It’s the end of an era…

Today marks the end of a great era.  My mother has sold our beach house!!!    For the better part of this decade I have spent my summers on the beaches of Greece.  Well, one beach in particular… the beach located in Nea Hora in Chania on the island of Crete.  Pictured to the right…

But I guess all is not lost…

We still have a lovely house in the village with a distant view (the above headline pic on this blog is our view) of the sea.  It’s only a 10 minute drive down to the beach.  The water is much much cleaner at the Kalives Beach. 

Also, there is no threat that an earthquake will collapse the house.  The beach condo is located in a building that is in desperate need of reinforcing.  My mother no longer has to pay condo association dues.  The beach condo building will eventually need a new boiler, a new elevator, the toilet in the bathroom leaks… yada yada yada.    So, while it’s sad that we are losing a place that has a wonderful view, we are not sad about losing the burden that goes along with it.

I’d Rather Be There…Not Here

I picked up a new design to my blog so I can customize my own header!!  So here I am with a new theme, a new title and a new header, which I LOVE!!!  I’ll be changing my header every so often to reflect my whim.  With this being a new month and the beginning of a new season, I thought this might be more appropriate.

You ask, where is here?  “Here” is a little village called Maheri (Maheri translates to Knife in english), in the prefecture of Chania, on the island of Crete, in the country of Greece.  My parents have a house there and I will be visiting with the BF in September.  I am soo excited about the trip and getting away for a while!!  Here are a few more pics of the area…

Not the Village, but a terrific view of the outskirts of Souda Bay!

 

Dako’s…Dako’s…Dako’s!!!

What is a Dako? It’s a Cretan Bread Salad with tomatoes, a cretan sheepsmilk cheese called “mizithra” (the best way to describe this cheese is like a less pungent taste of feta cheese and the creamy texture of goat cheese), salt, pepper, oregano topped with olive oil, all atop a piece of bread called a paximathi. A paximathi is a spiced bread thats been baked till it’s hard inside and out. Before you eat it in this salad you have to dunk the bread in some water to soften it up. This is practically a daily staple of my summer trips to Greece.

I read an article on DailyFrappe.com that there is a fast-casual food restaurant in Athens called Dakos Restaurant that is all the rage. If you didn’t know, the Cretan Diet is considered the healthiest diet in the world. In some of the more rural areas in Crete scientists have found that there is a lower amount of heart disease and some cancers.

I have always thought that a Cretan food restaurant would do very well!! Cretan gastronomy is quite different from the rest of the land. The main kind of staples are the same but the preparation in Crete coupled with organic products makes Cretan Cuisine healthful!! Props to the home land!!