i’ve become a slacker on keeping up with my travel journal/blog. will try for a bit of catch up. it’s sunday, sunny lovely day going on, lots of bird singing and i’ve got Andrea Bocelli playing on my computer..... life is good. Greg and Linda arrived on Friday afternoon from Athens and after they took their bags to their house, we all sat at Bloumosifi at an outside table and sipped cold Mythos while we caught up on their travels (and travails) so far... and made plans for the next few days. they got an upgrade on their house because the one they reserved needed some work on it after the winter... and are staying at Xanthippi’s rental which is really really nice... and has wireless, a beautiful view of the White Mountains, all kinds of niceties plus a washing machine! yesterday we took the bus to Hania and i was happy that it went the long way so we went thru Gavalohori, Almirida, Kalives and a few other small villages, which was like a tour of the countryside! Hania was bustling busy and it looks like all the merchants are geared up for tourist season. we walked thru one of the narrow street/alley ways where it’s like an open market of tourist wares and trinkets, also lots of vendors with really nice Italian leather goods (i bought a really nice fanny pack with lots and lots of pockets!!), then went thru the big market... it has fresh fish and meat in one section, an area of cheeses and baked goods, some fresh fruit and vegetable vendors, and of course many vendors selling the Greek olive oil, soaps, raki, ouzo, candy (i bought some of my fave - Halvah- to take home), and of course lots of teeshirts and hats and key chains stuff. we walked down to the Old Harbor and after walking and looking for awhile, we let ourselves be hustled into one of the harbor-side tavernas for lunch. many of these places have a “hustler” standing out in the walkway who quite pleasantly starts talking to you in english... or german, and invites you to come and look at their menu. most of them have some sort of gimmick to get you talking to them and can be quite charming! anyway, we looked, we sat, and we have a nice lunch and Mythos, followed of course by raki and dessert which they just bring to you when they start clearing your dishes away automatically.

after lunch we wandered a bit more, stopped at our favorite art gallery/shop, Jim bought a little statue of "the happy warrior". by the time we got back to that horrid scary bus station we were hot and sweaty and totally ready to get on the bus and come back home!

Almirida

Almirida - several days ago we took a taxi to Giorgios’ taverna (Aeraki which mean small breeze). we walked around Almirida for awhile, gawking and taking photos. it is a nice little beach town which becomes overrun with tourists during the season, which will start pretty soon. it is suffering a bit of a delay due to the volcanic ash which is drifting over Europe and causing cancellation of air traffic. i sure do hope it’s better by May 3 so we can get home!! anyway, had a nice dinner in the outdoor part of the taverna, were able to have a little time with Giorgios before the place started getting busy. was a good evening!

cats of Crete

in Crete there are cats and kittens everywhere! sadly, it seems

that none (or maybe very few) have had the benefit of seeing a

Veterinarian so the most common sight is scruffy cats great with

kitten and scruffy scrawny toms in stand-off with equally scruffy

toms. also, there’s a LOT of yowling going on. many of these are

totally feral and frightened, but depend on handouts wherever they

can find them.

when we were here last fall a very small pitifully young and

undernourished kitten wandered into our courtyard. we poured

milk for him, put out cheese and meat scraps. i named “him”

Hercules because he really needed a big strong name... he needed

all the help his pitiful self could get. it took a couple of weeks before

we could get near without him scurrying away. slowly, gradually

we could get closer and closer. by the time i left, the little kitten had

begun to put on weight and his spine and ribs were no longer visible

thru the fur, i was able to get close enough to determine that “he”

was a “she”, and the name changed to Herculina, and she would let

me pet her. i was so sad to leave her and hoped that she’d gotten

enough of a start that she’d make it in the cruel world of cats in

Crete. I’ve been on the look-out for her since we’ve been here and

have been disappointed to not see her.... until last night. there she

was INSIDE at Bloumosifi - not really common inside the taverna.

there was a little girl who really wanted to play with her so i gave

her a piece of yarn, she tied a cork onto it and they had a great game

going on.... with Herculina participating wholeheartedly. what a

delight! when the girl left, the cat made the rounds looking for hand-

outs and of course, i contributed. ended up she crawled up into my

lap for cuddles and was quite well-behaved. glad i had my camera

with me!!

ETA - tonight (4/15) i found out that Herculina is now living the good life! the family of the child who was playing with her at the taverna have adopted her for at least the 2 weeks of their vacation in Crete and just

might take her back to England with them! bravo for her good life!!

today's walk around Vamos

i found flowers! i found sheep! the wool on these sheep look worth spinning as opposed to most of the wool on the hoof that i've seen here! i wonder what kind of reaction i'd get if i found the owner and asked for some of their wool.... and, alas, i did not bring a drop spindle this time. and, in fact, i've hardly done any knitting, so very little fiber stuff to talk about.

this coming friday, Linda and Greg will arrive and i'm really looking forward to showing them our little piece of Cretan paradise!

news from home

well... the bad news and the good news... our dogs are staying with Chris and Kate while we're gone.... these dogs are known for being opportunists when it comes to finding a way to get out and run!... the opportunity presented itself and they scooted out the front door. from the moment they'd arrived at Casa Sitzman North, they'd been focused on the sound of the chickens. so... when they managed an escape, they headed directly for the house of chickens... the hens fled to the woods and Sunshine-the-rooster assumed his "i am a force to be dealt with and i've chased off coyote and bobcat and i can deal with 2 damn huskies". sad to say, said huskies did not know about Sunshine's might and force, and unfortunately, they were too much for him. and the huskies won the tussle. and the good news is that Sunshines's days were limited because he had taken to attacking his humans and anyone who went outside when Sunshine was out and about needed to have a broom with them to fight him off. the humans had put out an offer of $20 to anyone who would take him. it was a bad thing that the dogs did, but at least Chris did not have to deal with ending Sunshine's rule!

around Vamos

the White Mountains (Lefka Ori) in the distance as we walked home.

the olive trees are in bloom with the promise of being laden with olives in a few months.

a very old and small home we passed.

a day in Kalives

waiting for the bus in comfort!

how i do love the flowers of Crete!

ripe lemons on a tree in the courtyard of a house on the main street, which is a bit more than one lane... it's one and one-half. and sidewalks only here and there, so i feel like i risk life and limb walking there... keeps me very alert to my surroundings and to the buses and big construction trucks that i'm sharing the road with!

as we wandered and looked in shop windows, we saw a home-for-sale ad in one of the many real estate offices. it looked particularly interesting! the photos don't show up well, but the text was interesting on its own!

we stopped for late lunch/early dinner at a taverna there that we like... good meal and excellent dessert. it's hard to beat chocolate cake with chocolate icing and chocolate sauce poured over it! especially when it comes with moscato!!

i'm having a hell of a time getting the photos and text arranged the way i want them, so rather than cause myself any further frustration, i'll just stop and have some more beer!

more easter party

later in the day we went to the new home of Tatiana and Stravros way way up in the foothills of the mountains.... Lefka Ori... above a small village called Melonia. 2 of the guests played the bouseki, so we had music throughout. we loved reconnecting with these friends and meeting some new folks. the view from there was splendid... olive trees everywhere, also Souda Bay and specks of villages way below.

this was quite an international group.. Dutch, Brits, French, Bulgarian, Greeks and Cretans (of course)

roasting the Easter lamb

we had 2 invitations for the easter feast/celebration... the first was with Xanthippi and Artemi and was all Greek, all Cretan Greek.

Artemi was in charge of the roasting of the lamb on the spit... and it was delicious! i actually did not partake of the lamb head which he took off the spit with great panache, split it with a cleaver and offered it for noshing... no thanks! the rest of the lamb .... yummm. there was also oven roasted potatoes, a pilaf cooked with the broth of goat meat (wonderful!), salad and etc.s. of course, the desserts were enough to overwhelm the sweet tooth of any sweet fiend, including me. Elena came to fetch us just as we were finishing the feast and took us to the next celebration... photos and words in the next blog entry.

Easter eve in Vamos

these are photos from Easter eve. there is a church service at 11:30p.m., after which everyone carries a lit candle and there is a huge bonfire where an effigy of Judas is burned. it is HUGE and the men and boys of the village collect slash and tree trimmings and spend the week before Easter building the huge pile of wood. After the service and lighting of the bonfire, there is a long table with offerings of sweets, wine and raki for everyone who is there... and there was a very big crowd. we met up with friends there and afterward went with them to the taverna for food and wine. the traditional soup called magritsa is made with the entrails and organs from the lamb which will be roasted on the spit on Sunday

left home at 8a.m. tues march 30 and arrived at our house in vamos called giasemi (jasmine)

at 10:30p.m. march 31.. about 28 or 29 hours, but at that point an hour one way or the other

doesn’t really matter. those hours cover a lot of time sitting in airports waiting for the next

connection. portland to denver to frankfurt to

athens to hania.

it’s a grueling trip and before we left, i wondered if it was worth it... and

now i know it is! the taxi driver, Manolis, called Elena when we were about half an hour away

so she’d have someone at the house to greet us and let us in. it was dear George. i fell in bed utterly

exhausted and slept til 2:30 thursday p.m. We then headed out for the ATM and then super-

market. and set out for bloumosifi and to the office to see Elena. Elena’s “crazy crazy news”

referred to in an email recently is that she’s pregnant!! bravo! this is wonderful news.Toine

arrives on friday from Holland. on the way down the hill we saw activity at “the other taverna”

which has been closed for a year or 2. it’s now open again with Nikos and Maria who had been

running Liakoto operating it. saw several people we know, including “computer George”, and

got lots of hugs and greetings. it felt so warm and fuzzy!! Nikos offered us raki... we said no

thanks... he came back in a few minutes offering yoghurt w/sweet preserves over and raki...

and this time we said yes. enjoyed it, and headed on to the office then taverna. we were going

to go on by and return later, but i spotted Mr. Yannis, that old old man who is a fixture there every

day from late afternoon til about 8p.m., sitting in his usual place, so what to do but go and say

hello! every time we come back here, i have a fear that Mr. Yannis will be gone, so am always

delighted that he’s still here. after several hellos and how are yous and very goods and shaking of

hands, the young waiter from Syria, Yanni, brought out the raki and did some arm twisting.

after that we found our way home, had a little lie down, then went back to bloumosifi for dinner.

Artemi and Xanthippi came in and had some after-dinner raki with us. she wants us to come to

easter dinner at their home again. and herein lies a problem... Elena had asked us to have dinner

with them and several other friends, including Toine who will only be here for 10 days before going

back to holland to continue treatments for his lymphoma. we really want to spend time with him!

we told Xanthippi that it was kind of a dilemma and next thing she was on the phone calling Elena to see how they could arrange it so we could do both. i guess it’s in their hands now! all i know for sure is that we’ll have a proper greek easter feast with friends!

it’s friday about 6:30p.m. and i’m sitting on the patio which is next to the street. the man with his

pick-up full of fresh vegetables is parked and several women are picking over and choosing what

they’ll need for the big easter meal on sunday to go with the lamb which will be roasted on the spit.

or maybe buying necessaries for the traditional entrail and organ soup they serve after the midnight church and burning of Judas on the bonfire on easter eve..

Dharma quote

Dharma Quote of the Week Lochen Gyurme Dechen, nephew of the great accomplished master Tangtong Gyalpo, sang this song, a prayer of the Six Doctrines, calledThe Rain of Great Bliss: Nama Shri Jnana Daki Nigupta-ye! Lady of the celestial realms, compassionate one, Chief of wisdom dakinis, Niguma, When I, your child, pray fervently to you, In your expanse free from formulations, please think of me. Lady who reveals the sacred circle of great secrets, Bestow now the empowerment of the four joys! Lady who opens the door to the unborn state, Clear away now my negative acts and obscurations with the purification practice! Lady who emits fire from the short Ah, Burn now my soiled aggregates and sense elements! Lady who draws great bliss from the syllable Ham, Bestow now coemergent wisdom! Lady who reveals the natural experience of illusion, Destroy now my attachment to the reality of anger and desire! Lady who emanates and transforms during lucid dreams, Lady who makes spontaneous luminosity arise, Dispel now the darkness of my stupidity! Lady who leads above at the time of departure, Guide me now to the celestial realms! Lady who overcomes the appearances of delusion in the intermediate state, Grant me now the invincible body of enlightenment's perfect rapture. This prayer was sung by the religious teacher Gyurme Dechen. --from Timeless Rapture: Inspired Verse of the Shangpa Masters compiled by Jamgon Kongtrul, trans. & ed. by Ngawang Zangpo, a Tsadra Foundation Series book, published by Snow Lion Publications

garden art??

or true tinny-ville? it's in the eye of the beholder.