and tradition that Grecophiles yearn for is here. Endless olive groves, vineyards, and fruit gardens—not just of oranges and lemons, but figs, quinces, and pomegranates. Timeless villages often seem more functional than picturesque, but tradesmen’s rickety vans still call with fish and bread, and the kafenion (coffee-house)—often under a plane tree—is like a gambler’s den. Men sip sweet Greek coffee, play noisy card games, and rattle dice across backgammon boards. Where are the women? Sitting on the shady side of the street, indulging in a good gossip while shelling peas, making lace, or embroidering.

Crete is such a narrow island, nowhere is far from the sea. In half-moon harbors, fishing nets are mended on the quayside and squid hang from what appear to be washing lines. Fat, lazy felines snooze on wicker chairs, looking like they’re auditioning as pin-ups for next year’s “Calendar of Greek Cats.” 

And days always seem to end with a sky full of stars. Bats flit through the trees, cicadas sing their anthems, and you’re left reeling once again from the heady aroma of night-scented blossoms. Of course it’s the scent of flowers that’s making you light-headed. It’s nothing to do with the cocktails, the incredibly cheap wine, and that final shot of Metaxa brandy...
 

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All a-dazzle with glinting gold icons, there are literally hundreds of tiny, red-domed chapels on Crete. Step inside (but make sure you’re covered and not wearing shorts), and it’s like being trapped inside a jewel-box. Saint George slaying the Dragon is a favorite theme.

In the island’s center, the most famous monastery is Arkadi, scene of a suicidal act of resistance. Hundreds of villagers fleeing the Turks took refuge with the monks in 1866. The enemy sent massive forces to attack. But, rather than surrender, the Cretans set a cache of gunpowder alight. The explosion sent villagers, monks, and Turks to kingdom come; only one small girl was spared. In memory of the resistance, Nov. 8 is a Cretan national holiday. 

Like other large Mediterranean islands, Crete represented a prized crossroads on the sea routes between Europe, Asia, and Africa. As a result, sometimes, you may wonder if you’re on a Greek island at all. Some places have an almost Italian feel. Put it down to the Venetians who held power between 1204 and 1669, building palaces, fortresses, fountains, and loggias.

But as Venice slid into maritime insignificance, the Ottoman Empire rose. Enter the Turks who left their architectural mark in the form of mosques, minarets, and houses of stone archways and inner courtyards. The best places to see this melange of Greek, Venetian, and Turkish style is in the coastal towns of Rethymnon and Chania. Both have Venetian-Ottoman quarters with an intriguing spider’s web of back streets as labyrinthine as—well, the Knossos labyrinth of legend.
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Europe’s Least Expensive Capital City Crete is remarkably inexpensive, and even the humblest tavernas conjure up feasts. Take Taki-Taki, a taverna on Odoz Minotaypoy in Iraklion’s back streets. OK, Iraklion is only a Greek-island capital, but it’s still a capital. And I don’t know of any other European capital city where a couple can lunch on five dishes for $20. Meat balls...potato omelet...fava (chick peas mashed with olive oil and parsley)...fried zucchini...tangy garlic yogurt called tzatziki. That meager price included bread, water, Greek coffees, and a liter jug of white wine.

You could live well for little. Wandering Chania’s cross-shaped covered market, I saw feta cheese at $2.70/lb, pork for $2.27/lb, and loaves of bread for 72 cents. One realtor told me a normal electricity bill is $390 annually. (Many homes have solar panels providing free hot water for eight months of the year.) The typical yearly water bill is $97. And unless you own a high-value home, there are no annual property taxes.

With a population of around 600,000, Crete is no backwater. As Greece’s largest island  (180 miles long), it deserves time. Lots. I’d recommend it as a separate trip to the usual “Greek Island Hopping.” I visited recently for two weeks and felt I’d barely scratched the surface.

The island has four provinces: Chania, Rethymnon, Iraklion, and Lassithi. Apart from visiting the archaeological museum in Iraklion city and nearby Knossos, I don’t advise spending much time in this province—not unless you’ve a fondness for pizza and chips (fries) washed down with Amstel beer. It would be unfair not to warn you the Iraklion coast seethes with tourists who run a mile from the words “culture” and “tradition.” 
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Enough To Make The Gods Weep Iraklion area resorts are unattractive—and the roadside litter would make the entire pantheon of Greek gods weep. If you doubt me, go look at Gouves, Hersonnisos, and Malia. As the beaches aren’t the island’s best, you may be puzzled why these resorts are so popular. Well, judging by British and Irish vacationers I encountered, undoubtedly it’s because they want sunshine vacations to come with familiar food, barrel-loads of ale, and noisy discos. And they don’t want things too foreign. In these resorts, it’s not necessary to attempt one word of Greek.

Beach on Crete

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Although Crete is now Greece’s most popular destination for foreign holiday-makers, the rest of the island hasn’t suffered the same indignity. While many fishing villages have also been transformed into “resorts” in the three other provinces, they’re not mass-market hell-holes. 

The Place For Serious Sun-Worship

If you’re interested in serious sun-worship, the sea is shallow for a long way out at Rethymnon—and the sands stretch for miles. In the island’s east, Vai is almost like a Caribbean dream of white beach, turquoise waters, and waving palm trees.

If you’re interested in serious sun-worship, the sea is shallow for a long way out at Rethymnon—and the sands stretch for miles. In the island’s east, Vai is almost like a Caribbean dream of white beach, turquoise waters, and waving palm trees.

My favorite coastal village is Elounda, 10 miles from the larger town of Aghios Nikolaos in Lassithi province. The beach isn’t postcard quality, but the village itself is lovely. Sparkling white houses and gardens strung with bougainvillea spill down toward a cute harbor whose tavernas face the Gulf of Mirabello. The sapphire-blue gulf is reputedly the watery realm of Dictynna, the mermaid daughter of Zeus.

Elounda arose from the remains of Olous, a Minoan city that mostly disappeared below the waves centuries ago. When the sea is calm, you can see the ancient walls from the narrow causeway jutting out across the lagoon and old salt pans. Continue along this causeway past the two sail-less windmills and take the stony track to the right. A few yards down are the remains of a fourth-century Byzantine church. All that’s left is a mosaic floor featuring frolicking dolphins, but you feel like you’ve come across a precious find. 

For a burst of city life, hourly buses make the short journey to Aghios Nikolaos. Nicknamed “Ag Nik,” the old part of this coastal town is the prettiest. Behind the harbor, a bridge leads to Voulisimeni “the bottomless lake,” where the goddess Athena is said to have washed her hair.
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Mosque

Banished To Spinalonga Another reason to visit Elounda is for Spinalonga. Only a mile in circumference, Spinalonga is an islet in the Gulf of Mirabello. The name sounds Italian and it is. Spinalonga means “spiny thorn,” and the Venetians turned it into a fortress in 1579. During the Ottoman Empire period, hundreds of Turkish families built homes under the fortress, but after the Greek War of Independence the island reverted to Cretan rule. And guess what they did with it in 1904?  Unbelievable though it seems, Spinalonga became a leper colony. That’s what it remained until 1957 when a cure was discovered for the disease. I hadn’t realized leprosy still existed in 20th-century Europe—nor that people suffered banishment. Effectively a prison, during Spinalonga’s years as a leper colony, 20 babies were born here. A supply boat took them to Crete from whence they were sent to Athens’ orphanages.

The Charms Of Chania

In the far west, under the Lefka Ori (White Mountains), Chania is one town you shouldn’t miss. Sometimes spelled Xania, sometimes Hania, it was Crete’s former capital: its history goes back 5,000 years. The bus station isn’t the best introduction—in the center of what initially appears to be a sprawling, modern metropolis—but things change when you delve into the Old Town’s skinny alleyways. Icon workshops...lyres hanging in dusty musical instrument repair-shops...bursts of white jasmine cascading from archways...more cats snoozing on balconies...the unlikely sights of a pencil-thin minaret above church towers, and a mosque squatting on the waterfront. 

Strung with garlands of colored light bulbs, Chania’s old Venetian harbor at dusk is incredibly photogenic. The water shimmers in waves of crimson, sapphire, and emerald, the Venetian lighthouse sends out its beady wink, and stalls do a steady trade in pistachio nuts. Alleys that were afternoon-silent become thronged. I don’t know if it’s a throwback from Venetian times, but here the volta—the evening stroll—is taken as seriously as Italians take the passegiata. 

Waiters lurk outside café-bars and tavernas, hoping to tempt strollers. Of course, as with harbor fronts everywhere, you pay to enjoy a prime position. There’s far better value in the back streets, though I’ve no complaints about Apostolis, a terraced fish taverna to the right of the old mosque. Here fish is sold by weight. I chose three pan-fried red mullets with a silver snapper to follow. That indulgence cost $24—but my husband’s swordfish steak was only $9. Ambrosial food, bags of ambiance, but I couldn’t understand why the Italians at the next table screeched “aiuto” (help!). We too had forgotten the ritual associated with the bill. This time complimentary raki was accompanied by a bowl of yogurt and honey topped with crystallized quince.

Crowded with locals, another find was Tamam on Zambeliou Street. You think you’re in a cellar, but it’s actually the former plunge pool of a Turkish hamam bath. A mix of our favorite starters, then tender lamb baked with aubergines and a pork dish...a liter of wine...bread...water...Greek coffees: $46. Unless you’re churlish, there’s no escaping freebies here either: raki and sugary-sweet cake.

Some of Chania’s old Venetian palaces remain in states of neglect, but others have been carefully restored. One where you can stay is the 13th-century Palazzo di Pietro. Not a hotel, rather apartments with kitchenettes, it’s on an alley called Agion Deka behind the harbor. All cool stone walls and golden pine floors, it’s romantic perfection—you wake to tinkling church bells in a four-poster bed draped with muslin. 

The palazzo was built by an aristocratic Venetian family, the Ranieris. The present-day owners are direct descendants. Christina Bitzanaki told me the whole family helped with the three years of restoration work. Next door, her sister has a workshop where she runs courses in icon painting and restoration. Not something to take up on vacation—the student I met had already been studying the art for a year. 
Palazzo di Pietro, Agion Deka 13, 73100 Chania, Crete; tel. (30)282-102-0410; fax (30) 282-105-8338; e-mail: cdpietro@otenet.gr; website: www.palazzodipietro.com. 

Europe’s Longest Gorge

Best reached from Chania rather than farther east, Faragi Samarias—the Samaria Gorge —is Europe’s longest gorge. Part of Crete’s only national park, it offers over 11 miles and six hours of hard hiking through a rock-strewn riverbed. I did it on my last visit to Crete 10 years ago—and suffered painful blisters. If you want a taster of the gorge, catch a small ferry from Hora Sfakion on the south coast to Agia Roumeli. On the Libyan Sea, this village is at the gorge’s southern end. 

The Agia Roumeli end is the more interesting. Here the Samaria Gorge is only a yard wide with cliffs towering giddily above. Eagles and falcons ride the air currents, and the wind rushes with banshee-like howls through Sideroportes—the Iron Gates. Five buses a day go from Chania to Hora Sfakion, but the Gorge is only open from May to October. Why? Winter torrents!

Chilling Out In Elounda

Half-hour’s stroll from Elounda harbor, the Grecotel Elounda Village provided my three-day chill-out treat. Set in flowery Mediterranean gardens, it has four pools, a private sandy cove, and water-sports such as wind-surfing, water-skiing, and scuba diving. Wish I’d had time to try everything on offer—the tennis courts, Cretan cookery lessons, botanical walks, language lessons, mountain biking, aerobics, weights, silk-painting, volleyball, and Greek dancing. 

Rooms’ manager Mr. Petrakis told me most guests opt for half-board. I tried the buffet spread one night—excellent—and there’s also à la carte. Daily rates per person for half-board in the hotel or a small whitewashed bungalow cost from $70 to $145 depending on season. Larger bungalows and villas are by unit: $248 to $780 daily.

Grecotel Elounda Village, PO Box 16, GR-72053 Elounda, Crete; tel. (30)284-104-1802; fax (30)284-104-1278; e-mail: sales_ev@grecotel.gr; website: www.grecotel.gr.

Living Under The Cretan Sun

Non-EU citizens need permission to buy on Crete. Although tedious, it generally isn’t a problem to obtain. It’s definitely worth the hassle as prices on Crete have been rising by 10% annually. That said, it still offers incredibly good value. 

It’s a long time since I’ve seen a listing like this: “Kalo Horio: Attractive small house with sea views that can be reverted into a one bedroom property. Total area approx. 70 square meters. In need of minor renovation. Price: $22,000.” ($26,600).

Near Aghios Nikolaos, this village house is admittedly a one-off. Forty-eight thousand to $60,000 is more normal for restored village houses, which is still cheap by European considerations. Ruins cost even less—in the mountains you’ll find them for less than $18,000. Much depends on what you plan to do, but to make a house habitable, the general rule is to add the same again for restoration. If you’ve paid $20,000 for a village house, renovation costs will probably add another $20,000.

You can also buy land and have a home built. Construction costs for fully fitted plastered houses of one or two floors are $1,200 to $1,500 per square meter. Stone-faced houses normally range from $1,500 to $1,900 per square meter; luxury villas up to $2,400 per square meter. Land prices depend on the view that come with it, but there’s no square meter rate. 

In the Rethymnon area, $14,500 buys a 6,444-square-foot plot in Eleftherna village with views of hills, the sea, and permission to build a house of 2,148 square feet. Around Elounda, however, you can pay twice as much for half the size.

There are also small developments. If the idea of Cretan charm combined with  Scandinavian quality appeals, Kreta Eiendom is a Norwegian company with two new developments a short drive from Rethymon. At Pigi, prices start at $110,000 for an apartment with 634 square feet of living space, an additional 634 square feet of terraces, and a small garden.

Real Estate Rolodex

Kreta Eiendom (Julia Benito), Arkadiou 1, 74100 Rethymnon, Crete; tel. (30)283-102-1434; e-mail: julia@kretaeiendom.no; website: www.kretaeiendom.no. 

Europa Real Estate (Johanna Frohlking), Daskalogianni 68, Chania 73100, Crete; tel. (30)282-102-3111; fax (30)282-102-3113; e-mail: johanna@europa-crete.com; website: www.europa-crete.com. 

Crete Home Finders (Don Jones), 13 M. Sfakianakis, Ag. Nikolaos 72100, Crete; tel./fax (30)284-108-9494; e-mail: cretehf@acn.gr; website: www.crete-home-finders.com. 

Crete-Homes (Hilary Dawson), 1 K. Tavlas Street, Ag. Nikolaos 72100, Crete; tel. (30)284-102-8804; fax (30)284-102-6233; e-mail: office@crete-homes.com; website: www.crete-homes.com. 
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