Singles Holidays Blog

From our walking weeks

Vassilis G. — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 12:04:55 +0200

An ancient astronomical calculator

Vassilis G. — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 00:49:48 +0200

The Athikythera Mechanism is a device discovered a century ago and only recently scietists have managed to solve the anigma of how it worked. It was used to calculate Eclipses and planetary motions.

This can mean that the ancient Greeks of the hellinistic times were a lot more technologically advanced than we thought. We might need to rewrite the history of who really discovered gravity. Newton or Hypparchos two centuries BC?

I found this very intersting.

For more have a look at http://www.antikythera-mechanism.gr

A Saint George's day Pilgrimage.....

Vassilis G. — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 15:29:04 +0300

A Saint George's day pilgrimage....

We travelled from our Hotel (The Mistral) for an hour on a dirt track, out along the Menies peninsular on the island of Crete. We had been invited by Nektarios a shepherd to join the local celebration for St. George's day. The roughly made car park was already begining to fill up with pick-up trucks and cars. People were gathered from the local town - men dressed in the traditional black. The field in which the chapel stood was filled with wild flowers and in particular red poppies. The chapel itself was a tiny building with a low door way.
We could hear the chanting from outside - and as we entered the tiny chapel the smell of incense hit us. It was a bit of a squeeze to fit us in but the people welcomed us, gave us candles etc. Two men were assisting the Priest, their beautiful voices reading the ancient Greek texts and prayers filled the chapel. ( We tried to supress giggles when they kept loosing their places and the priest had to keep coming and showing them the page etc.)

Greek Orthodox liturgy is wonderfully symolic, sensory, and visual. The Priest with his white hair and beard, dressed in his cream robes, incense, candles, icons, coming and going. It was wonderful to be part of it.

After a while the whole of the congregation moved outside under the tree where the priest continued the liturgy. An icon of St.George was placed by the door and the bell hanging from the
tree was rung.

Bread was blessed and shared among those outside - sweet tasting bread. Wine and olive oil were placed with the bread on the tables and blessed too. The ordinary, staple foods of life blessed and made holy somehow. the men who were on the sidelines - sat around the garden tables which were being prepared for lunch, crossed themselves along with everyone else nearer the chapel. The almost instinctively knew which were the solemn moments and hushed their conversation to join the liturgy.

The service continued for a little longer while we stood in the shade of the tree. The sun came out after quite a wet and chilly couple of days. The poppies seemed to shine as we soaked up the atmosphere.

Tables were placed near us and lots of different foodstuffs were brought out. It is tradition after a service like this one to share small tokens of food - perhaps like the feeding of the five thousand. We were encouraged to join the queue to receive bread, cheese, lamb, sardines and wine (very strong local wine!)

We took are places at the tables and shared together. Then, even though it was only 11.30 am, lunch arrived. Pilaf rice (rice cooked in the juices of the meat) and huge plated of lamb. I'm not sure if it was the atmosphere and the sunshine but that meal was one of the best I'd had in Crete! Wine was served from coke bottles with the tops cut off but went down very easily! We ate and drank until we couldn't eat anymore (and there was still massive amounts left!).

After lunch (and too much wine perhaps!) the barriers of language seems to fall as we chatted with the Greek families. I spoke to the Priest (who was aware of 'female' priests and John Calvin!) and had a long conversation with one of the men who had assisted the priest (below). He had been a barber for 30 years working for the US Navy at Souda Bay! Some of us shared in having a puff or two of the strawberry flavour 'hookah pipe'.

We had brought with us a gift for Nektarios - What do you take a shepherd as a gift? A chain saw to help him with the pruning of olive trees! He is a very proud man and art first refused to accept our gift but English persistance paid off and it was gratefully received!

It was probably the most splendid afternoon I'd spent that holiday in Crete!

We said our farewells and thankyous and left. From here we hopped into the open back of the pick-up and travelled further along the dirt track out towards the coast.

Crete is spectacular - and the view down to the bay was no exception. Gorgeous sands, clear blue sea - hidden away in a cove! Wow!

Here we swam (not quite skinny dipping!) or sat on the beach! a perfect way to end a perfect day! Although the whole experience wasn't quite over yet!
At the end of our holiday we arrived back to the Mistral to hear Nektarios was coming to visit! He arrived and brough with him a bucket filled with honey from the bees he kept!! After tasting jars were filled by Nektarios and Adonis (below).

Eveytime I have honey I will think of that wonderful day and the generosity of Nektarios, and the people of Crete! Thankyou to everyone at the Mistral for such a great day and fantastic holiday! See you next year!

posted by Janey_R

A day picking olives and wild greens in Kandanos

Vassilis G. — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 16:13:03 +0200

A day picking olives and wild greens in Kandanos

By Vassilis Gialamarakis

Half way down to the south of Chania, on the way to Paleochora and more specifically in an area called Selino, there is the beautiful village of Kandanos. There we decided to go on a sunny Sunday in January to pick olives for the annual needs of the family and the hotel. My mother had planned the day long before. We had also been invited to pick from Eytyxis Daskalakis's olives, who is a good friend of the family and at the same time our "koumbaros", since my brother Adonis is his son's godfather. We were determined to pick table olives from Kandanos as they are so famous for being the best in taste.

A few days before our visit, the weather had been really bad in Crete with heavy rain, cold and loads of snow up the White Mountains. This was the first sunny day after many days of real Cretan weather. On route there, we enjoyed the magnificent view of the west side of the white mountains (Lefka Ori) covered with snow and parts of crops with only bits of snow on them.

After making some quick arrangements of the day's schedule, we were shown an old olive orchard with huge trees with nets laid under them. We would start picking from there. The trees were very old and their trunks looked more like monuments from another era rather than parts of someone's producing crop. In Kandanos village there is a huge olive tree, like the famous one in Vouves, God knows how old, and it takes four men with their arms wide open to encircle its trunk, which is about 12 metres in perimeter. It produces about 50 kilos of olive oil alone. Olive trees are an integral part of the Cretan landscape and a source of life and health to Cretans. They have also inspired our artists and symbolise peace and fertility.

The storm and winds had dropped many fresh olives on the nets for us to get. Olives must be large and deep blue in colour, in other words, ripe enough to be edible and of course good in taste. We had gone there with high expectations and could not wait to start the hard work of hand picking the best olives of western Crete one by one. We needed as many as possible because we also wanted to give some to our good guests in summer.

The olives had fallen scattered in the nets making it very hard and time consuming to pick, as you have to bend over and move around all the time. After an hour of low efficiency, I began to lose my patience. You see, I am the typical modern type that wants everything to run efficiently and consider time to be of high value. However, this day was to be spent in the Cretan countryside, the old traditional way with my mother, in a slow but constant pace of work just like the way she grew up. My mother had the answer to my worries. We needed to gather the olives in large piles so we could sit down and work with them. But we could not lift the nets as they were sawed up together in a huge sheet covering the entire field. So, my mother disappeared off to the woods next to the field and a little later, she came back holding a few bunches of thyme she had cut there. Using a piece of wire from the fence, she made a broom to sweep the olives on the nets to the same direction to make piles. It did work, although hard work, and in the next two hours we had about 30 kilos. We were greedy though and determined to get more.

We were quickly done with this olive grove and wanted more olives, since my brother Adonis, whose good friend and koumbaros is putting in for mare of Kandanos on the next elections in October 2006, had made it clear to us that, like all real villagers in Crete, he does not work on Sundays and had gone to mingle with his village friends. By the time I went to get Adonis, my mother, being a typical village woman born and raised in a village, had gone off to the field nearby with a knife and waist bag made of cloth to pick wild greens and radices, that we call "chorta". She had not stopped talking of the amounts of greens that grown in Kandanos on our way there the whole morning. And of course we should keep the whole expedition secret of her sister Artemisia, because had she found out we went for greens, she would definitely want her fair share!

Just before noon we were off to Kampos, the area of Kandanos with the most olive trees. The landscape was amazing. The trees were loaded and absolutely stuffed with olives. This is a sight rarely seen on this variety of olives called "tsounati" in the Cretan dialect. This year is the best for olive oil that Crete has seen in many years and the price of olive oil has just come up considerably, so all farmers have a good reason to be happy this year. They have been struggling for very long (worldwide I think) and for most of them their annual income and future plans rely exclusively on olive oil price. Eytyxis was very proud of his orchard loaded with olives and showed us around explaining how well and promising this harvesting season is.

After a rather long conversation repeatedly refusing a lunch break at his house in the village, we left him with no other option but to go and let us accomplish the goal of the day, picking as many olives as we could. We started work quickly but the olives were too small for our purpose and unripe, green. We selected carefully as many large green ones as we could find from up the trees and not from the nets, with the view of making them cracked olives, known as "tsakistes", preserved in lemon juice and salted water. They are great eaten on their own or with bread and cheese or in salads or even to cook with them (using wild greens and olive oil, cuttle fish and fennel casserole).

The snow-capped mountain across the valley was shining in the afternoon sun and the colours of the fields and village houses at the mountain were very bright. In the sight of such beauty, I thought that we are so lucky to be living in such a blessed place. The rest of the afternoon was spent wondering around the field gathering wild greens, different radish species, wild fennel, artichokes, and many more greens unknown to many people. They are weeds, as many would say but with great value for us. I kept picking the wrong ones and mother kept showing me the ones that we were after. They all looked the same to me! The next week's menu would be greens with something else every day cooked in different ways and of course "kalitsounia", which are greens and cheese pies and "marathopites" (fennel pies).

Very few people realise the role of greens in Cretan diet, the healthiest diet in the world according to scientists and the study of 7 countries carried out by the American Rockefeler Foundation. When the results were published the international community was taken by surprise. The Cretans had the strongest hearts in the world, lived longer than any other people and cancerous and cardiovascular diseases were rare on Cretans, unlike in northern populations where heart diseases are a real threat.

On the way back we were feeling absolutely exhausted, yet very pleased with our lovely day out, and of course the pick-up truck was full of the fruits of the earth. The mission did not end there though. We had to pass from our winter vegetable garden in Maleme where the expedition was completed. There we got our spinach, red beets, lettuce, fennel, parsley, radish and rocket. Chickens and rabbits were fed and one rooster was to be part of the meal for the following day.

The next day the olives had to be checked again, all the bad ones should be taken out, then mixed with thick salt suitable for table olives. The salt comes from the western Sfinari and was given to me from Yiannis back in summer. Here is my father's task, since he has the patience to deal with all this!

If you ever have the chance to go on a day like this, do not miss it for anything! It is a real tribute to the goddess of agriculture, Demeter. Unfortunately it is only possible in winter and you need a Cretan like my mother Katerina, to take you around.

How to make your own table olives

The techniques of soaking the bitterness out of the olives and thus making them edible are ancient and very simple. The most famous method used today in western Crete is thick salt.

Alatsolies (black olives in salt)

Olives of the "tsounati" variety are used for this recipe and they must be harvested late in winter so that they are ripe and with loads of olive oil in their flesh so as to be of rich taste. They are just washed well and then mixed with thick salt in a sack or basket or plastic container so that all the juices produced out of the flesh run out. The olives gradually wrinkle and they are turned around regularly so that the salt goes everywhere. They can last for quite a long time up to a year. They must be stored in a dark and cool place to preserve. Before serving they should be rinsed well from the salt. They are generally a starter and enjoyed with bread and cheese or in salads. Make your own olives “a’la Greque” and do not buy what the supermarkets want to sell you.

Tsakistes (cracked olives)

The same olives here are harvested in October or November while they are still green, unripe and with not much olive oil in their flesh, which is really bitter in taste. Then, the olives are beaten gently with a stone or wood cracking the flesh open but being careful not to touch the pit. Then they are soaked in large glass containers in a mixture of water, salt and lemon juice or bitter orange juice. The water mixture is changed every 10 days tasting the olives to see when they will turn sweet and edible. Then put loads of lemon juice in the water and various herbs if you like and cover with some olive oil on the top to stop the top ones from getting mouldy. These olives can be used in cooking or eaten on their own as a starter. Wash them gently and drain before serving with a bit of lemon juice and olive oil and if you like sprinkle them with coriander or rosemary. They do not preserve for very long maximum a year. My friend Eleni at Sfinari village told me that she uses sea water for her olives until the bitterness comes off and she does not crack her olives at all, which helps to keep longer.

The experience of spear gun Fishing with Nikos

Vassilis G. — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 16:07:34 +0200

The experience of spear gun Fishing with Nikos

by Vassilis Gialamarakis

After a kind invitation for spear gun fishing by my friend Nikos, I finally decided to join him on a hot summer day last July. His uncle Kostas would come too.

We were to leave early in the morning as we had a one and half hour speed boat journey to Antikythera, the island they wanted to dive for fish.

I was very excited about the whole expedition because I had heard so much about the

fish in Antikythera and had seen all those huge fish caught by them in the past there, so was eager to share the experience.

We had to take some small provisions with us for the whole day, some bread and water, and some ice for the fridge, but they were taking care of all that.

I was concerned that will not last on the boat and in and out the sea for a whole day. I made sure I took a couple of large beach towels in case I wanted to rest on the boat, took sun cream and a hat and of course all the fishing gear, wetsuit, spear gun, mask and flippers, my rod and all the gadgets that go with it.

Just after dawn we were off on Niko’s boat called Oduseus, a very powerful and fast brand new boat.

We were to do a 40 mile journey to Antikythera or Siglio (as the seamen call it) and these guys were going out with all the necessary equipment. They often do this trip and the boat is new and safe. We have all the rescue equipment and three mobile phones with us.

So far so good, but we have no spare engine and no navigation gear. Soon we will loose sight of the land and how are we supposed to find directions? Just go by experience? Are these guys absolutely sure? What happens if we are caught by night or really bad weather? Is the weather forecast we got absolutely reliable?

As we set off the cove of Sfinari onto the open sea the waves were high and long and the boat started to jump from one to the other making it hard for us to keep our balance on the boat.

Soon I found myself scared and grabbed from the reels and handles to keep my balance. As the boat hit the waves I could feel it bending and it was really bad shock for my back.

The others were used to this motion so they kept chatting about the wind and the sea signs.

I went quiet and then thought to myself that I have a speed boat driving licence, was born in an island and I fish since I was a child, so must prove these guys that I am up to the task.

The sea at the western Crete is very deep. The deepest end of Mediterranean is southwest of Crete near here. On our route the sea depth was on average around 500 meters (550 yards) deep but could reach the abyss over 1.5 Km deep!!!

I decided to change my head from those negative thoughts and take part in the conversation.

Time passed quickly and about forty minutes later we saw the island and I felt better. Occasionally, we had to slow down as the waves and wind were splashing water all over us and in the boat. Had to hide the mobile phones in a dry spot and take all the stuff at the back where it would be more wind protected not blown out the boat.

We saw some seabirds like seagulls but they were Antenes, quite different. They fly literally inches from the water and came around to check on us. It was a very beautiful sight seeing them flying. They were at their natural habitat and seemed to enjoy playing with the wind and waves.

After nearly one and half hour bumping on high waves we finally got there. The island had a spectacular lighthouse on it’s south end and there seemed to be just a mountain path leading there. This is a very remote place. Antikithyra has only a few inhabitants (about 30) and it is pretty small with only one, rather small port unsafe when the sea is rough. The island is often cut off in the winter and any medical emergencies have to be dealt with by helicopter.

The houses on the island looked old and I couldn’t spot any roads apart from a few near the port.

Soon we found our destination, a small cove to stop and start fishing.

The colours of the clear waters were fantastic. You could see the rock formations and different colours of the seaweeds. The sea further from the shore was deep blue.

We dropped the anchor, secured the boat and quickly started to put on our wet suits.

When we were all ready to dive, arrangements were made that they would take opposite directions following the shore line and in a couple of hours me and Nikos, who should stick together, would get the boat and find Uncle Kostas.

Immediately after jumping in the water I saw a large scowl of Parrot fish just under the boat. I dived and tried to get close for a shot but they just disappeared in the rocks.

Maybe my motion was too lively and scared them off. Apparently you have to swim gently in a fish like or mermaid-like manner I would say, so they take you as a fish and hopefully let you get close enough for a shot. All this takes practice though.

I decided to follow Nikos. He knows what he is doing so that is a wise choice.

He was off to the deep though and I knew I couldn’t dive there. I just wanted to see his technique and assist him if needed.

He free dives up to 30, sometimes 35 meters deep!! and has a reputation for his skills. Can keep his breath for up to 4 or 4.5 minutes! Every dive in the deep can last up to 3 minutes or more and this is something I wanted to witness.

I was struggling to keep behind him and hoped that we would not go very far like this or I would be exhausted soon. I looked down and could hardly see the sea bottom. Too deep for my liking. Very scary experience not being able to see what is below you, just blue everywhere. No way would I ever go down there, even if I could, for all the fish in the world.

Soon he stopped completely and was preparing to dive. I saw him staying absolutely still relaxing before diving down the deep.

After around 5 minutes of no movement he took his snorkel off his mouth and dived vertically down.

I was watching him go down deeper and deeper and could not believe it. What in the earth is this guy doing? I lost sight of him completely and just stayed there waiting. Then I decided to dive as deep as I could to see if I can spot him. I must have gone about 5 to 7 meters deep but there were my limits. Could not equalise the increasing water pressure in my ears which started to ache. Silly old me thinking that I could ever follow these guys. They do this all the time, are well trained, fit and are masters of the diving techniques. This is a dangerous sport and I am too old for this. Still no sign of Nikos and I was really worried now.

I dived again and when I came up again I saw him coming up slowly.

He must have been there for around 3 minutes! He explained that he went down to the bottom and grabbed a rock. Then, lifted up his body for a while so any sea bass which was around would move upwards to spot him as he is perceived as an invader and a threat.

But by doing so the fish move around give away their presence, their position and their mood. Nikos would then swim slowly towards the fish judging their intentions at every second and act accordingly. With the spear gun pointed ahead and never looking directly at the fish eyes but pretending that you are a slow weird fish passing by you might get close enough for a shot?

If the fish gets worried and does not allow you close it will disappear with a very fast move into a rock hole which is their home. You spot that hole and try plan B.

In the rock the fish feels safe. The place is a labyrinth of holes and normally has more than one exit.

Plan B means that you approach and look in the hole the fish went in from. Some bass is curious and will stay just in the rock entrance looking outside. If you are lucky then you have a clear shot but being careful not to allow this fish to disappear in the narrow rock hole with the spear on it and get stuck in there by opening its gills.

Nikos explained to me that he had seen 2 fish one of them was huge but they were too clever to let him get close. He would try again though and try another trick of his. There are no fixed techniques for this anymore as the fish have adopted in the standard techniques and their reactions are unpredictable.

A lot depends on the wind, water temperature, deep water currents, season, depth, time of day, the moon and god knows what else.

Before relaxing for another five minutes he told me to assist him on his next critical dive. He now wanted to stay longer down there. At his signal I was to grab him from his legs and push him down diving with him as deep as I could so he would get as deep as possible with the least effort, thus saving as much Oxygen as possible. I did my best and must have given him some 7 meters of no effort depth. I Left him there and he carried on alone to deeper waters, then stopped and let himself just to sink slowly until was out of my site.

I was waiting with excitement. Around 3 minutes later I saw the vague shape of his body

swimming up and soon I could see him holding a huge bass of around 20 kilos!! Now this is fishing! This sight only was worth the effort. I just could not believe my eyes.

We carried on for a couple of hours like this and soon I was too tired to follow him any further.

I took the big fish and swam slowly back to the boat. I was so tired that sleep and resting had a new meaning for me.

The rest of day passed at the same pace. I spend it on the boat though.

Every two or three hours I was in charge of picking them up and taking the fish off them into the boat’s fridge with ice. They would come on the boat rest for half hour, drink water and sometimes eat a small piece of bread and back in the water.

His uncle was successful too but with all sorts of smaller fish like sea bream, parrot fish one Octopus and some other very pretty fish. Nikos got one lobster about one kilo and some very large bream. By noon we had loads of fish.

I tried my luck with my fishing rod but the results were rather disappointing.

My troubles did not end up there though. I got seasick from the boats motion and fell asleep on the boat, then sunburn (despite all the sun cream). My hat was blown off from the wind into the sea and did not catch any fish! On the other hand they filled up a whole fridge and were laughing at me struggling. How would I face my wife now after 15 hours at sea, all red from the sunburn, with no catch and knackered from the trip?

Around 6 in the evening we were heading back to Crete and Sfinari. I was far too exhausted to talk. Nikos was singing and Kostas was teasing him about his singing skills. There was some tension between them too. Uncle Kostas had got a sea bass of around one kilo and there was a rather big argument between him and Nikos over this particular fish. They are not supposed to catch them when this small. Size of one kilo is very small for this type of fish that can reach the size of 50 Kilos or even more.

Back at Sfinari Eleni had prepared a lovely Kakavia fish soup. God, we were all hungry!

I will not forget the scene of Nikos appearing from the deep blue right under me just like Poseidon holding that huge brown sea bass.

The experience was a unique one and the place we went was so pretty and out of this world.

As for my wife, I was given some fish to take home but did not dare to say that I caught them. It did save my fishing reputation but taught me to stick to my lines and hooks in the shallows and leave the deep blue for the real divers.

Ouzo The Spirit of Greece

Vassilis G. — Wed, 01 Feb 2006 21:33:30 +0200

Ouzo

The Spirit of Greece

by Vassilis Gialamarakis

Everyone who has been on holiday to Greece has many fond memories or bad experiences of their Ouzo drinking nights often related with times of relaxation, holidays and probably hangovers.

Ouzo is related to good company and delicious Greek food in a local Kafeneion with a few karafakia of good Ouzo. But very few really know how this aperitif is really made.

Ouzo is a drink exclusively Greek

The word ouzo cannot be translated and the most popular theory suggests that it came from the Italian words “uso a Marsilla” written on the casks of good Greek Tsipouro exported to Italy in the past.

A Turk called Anastas Bey in a Turnavos cafe was drinking a Tsipouro that was so good that he insisted that it was uso a Marcilla. The word Ouzo stayed from then on.

The distillation process originally came from Egypt to Greece and in the past in every Greek rural area and village people used to make Tsipuro or Raki (Tsikoudia in Crete) from the leftovers of the grapes after pressing them and taking the must out to make wine. That is the skins, stems, pips and they had some starch.

Country people were wise enough not to waste anything and used these leftovers. They put them in large containers to ferment from September to around November and then distilled them in small copper distillers and produced Tsipouro or Raki which is found now in every house and village Kafeneion.

Ouzo is the evolution of that process but is very different from Tsipuro.

It can contain herbs like aniseed (Pimpinella anisum), licorice, fennel (Foeniculum vulgare miller), cardamom, mastic, cinnamon, ginger, corn, coriander, cloves, mint or any mixture of the above.

The main difference between Ouzo and other aniseed containing aperitifs is in the method Ouzo gets its aroma.

In most other drinks they first extract the aromas from the seeds and then add it to the drink but in the case of Ouzo the plants seeds are being distilled with the dilution of alcohol and water.

Here is the myth: Most people believe or like to believe, that Ouzo is still derived from grapes but this is not true. Good Ouzo is made from the distillation of a mixture of ethyl alcohol, water and the secret mixture of herbs that each Ouzo making family has from their forefathers. This ethyl alcohol is made on an industrial scale by one or two large distillers in Greece and the raw material used is Melasa ( a juice derived from sugar cane). The legislation forbids using wood or other materials to derive alcohol and as you know things are strict with alcohol due the very high taxation on it. 90% of the price of alcohol used by ouzo makers is government alcohol taxes.

Today, very few know that the ethyl alcohol used to make Ouzo is 97% clear and that means is of excellent quality. Ethyl alcohol derived from sugar cane diluted slowly in soft water is very close to Rum. But Ouzo is more than that.

In a large hand made copper pot the mixture with herbs stays for hours and then is distilled slowly and with great care testing it constantly.

The success of the Ouzo depends on so many factors like the shape and size of the copper distiller, the recipe used, the ease of the process (that is the speed of distillation) the quality of water used and many more.

Today, there are about 200 Ouzo makers left in Greece and the most popular ones are in Plomari in Mitilene Island.

Also widely known are Ouzo 12, Ouzo MINI from Mitilene, Ouzo Babatzim from Thessaloniki.

Myths and reality around Ouzo

Good Ouzo is very aromatic and very strong (according to legislation ouzo must be at least 37.5 vol) what the Greeks call a heavy taste.

Today the most popular Ouzo in Greece is Plomari not very strongly aromatic but rather mild with a mastic taste. This is unacceptable by Ouzo experts who say that it is just marketing and packaging (first time presented with a cork instead of the traditional lid) that make it a success.

But again Ouzo is a personal choice which one derives after drinking many different brands and deciding for themselves.

The art of drinking Ouzo

Of course there is an art in drinking Ouzo. The most famous Greek aperitif is

Enjoyed not straight but diluted with water. How much? As much as you like.

When you put water into Ouzo it turns cloudy. Here is why:

Anise oil and other essential oils dissolve and become invisible when mixed with conventional alcohol content, but as soon as the alcohol content is reduced, the essential oils transform into white crystals, which you cannot see through.

Ouzo is famous for the hangover it causes but why is that?

Simply because the people drink far too much of it quickly without watering it down.

What causes the hangover is not the alcohol but the essential oils that are hard for the body to break down and get rid of.

The secret of safe Ouzo drinking is what the Greeks do. It must be accompanied with the famous Greek Mezes and enjoyed slowly making sure that water is added. Mezes is nothing else but nibbles like Cretan rusk, olives, tomato, sardines, cucumber, Feta, pastrami, hard boiled egg, shrimp, and much more.

How is it served

Traditionally ouzo is served in a narrow and high glass and always accompanied with a glass of water and ice always with a plate of Mezedes.

What we do at the Mistral?

We exclusively use Ouzo Faros (lighthouse in Greek) Manolakakis who is our next door neighbour in Chania and kindly provided us with all the inside information about this wonderful unique drink that is synonymous to Greece.

The two brothers Giorgos and Eutixis are the fourth!!! generation Ouzo makers and their trade mark Faros goes back to 1884.

Giorgos is a chemist and in charge of the distillation in the large very old copper distiller (see photo).

The two brothers also make their own brandy and many liqueurs.

A visit to their distillery in Chania is worth the effort for an Ouzo tasting and can be arranged.

Ouzo used in cooking

At the Mistral we put some in Tzatziki for flavour and aroma.

It can be used very well in many seafood sauces and in the famous Greek Keftedakia Ouzomezes. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients: Half a kilo of beef minced meat

A quarter of a kilo bread white (not the core) wet it gently.

2 eggs

2 onions finely chopped

3 slices of garlic finely chopped

bit of flour

half a cup of ouzo

salt, pepper, oregano

Drain the wet bread and mix it all well for a while until we have a solid mixture.

Leave for a while to marinate then make small balls of it put in flour and shallow fry.

Serve hot and enjoy it with your Ouzo of course.

Vassilis Gialamarakis

www.singlesincrete.com

mistralhot@otenet.gr

The Canuckman's long voyage home (by Ian Hamilton-Canada)

Vassilis G. — Thu, 24 Nov 2005 13:02:18 +0200
Greetings from Canada to all my Mistral friends,

Well, as I had promised some of you, here is the long, long awaited tale of
my lengthy and problematic trip getting back home to Canada. I should have
sent it sooner, but I had been seriously jet-lagged, and I had a ton of
mail/e-mail/stuff/work to go through when I got home. Not to mention
spending major, major catchup snuggling time with a certain
lady. Ahem. Priorities, man, priorities.

Anyway, here goes;
Most of you were probably aware that I was originally scheduled to leave on
the Wednesday morning, not Tuesday like the rest of you. Such was not to
be, however. The first hint of trouble came as I was sunning by the pool
on Tuesday afternoon. Kim called my name, I had a phone call. From
Olympic Airways. My morning flight to Athens had been cancelled. There is
a strike scheduled for tomorrow, on Wednesday. I was given a choice: wait
until Wednesday night (which would probably mean missing my Lufthansa
connections), or take one of the flights this very evening instead (which
would mean spending the night in Athens, instead of the Mistral as
planned). I chose the latter, taking the 8:30 PM flight, figuring I should
get at least one leg of my journey done before the strike hits. I told Kim
and Jo, and rushed up to my room to pack. So in the end, I left the
Mistral on Tuesday, just like the rest of you. By the way, I turned down
the Mistral's gift of olive oil and olives, Canadian Customs is notorious
for not allowing agricultural products into the country. Pity. Anyway,
Adonis drove Anne, Jez, and myself to the airport that evening. It was a
quiet drive, we were all sad to be leaving (Tears? What tears? My
eyeballs were sweating. Yeah, that's it. My eyeballs were sweating). At
the airport, Adonis was parking the van and then said something about
having coffee inside. But by the time I finished checking in, it was time
to board. Olympic Airways was actually on time. Gosh. So I missed out on
having coffee with Anne, Jez, & Adonis. Sorry Adonis. Next time.

I got to the Athens airport, and went to the Olympic Airways counter, the
one with a sign saying "Hotel Desk". I turned on my nice guy polite
Canadian charm, explained my situation, and that I needed a hotel room for
the night. The OA lady would not agree to pay for a hotel room, but she
offered to send me to the hotel they use (75 Euros/night), and provide
transport there and back to the airport in the morning. Okay fine,
whatever, I'm too tired to argue. Waited along with other OA customers for
transport to show up, OA lady explained that driver very busy. OA bus
showed up, looking like an old Edmonton Transit bus in OA livery. Ugh. It
was a half hour ride to a hotel called the Golden Sun, somewhere in Athens,
a suburb called Glyfada, I believe. Turned out the rate was 55
Euros/night, special rate for OA customers. Okey dokey. At this point, I
still hadn't had any supper yet, and it was closing in on midnight. The
hotel's barmaid took pity on me and made me a ham and cheese sandwich, even
though the bar was closing. I wolfed it down, went to my room (not a great
room, but clean), and crashed.

Next morning, the OA bus showed up a half an hour later than I'd asked. No
problem, I had kind of anticipated that, and booked a time earlier than I'd
needed. I'm the only passenger on the bus, too. Got to the Athens
airport, and presented myself at the Lufthansa customer service counter,
turning on the nice guy polite Canadian charm. I was informed that my
afternoon flight was cancelled, and I was now re-scheduled to leave at
6:15. Tomorrow morning. Sigh. Another night in Athens. However, at
least this time the airline was paying for my hotel and meals. Put me up
at a hotel right at the airport. No transport needed this time. Posh
place too, the Sofitel. Got vouchers for free lunch and dinner in the
hotel's restaurant. Very good food too. And Kim and Jo, before you ask,
no, I didn't go exploring the sights in Athens. All the public transit was
on strike, so no buses or trains, only taxis were available. And I was
running low on cash at that point (well, in Euros anyway), so I didn't want
to chance a taxi. I would have liked to have seen the Acropolis
too. Bummer. Oh well, next time. So I crashed in the hotel room and
watched TV. Really nice soft bed too.

Woke up to my second morning in Athens at 3 am to catch the 6 am
flight. Had a really tough time dragging myself out of that nice soft bed
at that ungodly hour. Did I mention that the bed was soft? Anyway, at the
Lufthansa check-in counter, the lady would only give me the one boarding
pass for the flight to Frankfurt. I would have to get the next two
boarding passes when I got to Frankfurt. Okay fine, whatever. Got to
Frankfurt, the Lufthansa lady told me I needed to go to the gate for my
next flight and get my boarding passes there, since it was actually an Air
Canada flight. One of those co-coded flights. Nearly got myself lost
trying to find my next gate in this BHA (big honking airport). Found the
Air Canada flight's gate, and nobody was there yet (well, no staff yet
anyway), so I bummed around a duty-free shop for a bit, didn't buy
anything. Come back to the gate, the staff are there now, and a biiiig
lineup was forming. Well, the line of people who have boarding passes
anyway. I join the smaller line leading to the desk, for people who don't
have boarding passes, don't have seats assigned, need to change seating
assignments, other problems, yada yada. This line's smaller but moving
slowly. The big line is clipping along, but more people keep joining
it. It's going to be a full plane. Oh boy. I get to the front of the
line and turn on the nice guy polite Canadian charm. I explain my
situation to the lady, and she looks me up in her computer. I'm not in
there. Turns out the Lufthansa people in Athens hadn't bothered booking me
in on my next two legs. Fortunately, I had all my paperwork with me, the
original itinerary, the revised itinerary that'd been printed in Athens, my
luggage tag, etc. The luggage tag showed that my bag was tagged to go to
Edmonton via Frankfurt & Toronto. I joked to the lady that my luggage was
tagged to go to Edmonton, but apparently I myself wasn't. She didn't show
it, but I think she got a kick out of that. So she booked me in, and gave
me a boarding pass for the Toronto to Edmonton flight, but couldn't give me
one for this flight yet. The computers are little slow or something, so
she couldn't get me a seat assignment yet. I had to stand over on the side
and wait for her to call my name when she had a seat for me. After about
ten minutes (which seemed like an eternity while watching all these other
people board), she calls my name, she has a seat for me, asks if I want a
window or aisle seat. I really don't care at this point, I'll take what I
can get, I just want to get home. No, no, she says she'll get me a better
seat. So I wait over on the side for another minute or so until she calls
my name again. She's got me a seat and gives me my boarding
pass. Finally. I get on the plane, and find that the seat she gave me
really is a decent one. She had gotten me an aisle seat close to the front
of the economy section, just three rows back from first class. This means
I'll be among the first to get off the plane when it lands. And this is a
huge plane too, an Airbus 330, eight seats to each row and gawd only knows
how many rows. The people in the back will take ages to get off. A long
flight, almost nine hours, and they showed two movies, Electra (not that
good, don't waste your money renting that one) and Chariots of Fire (a
classic that I hadn't seen before, very good). Got to Toronto, I'm now
finally in my home country. Only a measly 3800 km to go.

Went through Canadian Customs, now that was interesting. We got to a
conveyor in the Customs area and retrieved our checked luggage, I suppose
so they could search my entire luggage if they wanted. Then we went
through Customs and dropped our checked bags back onto another conveyor,
where hopefully it would end up on the right plane. Funny thing is, I
never once saw them search anyone's luggage. Maybe I should have chanced
smuggling in Vassilis's olive oil and olives after all. Although if I had,
that would have meant I would have been searched for sure. Murphy's law,
you know. (Hey Vas, any chance I could talk you into mailing me a supply
of olive oil and olives?) Anyway, I walk through Toronto's BHA (big
honking airport) and manage to find my next gate for my final leg to
Edmonton. Had a couple of hours to kill, and I was hungry, so I had a
burger at this restaurant there by my gate. I'm getting pretty tired at
this point, it's been a long, long day, and it's not over yet. I board the
plane to Edmonton, and found out just what kind of seat the lady in
Frankfurt had given me. It's a window seat, in the emergency exit
row. Score!! Leg room, baby, leg room. Sometimes that nice guy polite
Canadian charm pays off. Anyway, at that point I figured out I had been
awake for 21 hours straight. I tried to keep awake, but couldn't. I
crashed, slept for the whole four hour flight to Edmonton.

I woke up as we're landing in Edmonton. End of story, right? Nope, not
quite. I collected my luggage from the carousel (Yay! It didn't get lost),
and hail a taxi. If I had gotten home when I was originally scheduled to,
the plan had been for my brother to pick me up at the airport. Since I'm a
day late, he was now at work (he works 24 hour shifts), and couldn't pick
me up. Hence the taxi. This driver must have been new on the job or
something, I had to coach him on how to get to my brother's place. Which
is normally not that hard a place to find. Yeesh. We're almost there, and
then, with a sheepish look on his face, he informs me he forgot to turn on
the meter. Oh boy. Anyway, we settle on $35.00 for the trip. When I left
for Crete, the taxi from my brother's to the airport had cost me $40.00,
including a small tip. Needless to say, this guy wasn't getting a
tip. Anyway, I crashed on my brother's sofabed that night.

Late the next morning, I started up my Subie that I had left parked at my
brother's place. Started up on the first crank too, good old reliable
Subie (pronounced Sue-bee, for you Brits. It's short for Subaru,
natch). Drove the five hour drive back to Grande Prairie, uneventful
drive, nice and sunny day too. So I made it back home to Grande Prairie
late Friday afternoon, a day later than originally planned. Had dinner
that night with the girlfriend, but called it an early night though. I was
seriously jet-lagged. She's a very understanding lady. I've heard it said
that jet lag is worse when you go west than when you go east. Having
experienced it, I believe it.

Thus ends the long and convoluted tale of the Canuckman's voyage home.

You're probably wondering whether I would ever dare the perils of
international air travel again, to return to Crete and the Mistral. Was it
worth it? Short answer - you bet. Given the time and money, I'd do it
again in a heartbeat. Now I'll just have to talk my girlfriend into coming
too.

Anyway, now I'm off again on another trip, much shorter this time. I leave
Wednesday and come back Sunday, for a pharmacy convention in Jasper. Only
a four hour drive through beautiful mountainous country. I'm being put up
in the poshest place in Jasper, the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge, one of the
perks of being on the council for the Alberta College of Pharmacists. The
scenery is going to be spectacular too, I've been in Jasper in the spring
before. You Brits seriously don't know what you're missing. Heh. So when
are you coming to visit Canada, eh?

Yamas,

Ian

Mistral Magic Still Working (by Pat Moran - Ireland)

Vassilis G. — Thu, 24 Nov 2005 12:55:10 +0200

On a wet, dark and depressing Monday in January of this year, I found singlesincrete.com quite by accident on the Internet. The information on the web page sounded just what I needed, so I emailed Vassilis for a brochure. My son and daughter worked in Crete for a summer, and warned me not to expect a prompt reply ... out of season ... that I'd be lucky to get a reply in April or May, if at all. How wrong they both were!

The next morning was a friendly response from Vassilis, saying that the new brochure was being printed and that I should receive same in the post within 10 days; 3 days later it arrived, I was totally smitten, both by the speed and the warm welcome from Vassilis, hoping I would be able to travel there this summer.

I booked immediately, my first solo holiday, not knowing what to expect - but hoping I would fit in and make some new friends. I needn't have worried ... within an hour of arriving at the Mistral on 3rd May, I was disgusted that I hadn't taken the plunge by booking for 2 weeks!

Jo was the first person I met at the bar, and we immediately became firm friends. Jo is married Nori and they both work long and hard to ensure that all guests are made feel welcome and happy. It is an ordeal for anyone travelling alone for the first time, but, believe me, you could not have chosen a better place to start off solo travelling. It's like being part of a large happy extended family.

There is no pressure to join in with the many exciting trips and excursions; you are entirely free to spend the days and nights doing what you want - reading by either the front pool (nearer the bar for that freshly squeezed orange juice), or at the back new pool, where you can have complete peace and quiet (if that is what you want), or join in with the fun that is all around the Mistral - day and night.

Behaving like children (which are not around at all) can be such fun - Free Willy in the front pool and limp Dick in the back pool, (although they both have been known to commute between both pools - depending on who is playing that day)!. There is a lovely new outdoor jacuzzi too, and the entire new block of superior rooms is gorgeous.

Landscaped with great flowering plants, hidden lights, and little almost hidden paths around to the new rooms, or just for a stroll at night - trying to take a break from the bar or make room for a drink after mother Katerina's Greek banquets that are dinner each night.

I was given a room on the second floor of the original hotel - perfect view of the beach and sea (which is only a short walk from the hotel), perfect view too of the bar and who is there. If you need an early night for whatever reason (I didn't obviously, I'm Irish)!, the balcony doors are tripple glazed and with closing the shutters, you won't hear a thing. I did manage to see over ! the superior rooms on the Tuesday (changeover day) and they are lovely, with double bed, fridge, bath, perfectly done out in every way, and quiet day and night. Everyone who took one of them was happy - until some of the guests realised that they weren't using their fridge at all, that a single bed was OK, and there was no time for a long leisurely soak in the bath - as they wanted to be where the fun was and this usually centres around the bar area in the evening, before and after dinner, and around the front pool.

Treating yourself to a "posh" room was what people liked most, being pampered after a tough year, and the Beauty Salon is in the new block, too. Neck and back massages, stiff joints eased, pedicures and manicures to show off the newly acquired tans, seemed to be the most popular treatments. You can have your treatments done in the privacy of the indoor room, or outside under a canopy, in the fresh air, relaxing on the beauty bed - it's up to you to decide.

There is at least one room at the front of the hotel which has 3 beds and lots more wardrobe space; if 2 or 3 friends want to share, this is ideal, although if the hotel isn't full, I think you can ask for that room anyway, so you can spread your things about! On the last day this week (that's another story about to be told)!, I discovered 2 bedrooms which have a bath too, both corner rooms, at the rate of the Standard Room, which is a bonus for me for next summer!

Little treats on arrival are a nice touch. You buy your bottled water when you get there, and it's refilled with pure spring water either from the bar or the kitchen - free - for the rest of your holiday. This is great because in the heat or while walking or taking trips, you do find you are drinking lots of water, and cold water the morning-after-the-night-before is always useful!

There are pretty free postcards at reception, so that even if you had not intended buying or posting any cards, you always find that once they are there for the taking, you end up writing to someone; Kim has stamps at reception and will post them for you as well.

In your room, there is a little welcome card with a fresh flower; something most female guests take home, to use as a bookmark and remember the Mistral experience during the dreary winter months. The hotel has provided a "speedy" kettle with supplies of milk, coffee, teas and sugar in the bedrooms. ! This is very handy is you wake up early (the sun shining through my open window always blinded me with its intensity and heat at 7.30 a.m.,) so to have a cuppa while sitting in the sun on your balcony is a great way to start the day; if you run out of milk - no problem, just ask for more and it will be given immediately. .

The enormous buffet-style breakfast is from 8 - 10.00 a.m., and even the most picky eater will find something that they like. Big choice of breads, toasters, ham and cheese, cakes (yes cake for breakfast)!, Feta cheese, bowls of olives, sliced juicy tomatoes, hard boiled eggs, fresh fruit salad with Greek yogurt, orange juice, and as much tea and coffee as you can drink. This is eaten where you like - alone if you like, or with anybody else who is there at the same time.

There is a welcome meeting at 10.30 the first morning (Wednesday), hosted by Vass and Kim. A big map of Crete is up on a board, and Vass points out t! he places of interest, the trips that are available, and the history of the island. Then Kim explains the practical things, like the rules (there really aren't any formal rules, just sensible things like no night swimming, no diving into a crowded pool, if glass breaks around the pool area, just to tell one of the staff so that the guests won't cut themselves, or Dolly might cut her feet, and to dry off a little bit when leaving the pool so that the tiles in reception don't become lethal. This chat is accompanied by Jo's famous long glasses of freshly squeezed orange juice, with maps and leaflets - although all information is available at reception, with piles of exciting trips, the little train takes the strain by bringing you to places you might not otherwise find, and lots of Cretan cookery books, and magazines about Crete and the Greek Islands. It is a good idea to attend this meeting as you learn a lot about what is available, times of the local air-conditioned bus which, for E1.80 takes you on a beautiful coastal journey into the town of Hania, about 30 minutes, complete with bus conductor, driver and sometimes even an inspector! You see a lot more by being up high, and even at the local bus stop, they helpfully provide you with chairs and seats, in case you are already tired! Buses go very 30 minutes and GMT (Greek maybe time) always seems to work very well; the occasional little delay is always fun anyway, because you are on holiday and no deadlines to be kept.

Within 2 days of returning home to Ireland, my daughter said that if I had had such a good time, why not return for a longer holiday. She came up with the idea of getting her two brothers to pay for me to have the full 2 weeks next time, as a Birthday, Christmas, Mother's Day, St.Patrick's Day etc., present! I couldn't believe this offer and phoned the Mistral straight away; Jo answered and said they'd love to have me back, so I booked 2 weeks for 20th September. This of course, was not nearly long enough either, so thanks to a room being available, I managed to extend it by having a 3rd week - only home since Tuesday and already am having serious withdrawal symptoms, and planning and saving for next summer!

One word of advice is, if you do want to stay on for longer, it can work out very expensive flight-wise. You immediately lose out on your original return flight, and in my case, I lost the overnight hotel stay in Gatwick and the subsequent return flight back to Shannon Airport the following day. But thanks to Kim's hard work, she managed to get me a reasonably priced return flight (very early, but since it's the end of the season, I'm lucky to have got a flight at all, as nearly everything was booked out). I left the Mistral at 5.00 a.m., travelling Chania-Athens-Heathrow-Shannon all in the one day, and after a total of 15 hours travelling (including 2 hour Greek time difference), I arrived home tired out - BUT ...would I do it all over again - a resounding YES! No amount of tiredness or travelling can block out the Mistral magic - you have all the time in the world relieving the new friendships formed, having new experiences, being included in Mistral's large extended family life - in fact, really being part of a new family in a different country - superb feeling!

By being lucky enough to have now spent one month in Crete this year, I was determined to take part in as much as I could; the week in May was just chilling out by the pool getting a sun tan, and totally relaxing - that was all I wanted then. But this time ... I was determined to see and do as much as I could. It seemed to work out that every second day we'd end up relaxing by the pool, reading, laughing, and trying to decide if we were hungry or not, and then reading the menu for about half a hour, just to see what we did want to eat; you give your lunch order and they call you when it's ready, so you don't even have to "dress for lunch" or make any effort at all to be presentable. Determined to try all Cretan food, I gave in when Jo suggested double egg and chips one day - accompanied by such a large Greek salad that you have to share with one or two others; all for about the price of 2 Mars bars and a magazine back home!

On the Thursday there is! the best day out ever, at Sfinari to a fish restaurant. You leave about 10.30 in minibuses for a lovely trip to a white sandy beach, where you can swim in the crystal clear warm waters, walk for miles, relax on sunbeds, sunbathe, or have a drink at the beach bar; for anyone interested, there is a naturist area at the end of the beach behind some rocks - this seemed worth the effort to some guests!

Vassilis will take you on a little history tour for 20 minutes, if you are interested. Then, after 2 hours there, you are driven to the family home of Yiannis for lunch, a long lunch of 3-4 hours. There is a long table set up under some trees beside the sea. Eleni, his wife, does all the cooking, and his son Nikos harpoons the fish, so depending on what he catches that day, that is the menu! All this fresh fish is lovingly laid out on ice, which the guests can inspect in the kitchen on arrival. Photos are in the restaurant of Nikos with his previous catch, all posted to the family by guests from all over the world.

For anyone who doesn't like or can't eat fish, there is a choice of meats; even a vegetarian will have no problem - lots of salads, breads, sea grass, fruits, all washed down with copious amounts of wines, water, frappes, and more wines! It is such a beautiful setting that the time really goes so fast; the talk on the way home is of how we were going to face yet another Greek dinner at 8 that night! But somehow we managed to ...

Some guests travelled into town on the Friday to do some shopping, and had a pleasant long lunch at the harbour, watching the world go by. It is the only place I've ever been to that being alone while eating does not matter. The family have a friend who has the "blue restaurant" by the harbour, and if you mention him or The Mistral, suddenly a welcome free drink will appear, and you are left alone for as long as you like, no pressure on ordering, eating, paying and going. 4 of us were there last week and even after the meal, another drink was offered "on the house" - not like being at home at all!

There is "leather lane" a long narrow street full of shops vying for the sale of bags, shoes, purses, lovely souvenirs; every shop has something different and they are all so helpful, even if you aren't buying from them, they will recommend somewhere else for you to go. The shop which makes you leather boots within one week was crowded out; they measure your feet on a piece of paper, draw around your problem areas, you decide what you want, and for E150 you can have a new comfy pair of long leather boots to bring home! I can't give an idea of the prices in May because I didn't shop much, but this time, being the end of their season, everything was being sold off very cheaply. I found you didn't even have to haggle; clothes that were billowing in the breeze suddenly - like magic - were sold off so cheaply that guests bought their entire Christmas and birthday presents, for very little.

There are numerous boat trips from the harbour, too. A yellow submarine (yes it is yellow) takes you out of the harbour for a trip; glass bottom boats are popular too, as is a 5 hour trip to two islands; it goes around one and then you have the chance to swim ashore to your very own treasure island for a while; if you don't swim, you can either stay on board or wade ashore - a big adventure. There are PADI driving courses too, and snorkelling so that you can see all the fish in the clean waters.

The little train trips are great - letting the train take the strain is marvellous when you are tired out, but still want to explore. There are many different trips, all leaving from the big hotel across the road from the Mistral. We took a gorge trip which gave us about 15 minutes to look at souvenir shops and have a cold drink. Twice we took the trip that brings you to the oldest olive tree on the island, 5000 years of history, where you have a short stop for photographs, ice creams, and admire the views. This same train then takes you to see raki being made, where you can drink as much of it as you like - warning ... it is not like a pint of Guinness, a small glass or two is more than enough! Free popcorn is provided, and the family let you share in their life, by playing with the family dogs, and trying to explain how important visits are to improving the quality of their lives. All along the route, you will have young children, teenagers, mums and dads and grannies waving at you, with the security that tourists bring to their future, it gives you a great feeling. The last stop on this trip is a visit to a church within a cave, where everything is unspoilt and left for the visitors to see and touch. Doves are hiding up in the rocks, and even the flash of the cameras doesn't phase them - they are used to it. Panoramic views from there over olive trees, spectacular sea views, and with the constantly changing skyline, it's essential that you remember a camera.

On my first week 20th September the Mistral was booked out - a total of 43 happy guests, making friends and enjoying themselves. We met Lara, a lovely lady on a 3 week Greek trip, ending up her holiday at the Mistral. She left the Ukraine when l4, and settled with her family in Toronto. In May, we had Ian, a pharmacist from Edmonton, Canada, who made the long trip for just one week, and despite lots of problems on his return home, told us given the chance, he'd do it all over again! We had a guest from Scotland and another from the UK., who are going to live out their life's dream in their new homes in Crete - such excitement around the tables with them off selecting tiles, shower trays, and saving up for their swimming pools., in between picking up hints and advice from Vassilis and his family on their permanent move to the sun. Age is just a number at the Mistral; my three weeks seemed to consist of men and women ranging from 30's to! 60's, all mixing well and enjoying meeting new friends, and enquiring about local customs, vine leaves (and how to stuff them), etc.

Each Friday there is a wine tasting and "nibbles" at 1.30 p.m. This is no ordinary wine tasting - and no ordinary "nibbles" either!  You sit at a long table, outside if the weather is OK, and every type of wine is produced, and Vassilis explains the history of each one, and you must - not just try - but actually drink each one! Nibbles turns out to be the usual Cretan banquet, more and more plates of delicious foods keep on coming from the kitchen, with explanations of how they are cooked, Mum Katerina's vegetables are used from their garden, and even now at the end of the season, there is no waste - they just use whatever is left, and conjure up so many different ways of cooking and presenting it.

This experience can take up to 2 hours, and then - it's not over yet - you have the chance to go into the kitchen, where Vassilis will teach you how to cook typical foods which we already had enjoyed. Starting off with large tomatoes and marrows already having had their flesh scooped out, he proceeds to show us how to stuff them, no garlic as it would kill the delicate flavour, just a bowl full of natural ingredients, their own olive oil, grated cucumbers, and Bena then finishes them off for our dinner that night! Next we are shown how to fill strips of fillo pastry with mint and soft goats cheese; everyone gets a turn, they are then fried, drizzled with honey, so you get to eat even more! Finally, recipes are given to you all to bring home and show off your new culinary skills! And you leave with a precious bottle of their own olive oil and - if they haven't run out at the end of the season - a jar of delicious black olives.

On our last day, last Monday 10th October, the weather turned a bit gloomy, so Vassilis and Nori brought us up through the mountains to a restored village, no electricity, cooking done in a huge wood-burning oven, and all rooms fully booked out - including Christmas.  We went to see Vass's aunt who had the key for the lovely little church, with fresco and ornate work; while the key was being found, she produced a tray of raki and chocolate fingers for all of us, which we duly devoured in her garden, full of lime and lemon trees. Her grandson, Yorghis was with her, and was a lovely little boy, totally bemused by us all taking photos of him and his granny!

Then Nori took his passengers on a lovely drive to the village Milia, while Vassilis parked his bus and we all spent a lovely 2 hour walk up a mountain, slipping and sliding, watching a goat giving birth, collecting chestnuts for dinner at the Mistral that night, all the time being constantly informed of all the local customs, people and animals we met en route; even a large freshwater crab scuttling among the fallen chestnuts, was amusing!

We all met up at the restaurant, where yet another "light" lunch was being prepared. We walked around the village, were shown the rooms where people stay, so much peace and quiet and time to think there - no wonder it's a very popular place to stay. Guests there can chop the wood, read from the large library, or do as little or as much as they want - a bit like the Mistral idea really. It's very isolated, which is even better, as batteries can be recharged for days at a time, or you can mix with other people from all! over the world. Lunch there - as usual - was a 2 hour feast, more and more typical Cretan foods were being produced, with explanations given as to their origins, again all washed down with wines, raki, more wine, delicious desserts, and coffees. Then a bloated/drunken stagger back down to Vass's bus, and home again!

Whether you like or dislike horses and grapes, a visit to the Riding Centre is a must. This centre offers an hours horse riding for E30, but Vass being Vass, managed to put together a very competitive price for us Mistralites, which included transport to and from the Centre, about an hour leisurely riding a horse up through the mountains with spectacular views (not wise or easy taking photographs from the top of a horse), but always Nori or Adonis are there too, armed with cameras, to capture your moment! There are I think, a total of 7 horses, which are so used to this daily trek, that they just amble up and back down again at their own pace. Riding hats are provided, experienced riders are given a suitable horse, and those who have never been on a horse before always get new found confidence on the return trip!

This exciting event is accompanied by yet another gorgeous sex-on-legs man, who, while always ensuring that everybody is safe and comfortable, then puts on a little show of his expertise for entertainment purposes! We were so lucky to be there for the grape harvest which lasts about 2 weeks at this time of year. There is a big concrete pit with crates of grapes just waiting to be loaded into it. They sluice your feet and legs down first with a power hose, helpfully provide Greek music to get you into the mood, then you can dump in the grapes or just trample them - what fun this is, people slipping and sliding around, laughing, taking photos, with Adonis clutching us for dear life before some of us disappeared down the big gulley along with the grape juice! We never imagined we'd be included in something like this - you usually only see it in the movies.

After being sluiced off again, we all headed back to the huge terrace and dining area, for another "light" lunch - hours of more delicious food, more wines, more raki, frappe and coffee. You can buy bottles of wine (! which we made earlier!), honey and raki to take home, but there's no pressure to do so. The owners are genuinely delighted to meet you, and are justifiably proud of what they have there. Each horse is carefully looked after, given their own stable and tackle, and you can ask for your one by name, too - mine was "Filippo" (so I ended up riding Phil two weeks running)!.

There is so much to do based at the Mistral, and as the days go on, guests become braver about venturing out on their own. I walked the local beach one evening for 90 minutes, nobody else around, resting on a beach chair looking into the waves - a Shirley Valentine moment!

The German cemetery is a l0 minute walk from the hotel and is well worth seeing, if only to bring it home to people the futility of war. There are over 4,000 German men buried there, some graves have 2 men in them, with a list of other Germans who had died there too, but who could not be buried in full; there is a long history of how their families coped before, during and since their deaths - one family lost 3 sons. The entire place is so well looked after, and if you climb up to the back of it, the views are spectacular, and the peace and quiet is wonderful. You think a lot while there, and can leave your own personal message in the visitors' book, too.

There's no point in me going on and on about the whole Mistral experience - this is just a taste of what you can expect while there. Every time guests return (and one girl has been l5 times so far), you find different guests and different things to see and do. The one constant thing is that Vassilis has such a passion for his homeland and such knowledge that he is able to impart on us all, that it is such a big learning curve. Being fluent in the English language, with a wicked sense of humour helps too; no query or question is ever left unanswered, and I found that I learned more about Cretan history in a fun way, than I could ever have learned during a history class. He even gives a informal talk about history in the evenings back at the hotel - he never seems to run out of information.

Finally, Greek night is not to be missed on Friday nights. Because May 3rd was a Walking Week, some planned events did not happen because the walkers were away for long periods. However, having been to 3 Greek nights for the past 3 Friday nights, it's an experience that is so enjoyable that the extended family and friends turn up too. Nori starts off with Greek music in the bar before dinner, then the live musicians turn up, complete with 2 native dangers, dressed in full Cretan dance uniform. The music gets louder and more exciting, Vassilis dresses up too and joins the dancers in full costume - he sure can dance, too! Being a natural coward, the first night I was too nervous to take part, so just lurked around the bar armed with cameras.

The second Friday night, once it was explained to me that hospitality is important to the Greek families, and by taking part, you are showing them you are enjoying their lifestyle, there was no stopping me! A male guest who had the great knack of knowing when to help out nervous or shy people came to my aid. A table was produced on the dance area beside the pool (deep end, too!), and before I knew it, I was up on that table with him, barefoot, dancing in time to the music! Luckily the lights were dimmed at that stage, so it was not so embarrassing but fun, then without realising it, I was on the floor again, this time dancing barefoot in a fire circle! This encouraged others, and soon we were all doing Zorba the Greek, stumbling and laughing while trying to master the steps, changing circles and ending up doing a "conga" type dance in and around the bar, being force-fed a raki on the way out again!

The same thing happened on my 3rd Greek Friday night (last week), this time others were brave and performed strange acts with little plastic beakers full of some dangerous alcoholic drink, balancing them on their heads, and trying to drink from them off other! guests' feet or heads - what fun it was, and lots of photographs to remember it all by. Yiannis (from the fish restaurant) turned up with his wife, found me in the dining room, and launched me out in the thick of the dancing - I seem to be more Greek now than Irish, and I loved it all.

Dolly is, well Dolly. She has her own thread in the Mistral Chat room, and is well worth meeting. She is a member of Vass's family for years, and is known as the old tart - having had a variety of partners over the years, eats everything in sight and still keeps her slim figure - I don't know how she does it! Having used up most of the garden to bury food in over the years, gives you a clue ..... yes, Dolly is the Mistral pet dog, getting older and less able to join us on the sun beds, but still is always in the right place at the right time. I spotted her last week dashing into the hotel at 7.00 a.m., one morning, with a large pizza in her mouth; she didn't want or need it, just spent a bit of time trying to find an available burial place! She's always wagging her tail (instead of her tongue) at breakfast, now in her latter years, only sniffing distainfully at bread and going for ham or cheese.

She relaxes during the day, drinking from her pot plant water tray, lying in the shade, coming to life when she hears the sound of cutlery at lunch time. Then from 7.00 p.m., onwards (and the photos prove this)!, she places herself directly in front of the dining room, back to the bar, ready for the bell ringing to signal "dinner". If it's a particularly nice menu for her, e.g., kalamari, veal, meatballs, swordfish, beef or lamb, she comes to life - giving the occasional bark to remind us that she is there, and will visit us all - last week she managed to reach the entire length of the table between our legs, always getting a tasty titbit or two! Then, her evenings are spent either curled up on the sofa in reception having fascinating dreams, or watching TV with Mum Katerina. It's so lovely that she is part of the family, and not shut out away from us all.

So now, I have to start saving again for next year - I still am not convinced that even 3 weeks is long enough - but in order to get the entire season over there, I would have to have a large Lottery win, or write that book I've been promising myself to do, for years now! Any budding authors out there ... there is enough fuel for 2 bestsellers and the movie rights, in one week - let alone three weeks!

The only thing I'm a bit nervous about is that with all the great experiences you get once you find The Mistral, what will happen once it gets booked up throughout the season? Already, they have a lot of confirmed bookings for next year, with Greek Easter week being particularly popular; guests get to become part of the celebrations, and apart from the gastronomical feast that is part of Easter, you do what the Cretan families do, visit the same families, be included in the processions, and all the way along, it is all explained why they do what they do.

So, if you have any doubts about what this Mistral experience is all about, I hope I have gone some way to dispelling them now, after all of the above!

Read thoroughly through the Chat Room Forums, and any and every question will be answered by any of us who love it there. The best testimonials are given by the guests who return there year after year after year.

So a big thank to Vassilis and his family, Kim, Jo & Nori, Tracy, Vass's brother Adonis (who really is great fun and a big help to us all), Roseta, Bena, and last but not least Asan, the gorgeous Bulgarian bar man who has sadly returned to University in Varne, Burgaria, to carry on with his studies to become the Captain of a Ship. More commonly known as sex-on-legs, this 24 year old made life so much better for a lot of the guests. As well as being an excellent barman, he too had a wicked sense of humour (having been taught the language by an Irishman who he worked for in New York), and had wisdom beyond his years

This is the first time I've never ever had a complaint about anything on a holiday; but this is no ordinary holiday, it's an experience where you can arrive solo, and be made part of a new family, who genuinely do care about you, and don't emphasise paid excursions or clipboards while boarding you on trips you don't really want.  There has to be so much praise for Vassilis, Adonis, Katerina and all the staff (more friends than staff, really), who all go out of their way to make certain all guests have a wonderful time with them.

On leaving the pool on my third evening in May, I mentioned to Kim just how lucky I was to have found the Mistral. She replied - and I'll never forget this - "Pat, people do seem to find this place at a time when they need it the most" - this has really been proved to be true, time and time again guests have arrived there feeling angry, lonely, depressed or with nothing in their lives but work-related problems, but they always leave in a better and stronger and happier frame of mind - more Mistral magic which continues working long after you return home.

So now, all that is left for the rest of this year is great memories of new friendships formed, lots of photos being emailed or posted, text messages, lovely phone calls, constant emails from guests who you really became close to and want to continue this friendship, the Reunion in Milton Keynes in November (last year over 80 turned up for the weekend, armed with photos, memories, video recordings, and fun).

This December for the first time, Nori & Jo are organising 3 and 4 day trips to Prague - Nori's native land. The dates of 12-15th December are fully booked up, but there are still some vacancies for other dates. The idea seems to be to recreate a Czech/Mistral type break - a small hotel situated within walking distance of everything in the centre of town, airport transfers included, trips up into the mountains, visits to places only the locals know about, Christmas markets, crisp cold air, mulled wine and little sausages given! to you while browsing the market stalls - I can't wait for this, too!

My final plan - if it works out, is to have a Greek Night here at home. Thanks to the generosity of the Mistral family and friends, I returned home with Cretan wine, jar of black olives, large bottle of olive oil, glass bowl from the Riding Centre, and 2 glass ashtrays given to me by nice people in restaurants. I've also bought lace tablecloths (made locally by women sitting outside their homes, working away), little handmade olive branch coasters for those unfortunate drinking accidents, blue and white paper for the Greek flag, blue and yellow paper to recreate our favourite restaurant by the harbour, my new Greek CD of typical national music and dance ..... It will make a change from the usual Irish house parties at Christmas time anyway. I'll have to put into practice all the new recipes I've learned from the Cookery Classes, and try and locate some vine leaves too (supermarket manager told me yesterday that ! if they are not over by the vegetables, then they don't stock them)!.

Hope all of the above helps anybody considering taking a holiday at The Mistral - you will never ever regret taking the plunge and booking your holiday there - a totally life-changing experience.

See you all next summer over there!

Keep in touch, Pat

The Island of Crete and the Independent Traveller

Vassilis G. — Sat, 08 Jan 2005 19:07:04 +0200

SUNDAY TIMES(Johannesburg) – FOOD AND TRAVEL

The Island of Crete and the Independent Traveller:

Saxon de Kock

I went to Crete this September and fell in love. Yes, hopelessly in love with this Greek island, shaped like a gnarled old olive branch and home to man for the past 7000 years.

This is the largest and most southerly of the Greek islands, sharing the same latitude as Tunisia and Syria and situated only 200 kilometres across the Libyan Sea from the top of Africa.      This is a place of many different moods, of rugged mountainous beauty, with the peaks of the Lefká Ori (White Mountains) covered in snow for many months of the year. It’s a place of deep, magnificent gorges, thousands of caves, of blue skies and breathtakingly beautiful beaches, where the water is crystal-clear aquamarine with golden sand on some and pebbly on others.    Crete has many fascinating towns, influenced by the occupation in past centuries by among others, Romans, Mycenaeans, Arabs, Venetians and the Turks It abounds with fortresses and castles and exquisite mosques. There are the wonderful archeological sites of the Minoan civilization of thousands of years ago, including the world-famous Palace of Knossos and the ruins of Phaestos, Aghía Triadha, Mália and Káto Zákros. There are fascinating Dorian, Roman and Greek sites, Byzantine monuments and hundreds of ancient churches and monasteries. The towns display their Turkish and Venetian influences and if you want to see a really beautiful waterfront visit Chania or Réthymno. Peaceful and calm and protected by their sturdy old sea walls, their lighthouses still stand sentinel. Chania’s lighthouse was rebuilt in the form of a minaret in 1820 by the Egyptians who were in charge at the time.     The Venetian-styled houses, many of them exquisitely and painstakingly restored, line the edges of the waterfront while all around are lively tavernas do brisk business as travellers from all over the world, drop in for a refreshing iced beer or a delicious iced coffee frappé.

But this was a holiday with a difference. I went to Crete because I wanted to spend my days wandering around on exciting little excursions, feeding my curiosity for all things historical, cultural, mythological and archeological. I wanted to explore, to take my time, to wander about.   I also wanted to swim and snorkel and stroll through olive groves at leisure. I wanted to have my space but not be entirely alone.   And this was why I chose to stay at a little hotel on the Western side of Crete, near to the town of Chania, called the Mistral Hotel.

A unique concept, this is not your “Solo” type holiday on some package deal. It is a refuge, a home from home and caters only for the independent traveller. The hotel is owned and run by Vassilis Gialarmarakis, a native of Crete, who speaks excellent English with a delightful Scottish accent. This comes from his time studying for his B. Sc. degree in hospitality management at Strathclyde University in Scotland.

Vassilis and his family have run the hotel for nine years. Accommodating about 36 independent travellers at a time, their booking system is divided into blocks of 7 days which run from Tuesday to Tuesday .   The bonus of staying at the Mistral is that, as a lone traveller, you immediately become a member of the family, who look after you as if you were their own. The cost per week includes your breakfast and dinner with plenty of rather delicious Cretan wine (which I found to have a bouquet rather like summer strawberries) and the wonderful traditional Cretan food, prepared by mother Katerina and her chef.   Dinner times are enormous fun with everyone sitting at long tables. There is much chatter, laughter and swapping of stories and there are plenty who linger long over their coffee late into the night. There is music and dancing and on Fridays the night is given over to traditional Greek dancing which has everyone collapsing in laughter at their own lack of co-ordination.

The joy of this concept is that it leaves one entirely free during the day to do one’s own thing and go off adventuring, join one of the many excellent trips that are available through the local travel agent, or simply take a trip to the beach nearby or swim in one of two lovely large pools at the hotel.   You are always warmly welcomed when you arrive back from your adventures and instead being all alone, you have the company of many like-minded people who are happy to listen to tales of your adventures, swap notes and make plans for the next day.    Many friendships are formed and many tears shed when those who are leaving board Vassilis’s bus for the airport.    The Gialamarakis family make every effort to see that everyone is kept happy. There are wine-tasting events, quiz nights, wonderful trips with Vassilis and his brother Adonis to special beaches, trips to enjoy seafood lunches and even cooking lessons if you feel so inclined.   Vassilis will also host a trip to nearby Chania and explain its history and visit sites of interest for those so inclined.   All this is available but it is entirely up to the visitor to join in or decline.

And then, there are those mountains and the gorges and the castles up on the tops of hills, so camouflaged that you can hardly tell that they are there. There are stunning, uninhabited peninsulas and coves and bays and caves. There is also of course that speical cave, where it is said that Zeus was born. Mainland Greeks will argue that point but the people of Crete know that he chose their island for his birthplace and why not? They even argue about which was the cave of his birthplace and which his nursery, for there are two sites in Crete claiming the birth of this god of gods.   There is also the lovely beach at Elafonisi, round on the extreme Western side, close to the Libyan Sea. The water is so clear and the sand so white under your feet and the sea so startlingly blue, that as you float buoyantly in the salty water and gaze across to the little island nearby, you could hardly imagine the tragedy of 1824. It is written that Ottoman Turks chased 850 Cretan women and children onto this island and put them all to death. The sand is made from billions of crushed pink shells, but when the tide turns and the sand glistens pale pink in the dying rays of the sun, the locals say that the blood of the women and children runs still. Near here, too, set high on a cliff, is the Convent of Chryssoskalítissa. Here, legend has it, one of the 90 steps up to the chapel is fashioned in pure gold. Only a true virgin will see the golden step but others will simply see the stone. Can’t say I came upon the golden step!

There are thousands of olive trees and oranges and lemons grow and the goats give of their milk for the most mouth-watering soft cheeses and the Greek salads are real and the olives sweet and succulent and the Raki ( special Cretan drink similar to Ouzo) packs just the right punch. The Cretans are a warm-hearted and welcoming people who will do their best to make you feel at home.   There is much to see and do on this island of Crete, the cradle, it is said, of our civilization. To make the most of it, read up and prepare for your journey and if you are a lone traveler, consider the Mistral as the place to find safe refuge while you are there. The island bus service is excellent, (most of the busses are air-conditioned coaches) and are frequent and renting a car is easy and inexpensive.    Take good shoes if you intend to walk the famous Samaria Gorge (18.5 kms and mostly downhill.). Not for the faint-hearted but certainly doable by anyone reasonably fit and determined. But there are plenty of other gorges to walk too.

The best time is Spring (March through May) when the flowers are abundant and the island bursts into glorious colour or late Summer during September and October going into autumn. July and August are the hottest months on the island, so bear tha in mind if you are planning to do a lot of sightseeing.

I flew on Olympic Airways. It was an easy 9-hour flight to Athens and a simple switch to the domestic terminal to catch the plane to Crete. Then a 45-minute flight over the glorious blue Aegean Sea to be met at the Chania Airport by the smiling and welcoming Vassilis, who collects and drops off all his guests at the airport when they arrive or depart.

But let us allow the final words to Nikos Kazantzakis, beloved son of Crete, buried near Iraklion and author of among many works, Zorba the Greek.

Crete’s sense of mystery is extremely deep. Whoever sets foot on this island senses a mysterious force branching warmly and beneficiently through his veins, senses his soul begin to grow.

Nikos Kazantzakis – Report to Greco

Mini Fact File

for Travellers to Crete:

South Africans passport holders will need a Schengen visa to visit Greece.

Currency used: € (Euro)

Olympic Airways fly to Athens three times weekly, Wed. Fri. and Sun.

Connections to Chania Airport from Athens – 4 per day.

The Mistral Hotel has a website for further information: www.singlesincrete.com or telephone 0030 28210 62062

Holiday for one- No Problem

Vassilis G. — Tue, 04 Jan 2005 20:22:46 +0200

HOLIDAY FOR ONE – NO PROBLEM!!

By Jan Moore

On the beautiful western side of Crete, Greece, there is an oasis.

The Mistral Hotel, situated between Maleme and on the main coast road from Chania to Kissamos is a haven for the independent, single traveller.

Yes, this is a singles holidays hotel. But what makes this hotel particularly magical is the attitude of the owner, Vassilis Gialamarakis and his family. When Vassilis opened his hotel he wanted to offer a holiday for independent single people who either wanted to meander about the island on their own, quietly sit in a corner reading a book or meet up with other independent people. There is not a hint of ‘you must pair up with another member of the opposite sex’. Of course if it happens that an attraction develops that is a bonus for some. What does happen is that lifetime friendships are made.

Vassal’s open holiday concept for the single person has proved so popular that this year he opened a further 16 rooms of four star quality. These rooms blend in with the original part of hotel - attractively designed within a courtyard and a second swimming pool.

The Mistral Hotel began its relationship with single people in 1995. The philosophy of its concept and the relaxed manner in which Vassislis and his staff implemented the ‘single’ approach came as a refreshing change to independent holidaymakers and at first the word went round. Today, the hotel has an excellent website also offers internet services and a programme of exciting and different tours. Mere sophistication however, has not spoilt the core of The Mistral, it enables Vassilis to reach out and encourage more people travelling solo to enjoy their holidays without feeling an oddity.

Vassilis was determined to ‘go it alone’ as opposed to a tie-in with a travel company and after 8 years with a travel company he took the plunge. This has changed everything. The hotel is now based on the personal touch – as a guest you are not just a number on a booking form – you are somebody special looking for a holiday where your status will in no way impede your enjoyment and the humiliation of the single supplement does not exist!

“One of the most important aspect of this hotel is that everybody feels safe here and this is very important to us,” emphasized Vassislis. “Some single person might feel terrified of going on holiday on their own. Don’t be. The welfare of our guests is what The Mistral is all about. “

“Our philosophy creates a safe, sociable environment without the matchmaking.”

“No children are allowed in the pool and hotel area, although members of the general public are welcome to come and eat in our restaurant, but some notice would be required, “explained Vassislis.

‘SPECIAL’ NIGHTS

The Gialamarakis family is well known and respected in this part of Crete. Because of this reputation the local people are more than willing to help create the atmosphere of a truly different Greek holiday. Friday night is a magical night. After a sumptuous barbeque, Greek dancers perform traditional dancing and guests get to join and try their skills too.Friday night is very popular for performers, local people, residents and management alike. To watch the owner of The Mistral Hotel dance with performers with such dedication and patience shows a commitment far beyond any other hotel owner I have ever met.

COST

The cost of one week is from £365, half board. This includes single accommodation breakfast, four-course dinner, coffee and wine. Flights not included in the price.

FOOD

The cuisine at the hotel is pure Cretan and all homemade. Katerina, Vassilis’s mother is in charge in the kitchen. The food is fresh - the Gialamarakis family have a vegetable garden close to the hotel and some of the eggs and chicken are from the family’s farm. Katerina’s expertise guarantees guests are assured of a meal that is of the highest quality, but with some extra touches.

Their pizzas are renowned and they have a selection of 27 on their menu.

TOURS

The Mistral tours are a little different too – especially the Thursday visit to Sfinari

Here on this beautiful part of the island, you can laze on the beach, followed by a leisurely lunch of 3.5 hours and many courses of local fresh fish, including lobster, cooked by a local Cretan. Pure heaven!

AFTER-CARE

If you think at the end of October everything’s all over at hotel, think again. Vassilis has arranged this year a reunion of 100 guests in Milton Keynes, near London, and next Easter, which is very special in Crete. The celebrations start on the 1 May and already The Mistral is fully booked. There are also plans in the pipeline for a Christmas event. Watch this space!

THE FUTURE

Future plans include the building of a sister hotel closer to Chania accommodating 20 – 25 guests.

COMMENTS

As a single person and a resident of the village , I find the atmosphere at The Mistral so relaxing and actually joyous that other single residents and myself are drawn to the hotel at least two nights of the week!

“The Mistral is all about caring for people, really caring for the welfare of your guests and committing yourself to their enjoyment,” commented Vassilis.

-ends-

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