APRIL WEATHER WAS...
Changeable during the first couple of weeks - sometimes very stormy. Wet and cold enough to warrant lighting the fires - but how this has changed!  May is gorgeous.....

    
     Road to Afrata                 Copyright - Cretanvista.gr

Picture: Beyond the bend at the top of the first real climb on the road from Kolimbari to Afrata, on the left, is a rough lay by.  The field at the side is green with grass and shrubs and has many small wild flowers right now.  Looking out over the bay of Chania you will see the coastline running from Maleme to Chania.  Backed by the western side of the magnificent white mountains beyond which lies the Omalos plateau.

Countryside Page Expansion...  
We are working frantically right now to obtain as many high quality photographs as possible of the flora of the Rodopos peninsula - particularly here at it's base - where the lack of extensive use of weed killers on fields and verges encourages wild flowers to flourish.  Whilst there is some use of weed killers it's use is not extensive.

Meanwhile.  Work on getting the results onto our site/s is under serious pressure time-wise.  It really is a catch 22!  Time we spend out on photography is doubled with identification and preparing the pictures for the web. Getting the pages themselves up is the easy part, and when we do........

And when we do...
There is still be the problem of flowers we cannot identify readily. Even though we have expert help. There has been a suggestion that we could place the photographs of these flowers on a special page to seek visitor suggestions - we may do this. Opinions welcome.

Still Waiting ...Now Late May...BUT...
Our next new page and gallery gathers olives and makes oil with the Kolimbari Co-op..  Please don't despair - this promised page has simply turned out bigger and better than anticipated.  With a myriad of photographs taken from the time the olive trees blossomed last year, through gathering in the groves to the first pressing of the world famous Kolimbari oil; to the canning and packing of the oil - we were right there with our cameras!  We broke off developing the page briefly because of sudden unexpected opportunities... Right now it is just a little difficult to get back without missing the wild flowers.

Unexpected Opportunities....
We interrupted work on the olive oil project because of an unexpected chance to produce a new photo gallery for the Cretan Countryside page.  The first parts of the gallery now complete.  Online shortly. And.....

And...
An opportunity to visit  the Omalos Plateau and start of the Samaria Gorge by Landrover Freelander on May 9th is irresistible.  Not least because we know that there are many wild flowers up there we have yet to photograph. You may also remember from our last CV news that a complete set of new pictures and a new addition for 'Driving out days' is also on the cards from our previous trip to Diktina.

The picture strip below shows some fractions of local Cretan life.  The much wetter start to spring this year is producing much lusher growth on the landscape.  Easter - celebration food! 

Request: Those of you who turned on the sunshine spells requested last month - please - you can turn them down a bit now!.. 

Easter 2003 -  Kalo Paska
Easter was a week later here on Crete than in the Northern Europe.  It is, however, perhaps the most important Greek Orthodox Religious celebration of the year.  Perhaps more important even than the Christmas celebrations in the UK and many other countries.

Our local preparations commenced seriously in the week leading up to Good Friday (Megalo Paraskevi) when our church services began in earnest.  Easter Saturday saw us collecting this years' lamb (whole) for our barbeque on Easter Sunday.

Saturday afternoon saw us attending our neighbours' cooking of Kalitsounia (in excess of 200) in his brushwood fired outdoor oven.  Helping to sample them after they cooled a little on their bed of fresh Sage from the local mountainside!
Saturday night saw us celebrating the rising of Jesus from the dead with the congregation obtaining their own holy flame - lighting our candles from that of our priest, Adonis, exchanging the greetings of 'Christos Anesti'  (Christ is risen) and 'Kronia Polla' (Happy New Year).  Then trying to get our candles home alight to bring us good luck for the year.  We did.  Fingers crossed!!

A belated - Kalo Paska!
             _________________

Anek currently leaves at 8.30pm whilst Blue Star leave at 12 midnight.

       Nice April days - A Year Ago...

       

Like the ones in 2002 when Jim and Karen Tepperman from America called to have a look at North Western Crete - a week in Falasarna - after a week in Spain.  This may well have been the last picture of Jim's shorts!  They went missing whilst he was swimming and have never been returned. If you happen to see them......