Travelogue in Crete

Blessed island by the gods, thanks to the generous gifts of nature and history. Untouched and fertile nature, proud mountains with a long pastoral culture, imposing gorges, caves, plateaus, plains with thousands of olive trees, vast vineyards, the richest flora of Europe, a thousand kilometers of coastline, with the Cretan cuisine, the healthiest and most delicious cuisine in the world, the Crete is the cradle of European culture.

Undeniable witnesses are the insurmountable palace of Knossos, the frescoes, the jewelry, the ceramics and many other unique finds that are mainly found in Archaeological Museum of Heraklion but also in the archeological museums and the 60 archeological sites scattered throughout the island.

Every time you visit Crete, you discover something new in it. The old sometimes proudly resists and sometimes recedes. Many times the new invades violently and destructively, but sometimes innovatively and suddenly innovatively, it becomes autonomous or marries in harmony with the old.

Its tradition is firmly rooted in animal husbandry where pastoral life maintains for centuries now its practices, manners and customs, (such as the mitata in the mountains, the shearing of the lambs, the leventia of the shepherds, the art of bells), which do not boast of Western cultures and economic crises, while cheese-making combined the techniques of the past with new technology, selectively producing cheese products, such as the delicious gruyeres, anthotyra, mizithres etc. From the dozens of certified dairies we singled out, the Manouso Tsitsiridi from Chania, him Tzourbaki from Rethymno, him Aeraki from Heraklion and Agricultural Cooperative of the Lassithi plateau.

Modernity invades thanks to the courage of people who, with inspiration, passion and a lot of work, managed to make their vision creative and entrepreneurial. The examples are many. Like that of Katerina Xekalou, who in 1987 tried in the ruined and haunted Rethymno to create something and makes Courtyard of miracles and keeps it for 30 years at the top, or the example of the Cretan winemakers, who in twenty years, their wines that were indulgently mediocre, managed to raise them to the heavens utilizing the local varieties, vidiano, vilana, , the musk of the spinach, the kotsifali, creating at the same time the roads of wine, with excellent routes in vineyards and dialect wineries such as Boutari in Skalani, or like the project of the large hotel chain Grecotel, which wanted to make the exemplary Agreco farm, an experiential initiation into the rural and gastronomic life of Crete.

On Cretan cuisine Mediterranean diet, you will find it not only in the five-star hotels, where it is offered in its most advanced and sophisticated form, but also in restaurants where young chefs present "teased" Cretan dishes and of course in the dozens popular taverns. Because you will not judge the gastronomy of a place in the award-winning restaurant, but in the middle tavern. And there Crete is clearly superior to any other place, for the simple reason that Crete produces everything and in fact in the best qualities. Samples of these were identified from all categories, such as Courtyard, the Criticism, Olive and Mint, Raki Bar, all exponents of creative Cretan cuisine, while in Dounia, or visit its Change of taste, or visit its Ririka and Marmaritsaki we tried the typical Cretan flavors, such as Sfakian pies, the budding snails, the goat artichokes and the rooster with the suffocating spaghetti.

In cafes of Crete you will meet the warriors of life drinking their rakes with them Cretan rakomezes, and you will hear them say "kafetzi kerase tsoi" (cherry them), a unique message, indicative of their Cretan hospitality and openness. We admired the cafes of Skoulas in Anogia, of Sarandauga in Heraklion, of the Diocese, The Good heart, the SivasAnd the cafe-tailor shop in Spili.

The richness of the Cretan flora and the aromas of the herbs are trapped in Kaiti Dinapogia liqueur, or converted into tasty pork, from organic pigs and from there into apacas and sausages Michalis Vavourakis, while two historical forms of Cretan gastronomy, the Jordanis in Chania continues to make the same recipe (condensed milk instead of cream) Chania bougatsa, and in Rethymno o George Hatziparaschos for 60 years he makes handmade crust and kadaifi leaves.

For accommodation with aromas of Cretan flavors, we enjoyed her hospitality YardOf village of KapsalianaOf Good morning Archanes and hostel at Boutari winery in Skalani.

And the trip to Crete just started!