A Window On Living on Crete

This blog entry is brief [or a window] on what it is like to live on Crete. Crete is an island with the Cretan Sea to the north and the Libyan Sea to the south. It is 250 km long not very wide at any point

This picture of Crete shows how mountainous it is and also how it sits at the bottom of the Greek Archipelago. 

This blog entry is about the day to day necessities of learning to live here.

Our village, Periviola, is off the beaten track for tourists so we are an oddity in the village. People are beginning to recognize us. Neighbours greet us now, the village dogs come running for their treat [which we keep in our car] and the old men in the taverna wave to us as we pass.








We are living in a cottage and as such we shop, II I am learning Greek. I can count to 20, I know my colours and a few other words of politeness such as hello, thank you, please etc so I almost qualified to go to pre-school.  A few days ago I ordered my meal entirely in Greek and got exactly what I expected! The local butcher practices his English with me and I work on my Greek with him. "micro" for little and "meso" for half and so on.

Learning to shop is one of the best ways to become accustomed to the Greek culture. A few days ago out cottage toilet seat broke and had to be replaced. 

So first of all there are no big stores here such as Home Depot where you go  for all household repairs. There is one store for wood, another for tiles, another for plumbing fixtures and another for plumbing hardware. It takes a long time to get anything done because everything involves a series of slow steps.

So when I found my new toilet seat I learned a lesson about doing business. It is slow, one person makes the sale and notifies another who makes up a receipt and brings it to me and I go to still another who the money. All this through a constant stream of interruptions and diversions. Nothing here happens quickly. I have to step back and enjoy the experience. "Saga saga", slowly slowly. 

Accompanying the entries of the blog are some window pictures I have taken of new and old windows.  Windows, like doors, [the last blog featured doors prominently] are physical features of our homes that are interesting and as this is a "window" on Crete for those not familiar with it, pictures of windows new and old will pepper this introduction to day to day life on Crete. So sit back and enjoy.

This is our window from last winter overlooking Chania harbour.

It can be helpful to become lost from time to time. We are living on the outskirts of Chania, the second largest city on Crete. It is similar in size to Fredericton. Being close to the city this trip has given me the opportunity to learn the streets and routes through it.

When I have time I take a new road, get disoriented and wander through the area until I find somehting I know and then I have learned a new road.  It's fun and a real challenge at times as there are no blocks as we know them. Being 'lost' is the best way to become aware and to learn.





I remember when I studied chess my 'master' reminded me I could not learn in if I won- only if I lost. How true is that of life? Only when we are at a loss do we learn!

Wandering around a new culture is a form of being lost, observing and testing until I get it right.

Driving on Crete is an experience. It is a balance between staying far right at all times, as the guy behind may pass at any time and motorcycles weave around me at will, yet watching for the car door about to open in my path or pedestrian shoot out from between parked cars. Showing courtesy is a fast way to an accident. Pedestrians will walk straight at me but I do not stop as the guy behind will plow into me. The pedestrians, who are all over the road, simply look out for themselves.   I learned to drive in Montreal in the days when driving was  this crazy so it is a return to my roots and is still very familiar.  Note this traffic light right.

Traffic lights [above]are surprisingly well obeyed, contrary to stop signs which are merely suggestions. The traffic lights are not positioned opposite as we have but on the same side so when I pull up I need to stay far enough back to be able to see the green. If I get too far forward the fellow behind will beep when it is green. Of course he may beep for many other reasons as well so being first in line is a moment of some angst.

Road signs are in Greek and English which is helpful. But the youth regularly spray paint over the English. These signs also help me learn to pronounce Greek words as well. 

Food is one of the true delights of Crete. Whether it is eating out or going to the market, or even the grocery store the food is wonderful. We eat mostly a Cretan diet which is high in cheeses and vegetables.

We took our British ex-pat friends out for an antokristo meal at the taverna beside our cottage. Nikos, the owner-chef set up this authentic Cretan restaurant both as a passion and a business. Each night we have eaten there it has been full and on one evening stand room only

Pictured here is the modern Antokristo method that models an ancient time when meat was cooked beside the fire. This is a slow roast method that results in succulent meat. We had land, pork and chicken along with loads of wine, salads and of course raki. One can not have a proper Cretan table without raki.

 

The markets are everywhere and fresh food is readily available. The grocery stores are wonderful to shop in. First the number of items are not overwhelming but everything is here. Many products have enough English or a picture so they can be identified. Prices are very good. 

To buy hamburger  called mince here, I go the butcher and pick the piece of meat I wish and he grinds it right there. Like the way I remember as a kid but more to the point- I get to see the quality before it is rendered unrecognizable. 

Sampling cheese or olives is expected. There is far less industrial food than we might expect to see and far more fresh. If I want two eggs I can but two eggs- fresh. Vegetables are not perfect- they are often blemished as healthy vegetables are and in the larger stores a clerk is standing by to weigh and price items at the scales. 

There are few chain stores and no power centres. There is one road called the Souda Road where many speicality stores are spread out over several clicks but a drive down that road will bring you to most everything including the Ikea.

This pic on the right is of Naxos harbour taken from the window of the ambassador's office on the island of Naxos.

The pharmacy on Crete is an interesting case where the Cretan's are a long way ahead of us. First of all the signs are prominent and feature a green cross. Some are more elaborate such as this one with other images. But it is inside that is of interest. Pharmacists can hand out antibiotics and other drugs for readily recognizable symptoms, without a prescription, such as ear infections, bladder infections, sinus infections. Or they can send you directly to the hospital for a test to determine which of two or three things may be at issue. So no need to go to  the doctor if you onow what is wrong. Makes sense does it not?

The eyes are the windows of the soul. -- Thomas Phaer (c.1510-1560

A smile is a window in your face to show your heart is at home. -- unknown 

The end.... for now

Doors & More

Perhaps you share an interest of mine- the door. 

Take this door for example. It is obviously quite old and is found in a very aged building. You or I might see it as dilapidated, or perhaps we see it as 'beautiful' in a way only years bring about. The shiny new red  bicycle adds contrast to the drab weathered features of the wall and door.

The passage of years is embodied in this door. It bears the 'scars' of time. Note as well the current frame appears to be set in a larger and older opening.

We may take doors for granted much of the time but inevitably, in every life, arrives the time when a door in our lives is powerful, symbolic often marking a transition. Perhaps the end of a job. Graduation. A new home. A new living partner. A nursing home. Doors open; doors close.



Doors are important- and interesting.




As you read these words or glance at these pictures consider the passages of your life, when important or powerful doors have opened or closed.

Recall some of those moments when you have arrived at 'your' door or transition, real or metaphoric, opened it, and step across its threshold into a future, or closed it and walked away from a chapter in your life.



This blog entry is a photo essay on doors, thresholds and passages that I have encountered during my walkabouts in the towns and villages of the islands of the Aegean.

I hope you enjoy looking at the photos and reflecting on doors. (Click on any photo to enlarge.)

This doorway is found in a defensive passage on the island of Naxos where such passages twist and turn, reminding one of a distant past where these labyrinths were meant  to disorient the foreigner and provide strategic position for the ambush of an invader.  The structure overhead is the floor of a house above.





Right, is a beautiful door that conveys strength and a well kept - probably tiny, home. Pride of ownership is evident.

Contrasted with this door on the left:  a  door that invites renovation and restoration.

As I walk about a place - especially a new place - my eye often pauses on doors.  Old doors like this one [right] especially catch my eye.

How old is it?

What all has happened while this door has hung here?

Who has passed through it?

What's on the other side?









Some doors are forbidding, some are inviting, some are ancient, some are curious.


A few of these photos have appeared in previous blog entries but most are new pictures from Crete and the Cyclades.

Should you find this picture essay of interest, drop me a comment on what thoughts this has brought to mind, or what memories of doors or doorways this might have triggered, real or metamorphic, or perhaps you have your own door story. Please share.

Do you have a doorway "saying" that lingers in your self-talk - perhaps one that is important to you?




For me, it is the terrible [again I stress "for me"] religious saying:  "God never closes a door without opening another."

It bothers me in that it does two things in my mind and both can be harmful. First, it makes God responsible for all the misfortunate that visits us in life - a belief I find appalling. Secondly, when a person is diminished by a life event, this truism suggests they are somehow at fault for not finding or grasping the opportunity that God also provided.




Right is the Portara of Naxos, a doorway to the temple to the Delian Apollo that was abandoned for unknown reasons.... war, attack, lack of funds, lack of interest - who knows.   We assume it was abandoned because the construction features that would have been removed are still present on the gigantic blocks that make the door. This doorway has stood for almost 3000 years! Neither earthquake nor war has brought it down and no one chose to relocate its incredible marble.  What I find curious, is that they started construction by laying out the perimeter foundations and erected the door. As a builder myself, it seems to me the doors and windows come after you erect the walls.  Curious.

Today it stands as a portal of time and a calm, giant guardian symbol of the island.



Janus - God of openings and doorways - new beginnings and endings, was the Roman God of the threshold and he continues to be acknowledged in our New Year's festivities today.

Many people have door rituals. Most of us give ourselves a last  quick check in front of the hall mirror before crossing the threshold!

The Greek Orthodox will mark their doorways with a cross, made from the candle they have carefully brought home from midnight Easter mass.  This precious flame is first lit in Jerusalem and then travels the world by plane to all Greek Orthodox communities. On Easter eve, it is lit in the church, then passed on by the priests and worshippers to be shared, symbolizing the light and hope of the Resurrection.

The Jewish have their Mezuzah to fulfill the commandment of putting the words of Torah on your gates so you may contemplate them upon leaving and entering your home. Inside the mezuzah is a piece of parchment that contains verses from the Torah.

The Chinese have many important requirements about the construction of doors. For example a front door and a back door should never line up, as the good fortune that may enter a home may simply pass through and out the other door. Offsetting doors makes it possible for good luck to remain.

Doors were invented for privacy, protection and to control the impact of weather.

This door [right] - appearing to be quite old, slides across the entrance to this upper floor home. Was that for weather or protection or practical reasons - perhaps the want of a good set of hinges?

During times of crisis in ancient Rome when everyone was shut in against weather or danger, you could expect to hear the expression "Just doors and doors", meaning everyone is locked inside and only doors are to be seen.

The first doors we know about in history are painted on the walls of the Old Kingdom Egyptian tombs. 

These appear to depict simple single slab doors. Given the exceptional dry climate of Egypt a single slab would not be subject to much warping. 

This picture [left] is of the first true door we know about and it comes from Switzerland and through carbon dating is thought to be about 5000 years old.  

Many of us pay attention in a particular way to the doors of our homes.

Security and privacy are certainly of immediate concern but the other aspects quickly gain our attention.

Colour, construct, design, window treatment, hardware and more enter the conversation with those who share an interest in "our door."

Some of us pay a great deal of money for our door. We may hang wreaths, a family name or crest, a greeting or decoration to the door.

Above right an old arched doorway on Naxos has been rather crudely filled in, making for an interesting incongruence in an old stone wall. The street has been moved a few feet over. Huumm? 

This plant grows in front of the electric power meter of this closed cafe.

Notice how the wall stucco has been simply applied over the otherwise rough- undoubtedly stone, wall found on Mykonos. 

Each island of the Cyclades has its own distinctive variations that allow a person to easily deduce which island it is if the detail is present.  Some actually have by-laws now that protect the "Cycladic" look to any new architectural projects.  

There are the unusual and surprising doors.

What has happened here? Is it a door or a window? In the restoration of this building the workers came across this old, oddly filled in space that appears to me to be a doorway. Regardless they made a decision to preserve it as a piece of street scape in an otherwise bland wall.

Or consider this door below right, at the top of a stairway, with the hatch immediately above. How was it used? Was this a defensive feature to fire down at an enemy or is it a functional feature? For what? Ventilation possibly.

Or look closely at this intentional oversight in a renovation  below left. A door has as been left hanging in the air! Was this laziness? Intentional? Humorous? Yet here it is a doorway from no where and to no where but was once from some where?

This ancient Roman doorway in the village of Argyroupoli is now the gate to a private home. The inscription over it reads "All is smoke and shadow." Is that a cynical belief or an astute observation? What circumstance might have given rise to such a quote? We know that this village was destroyed during the Octavian - Anthony phase of the civil war in the 40's BCE when Anthony ordered it destroyed because the villagers supported Octavian. 

Below left is a little door in the wall of a house that reminds me of the old coal chutes. It is about 3 ft high now. Maybe there is more of it below the current street level? It is old and now filled in. What was it for?

The door below right has been seen before in this blog. It is the original door set in this archway of the Kastro in 1204- just after the last crusade ended! How many have passed through this door. This is part of visiting this part of the world with such history and the evidence of life past.

Some more doors that are just pretty

This is one of the more intriguing doors I have found. That it is old is obvious. In need of serious repair - yes. And it is the entry to one of the outdoor music venues of Naxos in the Kastro.  This court yard overlooks the Aegean on one side and surrounded on  ancient stone on three sides. Coloured lights hang in the trees. It must be enchanting to see a performance here. Oh yah - it only seats maybe 25 at the most!

Another elegant doorway.

Note the family shield.






Below is a giant of a door in the Fortezza in the lovely city of Rethymnon on Crete. It was the main entrance to the fortifications. Notice the man-door set into the left hand door. This gives perspective on its size.

This is the doorway of a church over a 1000 years old on Crete. How many foot steps of the devout does it take to wear the tread like this ? 

Lastly- these are two of our doorways in our long term rental property on Crete in Perivolia. 

First, our back gate opens directly into the taverna next door with its wonderful, authentic Cretan food prepared by the affable Greek host Nikos, and secondly our living room door - a split stable door - that opens to our courtyard, a place of peace and sanctuary where I sit now writing these words.

There are things known and things unknown... and in between are the doors.

Jim Morrison, (The Doors)