ISLAND OVERVIEW
This island with its clear, warm sea, boundless beaches
lined with tamarisks, splendid plateaus and mild starry nights
has more to offer than its past, its gorges, unscaled peaks and
climate. Today it continues to live fully and to develop, its
cities particularly changing in appearance from one day to the
next, in contrast to the many unchanging villages where life
goes on in the same rhythm it has for centuries. There are
hundreds of cafes where one can sit in the shade of a spreading
plane, oak or mulberry tree and sip a "sweat" or "medium"
coffee, or a glass of "tsikoudia" (raki) while playing a game of
cards or "tavli" (backgammon). There are dozens of tavernas and
ouzeries serving some tasty "meze", a speciality Of the area.
Yogurt and honey, sweet tarts (kaltzounia), pies made of wild
greens flavoured with fennel, fried cheese (staka), rabbit stew,
cheese pie from Hora Sfakion, cockles, boiled goat. In the city
of Hania, at Malaxa, at Vrisses, and other villages in the area,
in Rethimno, in Iraklio and its villages, and in the whole
district of Lassithi. Fish, sea urchins, octopus and cuttlefish
cooked on charcoal and fried squid to be tasted at seaside
tavernas. And everywhere the delectable Cretan wine. Every
saint's feastday is celebrated with gusto at dozens of villages
throughout the island; all Crete throbbing to the sound of the
Cretan Iyre and the rhythm of the local dances, the pentozali
and the sousta. Meanwhile the housewives are preparing a steamed
Cretan pilaff and special holiday fritters "xerotigana". In the
shop windows of bustling Iraklio, cosmopolitan Agios Nikolaos,
picturesque Rethimno, and Hania, elegant furs, precious
jewellery and artistic silverware attract the visitor' s
attention. In the shops of lovely Sitia and tranquil Ierapetra
and in mountainous Anogia one is impressed by the spread out
patanies, traditional local woven fabrics in dazzling colours,
and everywhere one sees skillfully crafted ceramics and leather
goods. In the "Stivanadika" district of Hania (Skridlof St.)
traditional boots (stivania) are still made in the old-fashioned
way, because though it may seem strange even today there are
Cretans who still wear their traditional costume. In the
marketplace of the same city the only one of its kind, but also
in similar shops, all over the island, every kind of food fruits
and vegetable produced in the fertile valleys, hot houses and
mountain regions, is I aid out on display.
Exotic avocados,
Belgian endive and bananas, juicy oranges and fragrant melons,
succulent figs and tasty prickly pears, delicious grapes, sweet
tomatoes, tender cucumbers, fresh-watering sardines, tempting
lobster, kid from the islet of Gavdos, honey perfumed with
thyme, and wonderful cheeses--graviera (gruyere), myzithra
(ricotta), fresh white cheese, and soft, luscious staka. The
evenings are enchanting spent next to the intoxicating aroma of
a jasmine vine in an open-air cinema, seated in the comfortable
chairs of a pastry shop, gathered round the table of a
fish-taverna right by the sea, strolling in solitude on a remote
deserted beach, or why not, enjoying the rhythms of rock in a
discotheque or bar or conversing in the spacious lounge of a
luxury hotel.