Amari Valley – some pictures

In another post on this site I wrote a long article about one of my favourite places on the island of Crete, the Amari Valley. I have had some requests for photographs of the valley so here we are.
These three photographs are taken from the village of Thronos high on the north side of the [...]

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Sun and Rain

Skywatch
There are times on the island of Crete when you can take a picture that includes both sun and rain. In the picture below we have rain on the mountain and sun at the sea front. Part of the remarkable light that we have on this island.
Here is another shot

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Recent Memories and Memorials

Skywatch
Deep in the heart of Crete, in the forever wonderful Amari Valley high in the hills south of Rethymno there are five or six villages on the western side of the valley on the slopes of the Kedros mountains. These villages, in 1944, were attacked by the occupying Germans and each one was razed to [...]

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M is for Milking Sheep

ABC Wednesday
On Saint George’s day in the village of Asigonia in Crete, the shepherds bring all of the herds down from the mountains to have them milked.
From the other side, it looks just like this:
Then, of course, the milk has to be pasteurised:
Then the milk is given freely to anyone who wants some. The village [...]

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Kazantzakis – The Grave

Skywatch Friday
Nicos Kazantzakis was probably the greatest author to be born on the island of Crete. His books included Zorba the Greek to Freedom or Death. His book, The Last Temptation, was banned by the Pope and his writings in general led to him being excommunicated by the Greek Orthodox Church.  He thus was not [...]

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L is for Lassiti

ABC Wednesday
High in the mountains of Crete there is a plateau which once, some years ago, was famous for windmills. The scene of so many fluttering windmills was a sight to see. It used to look exactly like this.
In fact these were not so much windmills, but windpumps. Almost every field had one and it [...]

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Panagia Chrisoskalitissa Monastery, Elafonisi

Skywatch Friday
The monastery of Panagia Chrisoskalitissa, Our Lady of the Golden Step in English, is in the remote south west of Crete just six Kilometres from the lovely lagoon beach of Elafonisi. And it is glorious.
This photograph was taken when the sunset happened and thank heavens I had my camera to hand for the amount [...]

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K is for Kaiki

ABC Wednesday
K is a wonderful letter for anyone who lives in Crete. In Greek the word for Crete is Kphth (pronounced Kriti). There are so many places that begin with the Greek letter Kappa or K that it is unbelievable. But for me one of the most memorable things about Crete, and of course the [...]

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Kalamaki Sunset

Skywatch Friday
Kalamaki, a village just north of Matala on the Messara coastline of Crete is a place that we have known for many years. Just over twenty years ago we, my wife and I, were there visiting one of the two very small tavernas that were on the beach. There were a few other buildings, [...]

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Rebetiko, the Source of Modern Greek Music

Rebetika is one of those Greek words that has no translation in English. It has been referred to as ‘Greek blues music’ except that it is very different to what we call blues music in English. Today we can go into a Greek record shop and see rebetika music  either in its own section or [...]

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