I had dinner with a new friend at a taverna in the hills near Chania the other night, and one of the topics of discussion was the allure that Crete holds for each of us.
She is an American expat who has been living here for many years, and who married into a Cretan family, so her knowledge of the island and its people is far deeper than mine.
Crete has many well-known virtues:
Its physical beauty is formidable and diverse; one can find beautiful beaches, majestic mountains, farm land, olive groves, orchards, vineyards, caves, gorges and forests. It is the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean, and feels more like its own country than an island.
Crete's history is ancient, massive and intense. There are an extraordinary number of historical sites. The ancient Minoan culture originated here, and the island has been seized and occupied by Arabs, Turks, Romans, Venetians and Nazis (not necessarily in that order). The number of ruins dotting the island is staggering.
The hospitality of the Cretan people is legendary, and I have found them to be honest, open, curious and unassuming. They seem to be laid back and passionate at the same time, fiercely independent and not too concerned with rules and regulations. This last bit can cause frustration for those who are accustomed to the rigid efficiency of many western cultures, but it suits me just fine.
It is a land of contradictions, where one can find numerous modern conveniences and entertainment in the cities and then drive just a short way into the mountains to be transported back in time in its myriad villages. There is a wonderful, well-built modern highway spanning the length of the island in the north, many other decent roads to take you into and over the mountains, and then innumerable smaller gravel, dirt and tractor paths leading...well, you never know until you take them!
The Cretan diet is renowned for its healthy properties, and while there is a definite lack of diversity when it comes to restaurants featuring cuisine from other cultures, most of what you will find here is fresh, locally grown, satisfying and created with much care by traditional methods.
So, these are some of the things that come to mind when I'm compelled to explain why this is such a great place.
However, there is something more to it for me, and it's really difficult for me to describe. Since I've been here, I have experienced on many occasions a sense that I have been here before, like I'm living a memory. It's not that quick, peculiar feeling that one gets from deja-vu. Instead I feel like I'm looking at things as I used to when I was a child, when life held unlimited potential, adventure and mystery. Colors seem more alive, the air feels fresher, the sunlight warmer and gentler, and everything just has more of a "3D" feel to it than anything I can recall from recent years.
What prompts these strong feelings? Who knows. At first I was tempted to chalk it up to my own quirky nature, or simply the fact that I'm free from wage-slavery for the first time in 22 years. However, I've talked to others who have come here and fallen in love with the island, and they describe a very similar phenomenon.
As my dinner companion and I agreed the other night...you either get it or you don't. I've got it. And I'm having a hard time imagining giving it up.
6 comments:
You describe very well what I feel about Crete, Kyrstyn. I hope you find a way to stay longer!!!
H.
Kyrstyn, what a beautiful posting!! You described our conversation perfectly and eloquently. Thank you for putting into words our wonderful day together.
Soooooooooo, I wonder when we will see our long lost first child again.???? I guess I'll have to retire and buy that blue water sailboat and sail to Crete.
No worries, Dad. Financial reality and the fact that I miss the heck out of you guys dictates that I will indeed be returning to the DC area at the end of May.
That is not to say, however, that I won't be actively planning a strategy to return here to Crete for another extended stay someday!
I'm catching up with a lot of my blog reading, but wanted to say how much I am enjoying reading all your posts from the past few months! This one is particularly poignant, probably because I'm constantly wondering if there were somewhere else I could be other than DC (though i am a self-righteous non-smoker from time to time!) I recall having similar feelings in the past on vacation, and they are exhilirating. Like in Costa Rica when I all of a sudden became very worried because I felt so weird...until I realized that what I was feeling was relaxation!
Christine, it's going to be interesting to see what DC feels like to me once I'm back. I'm afraid I may have morphed into a country girl during my time here! It's interesting that you say you wonder if there's someplace other than DC that you could be, because I felt the same way before coming here. We get so "used" to a place that we've lived for so long, it's hard to imagine anywhere else feeling like "home". Funny too about realizing that the strange feeling was relaxation. I think I'm finally getting it down to an art, just as I'm about to leave:-)
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