Tag: #stressloosKreta

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Speel de komboloi

Speel de komboloi is de titel van een van mijn alternatieve privé excursies die jullie vanaf volgend jaar samen met mij kunnen beleven hier op Kreta.

Hoe een komboloi er uitziet kunnen jullie al op de foto hieronder zien.

en hoe je die maakt en speelt, dat toon ik jullie dus tijdens deze dagtrip. Maar dat is niet alles. Eerst neem ik jullie mee naar de plaats van herkomst van de komboloi, die momenteel het favoriete speeltje van de stoere Kretenzers is.

De foto hieronder is er eentje die op die plaats genomen werd. Hoe die twee (de komboloi en deze plaats) in relatie staan met elkaar krijgen jullie van mij ter plaatse te horen…

En Kreta zou natuurlijk Kreta niet zijn als er niet ook flink gegeten en gedronken werd, maar ook dat doen we net even anders…

Zoals jullie zien wordt er tijdens mijn dagtrips actief deelgenomen aan het Kretenzische leven, en daarvoor doe ik dit! Live Crete Alive! en zo stressloos als maar kan!

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NEE! In ere van alle gevechten, opstanden en oorlogen waarbij de Grieken en Kretenzers gevochten hebben voor een vrij land.

Elk jaar sinds 28 oktober 1944 wordt de NEE (OCHI) parade gelopen in elk dorp en stad in Griekenland.

Die wordt natuurlijk voorafgegaan door het oefenen van deze parade in alle scholen, organisaties en het leger natuurlijk.

De deelnemers aan de parade tonen hiermee hun respect aan allen die gevochten hebben tijdens oorlogen, verzetten en onderdrukkingen waar Kreta en Griekenland jarenlang het slachtoffer van geweest zijn.  Dit is dan ook een heel belangrijke dag waarbij toch zeker 80% van de bevolking op straat komt om actief deel te nemen aan de parade of als toeschouwer de deelnemers te begroeten en applaudisseren.

Hier volgt een korte video opname van de parade in het dorp Fodele, uitgevoerd door de schoolkinderen.

het Griekse volkslied

Ben je op 28 oktober in Griekenland vergeet dan niet iedereen “Chronia polla” te wensen.

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Een mmmm voorsmaakje

Kom je volgend jaar naar Kreta op vakantie dan kan je met mij meegaan voor een stressloze Kreta-dag!

De “Kalimera Tavli” daguitstap is getest, de proefkonijnen waren heeeeeeeeel tevreden en enthousiast, en ze hebben mij enkele foto’s opgestuurd waarvan hier een paar, 2 dus 😉 Ik wil ook niet teveel verklappen…..

Het zijn er dus 3 geworden ♥♥♥ (ik kon het niet laten) Met dank aan Mieke en Thomas!

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jouer le komboloï

Comme je l’avais promis à l’équipe de Pierre Maillard, je vous donne ici les informations nécessaires pour jouer le komboloï correctement.

Placez le komboloï comme sur la photo entre le troisième et le quatrième doigt.

Maintenant, vous devez déplacer votre main pour que le côté du komboloï derrière vos doigts vienne de la paume de votre main, comme sur la photo ci-dessous.

vous voyez qu’entre le troisième et le quatrième doigt, il y a toujours la corde du chapelet

dans le dernier mouvement, nous amenons les trois doigts inférieurs entre les cordes du komboloi, comme sur la photo ci-dessous

Comme vous pouvez le constater, il n’y a pas de corde entre le troisième et quatrième doigt.

le dernier mouvement nous amène à la position de départ où nous rapportons le quatrième doigt sur la corde du bomboloï

voilà, c’est tout 😉

Mais comme je sais que ce n’est pas si simple, j’ai aussi fait une petite vidéo pour vous avec tous les mouvements.

Beaucoup de plaisir a tous!!!

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Excursion must-know for Crete

When you buy an excursion be sure you get the right information from the seller.

A lot of sellers won’t give you all the information. Here are some examples of what they may forget to tell you:

  • extra fees, for example : entrance fees, travel taxes, a meal that is not included, a boat trip fee, etc.
  • that the duration of the pick up (before the excursion starts) can take one hour or more.
  • that the guide will not speak only your language in the bus, but also 2 or 3 other languages.
  • the duration of the excursion. (the giving of a false return time is very common)
  • that you can’t pay everywhere with a credit card.
  • that cash money will be gathered in the bus by the guide.
  • if you will be the first or last ones on the pick up list.
  • If your hotel is at the end of the list you may ask if they can arrange 2 seats together. (unless you don’t mind sitting apart during the whole trip.

Here is already some more information about beach excursions on Crete. 

Have with you of course your bathing suit (we have only very few nudist beaches and no organised excursion will take you there 😉) and instead of taking a towel (takes a lot of space in your bag and is quit heavy) take a large scarf to lay on, they dry fast and or very light. You will also need a pair of surf shoes because at nearly all the beaches here there are rocks in the water. Most of the beaches have sunbeds and umbrellas, but then if you don’t want to be all the time with a lot of people around you buy yourself an umbrella (they’re not expensive) so you can find yourself a quit spot on the beach. The waters in Crete are very clear so take a diving mask with you!

If you want to go for a walk in the mountains then this is what you will need.

First of all take enough water with you as also some nuts and raisons, these are light to take with you and a perfect energy source. Make sure you wear walking shoes ( no brand new onces please) and use walking sticks if you have (they will help you stepping down from rocks and stones). Protect yourself against the sun (not only your head but your whole body) by covering yourself and you should also protect yourself against the heat, so take a small towel with you that you can make wet from time to time and put it in your neck, not on your head! If you go into the mountains without a guide (something I do not recommend) take a compass with you or download one on your phone and inform some people of the hike you’re going to do.

So before you book an excursion be sure to ask about these points or try to look them up on the internet. This is easy to do for entrance fees and for distances, so you can figure out by yourself the extra money you will need, and the return time of the excursion you want to do.

And the most easy way is to send me an email to livecretealive@outlook.com with your questions about excursions organised in Crete. I will answer you accurate and within a day.

But first of all enjoy your stay in Crete!!!!!!

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Onbekend Kreta

Elk kantoor had vroeger een excursie met de naam Onbekend Kreta. Een geliefde uitstap voor mensen die de toeristische plaatsen wilden vermijden en het Kreta van de Kretenzer wilden beleven.

Ons kafenio

Zo’n daguitstap wil ik jullie ook aanbieden. Ik wil jullie meenemen naar een klein dorpje waar we een griekse koffie drinken in een kafenio, tussen de dorpelingen en waar we even bij Minas kunnen binnen lopen, hij maakt schapebellen. Na een wandeling door het dorp rijden we naar een vroegere vriend van mij, Stavros, hij heeft samen met zijn vrouw een slakken kwekerij, daar geeft hij of zijn vrouw uitleg over het reilen en zeilen van hun bedrijfje. En daar krijgen we ook een lekkere lunch geserveerd, met of zonder slakken.

Stavros’ slakken in zomerslaap

Na de lunch kunnen jullie een middagdutje doen in de auto terwijl ik jullie naar nog een ander dorpje breng waar jullie je eigen kruidenthee kunnen brouwen en drinken onder de plataan bomen. En als je je thee lekker vindt kan je ook een paar thee zakjes maken om mee te nemen. Natuurlijk worden er ook traditionele koekjes geserveerd bij de thee. (Kijk maar naar de post Voutimata)

Na het genieten van je eigen thee breng ik jullie terug naar jullie verblijfplaats waar ik jullie dan nog een gezellige vakantie toe wens op het mooie Kreta.

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Bevindingen over de test dagtrip van Rethimnon

Na het laatste bezoek van deze dagtrip heb ik mijn 4 ‘test bunnies’ (Noren uit het uiterste noorden van Noorwegen) gevraagd wat ze van de daguitstap vonden. Hun eerste reactie was dat ze heel erg genoten hebben van de plaats waar ze zelf kruidenthee gemaakt en gedronken hebben en dat het heel ontspannen, gezelig en leerrijk was, ook de weg naar deze plaats vonden ze schitterend. Ze waren ook heel trots op de theezakjes die ze zelf gemaakt en meegenomen hebben om ook thuis nog van hun eigen thee te kunnen genieten.

Alhoewel ze niet zeker waren van hun griekse kookkunsten hebben ze toch genoten van het klaarmaken van de gevulde groenten die ze later met veel smaak en trots gegeten hebben met prachtig uitzicht op het meer.

Na een ritje van 45′ waarbij een beetje ingedommeld kon worden hebben ze ook nog hun cultuur verrijkt met een geleid bezoek aan het Arkadi klooster dat volgens Victor Hugo (en alle Kretenzers) het vrijheidssymbool van Kreta is.

Hun enige opmerking was dat ze liever in een iets ruimere auto gezeten hadden, en dat is natuurlijk heel makkelijk aan te passen.

Dus, al bij al was het een heel geslaagde dag!

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Spinalonga

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Everything started here hundreds of years ago when fortifications were built on the island during the ancient Greek period. These fortifications were built to protect the port of the city Olous that was built during the Dorien occupation 500 – 69BC.

During the Venetian occupation (1204 to 1669) the fortresses and fortifications that you can see today we’re built, together with baracs for the soldiers, water cisterns – so the rain water could be gathered as there is no water source on the island -, as also a Catholic Church.

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In 1669 the Ottomans occupied Crete but they could not occupy Spinalonga as it was too well fortified so they took it by contract in 1715 after having put an embargo on the island. They built a village, some more water cisterns, a mosque and a minaret. The Ottoman inhabitants of Spinalonga handeled in salt and as there was no electricity at that time they had a very good commerce.

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In 1898 Crete is liberated from the Ottomans with the help of the 4 major forces of that time, England, France, Italy and Russia. They could not liberate Spinalonga as it was still too well fortified. So the independent state of Crete had to find a way to liberate Spinalonga from the Ottomans.

At that time around 200 lepers lived on the island Crete, these people had no rights, they were not alowed to get married, they could not work and were not alowed to live or enter the villages or cities. They had to live in baracs that were built outside of the cities and villages and received only 1 meal a day. So you can imagine that these people did go to the cities and villages, to ask for some food or money, or to visit their family.

As the Cretan politicians did not want this situation anymore they decided to look for a place where they could take care of the lepers, and ideal place for the politicians was the island Spinalonga because on this island the lepers could live in the houses that were built by the Ottomans, and as everybody was afraid of this desease they were also quit sure that the Ottomans would leave as soon as the first lepers were brought to Spinalonga.

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And that is what happened, in 1903 the first lepers of Crete were taken to Spinalonga. Together with the lepers also a doctor, nurses and housekeepers were brought to the island to take care of the lepers, these people were healthy people so they were not allowed to stay during the night on Spinalonga. Every evening they had to leave the island and before leaving it they had to pass from the desinfection room to desinfect themselves as also their belongings. They had to pass their belongings through a steam kettle that you can still see there.

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So in 1903 the first lepers are taken away from their baracs and are brought to the village Plaka from where they were taken with a small boat on the island Spinalonga.

And that seemed to them the end of their life. Because once they were on the island, there was no going back. They knew that they would never see their family, friends or neighbours again! They were not alowed to have visitors, there was no medication for the desease so they also knew that they were going to die there all alone without their family.

Most of the lepers of Crete were farmers and sheperds, people with a low education so it was very hard for them to organise their new live on the island. It’s true that they had the help of the housekeepers during the day but imagine the mental force they needed to start a new life on a place they did not want to be, that was as a prison to them.

For the new lepers live on Spinalonga was even harder. Imagine yourself having a disease, you go to the doctor and he tells you that you have leprosy. The doctor has to call the police, the police takes you to your house, they tell you to take some personal things with you because you will be taken to Spinalonga. The policeman puts you in chains and brings you to the village Plaka where you are put in a small boat and taken to the island. There is now way back! Also young children who had the disease were taken away by their family and were taken all alone to Spinalonga…..

Only houses were available on the island and most of the houses had no running water, some of them even did not have a toilet, every day they had to go to the watertanks to get water to use in their house, to wash themselves, to do the dishes, to wash their clothes etc. And as they had nothing to do there the lepers were bored during the day what made their live even more unbearable.

In 1913 some small changes are made on the island when also some lepers of the mainland of Greece are taken there. These people had got a higher education and they started to organize a kind of community on the island, they opened a bakery, a buchery, a grocery store as also some cafes. So life starts to be a bit more interesting on the island.

It was later in 1918 that a hospital was built, on the place were the Ottomans had built their mosque, it was the doctor who insisted on having a hospital so that he didn’t had to do the medical examinations and amputations anymore in the houses were the lepers lived.

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It was although only from 1936 on that their life changed for the much better, that was when Epaminondas Remoundakis at the age 21 went to the island.

remoundakis

Some say that he had the disease already at the age of 12 and as he had heard terrible stories about Spinalonga he was afraid to be taken their so he hide himself from the police and doctors. In 1931 he left Crete with a boat, stayed for a while on the small island Koufonisi and managed from there to go to Athens where he started his studies of Law at the University. It was later in 1936 that he could not hide his disease any more and he was taken to the hospital in Athens from where he asked to be transported to Spinalonga where his sister was taken to.

Epaminondas was in his third year of law school at the University when he went to Spinalonga. He knew what rights the lepers had so he organized elections on the island. Once the lepers had their own mayor the could demand for their rights. They first of all asked for a higher monthly contribution because what they received until then was just enough o survive. They also asked to be alowed to have visitors and to have the right to get married. So new laws were made and now they where nearly equal with the ‘others’

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At that time only the large cities on Crete had electricity, most of the villages on Crete have electricity only since the 1960’s. The Mayor and the doctor insisted also on having electricity so generator was built on Spinalonga and for the first time in their life they had something the ‘others’ didn’t, they could switch on the light, have a radio and listen to the news from Crete and Greece, they rented a movie from time to time, so also a bit of culture to place in their life. All this gave them a lot of courage to go on.

Also during the second world war the island was not attacked, the lepers were save and even some soldiers brought them food as food was very hard to find during the German occupation

The lepers continue their live, some of them get married and in some cases lepres from the mainland of Greece marry a leper from Crete so that they also have visitors from time to time. Women get pregnant and babies are born, a few of these babies had the disease, most of them are healthy and the lepers start living a close to normal life on the island.

The doctor on the island was in research for a medication for the disease together with another Greek doctor and from time to time the asked lepers if they wanted to test a new medicine, only lepers with a quit strong health were asked to do so and most of the lepers agreed on testing medication because they knew that they were going to die anyhow. But non of the medication that was tested on them cured them, some even killed lepers.

In 1945 the medication Dapsone is used for the first time in the world as a cure for leprosy and with succes! In 1950 this medication is brought to Spinalonga so no more tests are done and the lepers start taking the medication that will cure them. After a months of taking this medication some of the lepers are diagnosed to be healthy and they may leave the island! Before they leave the doctor gives them a document that says that they don’t have the disease any more, that they are not a danger anymore for others and that they may live wherever they like. So the lepers start leaving the island, they go back to their family and start again a new life, but now it is a good life, with hope and health!!

dapsone tablets usp 50mg

in 1957 the leper colony is closed and the few lepers that are not cured yet are brought to a hospital in Athens, the Saint Barbara Hospital, where they receive further medication and from where they can also go when they are cured. But not only the last lepers are taken to the hospital, also the people that were born on the island have to go there.

From 1936 on approximately 30 children were born on the island, a few of them had the disease, the others were healthy, but as they were born from 2 lepers they were not allowed to leave the island so they were raised among the lepers. So also these people went to the hospital where several tests were done on them and when after a few months the doctors saw that they are 100% healthy they were also allowed to leave the hospital, and as they never had the disease they were not given any document. Now these people had to start a new life too, they had never left the island before, they had never lived in a normal community so this was not easy for them. Another problem they had was that on their passport was written as place of birth Spinalonga, so when they went looking for a job and their passport was asked for they were not given the job. It was also hard for them to find a partner because people were still afraid of this disease and people who had been in contact with it. Most of them returned to the hospital and asked for a room and a job there and that is where they stayed for the rest of their life. As totally healthy people who never had the disease they could not have a normal life, get married or have a family….

This is my version of what happened on Spinalonga, I know that this is only the general story and that is what I wanted to give you, for more details you can always contact me. Or if you have something to bring into my story then I’m all ears. Enjoy your visit on the island and have in mind what you read here when you set foot on it.

There are vessels going to Spinalonga from Agios Nikolaos, Elounda and Plaka. The prices of the boat differ and the entrance for the Archaeological site of Spinalonga is 8€pp, students from the EU and children younger than 18 y do not pay any entrance fee, disabled people with document do not pay either and senior citizens of the EU pay 4€pp.