GYMNASTIKI

No, we're not training for the Olympics; gymnastiki is the word for exercise in Greek and we have been in sore need of stretching our legs and getting out and about in an unusually wet Cretan winter.

Accordingly, we jumped into the car at the weekend to meet up for a CIC 'short walk' and met up with some Dutch friends en route. (We have never quite trusted this description since the 14k 'short' flower walk which took place last Easter! Some of the organised walks in Crete are for mountaineers only!) Together we drove to the South of the Island where the sun seemed to be shining – always about a mile or two in front of us. However, we reached the mustering point at Asomatos where we planned to visit a small museum and then plot a downhill path towards Plakias and the seaside where we could see the sun shining brightly over a calm sea. We kept checking the sky which promised everything – dark cloud, rain showers, odd patches of blue sky, sunshine and Scotch mist - and wondered what would be the best plan for the day. In the near distance, as we waited for everyone else to arrive, K and I were entranced to see a little girl (resembling our daughter Kate aged 9 or 10) sprinting along a small track with her hair flowing out behind her as she tried to catch up with a run-away baby lamb and then watched as a second baby lamb chased her – silent movie style - down the path. At the head of the track, a flock of sheep were being moved to new grazing and there were obviously a couple of escapees! We were concerned that she seemed to catch up with one lamb but miss the other, but – no a few minutes later she reappeared after a count up (definitely an Olympic sprinter in the making) chasing back along the path at top speed and returning with a wriggly baby lamb in her arms to join the flock.

The museum was fascinating. It had been the collection of a Greek Orthodox Priest and was now presented and organised by his son as an eclectic mix of – well – everything denoting social history for the last few centuries. The garden entrance held dozens of crystal candelabras – all now being liberally showered with raindrops – and the house was marvellous with a sort of large courtyard where lots of rooms opened into it at ground level and to terraces upstairs. One room was full of WWII memorabilia, medals, cigarette packets, shoes, toys, ecclesiastical furniture and robes, another room full of farming implements, another stacked with kitchen utensils, an office full of old desk sets, clocks, typewriters and walls full of pictures and certificates. I kept looking at things that I remembered using myself in the distant and not so distant past – typewriters, telephones, games, shoe styles, getting a real feeling of 'tempus fugit' – not happy to welcome the reminder that I am too a bit of a museum piece these days. There were also several items of kitchen equipment which I would have loved for my own Minoan kitchen as well as large log baskets and a plate rack! I had to satisfy myself with taking photos and noting the designs of all the home crafted things. There was a real danger of a few more croziered items around the house over the next few months!

Then, as the rain was by now tipping down, we drove down to Lefcogia passing the aforementioned flock of sheep who were now happily grazing in a field around the base of an enormous solar energy photovoltaic installation, and trooped into the village cafeneon where the villagers hospitably shuffled chairs and tables into the centre so that we could all be accommodated. We were all glad to get some hot coffee inside us and to have been so decisively relieved of the country walk. However, when we emerged from the coffee shop, the sun had come out and we drove the short distance to Plakias and walked along the shore line in the tentative sun shine and around the back streets to see as much as we could (and to get as much exercise as was possible). We found a great place for lunch and caught up with everyone's news. Discussion ranged on learning Greek, roofing compounds and theory, European economy, our Dutch friends' upcoming trip to South America, a form of central heating which runs on fuel made from olive stones (must find out more about that one) and lots of silly jokes which had an international flavour. It was so lovely to get out and about – but we missed out on the exercise!

On Wednesday, we tried a second attempt at getting much needed exercise and went out while the sun shone down to Panormo to do a bit of beach combing. We were not surprised to find that not a piece of driftwood remained on the beach – unlike last year when it was all left until March and when we collected nearly all of it. Times are obviously much harder for Greeks, as finances are beginning to bite badly this year, and it is clear that energy conservation and sustainability are uppermost in everybody's minds.

A few CIC members met in Rethymnon on Thursday for a guided archaeological walk around the Old Town. Ioanna (Joanna), our guide had studied Archaeology at the University of Crete and took us around the familiar alleyways to take a closer look at places we had passed by 100 times without taking in the finer details. It was a wonderful history lesson; we discussed and found evidence of the legacy left by the invasion of Saracens, Venetians and their mercenaries employed from old Russia and Viking stock, two empires of Ottomans, a weird form of bureaucratic 'ethnic relocation' in 1922 after Greek independence when thousands of Muslims were sent to Syria and Egypt whilst Christian Greek peoples were forcibly repatriated to Crete and had to settle there as refugees. All these centuries of history had resulted in a fascinating evolution of building use as Roman churches were converted into Mosques, only to be changed into Greek Orthodox churches much later somehow absorbing Muslim followers within their congregations. Our last port of call was a small bookshop which we have passed on every visit to the town and 25 of us trooped through to a back room to find that one wall was a line of fountains, beautifully carved, in the midst of counters, shelves and bookstands. Out of the door (UPVC double glazed) into the back yard revealed a small Mosque and minaret, which we had seen from a distance but never managed to place before.

Learning a bit more captured our imagination and it was good that our knowledgeable guide had brought all these dusty old stones and carvings to life.  We all wanted to go home and get on with our homework!