Dates: June 13-20th
We went to a small town called KNossos Pyrgos, on the south coast of Crete.
It was not my first time there. In a previous lifetime of June 1996 (was it REALLY 14yrs ago) - I went to visit my friend Vicki from Uni. To be honest - I dont remember much about that trip. I dont have any photos, and it was under difficult circumstances.
This time was June 2010 - and it was the most awesome experience. We had a blast, and we learned a few things of interest on the trip.
Olive Oil
Olive Oil and Olives are an obsession for Cretians. Everywhere you go through the mountains, there are Olive Trees, planted in row after row. Apparently 97% of Cretian familes have their own Olive Grove - containing a few trees. This is inherited down the family line.
When we visited Knossos (Ancient Greek Palace 1700BC...ish) - they had these HUGE urns (9ft tall). These urns were used to store olive oil. Apparently - Olive Oil keeps longer when stored in large quantitied. I asked my friend Vicki about this when I was at her home for dinner. She said - oh yes - we have a barrel of our own oil.
Ancient V Modern Greek Olive Oil Containers
Apparently, each Christmas they get the new oil that has been crushed from the olives of their Olive Grove - and that lasts them all year! It was damn tasty Olive oil too.
Olive oil is used in cooking..... in cooking EVERYTHING... be it salad, or meat or vegetables....
The food was delicious - we tried all sorts from typical Greek food to touristy schnitzel or delicious peppercream steak. It made a nice change from cooking for ourselves! lol
Driving
When I was last in Greece in June 1996 - Vicki sent a taxi driver friend to the airport. I can remember feeling terrified when driving through the narrow bendy roads of the mountains. It was only 50km away - but the trip takes over an hour due to the mountains in the middle.
Fast Forward - same trip - 15 years later....... Still definitely a butt-puckering experience - particularly when you are driving at 1am in the morning... in the dark, with a map that doesnt have the hairpin bends on it.
We learned early on that we should just pull over, and let the locals overtake - we were going slowly - and that was okay! We remained aliive.
And Finally......
Thje saying "ITs all Greek to me" - doesnt work in Greece. The greeks say "Its all Chinese to me" :)
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