Brushing up on artist

OUT to Fodele, west of Heraklion for a day out with American friends to the birthplace of painter El Greco. It's a quiet village, very traditional with buildings lining the small river that feeds the lush area.
  Kn own also for their quality oranges and lemons, we have a friend who runs a taverna there, so it was a visit to catch up, see the El Greco museum and spend quality time in a friendly village. The old ladies of the village still demonstrate their mecrame skills, making intricate designs, working in a traditional manner off the back of an old chair. It's interesting to see them at work, usually surrounded by young relatives as their pass on their techniques.
  The museum is packed with a well displayed selection of the great mans paintings, but obviously not original, but quality photographs placed on light-frames, whichshow  every details.

New tricks to take your money

WE have grown accustomed to the screen washers, the headlight cleaners and children playing little accordions in attempts to take your money from you - begging by any other name, but there is now a new twist.
  On virtually every corner of the roads around the main city of Heraklion and in the main areas of the city, you will be confronted by all of the above, now they are after the sympathy votes - using little puppies to tug at you heart-strings.
  We were in the city today and saw more than four such new challenges. Usually the beggars are Albanian or Bulgarian and even Bangladeshi, but the new ploy is to hold a small puppy in their arms. It's not unusual in England to see beggars with dogs, but they generally are either older, or well looked after.
  Of course the puppy knows nothing of what is going on. It thinks its being looked after, held close to the person with a piece of string or cuddled in their arms as they approach you.
  We were however surprised when they actually tried to sell the puppy of unknown origin, there are so many dogs already abandoned, so we assume that these latest arrivals will be dumped as they grow bigger or start to cost them money to be fed.
There is nothing that the police can or will do, as they are not actually breaking any rules, other than being moved on sometimes. One has to feel sorry for the puppy - the whole reason that they are going down this route - they will really do anything to get passer by to part with some money,

Up close & personal

 A GOOD friend of ours is president of a local Anatolian Union, and annually they have a big get together with a meal, wine and entertainment. This year it  was staged in Heraklion, and along with a couple of English friends we went along for the experience. There were several people there that we knew, mainly from the village, and the meal, although late (nothing unusual in that) was first class and plenty of it. There was also wine and soft drinks always on tap so you never went dry.

   These events are always very sociable and we get new acquaintances each time but  the highlight for many was the dancer as she gyrated around the area, finishing up on the tables to allow a very up close and personal experience for many. Our parting words - "see you next year"

When No really means NO!!

THE traditional Oxi Day (No Day) is celebrated throughout Greece in one way or another,. Because of the situation in the country at present that has brought about many changes, including demonstrations against the country, mainly by students. 

  The biggest parade here in Crete is usually at Heraklion, but we decided to give that a miss this uyear and went to enjoy the parade here in Hersonissos. It was centred around the big church, attended by council and church dignitaries, and then the parade started. Although there was no marching band, the parade assembled to packed local streets and they came in their hundreds to march through to loud music. It was great to see so many young children respecting their history, with many of them  in national costume.

Red Arrows back over Crete

FOLLOWING a two plane crash over the skies of Kastelli airfield in Crete back in March 2010, the Red Arrows acrobatic flying team are back in the area, and were in training, including being heard and seen over Heraklion today as we were shopping in the town.

  We saw them, first in formation, and then in what appeared to be a low level exercise, before they roared off. The team are currently based at  RAF Akrotiri on the island of Cyprus for nine weeks of intensive training.This deployment is called  Exercise SPRINGHAWK and it is a very important step in the team’s workup training in preparation for this year’s display season.

  There are some very important reasons for the Red Arrows to go to Cyprus and it will certainly be no holiday. The most important reason for this exercise is the guaranteed good weather which they just don’t get at their home-base of RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire. Also, the Akrotiri peninsula allows the pilots to practice over a large number of different types of display sites all with different characteristics. 

   The most popular display site that they use is called ‘The Cliffs’. It is flown over the sea and the flying conditions are always perfect with no turbulence (or in pilot speak ‘bumps’) for them to worry about. In contrast, ‘Golf’ dispersal is flown over part of the airfield and by lunchtime is very bumpy as the sun warms up the land creating convection. 

  Although the pilots don’t normally enjoy this site, it is extremely valuable flying and simulates a typical UK summer overland site on a breezy day. ‘The Wreck’ is another different site, again over-sea but it always has a strong on-crowd wind for the team to get used to. This type of wind is common during the summer and can be challenging to master. All these sites are within the RAF Akrotiri Sovereign Base Area and are literally, on the doorstep. This allows the pilots to rehearse three times every day, five days a week and gives them the opportunity to concentrate totally on the flying.