The villagers in one of the mountain villages in Crete were recently offered mains water and electricity by the Greek government. They turned it down unanimously because they didn’t want to lose their traditional way of life. And while I can’t imagine living without mains water or electricity, there is a lot to be said for taking a week out of “real” life in the way that we tend to live it these days. I have just spent a week in Crete, in a hotel next to the sea, where the wifi was limited. Hardly a shepherd’s hut in the mountains with only the basics, but enough for me to totally switch off from everyday life. I took my laptop, iPad and phone with me with intentions of using some of my week with no kids, school runs, meetings, matches or assemblies to attend and no cakes to make, to work on my blog and make all sorts of lists and plans. We had no wifi in the room for the first few days and it didn’t take long for me to stop cursing it and start embracing it.
Most, if not all, Cretan families own olive trees and they can be found pretty much anywhere an olive tree will grow. The locals tend to press their own olive oil and either keep it for their own supply or sell it on. Proprietors of some of the small shops selling local Cretan products will often claim one of the oils they are selling as produced from their own trees. After my recent discoveries about olive oil I can’t imagine anything better than being able to produce your own oil from your own trees.
Bees are also kept by a lot of locals and the honey is delicious: wherever you go you’ll get tasters offered to you, often as a chaser to a shot of the local brew, raki, which is made from the fermented grape must leftover from the wine making process. As well as some local honey from one of the shops, I bought a beeswax cream from a lady selling her products from the back of her pick up truck.
The bees thrive on the wild flowers and herbs in the mountains. May is the perfect time to visit Crete as the meadows are full of hundreds of varieties of brightly coloured wild flowers. Herbs such as sage, thyme, oregano, rosemary and dittany, amongst many others, grow in abundance: stop by the side of the road and you will probably find them. If you remember how excited I was at finding and using my own rosemary from the garden you can imagine how happy I was to be surrounded by them.
The herbs are gathered and dried and used in cooking, cosmetics, soaps and anything else you can think of. I have added the popular Mountain Tea to my very extensive herbal tea collection.
When we weren’t exploring we were relaxing: it doesn’t take long to get into holiday mode if you can escape from the wifi.
Crete is a beautiful island and I would love to go back and see more of it. We had an amazing week: I don’t think I have been so relaxed in years. The scenery is inspiring and the pace of life is measured and calm. Our diet was deliciously fresh, homegrown and locally produced food and drink. I can imagine a life surrounded by an olive grove, bee hives, goats, sheep, chickens and homegrown fruit, vegetables and herbs, although I’m sure it’s a much harder life than the romantic image it conjures. It doesn’t exactly translate to my life here but I am looking forward to getting my tiny greenhouse sorted for the summer and loving homemade at home.
It sounds idyllic x
Rachel it looks amazing! I’m heading to Greece in the summer, backpacking with the kids!!! It won’t be quite as relaxing but it’s given me just a taste. Thanks for sharing. And great photos! x
That sounds amazing, you’ll have a brilliant time! I will look forward to hearing about it x
Beautiful!
Sounds beautiful. What I wouldn’t give to spend a week relaxing and contemplating, Crete looks the ideal place to do it. xx
It was lovely, thank you xxx
Sounds lovely, my father-in-law uses his own olive oil and there is something so special about using what you have been offered by the land. I must admit, I do love a homegrown tomato or two.
I don’t eat many tomatoes at home as I generally find them too tasteless or too acidic – I ate a whole year’s worth in a week in Crete though as they were so delicious. I will definitely be growing some this year. x
Oh.my.gosh. I want to go! I love the beehives and the rest of the pictures are gorgeous! I would definitely have a hard time not being “connected” although, I think I would get used to it fairly quickly once I realized there was freedom in this.
You’d be surprised how quickly you don’t want to get connected again!
Utter bliss! I had a wonderful time there about thirty years’ ago. Maybe it’s about time I went back!!!
I imagine it is very different now but as long as you avoid the nightclubbing areas I think you would have the same wonderful experience!
Loved reading this post! It made me reminisce about my trip to the Greek islands last May. May is indeed the perfect time to visit the islands – beautiful weather, and the flowers. Would love to go to Crete one day. Your photos are beautiful!
I think I could get used to not being connected if I’m in the midst of such beauty.
Thank you very much. There are so many places that I want to see there aren’t too many on my list to revisit – Crete is definitely on that list!
What wonderful photos! I loved Crete when we visited. Those bee hives look amazing! ☺
The bee hives are one of my favourite photos! Thank you very much for commenting.