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Any Port in a Storm :: Compass Points :: Europe :: Our winter HQ in Crete
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AuthorTopic: Our winter HQ in Crete (Read 6,864 times)
spindrift
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Re: Our winter HQ in Crete
« Reply #60 on Feb 2, 2010, 11:32pm »		[Quote]
Baz, I enjoyed walking down with you both. Excellent pictures. You didn't mention how many miles/kilometers you'd walked. It seems a very long and rocky way.

Didn't Tennyson mention the Lotus Eaters lying on beds of asphodel? Think so!

I notice in the Real Estate photo that herbs are growing everywhere. Did you identify them and can you tell me what they are?

Oh, Crete looks great. I bet it's even prettier in the month of May.
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bazfaz
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Re: Our winter HQ in Crete
« Reply #61 on Feb 3, 2010, 7:29am »		[Quote]
There must be herbs growing (we are eating local thyme honey for breakfast) but we haven't so far seen them in the hills. We are just at the beginning of the spring flowers. There are anemones growing wild and an amzing plant called a dracunculus vulgaris is just getting going.

Saying how many kilometres a walk is is meaningless when you are coming down rocky paths in gorges. But Monday's walk from where we started (we were given a lift up there) back to our rooms on the seafront in Paleochora took three and a half hours. Without the many stops to take photos it would be a good half hour less. That is quite far enough for old folks like us.
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happytraveller
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Re: Our winter HQ in Crete
« Reply #62 on Feb 3, 2010, 8:09am »		[Quote]
Lovely photos Baz ! And I am glad to see that the weather treats you better than when I was in Crete, we had downpouring rain for a full week and everything got flooded.
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Hedonisttraveller
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Re: Our winter HQ in Crete
« Reply #63 on Feb 3, 2010, 11:28am »		[Quote]

Jan 31, 2010, 8:39pm, bazfaz wrote:
Fresh fish is very expensive. A restaurant in Chania had fish on the menu priced by weight: 62 euros a kilo.


I remember fish being madly expensive even 7 or 8 years ago when we were last in Greece, I loved the local squid though even though it expensive. Makes me appreciate the abundance fresh fish we have here in Portugal.
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bixaorellana
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Re: Our winter HQ in Crete
« Reply #64 on Feb 3, 2010, 5:08pm »		[Quote]
What wild and beautiful pictures, Mrs. Faz!

I see Spindrift already asked the same question I had about the wild herbs. I imagine you'll eventually identify the thyme by smell before seeing it. That's what I thought of when I saw the picture of the house ruins ... I had a Greek cookbook that mentioned lamb grazed in the hills so that the meat would be flavored with thyme. The bush to the right behind the asphodel looks rosemary-ish, but I have no doubt you all would have identified that immediately. In that picture and in the one looking back towards the village, it appears that Mother Nature did some fine landscaping.

Baz, this is so much fun to read, with the local legends, gorgeous scenery, daily itineraries, all interspersed with the details about settling in, cooking, etc. in a foreign locale.
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bazfaz
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Re: Our winter HQ in Crete
« Reply #65 on Feb 4, 2010, 11:06am »		[Quote]
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Enough of mountain walks (for the moment). This is our local pastry shop where you can reward yourself after death-defying feats on the rocks.
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spindrift
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Re: Our winter HQ in Crete
« Reply #66 on Feb 4, 2010, 4:12pm »		[Quote]
Oh my goodness! I can't believe the quality and selection! Looks like something available in Knightsbridge.....Yummmm......I'd be eating quantities of those baklava....and a different fresh bread every morning.....

*I'm so greedy*
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Don Cuevas
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Re: Our winter HQ in Crete
« Reply #67 on Feb 4, 2010, 4:17pm »		[Quote]
Re: the pastry shop. Wish we had something here of that quality.
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kerouac2
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Re: Our winter HQ in Crete
« Reply #68 on Feb 4, 2010, 5:58pm »		[Quote]
I find the variations in that pastry shop amazing. To me, some of it looks German, some of it looks Lebanese, some of it looks English, and some of it looks like things I have never seen. The foil wrapped items seem mysterious to me -- are they all chocolates?

Nevertheless, not being a big fan of any sort of pastry (except for those moments when I get an irrational craving for bad things), it is the bread that I would have bought in that shop.
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auntieannie
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Re: Our winter HQ in Crete
« Reply #69 on Feb 4, 2010, 7:46pm »		[Quote]
oh! glykos!

I caught a glimpse of these as I was closing my internet session at the end of my lunchtime earlier today. It kept me company all afternoon. I HAD to get a crappy chocolate bar from the vending machine.
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Re: Our winter HQ in Crete
« Reply #70 on Feb 4, 2010, 8:14pm »		[Quote]
There are loaves of brown bread that we particularly like. One is very dark, the other a light brown. They both seem wheat flavoured but my Greek is too feeble to ask what they are.

What is not shown is the cabinet with spinach and cheese pastries. We had some on our picnic yesterday.
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spindrift
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Re: Our winter HQ in Crete
« Reply #71 on Feb 4, 2010, 8:44pm »		[Quote]
Spinach and cheese pastries? Oh! my mouth is watering..... :P
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Re: Our winter HQ in Crete
« Reply #72 on Feb 5, 2010, 6:38am »		[Quote]
I too am surprised by the choice!

That crusty bread on the left in the middle looks so good.
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bjd
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Re: Our winter HQ in Crete
« Reply #73 on Feb 5, 2010, 9:18am »		[Quote]
I too was surprised by the variety available on a Greek island. You must miss good bread, HW.
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hwinpp
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Re: Our winter HQ in Crete
« Reply #74 on Feb 5, 2010, 10:37am »		[Quote]

Feb 5, 2010, 9:18am, bjd wrote:
I too was surprised by the variety available on a Greek island. You must miss good bread, HW.


What I miss is rye bread, pumpernickel, whole grain, chunky stuff.

The French bread available here is actually not that bad. Of course the plastic- bagged toast is an abomination.
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kerouac2
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Re: Our winter HQ in Crete
« Reply #75 on Feb 5, 2010, 1:39pm »		[Quote]
You'd think that at least one European-inspired bakery in Phnom Penh would make some of the "rougher" breads. The ultra-refined flour is bad for us anyway!
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SER
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Re: Our winter HQ in Crete
« Reply #76 on Feb 5, 2010, 2:53pm »		[Quote]
Kerouac pointed me at this thread, Baz.

I know Paleochora well, although I haven't visited for a few years now. I love your report and the super pictures.

I'm moving there any day now, I think
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bazfaz
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Re: Our winter HQ in Crete
« Reply #77 on Feb 5, 2010, 4:32pm »		[Quote]
SER, we are enjoying Pal. Nearly everybody gives us a friendly greeting. The weather has been kind to us (shirtsleeve in early Feb is good). When you say you are moving here, do you mean moving to live or arriiving for a visit?
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auntieannie
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Re: Our winter HQ in Crete
« Reply #78 on Feb 5, 2010, 5:53pm »		[Quote]
spanakotyropites... yummyyummyyummy!
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Dans les grandes choses, les hommes se montrent comme il leur convient de se montrer; dans les petites, ils se montrent comme ils sont.
spindrift
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Re: Our winter HQ in Crete
« Reply #79 on Feb 5, 2010, 7:17pm »		[Quote]
Baz - do you eat out at night or in?
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Re: Our winter HQ in Crete
« Reply #80 on Feb 5, 2010, 8:49pm »		[Quote]
I too am wondering if the various cuts of beef-pork-chicken-lamb are suitable with the available vegetables or are you really regretting the culinary possibilities?
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bazfaz
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Re: Our winter HQ in Crete
« Reply #81 on Feb 6, 2010, 7:48am »		[Quote]
Last night we ate at the local taverna. We went with the couple in the next room (they are jealous of our apartment). We had giovetsi (clay pot of beef baked in the oven with rice-shaped pasta on top), octopus cooked with greens, rabbit stewed, a dish of ladies fingers and green beans, and a bg bowl of salad. It was something of a party night with two long tables of young teachers (they know how to enjoy themselves) and bouzouki and guitar players, singing and dancing. We had a litre of each of the two reds from the barrel. Then we were given another litre on the house. Then came flasks of raki. It was late when we got to bed.

Tonight we are eating in. Buying produce here is a challenge. Butchers don't understand the concept of buying for just two people and take the mention of the word two to mean two kilos. I hope they have lamb chops and will give me just four and not four kilos. I'll make a piperade as a starter. I am tempted to make a ratatouille too. We are limited by having two electric plate, no oven, no grill. And the electric plates are irritating, taking a long time to heat up and a long time to cool down. Gave me gas any time - heat that obeys you.
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Re: Our winter HQ in Crete
« Reply #82 on Feb 6, 2010, 10:40am »		[Quote]
I was being slightly ironic, Baz. I've always wanted to live there; and have wasted many hours checking the estate agents web sites looking for property in Paleochora, but, effectively, nothing comes up.

My husband wouldn't move either. If he gets hit by a bus, I'll be there in a heart beat.
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bazfaz
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Re: Our winter HQ in Crete
« Reply #83 on Feb 6, 2010, 10:45am »		[Quote]
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So here is where we ate last night, the taverna about 50 metres away. Mama is the cook and here she is peeling chestnuts for some future meal. They weren't on the menu last night.

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Her two sons do front of house. Nektarios is the elder, a genial man and generous host with frequent drinks on the house.

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We went to the taverna with the English couple who are in the rooms next to ours. We shared all the dishes: octopus with greens, stewed rabbit, ladies fingers and beans, a beef stew topped with rice-shaped pasta and a big bowl of salad. We drank two different red wines from the barrel and then flasks of raki kept arriving at our table.


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It was live music night. Here is the band: a guitarist and a great bouzouki player.

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Two long tables had parties of young teachers out for an evening. They didn't arrive until 10 pm, then had their meal with lots of wine and the girls got down to dancing traditional Cretan dances. I am glad we weren't expected to join in and make fools of ourselves.
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bjd
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Re: Our winter HQ in Crete
« Reply #84 on Feb 6, 2010, 10:57am »		[Quote]
It looks like a great evening, Bazfaz. Are there many tourists around at this time of year?
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bazfaz
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Re: Our winter HQ in Crete
« Reply #85 on Feb 6, 2010, 11:33am »		[Quote]
Almost no tourists at the moment. This is why the locals are so friendly towards us.
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lola
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Re: Our winter HQ in Crete
« Reply #86 on Feb 6, 2010, 3:52pm »		[Quote]
What fun, baz. I love the photos.
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Re: Our winter HQ in Crete
« Reply #87 on Feb 6, 2010, 6:54pm »		[Quote]
And here we were all feeling sorry for you about the quality of the food available! >:(

I won't be tricked again!
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bazfaz
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Re: Our winter HQ in Crete
« Reply #88 on Feb 6, 2010, 8:08pm »		[Quote]
The people at Haris Studios where we are staying said that this is the best taverna in town. It is not just grills (which you can also have) but traditional Cretan recipes.
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auntieannie
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Re: Our winter HQ in Crete
« Reply #89 on Feb 6, 2010, 8:47pm »		[Quote]
I could almost feel as if I was there!

Still think Greeks know how to live life.
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Dans les grandes choses, les hommes se montrent comme il leur convient de se montrer; dans les petites, ils se montrent comme ils sont.
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