October 2016, Issue No. 39 www.cretepost.gr
the CHANIA POST Reach thousands of readers every month
your monthly independent free newspaper of Chania
your local FREE newspaper
Offering a selection of local interest articles, interviews, news and views from around the region of Chania and Western Crete
With a local services section, a range of advertisers and pages of free classfieds, Chania Post is an essential resource for anyone living in or just visiting this area
The Captain’s Olive Grove
The former sea captain welcomes visitors among his lovingly kept olive groves
The stars among Cretan wines. Wines of Crete on Financial Times
The story of Europe’s 19th-century phylloxera crisis (American root-feeding insect devastates European vines) is well known. Grafting European vines to naturally resistant native US-vine rootstocks was the solution, practised from the late 19th century onwards — but the tiny insect still has the power to cause trouble. California’s use of the inadequately resistant AxR1 rootstock meant costly replanting there in the 1980s.
She saved her by two men on a remote stretch of beach in Crete Hero Animal of the Year is awarded to Pepper and her owner Georgia Bradley
When holidaymaker Georgia Bradley was approached by two men on a remote stretch of beach in Crete she immediately knew that she was in danger. As she refused their advances they became increasingly aggressive and grabbed her by the arm.
SETE Says ‘No’ to Hotspots at Greece’s Tourist Destinations
German kindergarten uses Cretan dance as therapy
A group of German teachers have incorporated traditional Cretan dances in their Kindergarten school as a therapeutical method for young children. The initiative was taken up by two Germans, who are in love with Crete and are organising Cretan dance seminars to expose their compatriots to an alternative means of promoting the psychological and therapeutical benefits of traditional dance.
The Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE), representing over 50,000 businesses, is calling on the government to reconsider plans to construct so-called hotspots, or refugee registration centers, at major tourist locations across the country.
Ryanair launches Greece’s 2017 schedule More flights to Chania and one new route to Krakow PUBLIC BUS SERVICE
is the Best Affordable and Safe Way to Travel to Chania, Rethymno, Heraklion and to all villages of Southwestern Crete
Be a farmer for a day in Crete
CHANIA POST
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news & articles
An
organic farm near Rethymno in the island’s north-west, teaches visitors traditional skills. The Guardian travel writer Emily Payne mucks in. “I’m at Agreco, a stone-by-stone replica of a 17th-century farm in Adele, a village in the hills above touristy Rethymno, on Crete’s north coast. It has a dairy, a watermill, an olive press, beehives and 11,500 vines – and visitors are invited to come and play farmer for the day. Crete’s economy once relied on fertile plains and mountains. Now these areas attract those looking for a dose of country living; agritourism is on the rise, with farm stays and hands-on rural experiences popping up all over the island. Open to members of the public for day visits, farm tours and dinner, Agreco was created in
2002 by Nikos Daskalantonakis, founder of the Grecotel hotel chain, as a tourist attraction and to encourage local farmers to use organic methods to grow produce for the area’s hotels. Depending on the season, wannabe farmhands can tread grapes in an old stone vat, harvest wheat, help make olive oil, bake bread in a wood-burning oven and pick vine leaves for dolmades. Down below, on the main drag of Rethymno town, tourists mill, postcards gather dust and the sea laps the sand. Up here, where I’m “working”, tiny Byzantine monasteries cling to the mountains, thyme and mint sway in the breeze and birds twitter. The Association of British Travel Agents reports that tourism to Greece – specifically its islands – is up 2% since last year, though Crete’s robust farming sector
means it doesn’t rely on tourism as much as some other islands. At Agreco, everything is organic: duck droppings are used as fertiliser and old feta cheese tins reused for growing herbs. It’s the kind of place where one feels meditative, separate from everyday life. In one afternoon I watch goats’ milk turn to cheese with the addition of hot water and lemon; bite into wild artichokes fresh from the ground, knead bread at the watermill and learn how to shear a sheep. We then sit down for a 30-dish meal in which everything from the boiled eggs and chicken to the plump tomatoes, honey and wine was produced just metres away. Rural, sustainable Crete is flourishing, proving that tourism and the simple life can live side-byside. The Guardian Travel
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CHANIA POST... on the go Read Chania Post wherever you are! ECO friendly paper - Please recycle When you finish reading... give it to a friend Find CHANIA POST at the following points: CHANIA Municipal Market, Airport, Public Bus Central Station, Old Harbour, Municipal Tourist Information Desk PLATANIAS Central Square Infokiosk, Botanical Park KISSAMOS Gramvousa and Balos boats, Elafonissi, Falassarna KANDANOS-SELINO Paleochora Info Desk, Sougia, Kandanos SFAKIA Hora Sfakion Infokiosk, Loutro, Agia Roumeli, ANENDYK boats APOKORONAS Georgioupoli, Kavros, Vamos, Kalyves, Vrysses Also in Chania taxis, Limnoupolis Water Park and in selected cafes, businesses and shops throughout Chania Prefecture.
Live @ Love @ Laugh
Autumn, cloudy, rainy guys
what’s up? Are you already collecting the wood-burning fireplaces or not yet? Mind the first rains and time runs... The best thing to feel this season is the old village coffee shop...stop there and your senses will start dancing. That’s the point...If Angelina stopped in her old village cofee shop, she might have second thoughts and would not divorce. This exact conclusion had said the 80 years old grandmother sittting next to me and i couldn’t stop laughing! Always get your cofee sweet and your truth plain...she continued... AUTUMN TRUE STORIES always gine you a hand to lift up and enjoy the jackets getting out of the closet! Mr Giorgos coffee shop at Spili is unique, you certainly have not lived something similar. In the middle of the coffee shop you will be astonished when
you ‘ll see a sewing machine. ‘’I was tailor at first, I was fixing cretan breeches but then the work stopped. And i thought to convert my store to this coffee shop’’ Laughter, communication and hanging around Crete is the best Life Sharing to Feel! That’s the trophy. And good brains create it! That was the characteristic Mr Giorgos had in his life. He never gave up and he always continued determined! The tailor coffee shop is here for almost 45 years On of his three sons will certainly continue the tradition... Coffee, raki and delicacies ...the best ofti patata ever!!! Every village has a separate traditional coffee shop with a brilliant story Mr Giorgos usually says:
‘’Always my door is open and my backgammon paved so that familiars and foreigners can see it and get in’’ Splendid People always hide the power of surviving with a smile... So let the rain fall and get in the next village coffee shop You might discover the Autumn Guy hiding inside you That guy that oftens invades in
by Pantelis Spiridakis
your mind and wants to change it all Beginning from the small important every day things Always get your cofee sweet and your truth plain So Guys AUTUMN TRUE STORIES always gine you a hand to lift up and check your wood-burning fireplaces Happy October !
SETE Says ‘No’ to Hotspots at Greece’s Tourist Destinations The Greek Tourism Confed-
Ryanair launches Greece’s 2017 schedule
More flights to Chania and one new route to Krakow Ryanair, Europe’s No. 1 air- ter” customer experience proline, launched its Greece summer 2017 schedule, withone new route to Sofia, Bulgaria and more flights to Chania and Mykonos, which will deliver 3.4m customers p.a. and support over 2,600* jobs at Athens International Airport. Ryanair’s summer 2017 schedule will also see more frequencies to sun destinations for family holidays, lower fares (as Ryanair passes on lower fuel costs), an even better customer experience as it rolls out year 3 of its “Always Getting Bet-
gramme, and will deliver: • One new summer flight to Sofia • More flights to Chania (25 per week) • More flights to Mykonos (Daily) • 19 routes in total • 3.4m customers p.a. • Over 2,600* jobs at AIA • Krakow – Chania eff 01APR17 1 weekly (Day 6) *ACI research confirms up to 750 ‘on-site’ jobs are sustained at international airports for every 1m passengers.
and government revenue,” Mr Andreadis said. The letter comes after a surge in the number of refugees flocking to Greek shores over summer and amid Turkey’s threats to annul the March agreement to step up measures and curb migrant inflows from Turkey through Greece to Europe. Mr Andreadis went on to add, that relocation centers must
Eurowings adds new routes to Chania in summer 2017 Eurowings in recent weeks has opened reservation for additional new routes for summer 2017. Latest roaster of newly added routes covering Greece and Cyprus, 1 weekly each. These new service will be operated by germanwings, under 4U-coded flight numbers on Saturdays. • eff 02MAY17 Dusseldorf – Chania • eff 06MAY17 Cologne – Zakinthos • eff 06MAY17 Dusseldorf – Chania • eff 06MAY17 Hanover – Chania • eff 06MAY17 Stuttgart – Larnaca As the airline’s schedule on/after 01MAY17 is now published
in the GDS, previously reported new routes without specified frequencies as follow. These service also operating under germanwings’ 4U-coded flight numbers: • eff 05MAY17 Berlin Tegel – Mykonos 1 weekly (Day 5) • eff 06MAY17 Dusseldorf – Pula 2 weekly (Day 26) RoutesOnline.com
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eration of new hotspots must be based on criteria that will ensure the daily lives of local communities will not be affected, local economy and employment will not be impacted, the operation of tourism enterprises and the quality of tourist services will not deteriorate [and take into consideration] any resultant effects to the image [of the destinations], the arrivals
news & articles
eration (SETE), representing over 50,000 businesses, is calling on the government to reconsider plans to construct so-called hotspots, or refugee registration centers, at major tourist locations across the country. SETE President Andreas Andreadis in a letter to Alternate Interior Minister Yannis Mouzalas this week underlined that hotspots should not be constructed in areas with a strong tourist identity – ie brand name, and that the government’s proposals have raised concerns among tourism professionals. “The planning, creation and op-
not be erected in destinations which are not directly affected by the refugee flows, and stressed that even those serving as crossover points due to their proximity with Turkey, namely Lesvos, Chios, Samos, Leros and Kos, the hotspots must serve only as temporary registration centers from which refugees will then be relocated. SETE’s president underlined that refugee centers should be constructed in sparsely populated areas where there is no tourism development, and added that eventually t h e y may even improve the for more news click on http://cre economy and boost tepost.gr employment.
What to look out for when you buy house insurance in Greece! What is the company’s financial record? What is the agreed timeframe for a claim to be handled? What is the solvency margin of the firm you are about to sign up to? You insurance advisor should be able to answer the above questions. This is much more relevant today as the Bank of Greece will revoke the licence of many insurance firms in the future due to their poor financial performance. 2) Don’t confuse what you paid for your house with re-
Keep in mind that the commercial / sale value is different from the construction cost / insured value. On the other hand make sure you include communal areas such as your pool, garage, patios etc. Your insurance agent should be able to advise you of the right amount of coverage. 3) Content cover in holiday houses: Many insurers will not accept content cover if the house is left unoccupied over a certain number of days. Make sure this
take legal action against them in order to claim their money back! Ask your agent when you receive your compensation check. 5) Deductibles – excess amounts: Low premiums are always attractive. That said, you should have a look at your policy and clarify your participation in case of a claim. There is no point paying for a policy that is full of excess amounts and will never compensate you. Some insurers offer ‘’no-excess plans’’, ask
property is protected. Below are 6 points to take into consideration: 1) The insurance firm: This is the most crucial decision to make! Remember that you are signing up for a potential claim that can reach many thousands of Euros in order to re-built your house.
building costs: The land under your house isn’t at risk from theft, windstorm, fire and the other perils covered in your house insurance policy. So don’t include its value in deciding how much homeowner’s insurance to buy. If you do, you will pay a higher premium than you should.
is clear in your policy. Also make sure what the policy excludes, e.g. jewellery, bank cheques, watches etc. 4) Legal action: If you claim an amount resulting from someone else’s negligence, bad construction / material or deliberate action you may be allowing the insurer to
your insurance advisor. 6) Automatic payments: Connect your credit card to your policy and you might be eligible for a small discount. You can also ask for a ‘’multiple-policy discount’’. Having your car, house, health and life insurance with ONE insurance firm can save you money.
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news & articles
Last year’s earthquake activity in Kefalonia reminded us all of a daunting and by Stavros Tsihlis Insurance & Investment intimidating fact: Advisor Greece in No. 1 in earthquake activity in Europe and No.5 globally! House insurance in Greece is not a luxury but rather a necessity. With the n o right home insurance k c s cli re new st.gr o m r o o f p coverage, you’ll feel /crete http:/ comfortable knowing that, in the event of a disaster, your
She saved her by two men on a remote stretch of beach in Crete
Hero Animal of the Year is awarded to Pepper and her owner Georgia Bradley When holidaymaker Geor- stood by her side until they and the little dog was running as a stray, Georgia paid for vet gia Bradley was approached by two men on a remote stretch of beach in Crete she immediately knew that she was in danger. As she refused their advances they became increasingly aggressive and grabbed her by the arm. Just as Georgia began to panic up ran a scruffy black dog who barked incessantly until the men left. The little stray then
were out of sight. When Georgia went back to her apartment the little dog followed her and finally let her stroke her. They had an instant bond. Georgia and her boyfriend were flying home the next day and she tried in vain to find the dog a home. She took her to an animal shelter and a local vet but was turned away by both. When the couple left to go to the airport, they looked back
after their car. When Georgia got home she couldn’t stop thinking about the dog so she took a flight back out two weeks later. Desperate to be reunited with the dog she began an epic five week mission to find the stray – that involved two further trips to the island. The student was amazed to find the stray on the same beach, in the small town of Georgioupoli, Crete. Having had the dog confirmed
treatment, got her a passport and, after 21 days in quarantine, she was able to bring her home. She named her Pepper. Georgia said “It has been such a crazy journey. But I am over the moon. Pepper has settled in brilliantly.” And in one final twist to the tale, Pepper gave birth to six puppies a week later. Disney couldn’t have written it better themselves!
Small Blessings Summer lasted a bit longer
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in Crete this year. The first by Yannis Xamonakis autumn rain came late in the apokoronasnews.gr second half of September and was a real downpour. And with that much needed rain, a blessing after many months of drought, came the realisation that the summer has gone. For many Greeks who traditionally take their holidays in August, the end of summer is a sad occasion, as they return home to the city where toil and worry on s click ost.gr w e n e r ep will replace the carefor mo ttp://cret h less relaxation of sitting in the village cafeneion or dreaming by the sea or dancing and singing at the local festival. It is perhaps these images of superficial carelessness and enjoying the moment, caused partly by pride and partly by an innate need not to show any signs of material need or weakness that have fostered the convenient, stereotyped image of the Greeks as a care free, indulgent, imprudent, irresponsible people to northern European governments who in the last six years are trying through financial bullying to instil to Greeks a protestant work ethic ‘for their own good’. But it is the care free memories of a summer past and the anticipation of the next one that make it easier for people in this country to get through the cold days of the Greek
winter, putting up with inadequate heating and bad insulation and the everyday reality of an endless crisis, while they struggle with crippling bureaucracy. One such memory from the summer will certainly help me put things into perspective during the times of the frustrating realisation that most dealings with officialdom in this beautiful country do not follow the rules of logic and they have their own unique way of interpreting the limits of what is reasonable. It was in late July that I went with one on my visitors to something different. An informal Greek music event at a friend’s land where a couple of lads from Athens were to play old Greek songs, complete with good food and village wine, for those who have acquired a taste for it after many years of practice, and raki. We sat in the dimly lit garden under a vine covered pergola taking in the warm fragrant air and listening to the cicadas who were carelessly enjoying the summer, singing their life away before the music started. The sweet fragrance of evening flowers -I think they are called Mirabilis Jalapa – acted as a nostalgic reminder of the open air film theatres in the city I grew up, where they were grown in abundance in borders around the cinema, and at ground
level a couple of curious but well behaved cats circulated among the guests . A promising start. The small audience was pretty evenly split between Greeks and Europeans, some living here, some visiting. We had a chance to chat with the other guests. It so happened that we were sharing a table with a couple of professional self employed people who did matter- offactly admitted that they did not know how long more they would be able to continue working under the present conditions. Without wanting to burden the visitors present with their troubles, the conversation focussed on the tourists on the table who were concerned with identifying the different food items in the dim garden light. My companion who had by then developed a taste for the raki was gazing at the sky. Not very often you see the stars so clearly in the city. When the lightly amplified music started, the Greeks took turns to get up and skilfully dance on the gravel while singing along to the familiar old tunes. After a while they started to draw in the foreign visitors who joined enthusiastically and had a wonderful time. So, I was left on the table with one of the self employed Greeks.
“They think this is paradise” I remarked pointing to our dancing non Greek friends. “And they probably think life is like this all the time” he sniggered. “If only ...”. And there, after a few hours of song and dance and talk, came the realisation that the culture of enjoying life is not responsible for the country’s ills. It is not that the Greeks lived like the cicadas of the fable and brought upon themselves the fate they deserved. It is the other way around. What could be called the ‘opa!’ culture has probably developed as a result of the country’s ills, as an escape mechanism to make life bearable for a people who have lived under successive waves of occupation and have experienced many different forms of hardship in their everyday life. All of which they tolerate with a fatalistic acceptance and a shrug. And that the song and dance and the enjoyment of life is just another small blessing on this land, one which offers a way of coping with the hard realities of winter and with a future they can scarcely be controlled or anticipated. And as the first rains came and another round of dealing with the problems of daily life has started, last summer’s memories are still there. And there is always next year for some more.
Is The EU A Modern Day Company Store? by Hobson Tarrant
In America around the turn
of the century many coal mines and logging camps in the extreme wilds came complete with a Company Store. This store was owned by the company and because of the lack of competition could set the rules of trade and prices to suit the owner’s pockets and not the employee’s needs. Because workers wages were very low and the store prices high, credit for purchases was not only allowed but encouraged to ensure that employees were always in debt to the company and therefore held
vulnerable and easy to manipulate. How similar this sounds to the current situation of Greece and its principle lender, Germany. Since Greece had its infrastructure, manufacturing base and even human resources decimated less than eighty years ago by the German occupation of the Second World War, it has struggled to revive its capacity to survive economically without external support. Indeed the offer to join the European Union, originally viewed as a big club working for the mutual benefit of all, must have sounded like a lifeline at the offset, however the
initial creators with their grand social dreams moved on over time, leaving in their wake the money men and power merchants. Now effectively under New Management the European model has been carved by stealth into a loosely defined north and south divide, the North having the wealth and desire to rule, the South becoming the cash strapped pawns who have no choice but to be sucked into this new monopoly of supply and demand.... A Company Store by any other name? Not convinced? Then look at the maths of re-
cent bailout funds, the vast proportion of any money released with scowling faces by Europe goes directly back into German, French, Luxemburg and others banks to pay off the interest on the loans. Billions may come in, but scarcely millions ever see their way into job creation or industrial development schemes. It is my opinion, for what it is worth, that the EU structure would be in shock if Greece and other struggling European countries ever got their financial houses in order as the Company Store model would be broken and with it Greece’s current enforced vulnerability.
The demise of the Greek village The
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transition was drastic. So swift and sweeping it was, that it by Panagiotis took merely Terpandros Zachariou one generation, before it even aged, to witness the death of a world that had been smoothly unraveling for over three millennia and the establishment of that which killed it. The said generation is that of the postwar ck on li c r s Greek baby boomers, .g re new epost for mo ttp://cret h a breed of an affluent era, born in the 50s and 60s. The majority of these sons and daughters of Hellas was either born in some village of the country or often visited uncles, aunts and grandparents that resided in a village that even electricity had not reached yet. They were the last to experience the biorhythms of a world interwoven with pastoral and agricultural timelessness, a world that sustained the ramifications of Hellenism with all the wisdom and imagination that had wrought warriors, language and legends. “Do not approach the springs at night, little one, for the Nereids will take your voice away,” a grandfather would caution his grandchild, even if the former had never read Hesiod’s references to the daughters of Nereus, or the Naiads, water nymphs that dwelled in springs and rivers. Ancient wisdom and traditions had flowed down to him naturally over the millennia and were intertwined with his daily existence. The murmur of water that flowed in the ditches towards the fields, the children’s playing hide-and-seek in the groves
and the trunks of ancient olive trees, the swaying flame of the clay oil lanterns that illuminated the rooms of stone-built homes, the wake up of the rooster and the legends of wild nature are sounds and images that the very generation that experienced them was to deprive their children of. If this nostalgic reminiscence of a human society that toiled and laboured for its bread and butter, wresting a living against the elements of nature, comes on as overly romantic, on appraisal of the current order of things one can enumerate what has been lost along with the toil and labour. Electricity, paved roads, concrete and the plastic that eventually reached the village did alleviate the workload from the villager, but also collected their toll on the human spirit and psyche. Electricity brought on the mass media that homogenized language, thought and created needs until then nonexistent; the paved roads brought politicians who promised villagers
job security for their children in the public sector in cities in exchange for votes and emptied the province of its youth; concrete brought on easy building solutions and totally altered the harmony of the traditional stone-adorned human imprint on the natural environment, whilst plastic pipes ridded the peasant of his manual digging to irrigate his fields and at the same time swallowed up the soothing murmur of running water and, with it, all the flowing legacy of traditions. Some time later came the subsidies for the producers. And while the coverage of basic needs once moderated a villager’s intervention in the environment, whole forests were uprooted or burned for the planting of subsidized monocultures or the overgrazing of subsidized goats and sheep. Politics and Nature? What a mismatch! GREEK VILLAGER You’ve cast down your spade and abandoned it;
Cretan Gunners Rugby Club... Season Started Cretan
Gunners Rugby Club the first and only rugby club on the island of Crete have now resumed training after a break for the summer.
This season it is hoped that a number of matches will be arranged against other Greek clubs before applying to enter the National League. Training is at a new venue
that of the Technical University of Crete on Mondays and Wednesdays 6.15 to 8.00pm on the 5-a-side pitch. If you have not played before are aged between 17 and 35
along with your soul, it’s forsaken. Your sweat is no longer libation to soil, your body to strengthen. In the square lies the stump of a poplar tree. Devoid of its leaves is the concrete that you’ve poured so generously over it, to cover the soil that wrought it. The slope of the mountain deforested, You’ve stripped it of all the old legends. The wood nymphs have mourned it, abandoned it, but Artemis will have her vengeance! Serpents of plastic their length uncoil to suckle on springs in the mountains. They’ve also devoured the Naiads, who dwelled there and danced in their fountains. Serenity lay in your olive groves, whose venerable trees you’ve uprooted. Their time-engraved trunks are now firewood. Your link to the past has been looted. You’ve moved to rectangular dwellings, deserting your homes of tradition. Encompassed in structures of concrete, what dreams perchance come to fruition? Deservedly sit you and contemplate your ravaging feats on the rustic that breed your inertia and indolence. How becoming your frame looks on plastic!
want to get fit and try something new, then please come and join us. Visit the clubs facebook page for information or to make contact with the club.
24 Hour Guarded Parking
Car Wash
A. ENTRANCE & EXIT 9-11, Grigoriou 5th str. (Kolokotroni Square) B. ENTRANCE & EXIT Markou Botsari str.(opp. old cinema “Apollon”) Tel:+3028210 86066 - Fax:+3028210 86076
The Kataifi Master of Crete Each
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morning, 82-year-old Giorgos Chatziparaschos’s bicycle pedals clank and echo down the cobblestone streets of the Venetian-era port city Rethymnon, on the island of Crete. For almost 60 years, he’s parked his bike in front of a 17th-century building where a simple hand-painted sign reveals his family name and his family business. By eight o’clock he has donned his apron and hat, and with the steely determination that underlies his work ethic, he begins to roll out the n dough. o s click ost.gr re new ep Chatziparaschos is one for mo ttp://cret h of the only pastry makers in Greece specializing in handmade kataifi. The traditional phyllo pastry looks like shredded wheat, with strands as thin as vermicelli. In its final form, it is baked into traditional syrupy Greek desserts drenched in honey, including a dessert that goes by the same name, as well as baklava and various types of cookies. Sprinkled with the right balance of cinnamon and chopped nuts, kataifi is one of Greece’s most loved desserts. “Pastry has its own rules,” Chatziparaschos says, and the rules he abides by are special to his dessert workshop, a whitewashed, high-ceilinged room with a large table at the center for preparing dough. On a
table in another corner, the final products are displayed for sale. Faithfully managing the cashier as she wraps and arranges the boxed sweets is Katerina, Chatziparaschos’s loyal business partner and wife of 50 years. While the ingredients are simple – flour, water, and some salt – the proportions according to Chatziparaschos took years of trial and error. He creates a fluid mixture that he drops in motion into a special machine that sits in a back room, a hot copper pan that doesn’t stop spinning. Over gas flames, the equipment helps him create hundreds of thin baked kataifi strings. With quick and sure movements like a one-
man assembly line, Chatziparaschos pulls and pops dough, creating the right dimensions for the optimum result. He points to a few German and Greek newspaper articles pinned to a wooden board, each one documenting how his little workshop has been a popular stop for tour groups visiting Rethymnon. However, as Katerina explains, it’s local word of mouth that has gotten them by. The only extent of their “marketing” efforts is the warm and inviting smell of her husband’s dough wafting out the door into the centuries-old harbor town. “Syrup, nuts, lots of love and affection is the basis for the best natural phyllo dough,” Chatzi-
paraschos says. “This is what people have come to know, why they come back for more and what I have taught my family.” Chatziparaschos’s son, Paraskevas, an engineer, has decided to take over the kataifi business. His grandsons, 22-year-old Stelios, who is studying to be a teacher, and 16-year-old Giorgos, help every summer. Still, Chatziparaschos says he worries about the future of the workshop, which must compete with the price and speed of mass-made Greek desserts. He adds that Greece’s current economic crisis hasn’t helped business either. Neither stops him from moving forward. “People tell me I shouldn’t work anymore. The doctor says I shouldn’t bike so much and to relax, but I am a bit stubborn,” says Chatziparaschos, his gray eyes wrinkling as he lets out a chuckle. “As for this job, what can I say but that I love this job.” He adds, with feeling: “I can’t be away from my kataifi yet… No, I cannot part with it yet.” So every evening, at eight o’clock, he closes up the workshop with Katerina. She begins her usual walk home and he gets back on his bicycle. He’ll be back in the morning. Culinary Backstreets
The Vela Incident In the early post WW2 years
major nations strived to develop nuclear weapon technology. Testing was causing considerable harm not only to the environment but fallout was drifting outside the territorial limits of the State under whose jurisdiction or control such a test was conducted. A US led initiative under President John F Kennedy resulted in the Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT) that was signed in 1963. The PTBT was initially signed by the Soviet Union, USA and the United Kingdom. The PTBT banned any signatories from conducting nuclear weapon tests in the atmosphere, in outer space and under water. To ensure compliance with the PTBT (mainly by Soviet Union) the USA launched the Vela series of satellites between 1963 and 1970 that could detect a nuclear detonation. They could not precisely pinpoint the location only determine a broad area where a device was detonated. In 1979 a satellite detected an event that suggested a nuclear explosion had taken place contrary to the PTBT and has become known as the Vela Incident. The event was immediately classified and even today much of the data surrounding this incident still
remains classified. But over the years, more data has been released firstly in the form of a heavily redacted report issued in 1980 and later by other related evidence or claims from credible sources that have become public knowledge. Vela satellites had a nominal life of seven years but two of the later versions were kept in operation beyond nominal design life. All Vela series were installed with a variety of sensors to measure X-rays, neutrons and gamma rays and on the later models two light sensors were installed to detect emissions of light from a nuclear explosion. A light sensor, known as Bhangmeter (pronounced bang meter), was designed to detect the double flash from a nuclear explosion i.e. light intensity. Basically is it a very advanced form of a solar cell (a silicon photodiode) that generates an electrical current and has a high speed timer circuit. In a nuclear detonation there is a first flash from the bright fireball caused by the actual detonation of the weapon. It lasts for about 1ms, and is then hidden by the expanding shock wave. The second flash is caused due to the cooling of the ionized gas shock wave, which allows light from the fireball to escape and illuminate the
surrounding area. Bhangmeter data was converted into a graph type read out showing current strength (light intensity) against time for each flash event. This showed as two peaks on the graph separated by a pause in time. The peaks and time could also be used to determine the weapon’s nuclear yield. On the 22nd September 1979 data from Vela satellite 6911 (with Bhangmeters) showed evidence of a double flash consistent with a nuclear detonation. The incident occurred in the Indian Ocean SE of South Africa near Antarctica. Moments after the satellite detected a possible nuclear explosion an unusual, fast-moving ionospheric disturbance was detected by the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. At about the same time a distant, muffled thud was overheard by the US Navy’s undersea Sound Surveillance System (SOSUS). Evidently something violent and explosive had transpired in the ocean off the southern tip of Africa. The then US President Jimmy Carter and his administration placed considerable emphasis on nuclear non-proliferation, therefore the US would be expected to respond harshly to any confirmed atmospheric test. President Carter ordered the cre-
by Gil Holton
ation of an advisory panel, with what appeared to be a special emphasis on seeking non-nuclear explanations. Investigations were initiated one to study the Vela satellite and its data and the other was conducted by the government’s Los Alamos facility that carries out classified work in science and technology. The data from both investigations was used to produce a then classified report by the Director of Central Intelligence Titled ‘The 22 September 1979 Event’. This document was later released under the freedom of information laws but heavily redacted. Political and intelligence cooperation quickly established that of the known countries that had already carried out nuclear detonations. it was not any of them (i.e. Soviet Union, USA, UK, China and France). The estimated nuclear yield was small and typical of a ‘first test’. Intelligence led data suggested the two countries most likely to have conducted a test was either South Africa or Israel or collaboration of the two. South Africa has the uranium source and Israel had the motive due to the continuing Middle East conflict at the time. Examination of the data from Vela 6911 strongly suggested that the cause of these distur-
The stars among Cretan wines. Wines of Crete on Financial Times tury phylloxera crisis (American root-feeding insect devastates European vines) is well known. Grafting European vines to naturally resistant native US-vine rootstocks was the solution, practised from the late 19th century onwards — but the tiny insect still has the power to cause trouble. California’s use of the inadequately resistant AxR1 rootstock meant costly replanting there in the 1980s. On Crete, however, the problem was a different one. Phylloxera only reached the Mediterranean’s fifth largest island in the 1970s, just as mass tourism was taking off and as Greek aspirations turned, following the fall of its military junta in 1974, towards its European neighbours. When the vineyards were replanted, it seemed logical to choose fashionable French varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Syrah in place of indigenous varieties. Crete, though, is not only the source of a significant volume of Greek wine (the mountain foothills behind Heraklion are the country’s second-biggest wine-producing zone), but Cretan wine traditions are also of extraordinary antiquity. In February, I visited a Cretan wine press constructed in late Minoan times, at about 1580 BCE; it is still surrounded by vines. Two hours later, I stood on the lip of a treading tank carved into a limestone rock at a time when Crete was the Venetian colony of Candia, between
the 13th and 17th centuries. They are less than 20km apart, yet more than 2,500 years of wine-making history stretch between the two sets of stones. The move from native varieties, producing fascinating, gastronomically adaptable wines, to immigrant northerners, producing wines only weakly differentiated from similar varietals the world over, now looks to have been an error. Greece’s economic turmoil has seen consumption on Crete dwindle. Foreign importers, by contrast, prefer true Cretan varietals and blends. “Crete was the last Greek region to join the quality revolution,” says regional specialist and author Nico Manessis, “but it is now Greece’s most vibrant wine region. The potential of its native varieties has a lot to do with that.” Given that Heraklion lies south of Tehran, Tunis and Algiers, you might assume that conditions are uniformly hot and that Crete is therefore a land of sturdy reds. In fact, some 68 per cent of Cretan production is of white wine, generally bottled between 12.5 per cent and 13 per cent. The reason is altitude. Average temperatures tend to drop by 1C or so for each gain of 180m, and most of Crete’s vineyards lie between 200m and 900m above sea level; they are therefore much cooler than raw latitude would suggest. Technically, too, it is easier to produce pristine, fresh, young white wine than serious gastronomic red wines, where the production process is longer and more hazard-strewn. The indigenous star among Cre-
tan whites is a grape variety called Vidiano, originally from the coastal city of Rethymno. Depending on the altitude at which is it grown, Vidiano can vary from fresh, green and sappy, like a southern echo of Sauvignon Blanc, to peachy and creamy, with a cascade of petal foam more evocative of Viognier or Roussanne. Thrapsathiri is another local variety which can astonish with its delicacy and scented charm (its fragrant slightness can evoke Galician Albariño). The widely planted Vilana struck me as more typically “Greek”: structured and lemony. It makes an amenable blending partner. Dafni is the white Cretan variety with the most memorable name, and good examples can indeed smell and taste of the bay leaves that name evokes in Greek. The star for me among the red varieties is, in fact, Crete’s most widely planted: Liatiko. Its pale colour, rich natural sugars and propensity for oxidation mean that it often ends up as a sweet wine — but the grandest Liatiko emerges in dry form, when its generous tannins have been leached from the skins to balance that natural sweetness. It also blends exceptionally well with another indigenous red variety called Mandilari, which is its opposite: deeply coloured and much more acidic but lacking the central palate fleshiness that Liatiko has in abundance. Kotsifali is a third indigenous red which in general makes a fruitier and simpler wine than either Liatiko or Mandilari. Widespread use of the Crete PGI (Protected Geographical
Indication) means that, helpfully, these grape variety names often appear on labels. Crete’s version of sub-regional appellations is still in its infancy, but the limestone foothills of Heraklion’s hinterland are certainly the island’s leading quality-wine zone at present. Look out for the PDOs (Protected Designation of Origin) of Dafnes (Liatiko reds), Archanes (red Kotsifali and Mandilari) and Peza (white Vilana and red Kotsifali and Mandilari). A second Cretan area of great potential is found in the lower-lying Lasithi zone to the east of the island, in the PDO of Sitia. One of the two leading producers here is the lonely monastery of Toplou; its wines are made by for more n ews click o Manolis Stafilakis on ben http://cre tepost.gr half of the nine monks. Red clay, schist soils and dry, windy, arid conditions provide both whites and reds with much greater density and succulence than the high-altitude Heraklion hinterland. The other is the domain of Yiannis Economou, who crafts autumnal reds which can evoke those of the Piedmontese foothills around Alba, where he first trained. Leading Cretan Producers • Alexakis • Diamantakis • Douloufakis • Economou • Idaia • Klados • Lyrarakis • Miliarakis • Monastery of Toplou • Silva
bances was a nuclear device. The pattern of flashes (peaks on the graph) was consistent with that of prior detected nuclear detonations, and no other phenomenon was known to produce the same millisecond-scale signature on the graph readout. However, the graph readouts from the pair of Bhangmeters on Vela 6911 did not quite match (peaks on both Bhangmeters not identical), being described by experts as a phase anomaly. No corroboration of an explosion, such as the presence of nuclear byproducts in the air, was ever publicly acknowledged, even though there were numerous sorties carried out by USAF aircraft specifically designed to detect airborne radioactive dust. Owing to the lack of radioactive fallout and the inconsistent Bhangmeter data, the investigators were unwilling to conclude that a nuclear bomb was responsible. Instead, they suggested that a micrometeorite had struck the satellite, dislodging particles which had reflected light back onto the photosensitive instruments. Another theory they considered was that a lightning ‘super bolt’ had mimicked the distinct nuclear bomb pattern. Several articles have been written by eminent scientists and conspiracy theorists to challenge these findings. In the years that followed, some
new Vela related details have surfaced. With the collapse of the South African apartheid in the early 1990s, much of the information regarding their nuclear weapons program was made public. Among these revelations were documents indicating that their first functional nuclear weapon was not constructed until November 1979, two months after the Vela incident. In 1994, a South African naval officer Dieter Gerhardt was convicted of being a Soviet spy. He claimed that the flashes were the result of Operation Phoenix, a joint Israeli/South African weapons test conducted under the cover of bad weather. The explosion was clean and was not supposed to be detected, Gerhardt claimed, but they were not as smart as they thought, and the weather changed – so the Americans were able to pick it up. He did not claim to be directly involved with the operation, stating instead that he had learned of it though unofficial channels. Gerhardt’s description of the explosion as ‘clean’ suggests that, if his account is accurate, the device may have been a neutron bomb: an atomic device with increased neutron radiation and decreased fallout. Israel has never openly admitted to possessing nuclear weapons although it could be argued that
it is the world’s worst kept secret that it does have them. In 1986 a former Israeli nuclear technician named Mordechai Vanunu gave a reporter of the Times (London) photographs and descriptions of Israeli atomic weapons and its facility at their Negev Nuclear Research Center. This research center had been known about since the 1960’s. Shortly before the article was printed, Vanunu was abducted in Italy by Israeli Mossad agents, and imprisoned for his treason. As the 1970,s were drawing to a close, the global political situation was uncertain. Peace in the Middle East was imminent for some, while others in the region, Iran in particular, were witnessing a dramatic revolution. Many eminent scholars, scientists and ex-intelligence personnel who claim that the Vela Incident was a nuclear explosion also tend to speculate that it was the result of a weapons test by Israel (with or without South Africa). It does seem logical as the 1979 Revolution in Iran saw a new regime under the leadership of Ayatollah Khomeini come into being with one of its objectives to wipe Israel off the map. Because of Israel’s close ties with the US, President Carter’s administration was under significant pressure to cover up the
Vela Incident. Not only would such a test by a close ally undermine the US’s new commitment to nuclear weapons reductions, but it would have placed President Carter in the awkward position of either sanctioning Israel (and alienating the Jewish wing of the Democratic Party) or not and then risking the wrath of the anti-nuclear element. Experts argue the administration took the easy way out, and blamed the double flash on a technical glitch. A recent article in a British tabloid (2016) estimated that Israel has around 200 small yield tactical nuclear weapons. As with any invention nuclear technology both peaceful and military cannot be dis-invented. Thus with all the goodwill in the world the idea that to totally eradicate nuclear weapons and its technology as with a disease, (albeit honorable), is not practical. History and the human race are riddled with constant conflicts - the strongest wins so for Israel to want a deterrent to the ever expanding threats against it seems logical. With nuclear weapons it is not a country that is known to hold them (even though not officially admitted) that is necessarily the greatest danger, it is a terrorist group or rogue individual who strives or has acquired one that should terrify us.
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news & articles
The story of Europe’s 19th-cen-
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German kindergarten uses Cretan dance as therapy A group of German teachers
have incorporated traditional Cretan dances in their Kindergarten school as a therapeutical method for young children. The initiative was taken up by two Germans, Pavlos and Thalassini (the Greek names they have adopted), who are in
love with Crete and are organising Cretan dance seminars to expose their compatriots to an alternative means of promoting the psychological and therapeutical benefits of the traditional dance. The two organisers say that Cretan dancereally holds some more profound qualities for
dealing with feelings of sorrow and happiness, almost redemptive. ‘Through the dance you learn how to give and take. It is an understanding that occurs not with the mind but with the rhythm’. They even refer to a saying by the famous Greek philosopher,
Plato who said that those who have not danced are uneducated. The two have introduced the Cretan dance into German Kindergarten, as one of the group’s members isa special education teacher and have seen positive results in how the children interact with each other. sleep. Of course she has a peaceful night!
OFF
“Alarms and excursions” by Niall Finn I’m due out early, set the clock But then my thoughts all run amok; At intervals throughout the night They wake me up in sudden fright – I’ve overslept! I didn’t hear! Could I be deaf now in that ear? Like criminals back at the crime Compulsively I check the time – So often that I get a cramp From switching on the bedside lamp. Beside me, she is breathing deep Each time I struggle back to
I struggled then to understand Why she stood there with in her hand The mangled bits of my alarm. I heard her say with icy calm “This thing was meant to waken you; And not to scare my socks off too!”
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A poem wrote in alphabet Because the challenge is seldom met Claw for words and lines of sooth Deeds of yore or from ones youth Every word must flow and sway For thus the poem finds it’s way Go deep or shallow who will know How twists the rhyme it’s path to go It may be brash It may be bold Just toe the line I have been told Kick out the old and find the new Lick boots if must leave mind to stew
Madness lurks at every turn Now souls they watch the goodness burn Oh sad winter of modern form Prowls evils smell proud life to harm Quests of power religion too Recite the words as proof anew So was that what the good books meant To slay thy neighbour purpose spent Useless speeches made from high Verify how feeble words flow by We once believed in common good X-rays solved ills of neighbourhood Yet now the illness lurks too deep Zoom not unto our futures keep.
culture
“Life” - by Hobson Tarrant An alphabet poem (Α-Z)
She doesn’t have an early flight. When I give up, it’s half past five. Dozy, dopey, half alive for mo re I take a healing, http:// news click on cretep ost.gr soothing shower
The Captain’s Olive Grove
The former sea captain welcomes visitors among his lovingly kept olive groves For 15 years, the land and tend his cattle and with the nearby olive oil bot- boxes preferable to the tradi-
p. 16
all about olive oil
Ky r i a k o s Makratzis traveled the world by Emm. Karpadakis as a ship captain. Speaking with me under his olive trees in the midst of last November’s harvest, however, he summarized those years of adventure in a few sentences and instead focused on what happened after on his first son was born for more news click r http://cretepost.g and he gave up seafaring and his respected maritime position to return to his family farm in Kontomari, Crete. Planting 2,000 Koroneiki olive trees between his father’s orange trees and his grandfather’s grapevines, Kyriakos gradually transformed much of the farm into an olive grove. Today, it is the olives that are transformed; the Cretan company Terra Creta uses them to help create some of their internationally award-winning extra virgin olive oils. The captain’s harvest roams the world in treasured bottles while he remains rooted in the land of his forefathers. Makratzis knows this land well. After school and during summers throughout his childhood, he helped his father farm
goats. When he finished school, he escaped to the sea, just as his father had before him. He’d heard his father’s stories of his time as an engineer in the Greek Navy during World War II and his later work in the merchant marines, and Kyriakos wanted to follow in those footsteps, but with one difference; from the start, he had set his sights on becoming a captain, so he wouldn’t have to get his hands dirty every day – at least not onboard. He did get them dirty on shore leave; he returned to help with the harvestevery year. Rather than spending the summers on scenic Cretan beaches, he took his annual leave in the autumn in order to help harvest the olives that seemed to call to him from across the seas. “Every year, this time of year, I came back and I kept it alive,” he said. “‘I’m very proud of what I’m doing. I was a captain, and every year I left the vessel to come here and collect my olives.’ He did this even though all the oil he produced wasn’t worth more than a month’s salary at sea.” “Dedicated to producing the best possible product, Makratzis is one of a new team of farmers who, with the help of a scientific advisor affiliated
tling and export company, Terra Creta, works exclusively with early harvest olives. ” When he first returned to the land, Makratzis used to work his farm with just one helper; later, his son Lefteris, now a university student, joined him on occasion. In recent years, he has hired migrant laborers
tional burlap bags because the crates protect the olives from being crushed or getting too hot on the way to the mill; cooler olives yield higher quality oil. Dedicated to producing the best possible product, Makratzis is one of a new team of farmers who, with the help of a scientific advisor affiliated
to help with the harvest. He showed me what they worked with: top-of-the-line portable electric harvesters that look like extra long, extra thick aluminum broomsticks with black carbon rods at the end. These tools dislodge the olives gently, knocking them down into the green netting without damaging either the trees or the fruit. The olives are then transferred to ventilated plastic
with the nearby olive oil bottling and export company, Terra Creta, works exclusively with early harvest olives. Their goal is to use new techniques to improve on traditional methods so as to produce larger quantities of high-quality, extra healthy early harvest olive oil. During the harvest, Makratzis prunes the highest branches of his trees; the olives couldn’t be reached otherwise. From
seasonal workers move around so much, some leaving the region or even the island in search of work, Makratzis needs to hire and train new teams every year to get them ready for the challenges they face. Nets get holes in them, and machines
either. Few people appreciate farming or village life in Greece these days, Makratzis told me. Young people head off to the cities of Greece, Europe or the USA, looking for easier lives. They think of farming as lowly
employment. But Makratzis insisted, “I’m very proud of what I’m doing. I was a captain, and every year I left the vessel to come here and collect my olives.” He did this even though all the oil he produced wasn’t worth more than a month’s salary at sea. “Sometimes I thought I was crazy. It’s not the money; I didn’t need the money.” So why did he do it? Although it takes
out food. I don’t even need to go to the market. I can pick my olives, my lemons, onions and tomatoes, so I can survive,” he stated with pride. Makratzis believes most people don’t fully understand this kind of pride, or this sense of belonging. “You must make a round trip of your life to understand,” he said. “I visited the whole world – Borneo, New Zealand, Alaska, Vancouver, Indonesia, Japan, Russia – everywhere. Yet I feel like I never left.” He considers Crete: “the best place in the world.” That day last year, he spoke of its mild fall and winter and of the perfect climate and soil for some of the world’s best produce. The soil is generous; he earns for mo re n a living as a farmer, al- http://creteewp s click on ost.gr though, as he pointed out to me, “The weather is the captain here,” so he’s never sure exactly how much his farm will produce. Nonetheless, he is certain it will be enough. His words to me as I left him under the shade of his trees? “The earth can give me everything.” “His words to me as I left him under the shade of his trees? ‘The earth can give me everya great deal of effort, he want- thing.’” ed to collect his olives because, as he said, “The oil is mine.” It’s Source something, he explained, that -http://www.greece-is.com/captains-olive-grove/ he himself had produced. That means something to him. “I Special thanks to Mrs Lisa Radinovsky won’t be like a homeless per- and http://greekliquidgold.com/inson who dies in a big city with- dex.php/en
p. 17
always need new parts. Mice bite into irrigation hoses while searching for water, creating leaks that have to be patched. When rain catches his crew by surprise, they have to dash around to cover the machines and remove all the harvested olives. It’s hard work. And while Makratzis planted his olive trees to bring in more money than oranges or grapes, olives don’t make Greek farmers rich,
all about olive oil
the severed branches, the olives are removed with a machine that, seen from the side, looks a bit like a barbecue grill. Every afternoon, all the olives harvested that day are taken to Terra Creta’s mill to be pressed, since prompt pressing is essential for thebest quality oil. This is not an easy life. During harvest-time, Makratzis gets up at 5:30 in the morning and is with his crew by 7:30. Because
How to plant, grow and take care of aster flowers Asters
are daisy-like perennials with starry-shaped flower heads. They bring delightful color to the garden in late summer and autumn when many of your other summer blooms may be fading. The plant’s height ranges from 8 inches to 8 feet, depending on the type. You can find an aster for almost any garden and they have many uses, such as in borders, rock gardens, or wildflower gardens. Asters also attract butterflies to your garden! Planting • Asters prefer climates with cool, moist summers, especially cool night temperatures. • Select a site with full sun to partial sun. • Soil should be moist, well-
drained, and average to humus-rich. • Plany asters in early- to midspring. Fertilize soil prior to planting. • While the plant can be grown from seed, germination can be uneven. You can start the seeds indoors during the winter by sowing seeds in pots or flats and keeping them in the refrigerator for 4 to 6 weeks. After 4 to 6 weeks, put the seeds in a sunny spot. • Set seeds one inch deep. • Many gardeners purchase a potted plant from the nursery. • Space asters 1 to 3 feet apart, depending on the type. • Water plants in well. Add mulch after planting to keep soil cool and prevent weeds.If you’re replanting shoots, use vigorous, young shoots to ensure best growth.
Care • Add a thin layer of compost with a 2–inch layer of mulch around the plants every spring. • If you receive less than 1 inch of rain a week, remember to water your plants regularly during the summer. However, many asters are moisture-sensitive; if your plants have too much moisture or too little moisture, they will often lose their lower foliage or not flower well. Keep an eye out for any stressed plants and try a different watering method if your plants are losing flowers. • Stake the tall variesties in order to keep them upright and remember to pinch the young shoots to encourage bushiness. • Cut asters back in winter after the foliage has died. • Divide every 2 to 3 years in the
spring to maintain your plant’s vigor and flower quality.
Pests/Diseases • Susceptible to powdery mildew, rusts, white smut, leaf spots, stem cankers, aphids, tarsonemid mites, slugs, snails, and nematodes. Choose disease-resistant varieties. Recommended Varieties • King George (Aster amellus), for its large, violet–blue flowers • Silver spray (Aster cordifolius), for its pink-tinged white flowers • Nanus (Aster thomsonii), for its star-shaped, lilac–blue flowers Wit & Wisdom Asters, one of Autumn’s birth flowers, were once burned to ward off serpents.
p.18
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Wardrobe cabinets are colour matched to your door choice and are supplied complete with sliding doors, aluminium track and fittings.
Do Cretan Dogs Make The Best Pets In The World? The opinion of an Englishman by Hobson Tarrant
Over the years my wife and
I have travelled to many countries, France, Germany, America, Sri Lanka, Jamaica, Antigua, to name but a few, but never have we come across the like of the Cretan Dog. In most countries dogs unaccompanied by an owner are beasts to steer well clear of and that can include our own homeland of the United Kingdom. In such places a dog roaming free may quite fairly be suspected of being vicious and intent on biting, or of being so crazed by starvation that it will attack for food, it may be infected by terrible diseas-
on r s click re new cretepost.g o m r o / f :/ p t t h
es like rabies and then there are those simply trained to inject fear as an extension of its owner’s social shortcomings. But then comes the Cretan Dog, despite a history of farmers and small landowners maltreating their dogs in all manner of dreadful ways, the vast majority of unkempt and wasted canines found unloved on the street or in barrels have the most loving of temperaments and many even hold amazing levels of intelligence. Indeed the majority of Cretan dogs are so human friendly that countries such as Germany, Finland and many others even pay for the strays to be exported to their native countries as pets in preference to
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mented some four thousand years ago as the finest small game hunting dog in the whole of Europe and is recognised as such even now. Yes the same thoroughbred strain exists still today but don’t be surprised to see very few, because as in the years gone by owners of such fine beasts keep them well under lock and key when not hunting, but many a less than pure blood can easily be found on many a barrel chain. So for loyalty, an insatiable appetite for fun, human telepathy and a spritely spirit the Cretan Dog found on any street corner could well, in my opinion, make the best pet in the world.
Animal Abuse on Crete
then he took the dog We come to Crete for the affraid last 15 years about 35 times, inside and he didn`t came out walked a lot of gorges and anymore, every time when he came home the dog did his klimbed mountains. We love the island and have a needs inside and we hear the lot of friends, the last 6 years dog crying when he beats him we found our destination in up. Agia Galini,in all these years we I couldn`t listen to it anymore brought two dogs home (Raki so i went tot he owner of the roooms (giorgos-Pela rooms) and Ouzo) And been flight escort for he called the president of many dogs to Amsterdam, we Galini and he prommissed he saw a big improve for the ani- took care of it, well nothing happend, then we went to mals in this time. But this visit puts our dream his sister but she tol dus she upside down ,a man in the vil- cann`t do anything because lage ( Nikos ) who is not fhisi- she is affraid of him , two days cal well in his head because he later we went tot he harbour refus to take his medicine be- police in Galini he also called came a puppy from kind of a the president and he said he friend and does not now how contaced Rhethymno animal to handdle a young dog, we welfare and they handled the had a room opposite his house case. A few days later notth, the first two days the dog was ing happened, so we went alone outside and was very tot he police in Spilli and they
pets & vets
taking on the home grown varieties. Of course it would be true to acknowledge that Cretan dogs in the main have no pretty pedigree or clearly defined lineage, plus if your need were for a pet that offers powerful physical protection or clinical perfection, then the Cretan dog may not be for you, but if a bright, intelligent, fun loving and dedicated companion fits the bill then the Cretan dog would be hard to beat. Yet don’t be fooled into thinking that we are talking about a soft and timid beast with no sparkle, because the genes of the world famous Cretan Hound still course through many a young dogs veins. The Cretan Hound was docu-
made a full rapport also a copy off my I.D. card and tol dus to get the gog out same day, we went back tot he room and wait when they arrive but they did not come. So i was waiting fort he owner of the dog on my balcony when he came back i starting a record whit my I.Pad and the dog was crying again. After this we took our scooter and drove straight tot he police in Spilli we went inside and a few policeman sitting there, i showed him the record and he said THIS IS NOT PROVE ,YOU CAN GO NOW. From that moment my dream collapsed, this was our second home we where planning to live here someday ,i could not understand why. We went back to galini and took another room because i could not listen tot his poor
by John Wanten
animal anymore , and knowing that i was not be able to help him. We know whole Crete saw a lot nature , good food and many friends but the last page in this book is a black one and iàm thinking to close this book. I told the Police in Spilli , i don`t want to spend every year 5000 to 7000 Euro anymore in a country who is not interrested in animal care. ( and i hate to say this) Still iàm trying to find a way to help this puppy but our dream is collapsed. I read your local news every day , and now that you published articles about this item and hope you can open a few eyes off people who care. We need to take care of our animals otherwise a lot of tourists will stay away in the future.
Greece, complex and proud with wild, mountainous terrain and a strong traditional culture. Cretan cuisine is renowned both in Greece and internationally for its unique ingredients and flavours. Based on simple techniques, it’s the variety of local produce that distinguishes the dishes: mountain herbs and greens, bulbs, unique cheeses, fresh fish, the famous Cretan oil, and raki a bracing grape brandy. Don’t leave Crete without trying… Cretan Cheeses It seems that almost every Cretan village has its own signature cheese. They are usually made from sheep or goat’s milk, or a combination of both and each cheese variety has its local interpretation. Of the legion of delicious cheeses, look for graviera, a harder cheese that’s sweeter when new, but nutty and flavourful after aging. Soft, creamy cheeses, abound like pichtogalo Chanion, which has AOC protection, or myzithra, a young whey cheese with a lovely mild taste. Dakos The ever-popular dakos is known by regional names throughout Crete…some call it koukouvagia (literally ‘owl’); in the east they call itkouloukopsomo (literally ‘puppy bread’). What is it? A fantastic Greekmeze or salad reminiscent of bruschetta, but based on barley rusks orpaximadi, not on bread. The rusks are lightly soaked in water or olive oil to soften them, and then they are topped with grated fresh tomato
andmyzithra, the creamy sheep or goat’s milk cheese. They are then drizzled with Cretan virgin olive oil and dusted with salt, oregano, pepper.
Fried snails (Chochlioi boubouristi) It’s not only the French who treat snails as a delicacy. In fact, snails have been eaten for millennia. In the Cretan dialect chochlios means snail, and in this dish they are fried with flour and hot olive oil in a pan, then doused with wine (or vinegar), and voila, ready to serve. Some like to add a dash of wild rosemary. Locally, women collect the snails by hand and the creatures are cooked up live. Cretan Cheese Pies (Kaltsounia) These small pies may look like the multitude of cheese pies you’ll encounter throughout Greece, but these are unique! To start, handmade pastry dough is a must, usually shaped into tiny cups. The fillings vary – every region and often each household has its favourite. They tend toward the sweet, and count on any number of those luscious Cretan cheeses, like myzithra or malaka, but not feta. We like the ones that incorporate a hint of rosewater. The final touch is Cretan honey on the top, making the pies a heady combination of sweet and savoury. Lamb with stamnagathi As with most Greek foods, Cretans have their own take on lamb. Their version incorporates stamnagathi, a wild green that has become trendy of late, and features on many top-end restaurant menus. The Cretan lamb is sautéed in hot
The 4 senses restaurant... Follow the Path of an absolute gastronomic delight...
olive oil and oregano accompanied with thestamnagathi green and the well-known avgolemono (egg and lemon-based) sauce, or, more simply, a squeeze of fresh lemon. Gamopilafo As the name hints (gamos means ‘wedding’ in Greek) this rice dish is offered at traditional Cretan weddings. These days you will find it not only when the whole village is celebrating nuptials in the town square, but also in many Cretan tavernas. Like a deluxe risotto, it is prepared in a rich meat broth that you make from a lengthy simmering of goat, lamb or rooster. Then you incorporate a dash of lemon juice and liberal amounts of stakovoutiro – this is a butter created from the creamy skin that forms on the top of boiled fresh goat’s milk and is turned into a roux. It is the crème de la crème! Mountain Bulbs (Askordoulakous) Part of the magic of Cretan food are the ingredients gathered from hillsides and around villages. Askordoulakous are the bulbs of a wild green, and Cretans gather bulbs and eat them as a fresh salad, dressed with oil and vinegar or lemon. They also pickle them, or stew them with local olive oil, vinegar and flour. The delicate white blossoms of the green are also edible, simply boiled or used in other dishes. Smoked Pork (Hirina apakia) Not an easy one to recreate outside of Greece, this dish of succulent smoked pork, is made in a multi-day process. First, strips of pork are marinated in vinegar for
several days. Then a fire is made using local herbs – sage, bay, rosemary – and the meat is hung above it to smoke. The smoke is continuously stoked to keep the herby aroma infusing the meat. The final product tastes of the fresh herbs and can be served later, cold, in thin slices. Sfakia pies (Sfakianes pites) These yummy pies hale from southern Crete, from a mountainous coastal region called Sfakia. At a glance, these treats look like pancakes, but beyond the flour, the dough contains, local olive oil, and the infamous Cretan liquor, raki. Then, any number of the various Cretan fresh, soft, white goat or sheep’s milk cheeses for mo re news clic k on like myzithra or pichtogahttp://cre tepost.gr lo Chanion are incorporated into the centre of the pie. Fried with only a light brushing of olive oil, they are eaten with a drizzling of thyme or heather honey. Cretan Brandy (Raki or Tsikoudia) In the fall, after the grape harvest, you will find villagers all around Crete carefully tending open fires under copper stills. They are making raki, the welcome pomace brandy distilled from grapes, which you will find served in every Cretan taverna and kafeneio (coffee house). The local version of tsipouro (which you find throughout the rest of Greece), raki is called tsikoudia in parts of Crete, and is drunk from shot glasses, with no water added. Not to be confused with ouzo, raki has no anise or any other herbs. People usually pair their raki with mezes, olives or barley rusks and drink it neat (sketo)!
We u s e a n d p r o m o t e l o c a l , quality products in combination with the revival of traditional flavours and new gastronomic proposals from 12:00 pm to 00:00 at midnight.
Platanias, Chania Tel. +30 6976 860573 www.olive-tree.gr
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Crete stands free of mainland
food & wine
BBC Good Food: Top 10 foods to try in Crete
Late-Pregnancy Flu Vaccination Improves Infant Protection Infants are 33% less likely to
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health & nutrition
infants received a seasonal flu be hospitalized for respirato- vaccine 14 days or more before ry illness in the first 6 months delivery and the mothers of by Miltiades Markatos of life when their mothers 27,859 infants were not vacciPneumonologist are vaccinated for influen- nated during pregnancy. za during the third trimester The 96 mothers who received of pregnancy, new research the vaccine in their first trimester were excluded from shows. This offers mothers extra incen- the analysis, leaving the 1520 tive to get vaccinated, said lead mothers vaccinated during researcher Annette Regan, PhD their second trimester and the candidate, from the Communi- 1553 vaccinated during their cable Disease Control Director- third trimester. ate in the Department of Health Of the 732 infants with a respiratory hospital admission docin Western Australia. “Mothers are less likely to get umented during their first 6 vaccinated to protect them- months, 69% had bronchiolitis, selves, but if the vaccination and 8% of these were attributwill protect their babies, they ed to laboratory-confirmed inare more interested,” she fluenza. told. Because infants There were fewer hospitalcannot be vaccinated izations for respiratory illness on s click ost.gr w e n e r ep for seasonal influenza among children of vaccinated for mo ttp://cret h before they are 6 months mothers than among children old, maternal vaccination is of unvaccinated mothers. the only protection they have During influenza season, chilagainst the virus, she explained. dren of vaccinated mothers Previous studies have shown were 25% less likely to be hosthat maternal vaccination pitalized for an acute respiraduring pregnancy has a protec- tory illness than children of untive effect against respiratory vaccinated mothers. illness in new-borns; however, What’s more, infants born to “this is the first study in which mothers vaccinated during we were able to look specifical- their third trimester were 33% ly at when the women received less likely to be hospitalized the vaccine and how well it than those born to unvaccinatworked to protect the baby,” ed mothers. Timing the vaccination can be a said Regan. She presented the results at challenge, Regan noted. “There the International Society for are many factors to consider Options IX for the Control of In- when vaccinating. It depends fluenza Conference in Chicago. on when a woman is pregnant, Regan and her colleagues used the year, and when the baby is probabilistic matching to look going to be born. If she’s late at the state vaccination records in her last trimester, you’ll still of 31,028 infants born from want to vaccinate her.” March 2012 to December 2013 Other studies looking at the and their mothers to determine burden of influenza have fohow many infants had mater- cused on pandemic infection, nal protection from the virus. she explained. Her team wantThe mothers of 3169 of these ed to put seasonal influenza
vaccines under the microscope because young infants are at increased risk for hospitalization for influenza and respiratory disease. Vaccination adherence in pregnant mothers is still relatively low, despite evidence showing benefits to both mother and child. In the dataset used by the Regan’s team, only about 10% of pregnant women were vaccinated. However, vaccine coverage is improving, Regan reported. Flu shot uptake during pregnancy increased from 6.4% in 2012 to 13.6% in 2013 in Australia. She said she hopes the data from this study will help improve adherence. “Mothers are not as concerned about their own health, but when they find out it could help their baby, they could be more likely to get vaccinated,” she pointed out. This study confirms data published earlier this year, which showed that before the age of 6 months, babies born to vaccinated mothers are about 64% less likely to develop flu symptoms than infants born to mothers not vaccinated during pregnancy, and 70% less likely
A life changing visit to our pharmacy can make you change the way you see life and put your body and mind in harmony. Have you ever visited a pharmacy to taste health? A different pharmacy in the centre of the old town of Chania is waiting to share with you secrets of well being and longevity. Taste the biolo gical honey, the royal jelly, tea from plants carefully chosen in therapeutic recipes, high concentration and purity juices of pomegranate, cranberry, aloe. Orthomolecular nutrition with suggestions on detox programs and a carefully selected range of supplements, vitamins an gluten free products from all over the world. In the same premises you can find a live homeopathic lab with 6.000 homeopathic remedies in stock and the ability to produce any kind of homeopathic form i.e. pills, granules, solutions etc Evangelia Sakka is the pharmacist in charge who has created that special pharmacy and will be happy to introduce you to that fantastic world but also suggest whatever will be more settable for you. Our philosophy doesn’t stop on food and supplements but we want you to think of your mind and body as well. That’s why we have created next to our pharmacy the Green Care SPA. A SPA that helps to uplift your mind and body with biological face an body treatments, reflexology, reiky, su jok and moxa treatment, Bach flower remedies, homeopathy sessions, bowtech as well as nail therapies. We are waiting for you to restart your life at Daskalogianni 43 - 45, SAKKA Pharmacy www.my-pharmacy.gr / www.greencarespa.gr
to have confirmed infections. But that study did not look at vaccination during different trimesters. In another recent study, researchers assessed the success of maternal vaccination in South Africa, and found that babies born to vaccinated mothers got the best protection in their first 8 weeks of life, but that the protection diminished after 8 weeks (JAMA Pediatr. Published online July 5, 2016). This study adds to “the increasing evidence showing no harmful fetal effects of immunizing pregnant woman against influenza,” said Deshayne Fell, MSc, from the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. “Moreover, this population-based study showing effectiveness in reducing influenza among new-born babies of mothers who were immunized concurs with clinical trial evidence,” Fell pointed out. “These are important messages for pregnant women and their care providers.” www.medscape.com/viewarticle/868030 Options IX for the Control of Influenza Conference: Abstract 076. Presented August 26, 2016.
Platanias F.C.
players to leave their homeland. In 1958 the initiative was reestablished about Manolis Mathioulakis and first president Emmanuel Kallitsaki doctor and playing at local third category. Then he became a member of the Union of Football Associations (NSOs) and Chania first year climbed category, where it remained until 1969. In 1970 he played for the first time in A “local class”. In 1971 she competed in Platanias an important game with the Renaissance Chania (today Ionia), but because of the political situation of the time, the team was wronged, was the conflict in court, punished and remained inactive until 1975. After the restoration in 1975, reestablished, struggling to C “local class, where he remained for two years and then went to B ‘, where he played another two years to come to play in the A” category. From 1980 begins the rise of Platanias, who participated in the National Amateur Championships (equivalent to the existing C “National”) contestant in Greece. After their first two matches, the team demoted and then took a radical renewal, with footballers – inhabitants of Platanias. In 1985 he moved category (D “National”), but relegated the same year. For three years he fought in the First local cham-
2011–12 Football League the team of Chania making excellent appearances against Kallithea, Kalloni and Panachaiki to take first place and ascend to the Superleague, which is struggling in the period 2012– 13 Superleague Greece, for the first time in their history, but also more generally in the history of Chania’s football. The first season in Superleague Greece, Platanias finished in 9th place with 36 points. He beat historical teams of the category such as Panathinaikos with 2 wins home & away (totally 3 with Greek Cup win), AEK with 1 home win & Aris with 2 wins home & away. The biggest impact of this season, is about eliminated Panathinaikos in Fourth Round of Greek Cup on a two-legged match. Platanias’ symbol is a red trifolium, probably from a designer’s mistake who instead of a platanus foil, he defor more n ews click o signed a simple trefoil. n http://cre tepost.gr The name of the village “Platanias” means “area of Platanus”. The municipal ground of Platanias, built in 1959 and still exists today, was built by the same residents who were using hoes to dig the field with donkeys carrying soil used to fill the field. Today FC Platanias uses three pitches, two of which (grounds of Platanias and Maleme) belongs to Municipality of Platanias and one (Perivolia Municipal Stadium) to the Municipality of Chania.
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the “ambassador” of Crete in Super League. The football team from Chania plays for fifth consecutive year in the top football division of Greece. Athlitikos Omilos Platania Chanion (commonly referred to as Platanias F.C. or simply Platanias) is a Greek football club based in Platanias, Chania. The association was founded in 1931 by Antonis Varouxakis. The club currently competes in the Superleague for the first time in their history, after winning the promotion play-offs of 2011–12 Football League. The 1942–43 AO Platanias struggled in the final Cup with the traditional association Talos but having significant absences as patients and goalkeeper Kouroupi ladaki and Galanis, who brought gun wound in the abdomen. Although Platanias lost the match, the final had a special importance because of the costumes of players. The jerseys were made from flags that had been stolen from the warehouses of the Germans, and residents had turned into the athletic apparel seamstresses in the village! From this fact, probably introduced in the red jerseys of the team. With the same attire struggled even against groups of German soldiers, who indeed seemed sporting ethic and where lost. In 1945 the team languished due to heavy immigration and
pionship Chania. In 1989 he went to the Fourth National class for two periods. In 1993, after relegation, struggled for a year when the Regional Championship and won. After relegation in 2002 as he fought in the local league. Between 2002 and the period from 2008 to 2009 played in Platanias Crete Regional Championship having a starring role in collecting 305 points in total! until that time was the second dynamic basis points, a team in Crete, after Chersonissos. The best, by then, football year history of Platanias, was the 2008–09 and after a stunning season champion emerging regional championship. In 2009–10 season, the team fighting for the first time to Gamma Ethniki and manages, after a long race effort, remain in class. Specifically, he won 38 points in all 34 games, finishing in 12th position in the league! The next year 2010–11 Football League 2 Platanias out excellent performances and managed to finish in the 5th place. but gained promotion due to Koriopolis scandal, when many teams were relegated from the Football League. The period 2011–12 at Football League starts with the best conditions for Platanias, who manages to stand out from the beginning and even won the title of “champion of winter.” The last day finds Platanias in fifth in the standings with 60 points, while promotion play-offs of
sports & leisure
On to Glory... once more in Super League Platanias F.C. is -once more- the civil war that caused many