EYE AIRERS!

Design detail following trip to Knossos!

AEPOS!  (means its windy and when pronounced by our neighbour sounds like Eye Airers!)  

It was a strange awakening on Monday morning. Bleary-eyed, I wondered why one of the tiles on the kitchen floor was ringed with light. Moving closer, I realised that a small mirror had fallen from the kitchen window to the floor along with all the other objects lined up along the window sill. As I stood in front of the opening, a warm dusty blast – as hot as a hair dryer – hit me in the face and I realised that the temperature outside the house was several degrees higher than inside. It was also blowing a houghlie and the waterproofing over the wood pile looked fair set to blow away to the horizon and was making a frighteningly loud noise. Taking a peek out on the upstairs terrace, the sky over the mountains was clear and blue, except for a thick tunnel of grey cloud escaping from the mountain gorge near Margarites and the rest of the sky was covered in a ceiling of dusty grey – blowing all the way from Africa.  A Southerly wind blowing due North -  bringing fine sand with it and gusting powerfully every so often in way that would do damage to anything which was not tied down. All the patio chairs on the terrace were on their sides and bonfire heaps of leaves and rubbish skitted about in an aimless vortex. After retrieving a fallen window box and replanting the enclosed geraniums, I went to choose some summer clothes to wear as, so soon after all the winter woollies had come out of wraps, we were back with summer temperatures again! All this minor damage is nothing compared with what is happening to places ravaged by Hurricane Sandy on the far side of “the Pond” but all our neighbourhood had some sorting out to do.

Waterproofing over the woodpile took a hammering!

Last Sunday was Oxi Day. (Oxi, means NO and commemorates the day that the Greeks repudiated Mussolini during the Second World War and refused to collaborate with Germany and Italy.) In consequence, an exploratory mission to find a nice little taverna in which to enjoy a Sunday lunch on a wonderfully sunny day was slightly derailed by a parade through the town of Perama. Taking the scenic route, we wound round mountain passes and tiny hamlets while the wind began to gust strongly and bypassing signs to Anogia and Houmeri, eventually ended up in Margarites by a hilltop route. We had been told about a taverna there with a fire engine in the garden, but could not find it. Turning back to the village, we ended up at our friend Eleni's taverna, and although the tables were laid, there was no sign of anyone at home.

Raki making at Eleni's in Margertes

Remembering that it was October and time for the wine and raki making, we eventually thought to look behind the house where the Raki Still had been set up and the complicated production was under way as Eleni stoked the fire with olive wood. The family waved yasoo/hello to us and invited us to try this year's vintage together with some peanuts, dried salted chickpeas and half a pomegranate! We watched the process and took a peek as the new brew dripped into a large steel pot from a tall copper still. Eleni took out an instrument to check the alcohol level before two of them manhandled the pot over to a larger vessel and emptied the brew into it. They installed a pump and filter system as the stuff bubbled from this pot into an even larger barrel. Phew, it was strong stuff and, realising that they had other things on their minds that day, we withdrew to another eating place down the hill and just managed to have a quiet lunch with a stunning, if windy, view before the Cretan Hell's Angels arrived … about twenty black leather cladded men and their large motor bikes. Once they took off their helmets and sat down, they looked less fierce but it all got much noisier after that and we took our leave!

Just before the Hell's Angels arrived .... 

We made our way home via Angeliana, (a pretty little town close to Perama which we were avoiding due to the Parade Day road block) and another route home, equally circuitous, but managed to find out about the countryside around a large inland cliff which stands out from a distance of many miles. We weaved through the fertile plots and groves in the upper reaches of the Geropotamos river winding backwards and forwards in not quite the right direction until we arrived at the back of the familiar KTEO (MOT) centre close to the main road again. I am not sure we would venture there again as the barren rocks had been used for quarrying and industrial buildings, but it was very good to piece together a bit more of the jigsaw map and learn how all the twinkling lights we can see from the mountain villages at night fit together by road. Accurate maps are still a little hard to find in Crete, and we stowed the routes away in our minds for future reference.

We were surprised that the strong gusts of wind we had experienced up on the mountain slopes were absent at home. Sunday afternoon in Skepasti was hot, clear and so peaceful for all the rest of Oxi Day and we had a cup of tea on the terrace in complete peace and quietude.

My painting of the 'still life' items I had taken with me to Art Class was equally uninspired!

It was only a brief respite, however, the winds of Crete caught up with us again overnight to start a busy week with lots of tying down and clearing up to do. Tuesday was calm enough to get to Kastellos for Art Class; Wednesday we achieved an IKA book for each of us (health insurance for senior citizens). It was the usual performance and involved multiple trips backwards and forwards between the IKA office, the Citizens Advice Bureau and the bookshop to photocopy documents. Fun and games, but we did it – RESULT! We get much more a sense of achievement about these processes than ever we did in the UK, because each official document is a bit like going in search of the golden fleece and feels like a treasure hunt. We discovered a great stationery shop and a bit more information about the Minoans in the process. KALOMINA!

An Artist's Impression of the Minoans.  Picture on the wall in the IKA Office!