‘Freedom’ Archives
Warrior Monks of Crete
A road trip with friends took us to the south coast of Crete and a monastery famous for much more than religious activities. We left our village and traveled west on highway E75 toward the port city of Rethymnon. At Rethymnon we turned south towards Spili, climbed into the White Mountains, and then descended into [Read More]
Windy Island — Day 2: History
On our second day, we looked forward to exploring towns in the southern part of Karpathos. All of these are very old, but the legacy of this island goes back to a time before history was invented. Ancient Times Archaeologists have proved the island was first settled by pre-Greek people during Stone Age times (around [Read More]
Symbol of Freedom
We decide to visit the Arkadi monastery, perhaps the most important shrine of Cretan independence. Our journey takes us through Iraklio and towards Rethymno on the National Highway. We turn southward at Stavromenos and continue towards Mount Ida (Psiloritis), the highest peak in Crete and the sacred mountain of Rhea, known as the mother of [Read More]
Festival
On the Greek Orthodox calendar, this day marks ‘The Assumption’ – when the devout believe Mary (the mother of Jesus) was taken to heaven. It is one of the major religious festivals in Greece, as many thousands of people attend religious services and celebrations. Mary is a holy figure for Greeks, not only as the [Read More]
Ghosts of Warriors
It is a long drive, past Rethimno and then to the southern coast. We stop for a rest in the village of Vrisses, where large plane trees offer cool shade. The village is quiet today. We consider sampling their famous yoghurt with local honey, but we settle for an ice-cold frappe and then get back [Read More]
