Dear David, a series of letters to a longtime friend in March 2008

Hersonissos

Crete

Greece

March 2008

Dear David,

Yes, I know it's later than usual, but March is a busy time of year that all the planting and the start of renovation loan for the tourist season.

Fortunately, the weather improved during the last month and my tree nectarine, which usually blooms in early February as the almond trees, is now in full bloom, I just hope that this year there are no winds south of overheating of flowering and fruiting stop. The potatoes that I planted for George are now on track despite the cold weather that delayed a few days, and in my own garden I have planted tomatoes ready for harvest was the principal. I have my usual annual spinach GLUT now that the weather is warmer, and also have a good crop of rockets and other salad leaves! Celery has been a bit of a failure as it has been in the ground too long and began to live, but I know now that I need to plant the seeds later in the year and it will always be ready for winter.

Now, when I wrote about my visit to Kato Zakros and Vai Beach last time, it does not mean that I will begin a series of reviews on the beaches of Crete! But since you asked me and I had time to do so, I took a trip to the southern island of Matala, one of the other famous (Or should I say infamous beaches!) On the island. From my home in Hersonissos is about two hours drive after leaving the road main at the rear of Heraklion, the road passes through several villages on the way to the big city sights (do not go on Saturday, market day is and the traffic is horrible), and how it is an ancient Roman city of Gortys, well worth a stop. You could really spend several hours just on a site, if you're really, really interested in archeology.

After leaving sights there are two more sites in Agia Triada and, of course, Phaistos, the record label "famous" can be seen in the museum at Heraklion, and in countless reproductions ceramic and metal! Phaistos is so important if someone comes through here, so I recommend you stop for a while. The site is not large and, unlike Knossos is fairly flat for all disabled persons a chance to move (not the same as Malia), Phaistos is also admirably placed at the end of a high cliff overlooking the most courses around.

Not much further to go down some winding roads and you Come to Matala. You spend a few blocks from apartments and so on, on the way and then you click on the village and the beach. The village is small and sorting of grip on the rocks at the end of the black sand beach, and what about when I started to miss the point about all of Matala. The village is pedestrian, but at this time of year, the barriers were down and it was possible to drive through it and back again. In the village are a few bars, taverns and souvenir shops, everything you expect in fact, more than ample parking at the rear of the beach.

The beach itself is not very large, so I was expecting a vast expanse of golden sand, but this is not what Matala is really, and I suppose I should have guessed when I saw two backpackers in sandals of Jesus (in March?) position in the village. One somehow I was disappointed as was my travel companion who has lived in Crete for many years but has never been Matala. In case of doubt about these things of course, you ask someone else what they think. In this case, I talked to someone many years younger than me and has certainly not been alive in the early 70s! The next part is more or less a quote verbatim …..

"You do not go to Matala to sit on the beach, you go to Matala to live the spirit of year 60, the soul of the hippies, and absorb the atmosphere of a place where Joni Mitchell and Jimi Hendrix huddled in caves.

Matala in the 60s and early 70s was home to a large colony of hippies living in the caves of Minoan (who have since been used by the Romans as tombs), until they were finally expelled by the police. Joni Mitchell certainly visited and stayed there (though I can not find reference Jimi Hendrix), and his song "Carey was inspired by his time, although there seems to be some confusion with the Actual dates that I can not suppress the atmosphere a little "heady" at the time. Since I found a couple of people (not Greek), who resided at that time, and their opinion is the same. Matala is a place where the spirit of freedom new ones were found and valid. Too bad we never went there! And today, Matala is still on the "hippie trail, and I really think I go back when it is open and stay a night or two. If the size of parking compared to the size of the village is anything to go by, it must be pretty uprising during busy times!

Right next to Matala and accessible by a path to the right as you enter Matala is another beach of Kommos. It is a small Minoan site here, but others a little more parking there is not much more than the beach! Being on a side street, I do not think it gets busy and there are plenty of beach to go around because it is really a sand shot left, (There told me that the gay community at the end of the nudist beach is located adjacent to the rocky outcrop that separates the Matala). On the Minoan site the beach stretches to the village of Kalamaki, where I said it was a German fighter plane on the beach. Either my eyesight is worse than I thought or someone won out because I did not see.

And anyway it was noon and as there was open somewhere we stopped and I had the best home beefburger I think I've ever had at a tavern just off the beach of Kalamaki called Athinavoles.

After lunch, usually we went quietly at home, and take a wrong turn ended up in a small village called Rouse. Sometimes it is amazing what you find by chance, Rouse and we found a store called "Botano" which sells a wide range of herbs and teas!

I think this is going to be for many excursions to the rest of the summer, so do not ask for more beach reviews until the fall!

Now, while you're ready for Easter, we here in Greece are about to have lent, which means it is time for carnival, with parades and music and costumes, something that tourists never see, especially when we an early Easter and the carnival comes in February! The shops are full of Superman and Spiderman outfits for the little ones and you wait there are French Maids, archbishops, witches and cowboys, too. At Eros Bar in Malia, our self proclaimed and only openly gay bar in Crete, the drag is of course to the agenda. I put some pictures on the site for you. Would real Amy Winehouse please be yourself!

During Lent is taken seriously here, at least not by me, vegetarian and being almost as you know, I have been known to chew on the piece Used meat and enjoy it, if at that time, I tend to buy in food and why it I usually put about 5 pounds right now and then until August of losing again. God thank you for baggy T-shirts!

Well course, with the "season" that threatens it is a time to meet friends before disappearing all working for the summer and not see each other until October, and what better way to do that around a table full of food! Sometimes, however, it is good to go out and eat, if not that to avoid the dishes, while Wenders and I decided to go and try a new place meze which opened during the winter. This may seem a funny time to open a restaurant, but it is quite normal here. In fact, visitors often ask where the winter they can eat, and if you live here, you know places nestled in the corners.

Not often that I am prompted to write about food, as I'm usually too busy lay it on my neck, but this time I must say something! "Your Filarakia" (meaning "friends" as in the TV series) appears on my web page camera and until now I had not been there, and I was impressed! It is located in a side street to the road the main port and is located opposite the office of OTE, while the visitor was, it is not on the main drag, unless your building located nearby.

Since many of these places, the mother is at the helm in the kitchen and the style is described as "rustic." I guess The front bar looks a bit like a fence! This is not a big place with about nine tables and the same stars. If we light a fire table is lost, unless they be in customer service barbecue that evening. The boss was a bit worried about us read the menu without Probably because it is only in Greek, which was not really a problem, one of the first things you learn is always food otherwise you will starve! No, the main problem was a small font on a fawn brown and not very bright lights! Although age has its own virtues, read the fine print is not one of them.

Avoiding the tzatziki and Greek salad usual, we tribute to healthy eating by ordering Horta, (it was actually spinach, but what is really the difference?), then we went in healthy foods, saganaki, feta from the oven, pancetta, Kalamaras, peppers (green light on those long, we almost ordered them stuffed with cheese, but decided Two batches of cheese were enough), and the liver is done the Greek way, lightly breaded and fried, then dusted (or done in a hot oven) with a little rosemary. To flash the liver cooked, cut into bite size, so it is almost crispy on the outside but still pink inside and so tender it melts in the mouth is a real challenge! After what seemed like hours to eat there was still enough to bring pancetta at home for a little fun for the dog, and certainly no room for dessert, although I have not noticed they have this cake drizzled honey and syrup, and spoon is sweet! Maybe I should not have three pieces of bread to mop up the juices of the liver and peppers, or maybe paximathia I was the first. Better yet the bill was only € 27,50 for the two of us, without the wine! At € 5,50 pancetta is bit more expensive than we had.

So I wrote this to a friend of Elounda has called to ask if I wanted to drive a couple of his friends in England about a couple of days, you can thus get another travelogue next month, and I'm sitting here is my ADSL connection on and off, and it is not even the wind blows from the south.

There IS a link to some pictures on the website here http://www.villaralfa.com/matala.html

And yes, I'll include a little Easter next time I write, but you must wait until very late in the month that Easter not until the last weekend in April.

Yours, as ever

Note: This article was published in March 2008 on the now defunct gaylinkcontent.com "website and is republished here for the love of my fans crave. Some of the information contained in it may now be incorrect. It is free to republish provided you include the link to my website and the source of the article. Please do NOT splash with these horrible online links to websites that have nothing to do with me.

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’!

Dirty Little Secret; s2. Chapter 5. Part 3.

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