6 languages, 105 year old nun and the best goat I have ever tasted- Achlada, Crete

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2 photos Visit to Mourtzanakis Residence – Achlada - Heraklion, Crete, Greece - 14-28 Sept.2009 My philosophy has always been that in order to understand your own life in perspective, you need to have the opportunity to study history, and also to travel . When you visit another country, if you get the opportunity you need to spend time with the locals, and not live in an international hotel, served by « Gastarbeiter » with Mac burgers and isolated from the indigineous population. What a pleasure in contrats were the 2 excellent weeks we spent with Marcos and Smaro Mourtzanakis this Sept. 2009 at their 4 villa Mourtzanakis EcoHotel. The hotel is situated at ca 300 metres altitude, with wonderful views of the sunset over the hills and the partially ruined village of Achlada down to the sea a few Kms away. There are no neighbours or building sites to spoil nature and the only noise is the « gling gling » of the goats bells in the herds on the mountains. The hotel is newly constructed, roomy, ecological, and well designed. The highspeed internet connection for my laptop worked at the first plug and go click, using their cable and wifi. (The many times I have experienced internet problems elsewhere would suffice for a 1000 page novel) ( Tip : Bring your own electrical adaptor for your battery chargers.) The price / quality ratio of the spacious villas compared to the average small hotel room is exceptional. There is air conditioning in the rooms, although in Sept. at 300 metres altitude it was not really necessary, with hot days and cool nights. The Swimming pool is partially shaded by the hotel to keep the water temperatures cool in high season. It was 22- 24 0C in late September, but we swam mostly in the sea, not the pool. During the day we alternated between the beaches and visiting the tourist attractions, lunching at Tavernas with the standardised but excellent tourist menus of greek salads, fish, and local specialities. In the evenings we enjoyed Smaro’s home (crete and greek) cooking, accompanied by local wine from the Peza Cooperative. Some evenings we were the sole guests, which gave us ample opportunity to learn a lot from them about Crete. On other evenings we were up to 12 guests, and on one very interesting occasion, I recall 6 languages were being spoken around the table. (Marcos is fluent in english, french, arabic and greek) ! A visit to the local cemetary and also to one of the many monasteries in Crete provided evidence of the fabled longetivity of the locals, many people surviving into their nineties, and the oldest tomb we observed was a nun, who lived to 105 years ! The elixir of life is said to be the olive oil, plus the herbs and the general diet of salads, fruit, vegetables, meat and fish) The geology of Crete is mainly calcareous limestones pushed up to a maximum height of ca 2500 metres, from the bottom of the Tethys some 65 millions years ago. The flora is spartan with spiky bushes, and herbs such as oregon, including many local varieties. Mountain teas are prepared as infusions of these herbs, and the oregon dried flours, leaves and stems are crushed and used as seasoning on salads and local dishes. (Caution : some herbs could be poisonous or mildly hallucinogenic, so take local advice before sampling or purchasing) The oven baked goat weate at the Platanos Taverna in Fodely village was the best I have ever tasted world wide, probably due to the herbs the goat had dieted on ? (In north Mexico the goats have only cactus to feed on in the desert). The white wines are pleasant, but the reds are local grape types that take some getting used to. We were very fortunate to be able to visit the wine harvest at the Peza Cooperative, including a tour of the plant and wine tasting, an unforgettable experience with hundreds of trucks and tractors bringing in the grapes to be weighed and processed. Dont miss this if you visit in Sept. The world famous archaeological site at Knossos is extremely touristic, and we found Saturday afternoon the best time to visit, because there are much less tourists than at any other time during the week. Birdwatchers will be pleased by the colonies of goldfinches in the gardens every morning and evening at the MR hotel. I observed 2 pairs of golden Aureloes in the walnut tree plantation adjacent to the olives trees, between the hotel and the 1 km distant Achlada village. Eagles and other unidentified raptors are common in the area.