Wine Club Letter
need and the new band in this category!?
I like … rock, pop, soundtrack, alternative, punk, dance, drum and bass, electronic, electronics, folk, indie, metal, meatlecore, somebands I like … the theroy ab, action for action, the almost, the gohst black, blue base, boys and girls, courage, Bring Me the Horizon, a broken toy airplanes, the city and the color, the unity of the city, coldplay, crash romeo, crystal castles, cute is what we to get the Dance Gavin Dance, daggermouth, dead to me, the project dcs, visons eighteen freewell to fall, four are letter, the frey, Gary Jules, hit the switch, the internal party system, Iron & Wine, jacks mannequin, June, Kill Hannah, Kilers, Linkin Park, the metro station, city motion soundtrack, Muse, Mute Math, Mysto and Pizzi (Gieco!), pony club never shout again, owl city, P! @ TD, the pendulum, the game on the radio, pimples, silverstine Steriogram, System of a Down, theveriy Corperation, tragically hip, Trivium, The Von Bondies, we, the kin, 1-800 – Zombie (unicorn and burgers)
Try the White Stripes, The Raconteurs, The Dead Weather, Audioslave, No Doubt, Paramore, Three Days Grace these are my favorites
Dear David, a series of letters to an old friend in July 2008
Hersonissos
Crete
Greece
July 2008
Dear David,
All about Brikis, Happy Birthday Ralf Villa, a place to eat in Koutouloufari, Australian tour, the wayward American, and a monastery nuns.
Yes, it's four years since Villa Ralf off the bulletin board and became first class accommodation in Crete and accommodation for gay and lesbian people! There have been interesting time in many ways, for example, when we first opened, the result of Google for concrete + gay was completely meaningless, and all that came results were very wrong! When the website became operational in June 2004 (and the boy, who was in bad taste – some would say not much better now!), Because was like the only thing on the web that joined the two terms together and had contents of web pages to match! And three weeks later we got the first reserve, to our surprise, the Australians were. In a way it seems appropriate that in four years that Australians should have to stay again. Not the same, but Friends of the period of Perth.
Now things are a little different and no other gay hotel and what used to be "Tilly" in Malia is just the name gay bar in Crete, now called Eros.
And yes, you're right, since it is the anniversary of the movement in it is also time to make wine nectarine the tree in the garden. This year has also excelled and another branch has broken! I will never forget the day that the previous owners moved and stripped fruit tree, although not mature, but at some point if you remember, we thought they were going to scrape the paint on the walls! Even had the nerve recently to raise to see what they left behind! Surprisingly not want to run the dog!
At the beginning of the month I wondered if I would have time to write anything at all this months, since the house was full and not looked like it would not have time, but as always thank God for friends who contributed and helped whenever and wherever they could!
But first let us deal with this question "What is a briki?
At that time, a small saucepan briki is to make Greek coffee is usually brass or copper and tin-lined, wood or a long-handled brass. You can also buy a stainless steel handle plastic, but not so romantic! Oddly bronze, copper and versions are very difficult to buy in tourist shops never seem to sell, perhaps because it is actually very expensive! There are a couple of shops in town that specialize in brass and copper, and usually have one or two of these in the closet to sell guests who pay to save them from entering the city. Also keep Greek coffee supplies at home, since it is not the first time I've had emails visitors ask me if I can send some! This month's web page has some pictures on it,
OK for the business done, so we'll talk about the Australians.
Now I met Ann and Phil for a long time and was pleasantly surprised to hear from them telling me that they came to stay for a week. Like many Australians and New Zealanders who are visiting Crete and the Greek islands (not all at home myself), that were over for a meeting family, and make the maximum of their airfare, they were doing a tour of Europe and Greece, at the same time. This is a very sensible idea for anyone arrives in Europe on a long haul flight to Europe, as once here is relatively easy and cheap to book "internal" flights within Europe. Ann and Phil flew from Gatwick on a direct flight to Heraklion, but of course only run during the summer months. During the winter has to come through Athens, but even this is very easy from the UK and Aegean offers flights from London Stansted and you can travel to Crete without having to collect your luggage in Athens. There are also flights from Easyjet, but then you have to collect luggage in Athens for what you have to leave a couple of hours leeway to check back!
Now Ann and Phil are not bad, but Australian generally like to keep an eye on the money that has not been chosen to rent a car for reasons of cost, (and I suspect he did not like the movement by the "wrong" side of the road), so we treat our excellent bus services! I talked about this before I think? Anyway they are managed to do everything as usual Spinalonga trip and were impressed by the service and price, after all less than € 3 in one direction can not Heraklion be bad for a trip on a pleasant, comfortable, air conditioned coach. Buses run along the main road nearby, and also pass through the airport so any Guests arriving during the day at least can take a bus and save a taxi, the driver even helps you store your luggage underneath! And, of course, is only about 300 meters from the bus stop home.
After discovering that almost everyone speaks English, made the bus trip to Knossos which involves changing bus at the main bus station near the port, which is more than can be said of an American from Seattle who started going to Knossos and ended in Ierapetra in the southeast of the island, a very pleasant trip if that is where it intends to go, but I think that when he returned to where he had embarked on Hersonissos trip, which would have realized that something was wrong?
Personally I think the problem arose because of the way Americans can never seem to pronounce Knossos properly, they always want to make the sound 'or the' o ',' no ', as in K-not-so-s, instead of' o 'sounds like' o 'in' batch '. In their haste to put on the bus, I think the staff thought I heard wrong and said Hersonissos, which also has a lot of s for me in it too!
Back to the Australians, who, naturally, complained how the Australian dollar is these days, but I realize this does not stop eating them twice a day. Interestingly Anne actually said they were impressed to see that every time he came to pay, the bill was exactly what I hoped was that it is always an advantage when they are abroad and have to deal with the menu in a foreign language and a foreign currency. And this brings me to one of my favorite topics, food and eating out, what which means that you pay someone else to wash the dishes, I love the little kitchen, but I hate washing dishes!
If Australians have something to eat? Tavern Emmanuel Koutouloufari Well, of course, because the food is good, and running hands, lived in Melbourne so will be able to understand others!
Now Emmanuel Tavern, located on the square in Koutouloufari has been there for a long time and I like going there because it makes all kinds of specialty baked wood, and there is something in food that has been cooked in a wood oven, even if it's just pizza! But in this case is generally the meat of any kind, either pork or lamb, and often the fish and in my opinion, baked fish is one of the best ways of cooking. I guess the food reflects the smoky flavor of wood, and if it maintains a from heat, then cook slowly than is often a great advantage with some meat.
Like many places have their own things that recently, like bread always when I get it heats up, make their own gyros (which would not be the first time I've seen someone gyros order in a restaurant and are seated at the right place to see him coming in the back of a motorcycle from one of the steals in the Port!), and cook the chicken on the grill too!
On this occasion I handle the most delicious lamb cooked with wine and herbs with the tender meat so that fell from the bone, and more than enough food for me to eat (the dog had the rest and bone!) and served with vegetables and baked potatoes. The Australians were a bit less adventurous and swordfish steak had been grilled chicken saliva which is half of a pretty decent sized chicken! So by the time they had bread and a decent sized Greek salad while waiting for the network "We were all well fed. Two large beers and a bottle of house red very acceptable complete the effect and all for only € 66 which is fair enough real tablecloths, comfortable chairs, and friendly staff!
As always, when we were sitting back relaxing, and trying to stay awake, we presented something in the house. ", is predicted that this can be and was not disappointed because it was a hot cake (crepes insist on calling here), stuffed with ice cream and drizzled with chocolate. Despite declaring ourselves and we managed to finish it full!
Having friends to stay is always a bonus as it will help with household chores especially if they get a ride in the car to change, not that I'm holding a carrot in front of the donkeys, but a way to get the mowing and, despite success in Ann and Phil buses, heading for the hills is another matter as there are only two buses and two buses out, and a lot of walking in the middle, so I offered to take them, in exchange for food. Well there's a surprise then!
The trip was elected one I mentioned earlier, around south of the house through Potamia, Avdou, Kera and up to the plateau of Lassithi, except this time I had scheduled a stop to look around the monastery of Kera.
The trip to the hat is a bit old for me now, but it was interesting to see how it goes with the new dam of Potamia, is still seen as "the worm people Mordor "has been less, but is beginning to take shape and are the rocks and the earth moves in all directions, something that the Greeks are as good as it is almost impossible to find a piece of land to build on the rocks without being moved somewhere!
Anyway on arrival in Kera, through Krassi, uneventful except some acute intake of breath from the front passengers as the road is a bit narrow in places and there were quite a few trucks around that day!
Now I always thought that the monks of a monastery figure, it does not. Logically that contains the nuns because it is dedicated to the Virgin Mary of the Sacred Heart it is very unlikely to be served by the monks, but simple-minded people like me, it would help if they called a convent. I check later and found that a monastery may contain the nuns, but they generally are monks …. If you see what I mean.
Now that I love churches, and so forth, so it was a pleasure to come and look around. Without giving too much away, the church is delicious, and the small screen of metal constructions ecclesiastical and clothing are "point" as the very brief history of the monastery and the legends that surround it. Above all it is the sense of calm you feel when you enter, almost as soon as you walk through the door, and worth a visit just to see the light! Like many places here that you pay to enter, but not € 2 each is extortion, and if you take your time looking at the frescoes and shows to be a good time to get their money. Certainly worth it if only for the "spirit of place "that always seem to surround you in these places. (Remember the thrills of the spine when we went to the Callanish standing stones?)
To the stop at the first restaurant available from the lands of the monastery in "Ilias" in the village itself (parking off the road on the left just before the tavern). It seems a very pleasant place to myself, as you can sit on the edge of the road (on the level of the road though) or you can sit around the back and admire the view, similar to the view of the monastery. It is interesting that some of the plants around it are a bit different from what went down the coast, for instance to see fairly large hydrangeas and fuchsias in the hills, presumably prefer a little more fresh air here, as neither grows down where I am, or maybe it's the water!
The menu is limited but very Greek, and I hazard a guess that everything is homemade and as expected do not always have everything which is always a good sign. Everything you see on the menu seems to be about € 4 or 50 cents each way, so it is certainly not expensive. Only by a change ordered "bifteki 'and chips, both the burger and the fries were homemade and served with a dollop of Greek yogurt most thicker than I've ever seen! (For some reason I can not understand, when they brought the pepper, salt, oil, and napkins, ketchup mayonnaise also brought but no, no, I wanted either.) The dolmades were definitely homemade too, and the saganaki is done in the oven I guess because it came out red hot and sizzling in a pan cast iron.
At this point I have to go out with a mild case of indigestion after two meals in a short space of time, a drop of raki early type it out! You will be pleased to know that I'm putting all these places I mentioned in a Google map, now that the problems with mapping on Crete have been resolved, so will soon be able to open the map and see the distance as well as points of reference and some of my usual subtle humorous comments.
As the next month is August, and therefore one of the busiest months of the year, I hope my letter a month to be on time or comprehensive! I put some pictures for you, as usual, you will find at http://www.villaralfa.com/kera/
Sincerely, as always,
Tim
About the Author
Born in England (in spite of the name!), in the last half of the last century when Sussex was Miss Marple country and you could leave yours door unlocked for days, the author is unashamedly gay and everyone seems to know in spite of the fact that he never ‘came out’. He moved to Crete in February 2004 and opened Villa Ralfa as Crete’s first gay accommodation and lodgings in June 2004. You can find his web site at http://www.villaralfa.com