Kazantzakis – the grave
Nicos Kazantzakis was probably the greatest author to be born on the island of Crete. His books included Zorba the Greek to Freedom or Death. His book, The Last Temptation, was banned by the...
Loving Crete Blog
Zorba’s Dance
I really love this clip from Zorba the Greek. It is the final moments in the film following the enormous disaster that Zorba caused running logs from the monastery on top of the hill...
Panagia Chrisoskalitissa Monastery, Elafonisi
The monastery of Panagia Chrisoskalitissa, Our Lady of the Golden Step in English, is in the remote southwest of Crete just six Kilometres from the lovely lagoon beach of Elafonisi. And it is glorious....
Frangokastello
Here is a photograph that I took in the south of Hania province in a tiny village called Frangokastello. Frangokastello means Frankish Castle, actually built by the Venetian occupiers of Crete from the 13th...
Kalamaki Sunset
Kalamaki, a village just north of Matala on the Messara coastline of Crete is a place that we have known for many years. Just over twenty years ago we, my wife and I, were...
The Jalopy
Here in Crete we have a fairly large collection of jalopies – most of them still on the road. Some of them go back forty years and consist basically of a rotovator without the...
Rebetika, the Source of Modern Greek Music
Rebetika is one of those Greek words that has no translation in English. We have referred to it as ‘Greek blues music’ except that it differs from what we call blues music in English....
The filling of Potamoi Dam
You may remember me writing about the new dam that is designed to provide water for Rethymnon. Well now, at least for about a month or two, the new dam is closed and water is rising....
Welcome to Holy Week and Pasxa, the Greek Easter
This week, the week before the Easter celebrations is known in Greece as Megali Evdomada, Holy Week or Great Week. Today is Megali Pempti, Holy Thursday, the day that traditionally the people of Greece...