A lemon tree of our own

The brilliant white mountains

We had some brilliant sunshine for a couple of days in the run up to Christmas, and this picture was taken on Christmas Eve. I really must find some advice somewhere on the net about taking pictures of distant landscapes, as I never quite seem to capture them. This was only taken on my phone anyway - a Nokia 95 which claims 5 megapixels, but then mangles the resulting photo with some ultra-blobby compression technology. In real life, the sun shining off the white mountains was absolutely brilliant, and they looked like cut-glass glaciers rather than their usual snow-capped peaks.

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Now Asterix gets into the fast food business

A minor obsession of mine since we got to Crete had been the number of businesses using Obelix as a mascot, whether it was moving homes, controlling parking, or making a pun on the fact that a kebab is called an Οβελιας. So it was a bit of a novelty in Kalyves to see a fast food outlet named after the famous partner of Obelix, Asterix.

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Stormy Agia Marina

A few people have asked us what the weather is like here during winter. It was pretty damn chilly in our house without the heating, but most days it is still really lovely here. Temperatures hover around the 20°C mark, although it can get quite overcast at times. When we do get storms they are sensational, and being near the beach, they whip the sea into a frenzy. I took this clip on a Saturday afternoon down in Agia Marina, when I was looking to see if I could find somewhere to watch English football. The wind was so strong...

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Happy Christmas everybody!

Thanks everybody for reading the site during the last year, and sticking with us when we had a break from blogging. We'd especially like to thank everybody who took the trouble to send us cards and presents over to us in Greece. It is lovely to have Christmas just the two of us, but we do miss everybody terribly, and your cards and gifts make a real difference. Happy holidays wherever you are, and whatever you are doing.

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Christmas lights in Chania town

We had quick trip round town looking at the Christmas lights before going out for dinner on Friday night. Outside the Municipal Market there is a large tree, and a nativity scene flanked by brightly lit angels. There are also various ships made of fairy lights around town, presumably out of respect for Saint Nicholas. For dinner we had some very strong Mojitos at Hippopotamus first - real headache inducers actually - and then went to Konaki. Konaki is a bit of a favourite as it was the first place we ate in Chania. We've recently celebrated two years since...

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On the twelth day of Christmas...

The 6th January brings an end to the Dodekaimera. Dodekaimera, or the 12 Days of Christmas, run from Christmas Day on 25 December to the Epiphany on 6 January. The Greeks refer to 6 January as Ta Phota (meaning The Lights) - the Epiphany. The Ayiasmos service is held and, especially on the islands, priests throw a cross into the sea, while young men dive in after it. The man who retrieves the cross is blessed. Though for Greek Orthodox Christians who still follow the old calander, this is Christmas Day.

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Bizarre ref in the PAOK game

An utterly bizarre thing happened yesterday evening in the match between PAOK and Levadiakos. The first bizarre thing, of course, is to wonder why I was watching it. Well, as ever I was down in town trying to watch English football on a Saturday. I did OK for the Arsenal-Tottenham match, but come the 3pm kick-offs UK time I was heavily out-numbered by locals wanting to watch PAOK. Damn these Greeks and their ridiculous constant desire to watch their own football in their own country ;-) In between the PAOK game I got a bit of Liverpool-Portsmouth and the end...

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Oh lucky day!

While most of us are nursing our hangovers on New Years Day, the children of Greece are waking up full of beans, excited to see what Ayios Vasilis has brought them. While Saint Nicolas is thanked for protecting sailors, Saint Basil takes on the role of the Greek 'Santa Claus'. This first day of the new year is when the Renewal Ceremony is performed. All of the water jugs in the house are emptied and replenished with St Basil holy water. Also known as Saint Basil Day, New Years Day is the luckiest day of the year. While some Greeks...

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Who needs a golden ticket when you've got a golden florin?

New Years Eve appears to be enjoyed in a fairly similar way all the world over. Fireworks in the main square, people taking over the bars and streets, and generally having a good ol' time. Well, apart from all this, Greeks also have their last minute shopping to fit in. As the day for giving presents is New Years Day, rather than Christmas day, New Years Eve has a certain Christmas Eve about it. And while the adults are shopping frantically, the younger generation are, so I've read, causing chaos in the streets with mock 'wars' between each other. The...

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An excursion to Kalyves

One of our recent excursions has been to Kalyves. We figured that since it has quite a big British ex-pat population it might have a few things open, and we had heard rumour of there being a butcher there who imports....bacon! We though we might have to rely on my sixth sense for cured pork, but actually we found it really easily - it was on the main street down from the New National Road to the sea. They also had sausages, so we got ourselves the ingredients for a thoroughly British fry-up. We then had a wander around the...

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Rum Truffles

I can't remember a Christmas that didn't involve my mum's delicious Rum Truffles. I'm not sure if us kids always got the rum or maybe we were given Rumless Truffles. Either way, these are really moreish and can be kept in the freezer until mere minutes before you need them. 120g margarine 120g sugar 2 tbsp milk 1 ½ cups oats 1 ½ cups fine coconut 3 ½ tbsp cocoa powder 4 tbsp rum Heat the marg, sugar, and milk until marg has melted Add everything else – mix well Roll teaspoons of mixture into balls (about maltezer size) and...

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The Christ Bread and Baklava

On Christmas day the 40 day fast is broken and a great feast is enjoyed. Traditionally, pork was the meat of choice on Christmas day, but now it shares its popularity with lamb on the spit and roast turkey. Probably the most important food in the feast is the christopsomo, the Christ bread. This is a large sweet bread made for the whole family. The crust is engraved and decorated to show the profession of the family. Last but not least, the meal is concluded with that much loved Greek favourite, Baklava.

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A wander down to Maleme

We took a trip out to Maleme a couple of weeks back. It was strategically important during the Second World War battle for Crete, as it was gaining control of the Maleme airfield that gave the German's the toehold they needed on the island. These days Maleme marks the end of the built-up tourist strip that runs from Kato Stalos for a few kilometres west of where we live. We wanted to visit one specific shop - The British Food Store. We've not got homesick for English cooking, but there are a few bits'n'pieces that we do miss, so we...

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Twas the night before Christmas...

On Christmas eve, small boys in the neighbourhood go from house to house singing Christmas carols called kalanda. In a halloween style, they usually request a mere sweety or coin for their services. Apparantly dried fruit and nuts can be given out, but I dare say you wouldn't be very popular.

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Butternut Squash Soup

Growing up in South Africa had many perks, one of which was Butternut Squash Soup. For those poor souls who've never heard of butternut, it's very similar to pumpkin...but yummier. The soup is really easy to make and is perfect for filling you up on a really chilly day. 30g butter (about 1 tablespoon) 1 onion (or a bunch spring onions) finely chopped 1kg-ish butternut squash, peeled, de-seeded and cubed 750ml chicken or vegetable stock 1 stick cinnamon (optional) curry powder (also, optional) 250ml cream (or you can use half cream and half milk) salt & freshly ground pepper Melt...

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Santa's little helpers???

Though Christmas trees are becoming more common in the Greek home at Christmas, there is one festive symbol that remains prevalent. This is a shallow wooden bowl, with a wire across the top. From the wire hangs a wooden cross, wrapped with a Basil sprig. The sprig is kept alive and fresh by a small amount of water in the bowl. Each day someone, usually the mother of the family, carries the bowl through the house, dips the holy cross into the water, and sprinkles water in each room. This daily ritual is performed in the hope of keeping the...

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40 days and 40 nights

Traditionally, leading up to Christmas, Greeks fast for 40 days. Though initially for religious purposes, some people think it a healthy exercise too. No meat or animal products, such as dairy and eggs, may be eaten, whilst strict Greek Orthodox Christians may exclude oil from their diet too. During the fasting period, kourabiethes (sugar cookies) and melomakarona (honey cookies) are made, to be enjoyed when breaking the fast on Christmas day, as well as New Year.

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Glühwein (Hot Mulled Wine)

No introduction needed... 750ml red wine (1 bottle) 1 lemon, sliced 2 cinnamon sticks 3 cloves 3 tbsp sugar cardamom or ginger (optional) Heat the red wine in a large pot (but don't boil). Add everything else and heat for about 5 minutes (don't boil) – you can add some cardamom or ginger if you like. I didn't have either in the kitchen at the time, so didn't add, and I don't think it was missed. Let it stand for about an hour. When you're ready to serve it, reheat it and strain. It's best to pre-warm the glasses or...

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CIC Xmas Bazaar

We went to the CIC Xmas Bazaar in Chania on Saturday. They'd taken over the old customs house in the harbour, and crammed it full of Christmas treats. Literally crammed it, actually, as there were so many stalls that it was rather difficult to walk around. They had a refreshment stand with glüwein and cakes, and a theatre stage set up. At the time we visited there was a clown on entertaining some small kids, but throughout the course of the weekend there was the promise of choirs and bands and all sorts of other types of entertainment. It was...

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Not so 'Little' Saint Nic

In Greece, even though Saint Nicolas is part of the epiphany celebrations, he is not Santa Claus. Ayios Nikolaos is the Patron Saint of Sailors. Rather than the jolly, rosy cheeked, red clad Saint Nic that Coca Cola so loves, Ayios Nikolaos is depicted with clothes drenched in brine, seawater dripping from his beard, and his face is covered in perspiration - exhausted by acts of rescuing sinking ships and saving drowning men. This truly heroic figure is very well respected in Greece, and few sailors leave the port without an icon of Ayios Nikolaos in their ship to watch...

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Ho Ho Ho

With Christmas on its way I couldn't miss the opportunity of having some themed lemon tree entries. Some of you will already know what a complete sucker I am for Christmas, and in light of that, I thought I'd read up on Christmas customs and traditions in Greece. I don't pretend to be an expert on it, so if any of you find inaccuracies in the facts please leave a comment and straighten me out! And, as much of Christmas is about the eating and the drinking, I thought I'd share some tried-and tested, not-so-Greek, festive recipes. Starting the Christmas...

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A day out in Rethymno

We took a day out to Rethymno the other day. It is €12 each return, and the buses go between Chania and Rerthymno every hour on the half hour during the day in off-season. Unfortunately we literally just missed a bus as it was turning out of Chania station, so we bought our tickets and paid our first ever visit to Δεκατρια. Well, I say our first ever visit, when K. was here we popped in and bought some take-away ice cream, but we've never sat in it before. Δεκατρια, which means Thirteen, is the cafe on the corner of...

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Strike!

It has been a general strike here in Greece today. There was a rally due in the centre of Chania at 10am, and we duly played our part by resolutely staying indoors and not actually finding out what was open and what wasn't. The strike is over pension reform. Not the policies of the reform, just the discussions leading up to the formation of the policies. Like most European countries, Greece has a problem in that declining birth-rates and longer life-expectancy mean there is a pensions crisis. Also like most European countries, in order to avoid committing electoral suicide, the...

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Στο ταχυδρομειο

With Christmas approaching, I needed to brave the post office or ταξυδρομιο. Hania post office has an electronic ticketing and queuing system, but it seems that people periodically take handfuls of tickets during the day on the off chance they will need the post office, so you can never really guess how long you will be. My number was about 40 off the pace when I picked it, and this time I ended up waiting for 25 minutes. That, of course, allows you get very nervous about trying to use your Greek. "Καλιμερα, προς Αγγλια" I burbled when I got...

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A night out at Hippopotamus and Chrisostomos

The other week we had a Friday night out. Although we've been trying hard to economise, we thought we deserved a treat - after all, we were yet to go out for dinner or cocktails in the 6 weeks we've been back in Hania. We started at Hippopotamus, the Mexican place, for Mojitos. We've been there before, but that was during summer, so we sat outside. This time we sat inside and it was even cooler than before. They were playing music like Depeche Mode and Goldfrapp, and had a whole wall decorated with 100 minituare film posters, record sleeves...

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All set for Christmas

Well, we have been back in Crete for nearly six or seven weeks now, which seems to have whizzed by. We have got ourselves all set for Christmas already. On our last day in the UK we did a day-trip to Cambridge to go on a 'ghost walk' and to see Idlewild play at The Junction. During the day we popped into one of Lakeland's stores and eyed up their range of Christmas Puddings. In the end we decided it was too much effort to try and squeeze one into our suitcase, and so decided we'd wait until we got...

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Abandoned hotel demolished on Hania's Venetian city walls

Coming back here after a couple of months away there are quite a few small changes that you notice. However, one of the biggest was this - the demolition of the eyesore that used to sit atop the Western wall of Hania. There was a fire at the abandoned hotel earlier in the year, so we are not sure whether it has been demolished because the building was originally illegal, or whether the land has been cleared because it had become structurally unsound. Either way, it is much nicer to see the old city walls in more of the state...

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Feng shui dog

We spotted this little fella hanging out around Agia Apostoli the other day. Having parked himself next to a water feature, carefully positioned himself to face south-west, and struck that cross-armed serious pose, we immediately christened him "Feng shui dog"

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Zoniana in the Greek news

One of the biggest news stories since we got back to Greece has been taking place in the next prefecture along to us, in the Mylopotamos region near Rethymno. A dawn drug raid by police officers in the village of Ζωνιανα ended up with three officers being shot, after they were ambushed, it seems, by 20 armed men. The response was to send in the ΕΚΑΜ anti-terrorism and serious crime police, and the village was then under virtual siege for a couple of weeks as the police turned up what they claim is evidence of organised crime, drug-trafficking and caches...

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Christmas Bazaar at Agia Apostoli

Standing at the bus stop the other day we saw a Christmassy notice. With our little bit of Greek we managed to work out that it was advertising a local Christmas Bazaar. Well, with the amount of time we spent in Christmas markets last year at Hellbrun and in Salzburg, who were we not to go? We worked out that it was at the Pergola restaurant near Agia Apostoli, and so on Sunday we packed a bag with a flask and some yummies, and went for a walk. It was a gorgeous day, good enough for people to be sunbathing....

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Menacing weather over Thodoros

Well, we'd consulted our weather charts so we knew what to expect. Living next the sea and only a smattering of kilometers away from a mountain range, we knew the weather would be unsettled over winter. Here is the sky brooding over the Island of Thodoros, which is near us. Needless to say, this is one of the walks on which we got wet.

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NumberOfStrayDogsInChania += 1;

Prior to the last couple of rounds of Euro2008 qualifiers, England played a meaningless friendly against Austria. It was on a Friday night, and wasn't on TV anywhere in Greece. I headed down to Agia Marina, knowing that if anyone was going to be showing an obscure England match picked up off a bootleg satellite, it was The Kiss Bar. Sadly, instead I got to watch a Polish dubbed documentary about the sex life of the Rhino. I did get to listen to the England match via their wifi though, and it turned out that the rutting rhinos were more...

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Empty flight home

Hello. It has been a couple of months since we posted anything on 'A lemon tree of our own'. We were both very busy when we were back in London, and needed a chance to re-charge our blogging batteries - but we've been back home in Crete for a month now. On our last day in the UK we had a major surprise day out. For our wedding anniversary I told Claire to be ready with her bags for the airport at 9am on the day before we flew, and then took her to Cambridge for the day. We went...

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