We left Sfakia this morning. The weather was beautiful and calm, so I had a quick final swim in order to take the feel and sound and look of the sea and coastline with me. Then we said farewell to our local friends, until October. The village is lively now, and reservations are quite full for the au...

We drove up for an easy afternoon looking at the progress of flowers in Kalikratis and Asfendou. We paused on the road above Asfendou for clear views back to the Lefka Ori ,and over to Pshiloritis floating above the clouds, with a stone mitato in the foreground. Kalikratis looks so green as you appr...

And here are some of the flowers we saw high up in the mountains: Crocus seiberi Crocus seiberi.JPG Scilla nana Scilla nana.JPG Anchusa Anchusa.JPG Prunus prostrata Prunus prostrata.JPG Lepidium hirtum (inside a prostrate cherry) Lepidium hirtum (inside a prostrate cherry).JPG Buglossoides incrassat...

Wiltrud and I were very fortunate to be driven up into the White Mountains by our friend Jean Bienvenu, a hiking guide and photographer who lives in the Chania area (https://www.west-crete.com/walking_hiking-crete-walks.htm). He was checking which flowers are out at the moment and scouting access fo...

And here are some of the flowers we saw on the hike (identifications not necessarily entirely accurate): Paeonia clusii (Clusius' peony) peony.JPG Tulips saxatilis (rock tulip) Tulipa saxatilis (Rock tulips).JPG Hermodactylus tuberosus (snake's head / widow iris) snake's head iris.JPG Daphne daphne....

Kalo mina! A lot of Greeks came down to the south coast for the May 1st holiday, keeping the restaurants busy, and many travelled by ferry or their own small boats further west down the coast. Businesses have hung up flower wreaths for the 1st of May. The Alkion opened its sea-side tables for breakf...

The ferry boat ticket kiosk burnt down in the early hours of this morning. We were woken up at 5am by the brief sound of a siren and looked out to see a truck with flashing lights next to the kiosk by the slipway and men searching for something with flashlights. This morning the firetruck from Anopo...

The weather was warm and the atmosphere a bit heavy with Sahara dust. A group of us decided to walk up the Ilingas gorge to the first rock wall you have to climb, then turn back. The old kaldirimi (footpath) from Sfakia to Anopoli crosses the gorge, but it seems like few people explore the gorge its...

Here are some of the flowers we saw on the hike; some are common and the smaller ones often overlooked: Tulipa cretica, a very short variety of tulip Tulipa cretica.JPG Orchis pauciflora (Sparsely-flowering orchid) Orchis pauciflora.JPG a small white orchid with 2 spots, resembling quandripunctata w...

When St. George’s Day falls during Easter week, it is celebrated on the Monday after Easter. In Sfakia there are three small churches for Agios Giorgos, and this year the the church in the upper village (Tholos) held the celebration rather than the one next to the Xenia. And today (the 28th), a sma...