Carnival Parades in Crete - Apokries

Crete Carnival Parades in 2011

Carnival Parades are held all over Crete and Greece, with the majority taking
place on the last Sunday of Apokries

In Crete many towns and villages hold carnivals; the largest of which takes
place in Rethymnon

Crete Carnival Parade dates for 2011 are:

Heraklion 'Kastrinos' Carnival - Saturday 26th February 2011 @14.00 hrs
Souda Carnival - Sunday 27th February 2011 @14.00hrs
Paleochora Carnival - Saturday 5th MArch @ 18.30hrs
Kalyves Carnival - Sunday 6th March 2011 @14.30hrs
Kastelli Kissamos Carnival - Sunday 6th March 2011 @15.00hrs
Rethymnon Carnival - Sunday 6th March 2011 @14.00hrs

Sfakia Storms

Storms and gale force winds in Sfakia (Hora Sfakion), south west Crete, at the weekend caused unprecedented damage to infrastructure.

The waste-water treatment plant has been inoperative since the last section of the concrete pipe was literally 'swallowed' by the waves, while losses occurred in the harbour with several 'storm blocks' having been moved by the powerful storm. Due to the enormous efforts made by sailors and fishermen, the ship 'Daskalogiannis', which was anchored in the harbour, was not severely damaged.
Haniotika Nea

The following video shows a slideshow of photographs taken mid - storm from
www.youtube.com/user/chelonitsaki

New Car Scrappage Scheme - 'Cash for Clunkers'

A new government scheme offering car owners tax benefits as an incentive to scrap their old car and upgrade to a new vehicle starts from today, February 21st 2011 and runs until December 20th 2011.

ekathimerini.com

The 'cash for clunkers' scheme - απόσυρση (aposirsi) in Greek - means that car owners whose vehicles are 12 years old or more can take advantage of the scheme and benefit from between 300 to 2800 euros, depending on criteria such as the age and class (cc) of the vehicle.

For full details of the scheme, and a very detailed how-to guide,
in English, see Living in Greece

Note that in Crete there are just three approved Vehicle Recycling Centres for the scheme, one in Chania and two in Heraklion:

Chania
Vehicle Scrappage Centre
Gaitani, Kontopoula, Dimos Keramia, Chania
Tel 28210 65150

Heraklion
Katheris - ΚΑΘΕΡΗΣ ΑΒΕΕ
ΒΙ.ΠΕ. ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΟΥ, Ο.Τ. 13, ΟΔΟΣ Δ, Alikarnassos, Heraklion
Tel 2810 382021

Kokalis Scrap -ΚΟΚΑΛΗΣ ΣΚΡΑΠ ΕΠΕ
ΒΙ.ΠΕ. ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΟΥ Ο.Τ.3, ΟΔΟΣ Λ & Ο, Alikarnassos, Heraklion
Tel 2810 383015

Spring is in the Air

View from my office today:

North Facing - Souda Bay

South Facing - the Lefka Ori

Last week I ended up on this beautiful deserted beach:

Unfortunately, the serene and deserted scene above is deceiving - an oil refinery lies just to the left, with tankers anchored at sea!(Agios Onoufrios):

Click on any of the pictures to see in full size

Heraklion Museum won't re-open until 2012

Heraklion Archaeological Museum will not be ready in 2011

Things are apparently moving along at the Heraklion Archaeological Museum, but the museum is still not expected to open until at least the spring of 2012.

The Central Archaeological Council has approved the landscaping work, while the latest developments, according to a communication to Heraklion Mayor, Yiannis Kourakis, from the Culture Minister Lina Mendoni, is that the Museum study has finally been approved and contracted. It is expected to be completed inside 4 months, when the auctioning of the work concerning the "placement of the museum exhibits" will go ahead. The 8 million Euro cost has already been approved for this

Further parallel work of the landscaping of the environs, at a cost of 2 million euros, has passed the final study and is in the pipeline.

In November 2006 Heraklion Archaeological Museum, one of the largest museums in Greece and housing a singularly important Minoan collection from the nearby site of Knossos, closed it’s doors to visitors in order to undergo renovations. It was the first time since World War II that the Heraklion Archaeological Museum had closed its doors to the public.

At the time, the Culture Ministry foresaw the museum would be closed for two years. The aim was to expand and modernise this top, cultural museum quickly and inexpensively.

The following summer, in July 2007, a temporary exhibition was established at a nearby building housing some of the museum’s main exhibits while the renovation work was being undertaken.

The two year completion date that was promised by the minister at the time has proved to be extremely optimistic. Delays inevitably followed and the scheduled 2009 re-opening never happened. Neither did 2010 bring progress, and we’ve now learnt that the hopes of many tourist visitors will be dashed once again in 2011, with the earliest expected opening date for the musuem now being the spring of 2012 - five and half years since the museum’s closure!

Note that the temporary exhibition, next door to the museum, remains open and shows some of the main exhibits.

Nea TV

At last... a boat for Gavdos!

A solution to the problem of the coastal connection with Gavdos seems to have been found as ANENDYK Ferries announce work is in progress to adapt the ship "Samaria I" as per the latest European Safety Directive.

The "Samaria I", which can carry 320 passengers, 45 cars and 8 x 15 tonne trucks, is undergoing refitting and ANENDYK Ferries announced that the vessel will be deployed by June 15, 2011 but they don't exclude the possibility that the ship may be ready by May 1st, 2011.

According to the company announcement, the ship will run on the following routes and exact timetables will be confirmed in the next few weeks:

Sfakia - Gavdos: 4 to 5 times a week, departing at 9.30 am. The ship will stay up to five hours in Gavdos and return at 6.30 pm.

Paleochora - Gavdos: 2 times a week, departing at 8.30 am, the ship will stay up to three hours in Gavdos and return at 7 pm.

ANENDYK President, John Braoudakis, stated "after the discussions and the actions we have taken and consultations with the ministry, we are satisfied that the issue is solved and we've decided to publicize what we intend to put into practice. The date we gave, June 15, concerns the situation should we have problems with bureaucracy. But we are hoping to launch the route sooner."

Gavdos Island was left without a major ferry connection last summer as the "Samaria I", which was adapted to the EU safety directive in 2006, was pulled from the Gavdos route in July 2010 when it's safety certificate was up for renewal. The most recent European Directive 9818 requires that the ship be further adapted to meet this directive.
Translated from www.enet.gr

Crete Culinary Tourism

Crete is the number one culinary destination in Greece according to the Cretan Gastronomy Network and Network of Chania – Rethymnon Winemakers, who organised a promotional event for professionals in Chania this week.

Culinary tourism is developing considerable momentum internationally and can become one of the main reasons for traffic and tourism in the prefecture of Chania with the help of the correct and widespread promotion of local products.

President of the Network of Chania-Rethymnon Winemakers, Mr. Anthony Dourakis said "Our goal as professionals is to focus on how we can move Crete forward together. Crete is deemed first for culinary tourism in Greece. This is very important and needs help from everyone, not just restaurants and hotels, but also the producers.”

Mr. Dourakis noted that local bottled and barrelled wine has not been well promoted but "In recent years there is greater demand and the consumer is starting to turn back to local products, whether they be wine or other traditional products."

A member of the Network Cretan Culinary and MAICH chef Mr. John Apostolakis said "Restaurants do not pay adequate attention to local products. Visitors who come to Chania want to try local food and local wine. They don’t travel in order to drink the same wine as they can drink in France or any another country. For that reason we should promote local products, and in doing so assist the local economy."

Mr. Apostolakis stressed the need to give the appropriate weight to local products and promote them to local caterers as well as working to present new dishes along with the old.

The event entitled 'Wine and Dining' was aimed at restaurant professionals and was supported by INKA and the Chamber of Commerce and Chania.
Translated from Haniotika Nea

Related Links:

The Cretan Diet and recipes

Dourakis winery