South Crete Estate Agency

CRETE4ME OFFICE

AGIA GALINI VILLAGE
SOUTH RETHYMNON

Tel: +30 28320 91140

Mob: +306976702364

Skype: crete4me

JANUARY IN CRETE

Nothing beats the sight of a fresh dusting of snow on the high mountains bathed in sunshine with the bluest of blue skies as the backdrop. This was our welcome into the New Year.

There are many celebrations this month, the most important being Epiphany on the 6^th which celebrates the baptism of Christ and also the blessing of the sea. This is a joyous occasion and gives one another occasion to dress up in those special outfits bought for the festive season. This is generally a day when everyone puts on their best outfit and has the opportunity to exchange wishes and greetings with anyone you may not have seen over the holidays and New Year. As many Greeks earn a living from the sea, the fishermen, the Navy and owners of boats will all be present as well as a gathering of the locals who wish that all who sail upon the sea are protected. As many locals use the excellent ferry service to travel to the mainland or other islands they like to make sure they too will be protected. Rethymnon in the north and Agia Galini in the south are well known for their celebrations on this day. Of course anyone can join in the celebrations which take place after the Church service. The priests, in their most glorious robes, walk from the church down to the harbour and are followed by the congregation, to be welcomed by large crowds who have travelled from surrounding villages to be part of the celebrations. The blessing of the sea takes place and several hardy young men dive in for the cross which the priest tosses in and there is great applause for the lucky man who reaches the cross first. At this moment all the boats in the water, start tooting their horns and firing off any safety flares which may have expired but kept for the occasion. Generally we are fortunate with good weather on this day and there is a festival atmosphere at the gathering if there is one near you do go and join in the fun. The calls of Xronia Polla and Kali Xronia (Many Years and Good Years) are heard many times.

The following day is St John’s name day and a large number of the population are named Yiannis and will be celebrating so there will be more parties and celebrating to do. The other well know Saints Days which are celebrated this month are St Anthony (Andonis) on the 17^th and St Gregory (Grigorios) on the 25^th but of course there are many more. Thanks to the internet one can now look up Greek Saints Days at namedays.gr which shows that there are 74 names days for this month alone! I still rely on my small block calendar which can be purchased at any bookshop for 1.50€ . This little calendar is quite marvellous, it gives you the time of the sunrise and sunset, phases of the moon, Saints Days and the date, on the reverse side there is a joke or a recipe now that is value for money, and may be the best bargain for 2012!

My plant of the month is a variety of Clematis which grows wild here. Clematis Cirrhosa does a wonderful job of climbing over wild pear or almond trees and fills them with blossoms at this time of the year. Considering the specimens I see are growing wild without any tender care or regular water supply they could definitely be incorporated into the gardens which are left to tend for themselves.

We will be actively hunting for new and interesting properties during the next month and hope to have many new properties to add, so please keep visiting the website or email us with any specific properties which you are wanting to find and we will try and help.

Superbly constructed stone house in Kamilari

Fabulous large villa in a sub-tropical setting

*Reduced price* Fully restored stone house Plakias

Our associate Ivan van Driessche of
Kreta Plan undertakes eco friendly construction of quality homes and you can visit his website at KretaPlan.com.