PNEVMATIKI WINERY

I've found myself languishing in the summer doldrums for a good part of the month of August, content to do not much more than keep up the house, foray into town for groceries when absolutely needed, and make the 15 minute walk to lounge about on the beach most afternoons. Blame it on the heat, or the impending change of season, or missing Yannis, or sadness that Mike is moving to Athens in about a week. Whatever it is, I'm determined to shake it and start getting out and doing more once September rolls around. In the meantime, today's wind conditions prompted me to skip the beach this afternoon and take a "mini-excursion" up the road to a winery. I took a slight detour through some streets in my village that I only just discovered last week, when my neighbor Helene took me to dinner.


This is the church in my village. It boggles my mind that I lived here for almost three months before even realizing it was here. Each Sunday morning, when I heard the bells and the priest's singing as though it was in my backyard, I thought for some reason that it was further away in a nearby village and was being amplified. I had simply never wandered the streets on the northeastern side of the village; had I done so then I would have realized that the church IS almost literally in my back yard.

A ripe cluster of grapes hanging from someone's rooftop pergola. Harvest time has begun, I believe, for a majority of the grapes grown on the island.

Opposite the church is a HUGE fig tree. The low hanging fruit has been picked, these are some over-ripe fruits that have burst.
When Helene and I walked by after dinner last week, we grabbed a couple of perfectly ripe ones and I spread them along with butter and honey on my bread the next morning.

The local elementary school.

The fruit that grows on these cacti is edible too, but I've been told that it requires a lot of work to get it ready to eat. Had I zoomed in, you would see the pricklies on the fruit, which need to be shaved off.

As far as I can tell, this is strictly a wine producing facility (meaning that they don't grow any of their own grapes). I've passed it on numerous occasions as it's just about a kilometer from my house, and finally decided to take them up on the "free visit" that they advertise on their sign.

There was only one employee there when I arrived, and I have no idea what his job title is since he spoke no English. He did give me a tour, and although I could only pick up a few words, he seemed to know what he was talking about as he showed me the various tanks, filtration containers, ageing barrels, etc.

These wall ornaments outside of the barrell room remind me of how seriously the Cretans take their right to own and bear arms. I have read that Crete has the highest gun ownership rate in the EU, and although the majority of them are illegally owned, the police turn a blind eye out of a respect for the long-standing Cretan custom, and a fear of what would happen if they were to ever attempt to crack down on it. It's one of the things that I admire about Crete...the government is afraid of its people.

Not sure who these characters are, maybe the founders and/or past employees?

The view looking out from the entrance of the building

I purchased two bottles of wine (one red, one white) and some honey raki, and the total came to 12 euros. Will have to wait until I drink them to see whether I got a bargain or not since there was no tasting offered, but so far it's the least that I've paid for wine since I've been here.