A most un-orthodox Easter… part two

April 3, 2018.Reading time 30 minutes.

I’m really in need of a ‘Fix’ after making it back in one piece, after that awesome trek along the side of the mountain, and the terrace at Pauvlo’s Taverna is the perfect spot to have it ….. icey cold and goes down a treat….. not even touching the sides…… just as well that not […]

A most un-orthodox Easter… part one.

April 3, 2018.Reading time 23 minutes.

Ever heard of Loutro? no, I didn’t think so. It’s a very small, some would say tiny, laid back village on the south coast of Crete. The only way to get here is by boat, unless you are very adventurous….. or very stupid….when you will arrive here on foot…..by walking about 7 kilometres from the […]

AUSSIE BLOGGER ARRESTED IN CRETE

April 2, 2018.Reading time 9 minutes.

Breaking News. Aussie Blogger Arrested in Crete. By Xania Xpress reporter, Vasilis Katsikisaki Well known and widely followed Australian Blogger, TomTwice, was arrested and detained two days ago whilst at Chania Airport in Crete and charged with one count of trying to enter the country illegally and four counts of smuggling prohibited articles. According […]

Oh, The Grand Old Duke Of York….

September 11, 2016.Reading time 23 minutes.

Oh, the grand old Duke of York, He had ten thousand men, He marched them up to the top of the hill, And he marched them down again. And when they were up, they were up, And when they were down they were down, And when they were only half way up, They were neither […]

Would you like Raki with that?

April 15, 2016.Reading time 23 minutes.

Well it’s now been over two weeks since Yineka-Mou and I arrived in Crete, and I haven’t written a word since…. just too busy! Doing what I hear you ask, and to tell you the truth I’m not really sure. A couple of days a week I go to language school, and YM has joined […]

TomTom Takes Off

March 20, 2016.Reading time 14 minutes.

Yes, it’s true, Tom Tom Takes Off ….. and apologies to those readers who may have misread it as TomTom takes it off…sorry! It’s that time of year again which I consider to be the ideal time to take off to Greece. If you are a regular reader of this blog, then you’ll remember that […]

Freedom or Death?

March 26, 2015.Reading time 20 minutes.

“Freedom or death” were the words uttered by the Bishop of Patras on March 25, 1821, as he raised the flag of revolution over the Monastery of Agia Lavra in the Peloponnese, and these words became the motto of the War of Greek Independance against the almost 400 year rule by the Ottoman Turks. Today […]

Rio? No, Rethymnon

February 23, 2015.Reading time 24 minutes.

In Greece it’s called ‘Apokries’ and it’s the 3 week period before Lent, with many different customary events taking place. It culminates in a carnival of street parades on the Sunday before ‘Clean Monday’, the start of Lent. We have heard that the best Carnival in Crete will be in the old Venetian port town […]

Market day on Minoos

February 22, 2015.Reading time 11 minutes.

Woken up this morning, after the first night at our Xania house, by the church bells ringing….. What the….! it’s only 7am and as dark as the inside of a black cow in our bedroom. I then realise that YM had closed all the shutters on the windows and doors the night before, and so […]

What’s in a Name?

February 20, 2015.Reading time 11 minutes.

Is it Chania, Hania or Xania? Lets start with the Italians, or to be more precise, the Venetians….but before they got here in 1252 , the place was ruled by the Minoans, (this was in 3000 BC!!!!) then much later by the Arabs, then the Byzantines…..then the Welsh …… Anyway, right up until 1645 or […]

The Athens Way? No, thank gawd!

February 20, 2015.Reading time 12 minutes.

I took a bit of of a punt on my choice of hotel to stay at during our two night stopover in Athens. I’d never stayed there before, nor even heard of it…… It’s location on the edge of edgy Exharcia could have been a problem, and it’s name ‘Athens Way’, well, I’d hope that […]