After each big wave the passengers on the boat were shouting: "Well done captain, may the Seven Children bless you". The captain was a young man, smiling awkwardly, holding strongly the boat's wheel. This strong shake didn't last more than ten minutes, the calmness returned while the boat got into the arc of the volcano’s caldera.
It is an old festival of 15th of August, close to Tripolis, lasting a week. Its origins can be found in the times of the Frankish rule, many centuries ago, and it is dedicated to the Assumption of Mary. It is a vast bazaar in which one can literally find anything; from clothes and pots to jewelry and toys. It is also an endless grill shop (and crematorium) of female pork, called “gournopoula”, as well as a sweetshop. The noisy funfair also, a place of gathering for young children, is of a particular interest and fun. In the older years, the festival would be chaotic and exotic, full of dust and noise, with a Round of Death, voluptuous singers, drums and clarinets; nowadays one could say it is rather modernized and has lost most its special charm.
Into the vast olive grove of Amari in Rethymnon and near the small village Saint Paraskevi, there is a two-aisled stone chapel dedicated to the Transfiguration and to Saint Raphael. Twice a year, on the 6th of August and on the third day of Easter, worshipers from the nearby villages visit it in order to enliven it. It took them seven years to build it by themselves, offering their work and many building materials. It is being kept very clean and they take care of it more than they do with their own homes.
In Crete’s "economy of the mountains", sheep shearing and wool production for weaving has played an important role ever since the Minoan era. This can easily be seen on signs at the palace of Knossos. Breeders used to wait till summer to shear their sheep and obtain the precious wool, which was used to make the family’s clothes, coverlets and their daughters trousseau’s.
Every year, the Greek Community of Trieste celebrates the Epiphany in great splendor. In the morning, the Greeks gather at the church of Saint Nicholas, which is on the coastal avenue, in order to watch the liturgy. Then they walk together to the port's pier, where they throw the cross in the sea and bless the waters.
When you knock on someone's door in Crete a smiling face comes into sight saying: "Welcome, have some raki". Offering raki is like an invitation to a more intimate approach and communication among people. Especially people who take part to the production “ritual” of the drink reach high levels of comradeship.
A century ago, Kallikrates, a mountainous village in the Sfakia province, used to have 500 residents; today only seven people live there - the members of the breeder Manolis Manouselis's family. The only child of the village is his little son who goes to school in the nearby village called Myriokefalos.
At the end of August, the aubergine feast takes place at Leonidio, where more than a ton of aubergines are prepared in countless variations. The night of the feast the best food receives prizes by the judges and afterwards there are festivities. Eating and drinking until dawn is a just part of the traditional feast.
Thousands of native and foreign visitors pass in front of the long tables, where there are hundreds of pans and pots, and try a great variety of aubergine recipes. The elegant and imaginative women of Leonidio, with their intense personalities, are the stars of the day.
On the day of the Holy Spirit a morning feast takes place in Alimpista, a mountainous village of Aetoloakarnania, inhabited by only two families. Even though the road from the nearest town Thermo to Alimpista is not in good condition, the space in front of the Trinity church is full of cars. After the church service hundreds of people queue in front of the meat vendor for grilled lamb. Many visitors bring pies, cheese and other foods from their homes.
