I enjoyed very much this journey in Crete: beautiful lanscapes and nice encounters.
Crete is very interesting island: the first visitors were the archaeologists of England and France: for their investigations they begin to dive: some years later Orestes Sidiropoulos-Michelakis became diving coach and is practicing free diving.
Sophia Andranki , who manages a hotel in Matala rmembers well when the hippies arrived at Mtala in the seventies.
From 1980 Crete becomes an importnt resort: Petros was a pioneer in nautical sports.
Now some words about the Cretan diet: vegetables, cereals, olive oil and very few meat. Leonidas Koudoumogiakis who is a journalist, is studying the relationships between Cretan diet and longevity: but he mentions also the quiet life of the older persons, the family life and the ties with friends in this island. Leonidas meets some farmers and they prepare a typical dish of vegetables (squash, green beans, tomatoes with olive oil ), the important is to be together to enjoy this precious food.
Crete is at the crossroads of tjhe civilizations: in the southern coast the villages seem to look at Africa: Radio El Cairo had a special program for the people of Crete.
We see the Arabic influence in the agriculture: the olive trees, the orange tree , the peanuts came from the Arab world: there is also a palm grove in Crete.
The Orthodox priest Philetos, who manage a vineyard tells that the winds coming from Africa takes away the excessive moisture in the vineyards.
Later we see the Arab influence in Heraklion: the Turkish coffee, the Turkish pastries: the writer Kostis Moudatsos of Heraklion tells that his ancestors came from Asia Minor and both Cretan and people of Asia Minor have the same culture.
Some words about the Cretan women, we meet Rena Skoula and Aggela Skoula who explain that the women in Crete are very active (Rena is bar owner, Aggela is photographer): the mother is the pilar of the family.
Dr. Paniagioti Grigoriou, director of the Cretaquarium and Petros , the fishermen are looking for the common octopus: the Minoan civilization has celebrated the octopus, Céline and Vassilis enjoy drawing squids: besides in a Cretan family Maria and her son Angelos are preparing and tasting octopus.
After the economic crisis Chryssa Mavrokosta , a tour operator and her associate Stella Vasilaki , the wine maker, organize the visit of the vineyard nd wine tasting.
Heidi and Manu have bought an old olive tree plantation: they have built their house , now they manages rooms for visitors, produce olive oil and honey for exportation to France: Their neighbour Yannis Papadakis is proud of the creativity of the young people who give a new life to the countryside of Crete.
I enjoyed the encounters of Tiga with Lyssandros Leivaditaki, the fisherman, with Marianna Leivaditaki (the chef in Chaniá) and her brother Antonis Leivaditaki, with with Manolis Sergakis, the postman of Kalyvès, with Christoforos Baladimas (the Gorge of Samaria), with Annelyn Kindynis in Reythymnon, with Manolis Staganis the luthier and Soula the lyra player and singer, with the priest Manolis Chatzidakis and his beehives and with Yossif , the dance teacher in Platanias (the dace school and the Cretan tradional dance spectacle); very nice encounters with very kind Cretan men and women.