ROUMELI HIGHWAY

Saturday is the day of the mop and bucket, but having finished porch cleaning and dropped leaves clearance, we set off along the Roumeli Highway. It has such a romantic sound to it, doesn't it?  When we moved to Crete,  this route was all rough walking tracks amongst the groves where anemones grew in clumps, but a new road opened in the last 5-6 years taking a good 15 minutes off our journey to the municipal centre of Perama. At the opening of the road just south of our village is a signpost with the European flag on it which signifies that it was built with a grant from Europe. These signs crop up quite often round and about here outside new developments or by heritage sites or beaches. As we puttered along, I reflected that we hadn't seen many of those sort of signs in the UK. … and this kind of got me wondering why if grants were available from the EU, why I had not seen any evidence of them round and about in England? Perhaps they were for areas that needed support for development and I had lived in too well-healed places … but this seemed highly unlikely. Any benefits from Europe seemed very remote when we lived in England. Its only when you count them up you begin to realise what you are going to lose out on. It hasn't hit the population of the UK yet, but it will.

With thanks to Madeleina Kay

Anyway, back to Roumeli highway. It's a great smooth road which snakes along between acres and acres of olive trees of the Geropotamos and yes, this year is going to be a bumper one for olives. We passed trucks and tractors parked alongside their trees where families and groups were spreading the nets underneath the trees and preparing to shake, twirl and rake down the olives, sort them and put them in sacks to take to the olive mill. Dimitra, our friend who used to help with Greek conversation is now working 14 hour days at the mill doing all the record keeping and administration. Greek conversation is a No No, but there are new free lessons available in Rethymno and Mrs C is cudgelling her brains once more to try to get a better grasp of Greek. We put the car radio on for a listen to get a bit more practice.

The road is often crossed by small ferrety skinks and snakes as we drive along, so we watch our speed. At one point, the car does a sharp S bend where the road crosses a stream and where the bamboo grows in swathes. We always seem to meet a large 4 x 4 truck speeding in the opposite direction at the narrowest points and others whizz out of side turnings without stopping to check for other traffic. We do often wonder what the driving test must be like in Crete, when the standard and safety consciousness is so lacking, but we press on, driving defensively and on the lookout. Left from the storms of March, debris washed down from the escarpments is still in evidence … a little more swept together but not removed from the roadside and each new rain storm brings more stones and mud down across the road to add to it. We narrowly miss a truck driver at Roumeli itself as he careers out of nowhere and round the corner right in front of us. We zig zag down the chalk escarpment to the main feeder road and bus route to Perama and crick our necks at the awkward junction. A new emporium has opened which seems to sell hardware and has wheelbarrows outside, but as we cannot read the Greek shop sign quickly enough, we need to find out what else is there! We will have to have a nose at a later date. Two new chapels have appeared on this route, beautifully built in dressed stone and we have a new wonder whether there are Pappas (clergy) to officiate at these churches or whether they stand empty most of the year. We are permanently mystified, but make a note take a little visit when we have time.

The children from the village school practising for Oxi Day

Once parked at Perama, I struggle up the incredible slope from the car park and puff over to the ATM to check the bank balance. The value of the pound has meant that we have to keep a much closer watch on our spending these days. Fortunately, we are still solvent and able to get the groceries! I stroll back to town – all down hill this time – and observe a few Christmas windows among all the closed shop businesses, hear the heavy beat of music coming from the gym (who wants to spend time cooped up inside on a fabulous day like this?) and check on the new oranges growing on the trees by the side of the tiny pavement. It is important not to spend too much time looking up in Crete. Narrowly missing falling into the basement of a bakery which has thoughtlessly cut a large section out of the pavement to form a delivery hatch, I cling on to the wall and make it safely back to the Posh Cafe for a welcome bevy. Who would have thought that a trip to the cash machine would be so fraught with danger? The most fabulous hot chocolate arrives, which comes with Viennese fancy type shortbread. Yum! With the demise of so many shops and businesses, the Posh Cafe is the trendy place to be for now! Mr C people-watches while he waits there. The car parking antics outside the Bakery and Supermarket can keep us amused for hours, as customers' cars stop dead in the middle of the road, trucks double and triple park while lorries try to deliver loads of goods in the midst of complete lawless mayhem. It is frequently heart stopping to see all the manoeuvring and near misses.

In this bumper olive year, you will be pleased to know that the Croziers have completed and achieved their olive harvest already. It took all of five minutes from the large potted olive tree on the roof terrace. Mrs C has consulted the oracle and they are soaking in brine for a while. To be honest, they look a little puny and we don't hold out much hope, but time will tell. Thanks to our neighbours and people who really do know what they are doing, we won't be short of oil this year. 

Happy hunting!