Azogires - The Alpha Kafenion

MUSIC EVENTS IN AZOGIRES

2011-09-21T07:58:00.000-07:00

It was mid summer when my good friends Meena and Jean Marc came to Azogires for their summer vacation, along with two very famous musicians, or should I say music Gods, Carl Wyatt and Archie Lee Hooker. As they were relaxing on my veranda they turned around and said "Lets fill this place with life". So, whilst we got busy putting out posters for a Blues Night in Azogires, Carl headed out in search of a bass player and drummer, returning only hours before the gig with two very good musicians, Theo and Roberto, from the Greek rock group "Arrapao". With the right training from Carl Wyatt in just a few hours they became blues experts. As soon as people heard who it was all about they came storming to the village. Before long the road was blocked as people took to the street dancing. It went on all night long as no one could stop grooving in the blues rythim, especially when Archie sang his uncles song "Boom, boom, boom, boom". Everyones heart was pounding, the band was exausted and they wanted to stop playing but everyone kept shouting "More, more". People adored it, they were leaving little thank you notes on the tables saying it was the best night they ever had . The band did the show voluntarily, taking no money at all for their time and effort but simply enjoying to give life to the village once more in the best way anyone can imagine possible. For this I send from all the Azogirians a HUGE and heartfelt thanks. * we only say one thing guys we woship you, *

A few weeks later Johny Human, also a musician and a resident of Azogires, came down to the cafe with his acordeon and played for us all. The place filled once again only this time the street was not closed by dancers but by a future tai chi master who was here with Master Lydias Tai Chi group. He took his sword and, under the influence of Johny's music, he went out into the road and gave us a lesson or two in tai chi.

And it didn't stop there. Over the following days others came to just play too in Azogires, like my good english friend and artist John. He has restored a 100 year old violin and he plyed for us in the same spot where Carl Wyatt and Archie Lee Hooker had played only a few weeks before just so that we could feel the spiritual rythim of music once more. I can only hope that we will have more of these wonderfull evenings with Carl, Archie, Roberto, Theo and Johny whom we all love

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbSm1UZqb8w&feature=related

The Band

Tai Chi with Azogires style

Johnny and his "manager"

You know it's true Blues when even the crickets approve

And the good times just keep on coming

FAREWELL TO 3 GOOD FRIENDS

2011-08-06T05:19:00.000-07:00

I have lost three good friends this year and it breaks my heart.

I have finally found the courage to say something because it is my duty to remember those who cared for me as one of their own. In the beginning of the year I lost my dear friend Sam Reed. Author of the book FRACTURED DREAMS AND SUNFLOWERS, he was a man who made me laugh every single minute. He was next to me with his wonderful stories and his amazingly clever jokes; he will remain in my heart for life.

Early in the summer Lynne Tait, co author of TEN WALKS AROUND PALECHORA, and another books of walks in our wild Cretan mountains, passed away. She had walked every gorge, every hill and every valley of our area. She was the brightest star of tourist information on Crete, while at the same time she kept her self away hidden in the Cretan mountains where she and her husband had built a beautiful house, practically on their own.

Finally, less then a month ago Madame Anna Fistarol, a lady with class and honour, who always made me feel happy and relaxed, passed away.

I am sure that all three are sitting above the clouds and keeping an eye on the rest of us

BLUES NIGHT IN AZOGIRES

2011-06-29T02:33:00.000-07:00

The famous Carl Wyatt and Archie Lee Hooker will be playing tomorow night in Azogires ,you are all welcomed to enjoy them .And live the real spirit of the Blues .

The following takes place on Thursday 30 of June at 9 pm

A WEDDING IN AZOGIRES

2011-05-21T05:21:00.000-07:00

With joy I would like to inform you of a wedding, that took place in Azogires.The Village of Koukoutsakis worldwide ,Kaliopi Koukoutsakis came all the way, from Athens to join with the love of her life Nikos Stagakis.Her proud parents Vangelis and Athina Koukoutsakis arrived two whole weeks earlier with a huge crew ,to help them make it all possible. We were all thrilled to hear that she will move permanately back to Crete. The wedding ceremony was unlike any other I have ever seen ,only from Athens arrived about 200 people besides the loacals who stormed the Azogires countryside drunk with joy and happiness, the party started on Friday night and finished on Sunday.The actual wedding took place, on Saturday afternoon at the Monastery of the 99 Holy Fathers ,it was such a posh wedding that even the waiters and chefs arrived from Athens ,we were served by the same people ,who used to work at the famous Ecali club

.It was amazingly modern and prototype for Cretan standards ,but at the same time, so very tradittionally Creten.There was a band of Creten Musicians who led the bride all the way to the Church ,followed by the best man's company ,it was the greatest time of my life, I wish them a healthy and wealthy life ,full with joy and happiness !.

EASTER IN AZOGIRES

2011-05-15T03:47:00.000-07:00

It was one of the most spectacular events of this year .Even though Greece is undergoing a crisis , at the moment, Azogires Easter was not effected.

The night sky was lighted with firecrackers ,as if it was daytime.Visitors came from all over Greece ,to see this event. After people took the Holy Light to their houses ,they came down to the cafe to enjoy the tradittional Greek Easter specialities.Like mageiritsa and cheese kalitsounia ,I must admit we got drunk,but !!! not from the wine it was the Azogires effect of joy.

THE LATEST NEWS

2011-03-03T12:34:00.000-08:00

The past few months have been a bit hard in Azogires I will start by telling you that the river became so high this winter that it made the main road in to a second river right thru the middle of the town .Not to mention that olive trees and 200 year old stone walls came tumbling down like paper ,but Azogires is still intact and in one peace .Weve had hale 3 times this year , one of those times the hale reached egg size and literaly thrased everything .But again no serious damages done,like in Kountoura where they had 3 million euros worth of damage on the greenhouses. Azogires got away with it ,with just a few fallen leaves .Which the other 2 situations were not the same , the first took place on 7th October around 2 in the afternoon causing serious damages to the Azogires olive crop and the second just about a week and a half ago, late evening after a day of clear blue sky the street was just filled with hale,and here is the odd part of this story both times there was a Gentlemen visiting our village .To speak more clear he came to visit us twice in two diferent years and both of the times he visited we had serious hale storms, so I've added a photo of this rather charming and smiling Gentlemen, that he may be recognized wherever he goes.Locals have started to refer to him as Mr.catastrophy .I on the other hand sugested that he go and sell his services to rich Arabic countries with vast deserts ,cause he is guarenteed to bring hale storms, wherever he goes ,therefore he can bring life to dried out areas .Ps all of the above is not a joke it happend in Azogires.

CHRISTMAS IN AZOGIRES

2011-01-16T06:04:00.000-08:00

It was only a matter of time for Christmas to arrive even for the residents of Azogires.It was a great evening where everyone truly felt like Family ,there was meat ,wine , sweets,even ice cream on the table .All the jolly housewifes made glorious meals

and sweets ,it went on till late and then we all stumbled our way home.And the very next day Christmas Sunday we had another International Backgammon tournament . Guess ? who was the winner ,yes you got it right ,Jessica Hale.After kicking everyones ass she decided to take a bite of the Gingerbread house made by Anna Maria Schaab. My complaint is she ate all the Jelly babies of the house ,and I was left with nothing

THE LATEST IN AZOGIRES

2010-12-18T05:38:00.000-08:00

Forgive me for not updating the blog in a long long time but Ive been up to 1000 chores .Ill start from October when we had the grape picking in Azogires .Mr.Gerard a very respected business man from Holland ,came all the way to Azogires to do the grape picking and the grape stumpping .He had help from the recently arrived lady from Uk Anne .They stumped treaded and barreled the grapes all ready for raki,it was a spectacular experience we call grape therapy.Then came time to make the Raki??yes I know time to drink it too as we did indeed. Karolina and Craig came all the way from Malia to participate in raki therapy which is quite effective, we had souvlakis potatoes chestnuts and ofcourse raki people sat around the fire romanticaly watching the flames and getting drunk .Others fell off the plateau others fell in ditches others just went on drinking until morning,but nobody got seriously hurt.And we all enjoyed our traditional Cretan evening of mass raki consuption .The most important part of the evening was when we had a suprise entry from my uncle Yiannis Paterakis as he told us stories of the past , as he has taken part in many raki evenings, it was an amazing experience.It took me a week to sober up and start laying the olive nets.We had volunteers all the way from Denmark Mr. Mikkel and his Wife helped us lay out and clear the fields .It was all to much for me and I was sleeping on the job so they didnt pay me ,since then its been olive picking every several weeks .One of my most favorite working therapys.Then came the Snow ,after having warm and sunny days.It arrived like a shock snow everywhere about a centemeter thick .I was so pleased to see winter and I enjoyed every minute of it.This is where I must leave you and wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all of us in Azogires, with love.

THE HERMITS FESTIVAL IN AZOGIRES

2010-10-15T09:12:00.000-07:00

This year's festival of St. John the Hermit was more than spectacular ,we had wonderfull weather and great people .All the way from Malia we had Karolina and Martina two beautifull girls who made the sky brighter and with their beautifull smiles made a joyful atmosphere there were about 100 visitors who came in honor of the Miracoulous Saint others praying for health purposes and others for personal and economical reasons ,no matter what they prayed for they all said that they are more then satisfied of the outcome ,and that they will return next year to honor the Hermit .Who has helped them at least once in their lives,many of the worhipers brought with them Artos, Holy Bread as an offering and they give it away peace by peace As for the Koukoutsakis Family they made a barbeque ,Antonis Koukoutsakis and his wife Harriet !Yes my parents cooked juicy and tender steaks for everyone. Pavlos and Yiannis Koukoutsakis gave out sweets, cheese pies and other delicacies. And all the way from Temenia Mr .Giorgos Lazopoulakis brought some of his very own strong red wine ,just like Manolis Giakoumakis did ,he drank and told us of the old and good days when he also was a resident of Azogires as a child. How crazy and proud the Azogirians were ,and how hospitable and warm hearted .Stories that make our hearts break .Hope to see you to next year on this unique and truly traditional festival on 8th October I added some photos of the cave that was Saint Johns home ,cause I fell in love with the hanging birds nest on the caves ceiling you can still see the stone built bed that he slept on. Its a very spiritual place to be ,the energy is amazing.

THIS YEARS FESTIVAL OF THE 99 HOLY FATHERS IN AZOGIRES

2010-10-15T07:40:00.000-07:00

Yet another miracle took place in this years festival of the 99 Holy fathers and the villagers say its not the first time .Normally every year around the days of the festival it rains there for causing the worshipers to get into their cars and drive away but this year the 99 had different plans .It rained after the festival was over and the people were on their way home , with not even one drop of rain on their heads,then it started hale ,rain ,and wind flodding nearly every house in the village .The hale chopped every leaf on every tree and dropped more then 40% of the crop of olives on the ground ,the grapes were as if they were inside a blender and much more catastrophys took place So we can truly say this was a miracle cause if it would have rained when the festival was taking place there would have been chaos .

PROFESSIONAL PHOTO SHOOT IN AZOGIRES

2010-10-01T12:35:00.000-07:00

It was a sunny summer day when we had a visit from two top models ,all the way from Germany Ines and Ingred spent their holidays, in our paradise village and did not mind to

make a photo shoot for the local photographers Martyn Eliot and Martin Webster .And it was an honour for our cafe to be the photo site ,we thank them very much and hope to see them once more for more photography to take place.Special thanks to Martin for lending us his motorbikes for the photo shoot .

THE LAST TAICHIGANS

2010-09-02T07:18:00.000-07:00

It was the second week of August when they ,the last of the Taichigans left our village and our heart broke ,to pieces such nice people ,such loving and caring group ,that they became a part of us, we all cryed as Giorgos the new taxi driver took them all away ,one by one ,in his first class jungle style taxi cab .This is one of the finest Taichi groups in this country led by master Lydia and master Yiannis we will miss you and hope to see you next year again.For more information on Taichi you can visit taichiathens.gr .

HALE STORM IN THIS YEARS BACKGAMMON CHAMPIONSHIP

2010-08-25T04:09:00.000-07:00

This was one of the strangest backgammon championships of Azogires history as father and daughter got first and second prizes.

It was a great success with 13 players from 9 diferent countries and over 30 spectators throughout the day. The competition was followed by a meal of lamb and potatoes in the oven served with salad and tzatziki and it was sponsored by David Hale and Martin Strellow both known professional players.

First prize winner was David Hale, second prize winner was Jessica Hale...Yes his daughter from England. The third prize winner was our one and only Sarkis from Lebanon, a man who plays with passion, not only in life, but also in backgammon.

This was the summer International Tournament in memory of Andrew Millar, one of the founders of the Azogires Backgammon championship. The cup was given to the Hales and they must return it next year for the next Champion to take home. The folks from the Alpha Cafe offered bottles of their very own raki as prizes to the winners, but as they declined to take them we gave them bottles of our very own Olive oil instead.

We wish everyone a good summer and hope to see you all on the next tournament in Azogires .

A STORY LONG AGO

2010-07-14T04:08:00.000-07:00

The first photo above is my uncle Yannis Koutkoutsakis, the next is my grandfather Eftihis Koukoutsaki with me when I was 6 years old. The last one is my uncle Pavlos Koutkoutsakis.

It took me a while but I finally got the interview from my uncle Yiannnis Koukoutsakis, second cousin of my father, and he gave me an interview about something that took place somewhere between the Greek/ Italian war and World War II (1940 /1941). I have heard the story before from my grandfather but never in so much detail.
It all took place in the next village to Azogires where my family had a lot of land. There were shepherds with goats and the goats were feeding on the grass of our hillside and flat land around our family’s old flour mill (the area is still called Ton Koukoutsido o mylos which means Koukoutsaki family’s mill). It was a rather large area with much rich grass because it was along the two rivers that unite to make the one and only Azogires River, so it was not only the land along the river but the land between the rivers, like a little island. However, the shepherds that had these goats refused to pay rent for the land, therefore causing arguments between our family and theirs, so one afternoon my grandfather’s brother George, who was just a young boy at the time, went up and started to chase away the goats from our land.
At that moment the shepherds saw him and fired at him with their rifles. Naturally, when my uncle George returned home and told him the story, this outraged my grandfather. Without second thought my grandfather grabbed a weapon and a belt of bullets and ran off to the neighboring village. As he was on his way there his first cousin Pavlos Koukoutsakis, who is one of the main characters in this story, caught up with him. Pavlos who was also carrying a rifle, said to my grandfather,
“Are you mad going alone in to the snakes nest? They will kill you! I will come with you.”
When they entered the village, they went in blasting at every house, shooting at doors, windows, and anything that was not breathing; like clay a cups, flower pots etc. They demanded that the villagers tell them who shoot at George. Finally, after an hour or so, the villagers gave in and told them where they could find one of the shooters.
They went to where he was hiding, pulled him out and gave him the beating of his life, and told him that if he ever shot at a Koukoutsaki again he’d better be prepared to die. After getting the beating the shepherd regained his pride and stumbled of to the mountain. In the meantime my grandfather and uncle went out of the village and in to our land and chased away the goats. This took a short while giving the shepherds of the rival family time to recoup and get some guns together - which in Crete is not so difficult to do!
The shepherds climbed on a high position above the fields and started shooting down at my grandfather and uncle who took refuge behind some rocks and fired back. However, they could not see the enemy so my uncle decided he was going to make a run for the top of the hill and shoot at the shepherds from there. My grandfather loaded up and started shooting nonstop towards the hill, therefore giving my uncle a chance to reach his goal. Unfortunately my uncle made a mistake and by the time he reached the top, his rifle was empty: the shepherds had pistols so they shot him down. He was wounded and without his weapon, stuck behind a small rock but they still would not dare go near him. In the meantime, my grandfather could not move higher because he now was alone and outnumbered by the many shepherds who held the hilltop. So, he was stuck inside a crack and kept trying to get to higher ground but had no chance until other Koukoutsaki family members started firing their guns from Azogires, scaring of the rebel shepherds.
My uncle was brought home and died some days later. As long as he was alive his dog Vamvakia stood by his bed and refused to leave his side, she stood right next to him until he left his last breath. He then was buried in our family cemetery In the neighborhood Koukoutsiana, St John the hermit.
About an hour after they buried him, the dog, Vamvakia, went up to the grave and sat next to it howling and crying; she stayed there for days. My ancestors tried to take her away both by sweetalking her and by force, she but never allowed them to come near her, threatening and growling at them. They eventually left her alone but they thought to bring food and water to her and for days they tried to feed her and to make her drink water. However, she didn’t touch one drop of water and she didn’t eat one drop of food; she just sat there crying for uncle Pavlos until the day she left her last breath on his grave.
That’s when a young boy, my uncle Yiannnis, the person I am interviewing today and who was witness to these events, went up dug a hole right below the church yard and buried Vamvakia so that she will forever be with her master.
This story still shocks me even though I’ve heard it so many times, it’s still so hard for me to understand how far a dog will go for his master - even until this day we honor both uncle and dog both for making different sacrifices for their family and teaching us something very important; so important that its deep inside our heart.
Vamvakia was female dog, white in colour, which was the reason of her name, it means ‘cotton’.
This particular vendetta lasted for about ten years and led to many deaths and the uprooting of families. Several families who were shepherds and took part that day in the shootout against my family, were driven off, sold their land and houses and never came back, therefore ending this feud. But even we made a sacrifice; we sold our land in the next village to the neighboring landowners, even including the flourmill which I will write about another time.
Today we speak only about one thing MANS BEST FRIEND: SOMETIMES NOT ONLY IN LIFE, BUT ALSO IN DEATH.

2010 ANNUAL SPRING BACKGAMMON COMPETITION IN AZOGIRES

2010-03-17T06:44:00.000-07:00

The Annual Spring Backgammon competition took place in Azogires on Sunday, 14 March.

We had new and old players, young and experienced, male and female, human and animal: all played for one reason or another. Even the locals got jealous and made their own little tournament on the side.

As for the animals, our very own Al Capone said to Petroula the Cat "Lets have a friendly game," and all was going smoothly until Capone caught Petroula cheating, and said "Enough is enough."

Then you can imagine that it was surely a cat and dog fight.

As for the real tournament, there were 16 players from 6 different Nations.

The game started around one pm and lasted over seven hours, at the end of which the winner was Anidri's very own David Hale with the second prize going to Sakis from Lebanon.

In the consolation tournament on the other hand, it was an all ladies game. First prize winner was Marjan De Jong from Holland and second prize winner was Morit Heitzler from Israel .

THE KOUKOUTSAKI FAMILY VINEYARDS BUILT IN LATE 1800S

2010-03-05T09:12:00.000-08:00

A time long ago, in the late 1800s, my family decided to expand their investments in agriculture. (Remember, when we are talking about a family in those days we don’t just mean Mama, Papa with a son or daughter, we mean Mama, Papa, seven or eight sons and two or three daughters - or the other way around - not to mention that most of the sons would have been married also and they would have had several little brats running around also.) So, to get back to the subject, they needed more grapes.

In those days, it was not like today where you simply trample the grapes make wine and raki, it was a little more complicated then that. First you had to have grape leaves. They would stuff them to make dolmades, use them by placing them flat in the bottom of a cooking pot so it would not burn, feed their animals with them and also boil them to eat as something cold on the table, served up with a bit of olive oil.

Then you had the grape vines. These came useful for burning in the fire, for cooking something old and tough such as an old hen - simply by placing a few fresh vines inside the pot with the boiling hen make her soft and tender like a 3 month old chicken - and off course, they used to burn the vine wood to make charcoal for gun powder, another homemade item in those days.

Then you had the grapes themselves. Now these had many uses starting from when they were not ripe yet and tasted rather bitter, it was then when the Cretans would cut them and squeeze them in to food as a substitute for a lemon. Later when they were ready and ripe, the locals would make what you know as raisins and hang them inside the house beams to use as winter food supply - they would do this with any sort of grape even with those seeds inside. They would also make a table sweet with the grapes which they would store in large clay amphorae to give to guests when they came to the house.

When the grapes were ripe and ready they would be stamped or treaded, call it how you like; the grape juice being used to make wine, a sweet known as moustalevre and also grape jelly or marmalade. When they had got the juice, the left over grape skins, the pomace, would be used for making raki; in those days raki was mostly used for medical purposes, not for of drinking by the litre as many Cretans tend to do now. As you can see, owning a vineyard was like owning a supermarket and that is the reason the Koukoutsakis decided they wanted a bigger and better vineyard.

They found the perfect spot: perfect for defence against humans, animals and even birds, with a hillside on the bottom, a cliff on top and only two sides to look after. It took the whole family years of hard work to complete this project but they did it. According to our elders it took over 1500 work-days, from sun up to sun down; the man digging up stones then breaking them up, carrying to the site and using them to build the patios where the vines would be planted, the women going into the forest caves, digging out fresh fertilized soft soil which they would carry in a basket on their backs for as far as a half kilometre to fill the walls up in order to complete the patios. Slowly they built stone walls around to stop the invaders. They also built watch towers based on two small caves with magnificent views. In these, two man of the family would spend their nights during harvest season fully armed, like bank security guards, although grapes had more value then money since you eat grapes to survive. The men were ready to shoot and kill anything that moved, rabbits, badgers, humans and, of course, the large flocks of birds that came for the ripe grapes - although it was easier to capture the birds using flat stones or snares, thus saving ammunition for larger intruders.

In the top photo you can see the vineyards from across the way, from the opposite mountain.

In the next 3 photos you can see two of the patios and one of the walls that still stands today, not as tall as he was when first built, but still proud and strong.

The following four are the top watch tower and the bottom watch tower with their defence positions and their front patios where a man could catch some sun, then two photos of the view, the wonderful view, in which your eyes see what my ancestors eyes were seeing for over 100 years. The last four photos are the stones walls and patios that still survive today.

Even though it has been left to grow wild and for the sheep to graze on, the Koukoutsakis vineyard shall one day grow again and produce its magical wine. I could write so much more about the varieties they had growing, the names of the people whose vision it was, the modern day owners, what became of the vineyard and how and why it stopped to exist, the way of transportation and God knows what else…… but I think I’ll just leave it to your imagination!

PALEOCHORA CARNIVAL

2010-02-14T08:38:00.000-08:00

Sorry for not updating my blog for so long, I've been extremely busy doing absolutely nothing. Here are some photos of the Paleochora Carnival which I did not attend, so the photos are courtesy of the one and only Diane Meanock . Even though there were so many people in the crowd, she successfully managed to take these wonderful photos

THE LATEST IN AZOGIRES

2009-09-29T07:00:00.000-07:00

This past Month has flown by so fast it's unbeliveable; so many things happened, so many friends visited, and I, as always, had no time to record any of these wonderful moments.

Events such as Pops' birthday party. Pops is from England, he visits us every year and this time he was 76 years of age. But he still has the heart of a youngster and friends of all nationalities came to wish him a long and prosperous life - and they all made a promise to be here next year for Pops' 77th birthday.

The other most astonishing thing that my eyes witnessed was an 82 year old gentleman by the name of JOHN TALLECK walking up the 7 Kilometers long Azogires - Paleohora road together with his lovely wife CRIS MORRISON, complete with backpacks under the hot sun. This Dude was hiking up the Hill like a twenty year old! I am telling you, even I could not keep up with him? And at my advanced age, I know that's a worry.

The Russian Church

2009-09-08T23:50:00.000-07:00

How did a Russian Church end up in Azogires?

The church was built in memory of a man who, before his death, had requested it be built in its present location. The church was designed by the man’s brother and his family arranged for his wishes to be fulfilled and the church built. The original plan was to call it Agios Eftixis but since there was already a church in the area with the same name, the local priest prevailed on the benefactors to change the name.

The priest persuaded them to adopt the current name for the church because while he had been visiting the grave of that saint in Euboia, where the body of the saint who died in 1740 is said to lie uncorrupted, he allegedly saw a “possessed” boy being cured. He says he saw the boy being brought to the tomb of the saint and while the boy was put on the grave he started floating a few centimetres above the floor and acting in a crazy manner. When the boy left the church he was fine and cured. On the strength of this the priest persuaded the family to name the church after St John the Russian.

More details of St John the Russian can be found here:

http://www.roca.org/OA/39/39g.htm

Although there was apparently no record of there previously having been a church on the site of the Russian church, during the construction three graves were unearthed, one of which was believed to have been a Byzantine grave with a plastered interior.

Latest Tavli competition -

2009-08-29T05:59:00.000-07:00

8 different nationalities were represented in this years contest held on Sunday 23 August.

The tournament, held in commemoration of Andy Millar, a former resident of Azogires, started on 1 pm finished at 8 in the evening. Competition was intense for the first prize of a trophy, to be held by the winner for a year, and additional prizes of local olive oil and raki.

After a fiercely fought contest, during which Eftihis (Lucky) Koukoutakis failed to live up to his name and, in his own words, "…got my ass kicked: twice”, the first prize went to Sakis, shown above, from Lebanon with the second and third prizes going to Ildiko from Hungary and Martin from Germany respectively.

Lucky’s donkey is recovering well; the rumoured assault on him being the result of a minor failure of English/Greek translation.

A VISIT FROM AN OLD FRIEND

2009-07-26T07:55:00.000-07:00

I had a surprise visit from a known Musician and a good Friend from the past, Mr Georg Lauterbook from Austria. Whe he visited our village 6-7 years ago he spent hours and hours picking up trash and cleaning up the Cave of the 99 Holy Fathers, without anyone asking him to and at his own cost. He is the first volunteer and Gentlemen that I ever met.

Mr Georg Thank you; Thank you for your love and respect towards my village. Every time you visit I know you are not just here for a vacation, I know you will spend some of your time picking up trash and making Azogires more beautiful. You can listen to some of Mr Georg's music on the sites below
www.myspace.com/therandomharmonies
www.myspace.com/psychotropicaustria
www.myspace.com/leukocyterio

St George's mysterious companion

2009-07-18T04:22:00.000-07:00

St George in Agios Georgios, Azogires

St George in Agos Georgios/Agios Nicholas, Anidri

The story of St George and the dragon is well known and he has two churches dedicated to him in Azogires. However, if you look at the pictures above, the upper picture, the icon of St George in of Agios Georgios/Agios Nicholas in Anidri, differs from the lower picture, the icon of St George in the church of Agios Georgios in Azogires, the church just down the hill from the Alfa Cafenion. The Azogires icon, as is the case with the vast majority of such icons, doesn’t have the young boy with the jug or glass in his hand, riding on the horse behind St George. Who then is this mysterious figure?

According to Piotr Grotowski at

http://www.icon-art.info/book_contents.php?book_id=84

there are three versions of the tale of the young boy.

Version 1)

During their invasion of Paphlagonia (on the southern coast of the Black Sea) the Agarenes (Arabs) took many people into captivity, among them a young boy who was a servant in the church of St. George in Phatris. Some of the prisoners were killed, the rest turned into slaves. The boy was of such beauty that he was chosen as a servant for the Arabian ruler. As he rejected the offer to become a Muslim, he was sent to work in the kitchen. In his misfortune the poor boy prayed to Saint George. Once at evening, when he was lying in bed, he heard a voice coming from the yard and calling his name. The boy opened the door and saw a rider who caught him and placed behind himself on the horse. Then the steed rushed forward and started to gallop. The rider brought the boy to a certain building, and then disappeared. The exhausted youth fell asleep and next morning was awakened by the people, who were dismayed because his Arabian clothes suggested the presence of enemies. The boy recognised those people as monks. As it transpired, he had been brought to Monastery of St. George. All of them went to a church to offer a thanksgiving prayer to God for saving the youth.

Version 2)

The cult of Saint George was propagated in Paphlagonia, especially in the place called “Potamos itoi i Oikiakos”, where a church of the saint was situated, to which numerous pilgrims were coming. A soldier lived there, named Leon. He and his wife Theophano revered this martyr, and when their son was born, they named him George. When the boy had grown up, his parents entrusted his education to those who maintained the shrine. When Bulgarians, Hungarians, Scythians, Medes and Turks threatened the northern borders of the empire, the emperor Phocas recruited an army. Leon, who was too old to become the commander of Byzantine forces, sent his twenty-year-old son George in his stead. Before the expedition started, they went to the church where George had been baptised, and the father invoked the protection of the saint patron for his namesake. The Byzantine army was defeated. Those soldiers who were not drowned at sea nor killed by famine were taken as prisoners. Young George, who was captured by the Bulgarians, was so handsome that their ruler made him a steward and kept the boy in his residence. Meanwhile the worried parents of the boy prayed to Saint George to liberate their child. His mother in particular was pained by the loss of her son, of whom she was reminded whenever she met boys his age. The feast of the martyred saint came and the parents of the prisoner went to the church for evening liturgy, following which they invited their relatives and friends for the traditional supper. However, sadness reigned during the supper, as everybody remembered the fate of the host's son. The same evening, the Bulgarian ruler ordered the boy to bring water for hand-washing during the supper in the palace. While the boy was going downstairs with a jug¹⁴ of hot water and a towel, the saint appeared to him on a white horse, ordered the boy to sit behind him, and immediately transported the youth to his home in a miraculous way. At first the parents of the boy fainted, when they saw the Bulgarian clothes and steaming jug while the terrified guests started to shout. Only after a few minutes, when all of them recognised Leon's son, they started to celebrate because of his miraculous return, and drank the delicious, still hot water from the jug. The prayers of thanksgiving in the church of Saint George lasted for the whole night. George offered the vessel, which he had brought from the Bulgarian court to serve as a chalice during mass. When he grew up he told his story many times.

Version 3)

In Mytilene on Lesbos there was a church dedicated to Saint George. While planning the attack against this island, the Arabian [“Agarinoi”] pirates from Crete chose the day of the feast of the saint, when all the inhabitants were together in the church to celebrate the liturgy. Amongst those taken into captivity was the young and very handsome son of a widow. The Emir of Crete made him his personal cupbearer. For a whole year the despairing mother prayed to St. George hoping to get her son back. With particular fervour she asked the saint on his feast-day, in other words on the anniversary of her son's kidnapping by the Saracens. At such a moment, the boy was giving a glass of wine to the emir. Unexpectedly St. George appeared on a white steed, caught the boy and brought him to his mother's house. All the inhabitants of Mytilene revered the saint for his miraculous rescue of the boy.

Although the third version is known only from late manuscripts, the facts described in it can be related to the situation on the islands of the Aegean Sea in the 9th or 10th centuries. Stavros Mihalarias and Robin Cormack think that Arabian rule on Crete (824 to 961) and also their attack on Lesbos (about 867) would naturally have been included in the story of the boy's capture

Also on Crete, which soon after Cyprus became a Western colony (after the Fourth Crusade Boniface of Montferrat, who has been granted Crete, sold it to Venice) the subject of St. George saving the youth from captivity appears in the middle of the 13th century. One of the oldest examples can be seen in the fresco from St. George's church in Kantano Selinas, which was painted during the 1240s. The next two examples from this island are dated from the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries. The first of them survived on the North wall of the naos in the church of the Panagia in Saitoures (near Rethymnon) ascribed to circa 1300. Among mounted military saints is depicted St. George with the boy holding a vessel. In his right hand the warrior keeps a lance with a small pennon beneath the top. This motif as an element of iconography of holy knights appears undoubtedly under the influence of western chivalric culture. A bit later is the representation from St. George's church in Komitádes near Chora Sphákion, in western Crete. The fresco was painted by Ioánnis Pagomenos in 1313/14. Though this painting is not in its original condition, it is still possible to identify the sea with swimming fish under the belly of the horse and a boy sitting behind St. George's back.

So there you are.

End of June flowers

2009-06-30T09:22:00.000-07:00

The temperature is almost a high as it is in London at the moment (Paleochora today, 30th June, max 28.5 degrees; west London max 30.2 degrees) but there's more flowers here than there are at the Met.Office station at Heathrow!

Flowers of Azogires

2009-06-21T12:26:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the bit of a delay since the last post but here we go...a selection of the local flowers currently to be seen in and around Azogires.

Help to identify them from any botanists out there would be most gratefully received!

Olive Grafting

2009-05-11T05:06:00.000-07:00

Olive grafting

This is what I have been doing recently. We do this grafting with olive trees every April/May.

We go to a wild olive tree that does not make fruit and we graft onto it a tamed one. This allows us to make use of the strength of the wild olive root stock while choosing the type of olive we want.

The tools used are shown above.

A cut is made in the bark of the wild tree and into that slot we insert a sprig of the type of olive we want to grow, as is shown in the example above, prepared and photographed in the Alfa Kafenion. Then we wrap the graft in string very tight and we seal it with black earth - mavropiles. This particular soil is like cement, it seals almost anything and we used to make rooftops from it in the old days - water can not get through which is why we use it to graft. By keeping out the air and the water the tree survives. This is called kentrisma and we do it with all trees.

The flowers of Azogires April

2009-04-28T05:14:00.000-07:00

We are going to try to give you some idea of what can be seen as the seasons change in Azogires. We can’t guarantee that this will be a regular feature, it depends on the goats!

What we show won’t necessarily be rare or unusual flowers but they will be Azogires flowers.

All the flowers above were photographed on 13 April 2009 and all were within 200 metres of the Alfa Cafenion.

Easter Epitaph

2009-04-18T00:24:00.000-07:00

This is the Epitaph of Christ. Every year on Good Friday, the Friday before Easter, we dressed the coffin of Christ with season flowers and we place an icon of Jesus inside. We all come in worship it, kiss it as if we would kiss a dead family member - some people actually do cry. The priest then comes out and sprays on everyone a perfume and a wonderful scent from a plant known as mira, just as they did 2000 years ago on Christ’s grave. After everyone has prayed, four men carry the coffin three times round the church while the bell is ringing. Then they hold it above the entrance and the people pass below it, therefore being blessed by Christ himself.

The priest then takes the icon into the altar space, which is the most sacred position in a church where he makes spiritual contact with the heavens, and prays over it.
While this is taking place the local women are chanting Easter burial hymns.

The priest makes his peace with god and then he comes out and goes to the grave and reads little papers with names of dead people given to him by those attending the service; by reading those names on Christ’s grave the angels have a clearer signal and they place the souls of those dead people in a better position in heaven.

The priest than gives a sermon to the people and asks them to take the flowers from the grave home with them. These flowers are than used as protection in the house either by being burned as incense or just placed by an icon.

Of chairs and chainsaws

2009-04-14T02:03:00.000-07:00

The taverna and the villagers of Azogires are not totally dependent on trips into Paleochora or Xania for essential supplies; essential for the purposes of this particular blog being defined as tables, chairs or chainsaws. On occasion passing travelling salesmen/women/children appear with vans (over)loaded with such items.

What happens then is a uniquely Cretan type of bargaining which looks to the innocent bystander as being little short of an outburst of riotous anarchy mixed with the immanent threat of violence, tempered with periods of maniacal farce.

The process, as recently observed, appeared to go something like this: A price for the goods required is requested and, when given, is greeted with either total disbelief or total derision.

A few minutes later, in the midst of a heated discussion which appeared to centre around whose great, great grandfather/great, great, grandmother was either a goat or a Turk, a counteroffer appeared. This, in its turn, was rejected out of hand with appropriate signs of disgust and disbelief.

The process of offer/harangue/counteroffer then continued for as long as the spectators sitting in the kafenion, could keep egging on the principals to continue providing them with such amusing, and free, diversion. Since the negotiations ( in this case for the purchase of a significant number of new chairs) were being conducted in the middle of the street, they were augmented by, what one can only hope were appropriate, remarks of encouragement from passing motorists who had to drive through the middle of a temporary furniture store.

In due course, a final figure appeared, as if by magic, and was willingly agreed to by both parties. The matter ended in the consumption of sundry bottles of Temenia fruit juices – one has to keep the children interested – and the both the sparring parties departing the field of combat feeling that they have got one over on the other.

The only disappointed people are the spectators, who, safe on the sidelines, had been awarding points for negotiating techniques and had concluded that the prize for the winner went to the traveller who actually managed not only to get the world’s largest chainsaw going, but then managed to sell it.

Coming soon, The Azogires Chainsaw Massacre.

The Secret School

2009-04-11T02:30:00.000-07:00

THE SECRET SCHOOL
There were times in Azogires when the children were forced to learn another religion and another language; this was the way the Ottoman Empire tried to force people to forget their original Greek and Byzantine roots. To prevent this the people developed the secret school - schools that for several hundreds of years were moved from basements of houses, to caves into the hills, to bushes, up in forests and in dark corridors and cracks on the hillsides, in fac all over Greece and Crete. They spread like wildfire and became the origins of many revolts for freedom and religion. The teaching always took place quietly in the dark or by candlelight, and the children were sworn to secrecy – swearing that even if tortured, they would never tell where their school was.
One of the last one in Azogires was right in front of the Turks eyes’, located in the neighbourhood of Kriariana, near the monastery. In those days all the houses in that neighbourhood were connected, that is they had doors in between them so if you were wanted or on the run, you could kick open doors and run away through someone else’s house. The secret school was located in the basement of one of these Venetian houses, a 3 flat home with only two entrances. The children would study in the dark and if ever it would be given away, there was a secret tunnel that only the house owner knew of, not even the teacher knew about it. The tunnel was beneath the floor and would be opened by removing some soil and a big flat stone. The children would crawl in to it and the house owner then closed it from outside, placing a clay pot on top of it so the Turks had no idea what was going on. They had just watched 20 or 30 children go in to this house and now they could not find them! The tunnel would come out by the river somewhere but to this day we don’t know exactly where, perhaps you can find it next time you visit Azogires?

The Great Wall of Azogires

2009-04-04T02:26:00.000-07:00

Reputed to be the only bit of Azogires that can't be seen from space, the Wall was believed to have been constructed by a gang of imported slave labourers at the behest of the mighty Cretan ruler Lu Ky as long ago as April 1st 2009. It's rumoured that several or more dead men, mostly from the clans Am Stel or Ou Zo, were buried in the foundations to bring luck to the enterprise.

The suggestion that the wall was built in honour of the ruler's favourite goat - Esmeralda - have yet to be proved, and doubt has been thrown upon the once held belief that the Great Wall of China was modeled on the Great Wall of Azogires - if only because the Chinese built theirs first.

More Aloni

2009-03-19T11:28:00.000-07:00

The Koukoutakis aloni by Alfa Hotel is not the only one in the vicinity. Up the road past the Hotel and in front of the church of Agios Theodoru is another fine specimen of an aloni.

The church itself is built the wrong way round. Instead of facing East, as is customary in all Orthodox churches, Agios Theodoru is built facing North East. If you look inside carefully, you will see the remains of some fine frescoes, possibly from the famous frescoe painter Ioanis Pagomenos. There is also a 1000 year old cemetery below the current one. Just below the chuch walls are the remains of a small pirgos, a small watch tower, where, in Venittian days, the police would sit to watch the main road which ran by here then.

Since the main road used to go by here and because it was such a wide flat area that could hold many people, according to local stories, it was a place of gathering and secret speeches in the night.

It's a place where they once shot a Turk who was dumping his rubbish below onto a house of a Christian. The Christian got pissed off, got his musket out and and blew the Turk away!

On the other side of the clearing, heading down toward the Alfa Hotel by the pathway, are the remains of Kaouris Kafe; all the Turks used to gather there and below this is the cursed house -a haunted house where the children would die in the night until my great grandmother, Aleka, broke the spell by 'purchasing' one child. Also here is the position called kathia - meaning a sit down - where the hunters would sit on a moonlight night to hunt hares.

Many people have claimed to have seen a ghost here in the evenings while they were out hunting for hares and rabbits. Some of the sightings have been put down to pranksters who were caught because they boasted about it later in the kafenion but most of the ghost sightings have never been solved - leaving the villagers wondering if Agioss Theodoru is haunted? (It's right by the village cemetery and if you can't get a ghost there where would you get one?)

That tree again...

2009-03-14T02:16:00.000-07:00

The tree belongs to my fathers and is situated below the Koukoutsaki family aloni - shown in the photo above. An aloni is the circle of ground with a pressed earth or concrete floor used in the past as an area in which to thresh corn or other crops. The land around the tree and around the aloni belongs to my father Antonis; it belonged to his father Eftihis, his father Antonis and to his father, my great-great-grandfather, Giorgos and in time the tree will be passed on to me and then to my grandchildren.

The aloni itself belongs to every Koukoutsakis in the world - they all have the right to crush crops on that aloni although they don’t have any rights to the land.

The olive tree has always had this strange shape. For many years the raki distillery used to be right next to it but then the law became harsher so they had to hide it somewhere not so exposed.

This area was also in the old days a training ground for Koukoutsaki boys because it’s one of the few large, flat areas around that was suitable for target practice and other games were played here as well.

The tree is very old, maybe 600-700 years. A tantra group that was visiting Azogires once claimed that this tree was very sacred; they claimed to have been speaking with it and that the tree had asked for water so they gave it some.

There is also a legend of an old lady once appearing under the tree on a dark evening about 120 years ago scaring the shit out of a Koukoutsaki family famelio who was guarding the crops inside the aloni. He ran away shouting that he’d seen a ghost. To this day we don’t know who she was although she was probably lost and climbed up the hill scaring our Turkish famelio. (A famelio is a man that the family takes in and giving him food, clothes and some money in exchange for work. They also took care of his health and if he died they arranged his funeral and paid for the church service. He became part of the family and although he never got a pension, he would be fed and housed by the family until he died.)

And now for something completely different....

2009-03-02T00:15:00.000-08:00

There is probably a story behind this olive tree but I don't know what it is just yet.....

St John The Hermit - My Family's Protector

2009-02-08T04:52:00.000-08:00

The church up the road from the Kafenion behind the Alfa Hotel is the
Koukoutsakis family private burial ground, I guess we love the view for there.

The church is about 700 years old and is built on the cave of St John the Hermit part of which is actually inside the church. St John the Hermit came with the 99 Holy Fathers possibly from what is now Turkey. The story goes that on the way to Crete they forgot him in Gavdos and then they prayed to him to put his coat on the sea and they brought him here by the power of prayer. When he came to Azogires, in our neighbourhood, Koukoutsiana, there was a prison. The prisoners were ill so he cured them and when they got their freedom, they built the church around the cave where he lived, you can see part of the rock of the cave in the photo above.

Originally the church had mosaics inside; beautiful frescoes depicting the 99 Holy Fathers and much more but unfortunately, during the 2nd World War, the church committee thought make the church prettier so they white washed the walls, destroying the frescoes.

My family came here over 300 years ago and they settled here after a hard life at sea. They were pirates you know, under the leadership of Kapetan Mavros - meaning Captain Black - and that’s where our first name comes from - Mavroukakis black man - kara in Turkish I think. My family were involved in the fight against the Turks and we fought for Crete’s freedom again and again and again, causing us to change our name again and again – Mavraki –Mavroukakis – Kokotsakis - Kokozakis Koukouzakis - Koukoutsakis. We spread all over Crete but Azogires and Saint John were always in our hearts and to this day, all branches of the Koukoutsakis family have one John in the family named after the saint..

To make a long story short, we are protecting Saint John with our own lives and our hearts and in return he is our family protector. He has always protected us, as we are the guardians of his deepest secrets; whenever a family member was in trouble, St John was there; in time of war, in time of peace, St John was there and he always will be there.

When I was a child I witnessed my own father falling of an orange tree when the branch broke. Suddenly the branch floated in the air allowing my father to jump of safely and as he turned around the floating branch hit the earth; this incident happened below St John’s church. Also, several years back my uncle George used the cave as a stable. He had a dream telling him to stop doing that but he didn’t and a few days later a rock fell inside killing one of his best goats. Despite that he continued to house his animals inside and then one day as my father was by the hotel, he noticed a flash inside the cave and saw my uncle running out together with his donkey. That was the last time my uncle put animals inside that cave and he never spoke about what he saw or witnessed

YET ANOTHER BACKGAMMON COMPETION IN AZOGIRES

2009-01-26T03:55:00.000-08:00

Yes a third competition for this Winter! They can't get enough of it! Backgammon is running in their veins and there is nothing they can do about it.

First prize Winner was David Hale from the UK, second prize went to Suzy from Germany - you may all know her from the Palechora Camping Restaurant - and third prize, finally an Azogirian, our very own Horst Schaab. At last, after what seems like an age, (well it would if you spent your time watching people play backgammon) Azogires has a Champion!

The night before the backgammon, Mr Arthur Jarvis, an Azogires resident, was walking down the dark road when he noticed something jumping in front of him. Not knowing what it was, he immediately he took a defensive position as he was trained to do in the Military, and it came out from the shadows...............It was a Frog.

He aproached and realized that it was not like other frogs we have, so he picked it up and brought it down to the Cafe.

Anybody any ideas as to what sort of frog it is? If you do, please let us know.

PS. The frog was returned to the bushes where it was found.

CHRISTMAS EVE IN AZOGIRES

2008-12-30T08:15:00.000-08:00

It was a wonderful early evening with 6 or 7 diferent types of Christmas puddings and 5 diferent main dishes. Why do I mention the sweets first?? Well because they were International sweets and we had Irish, German, English and even Greek goodies on that table accompanied by nice soft Christmas music and great company. Eeveryone there enjoyed themselves and all promised to return next year for this traditional party. Unfortunately some people that we would have wanted to be there were unable to make it for various reasons.

However, we wish everyone Merry Christmas And a Happy NewYear.

For this coming Year we wish you all happiness, health and prosperity.

Remember, in spite of the economic crisis that may not allow many people to make the vacation they wanted to this summer, no matter what happens keep on smiling ! ......And don't forget, Azogires means 'life for ever' - that's our logo.

Azogires Raki - Brings the dead to life again!

2008-12-28T03:11:00.000-08:00

The medicinal properties of Azogires Raki were demonstrated yet again in Carshalton, South London, on 27 December 2008.

As part of the by now world infamous "Isn't bloody xmas over yet?" Tourette by The (Insert Name Here) Mummers, The Turkish Knight, having been killed by St George in a most dastardly fashion, was brought back to life by a generous tot of Azogires Village Raki.

After three such killings and rebirths, each involving the consumption of far too much Azogires Raki, the Turkish Knight was last seen skipping down Carshalton High Street waving a plastic chicken around his head and singing a very rude song about a goat.

[The (Insert Name Here) Mummers are a group of men based in South London, who perform traditional English Mumming plays and whose avowed intent is to take mumming out of the schools and put it back in the gutter where it belongs. Their association with Azogires goes back as far as last Tuesday and they weren't invited to the Raki making party either.]

BREWING RAKI IN AZOGIRES

2008-12-14T07:39:00.000-08:00

As in every previous year for the past 100 years, the distillary again did its magic in Azogires. For one more time the traditions were honoured, for one more time the Raki was made and for one more time everybody got pissed drunk.

That's what it's all about ???

Not quite; it's about getting together, having fun, enjoying yourselves and learning more about patience. Patience because that's what's required while the Raki comes out drip by drip by drip - that's what it's all about. In the meantime we cook potatoes, chestnuts, meat and even marshmellows - as my grandfather used to say "You can't eat on an empty stomach. " Or was it the other way round? Doesn't really matter, what matters is to be there with friends and family enjoying the mystical fumes and aromas coming from the pot.

THE 2ND AND 3RD INTERNATIONAL WINTER BACKGAMMON COMPETITION IN AZOGIRES

2008-12-11T09:25:00.000-08:00

Yes, you heard right, its not just another Azogires a rumour, it's 100% true!

Just a few weeks ago in Azogires we had the Second International Winter Backgammon contest with contestants from 8 different countries all playing with great humour - and if that was not enough they had their very own Chestnut cook in Jessica Hale who made the best roasted Chestnuts I ever had.

1st prize winner was David Hale
2nd prize winner was Canadian Peter
3rd prize winner was Sakis from Lebanon

But this was not enough for our players who were hungry for more blood and demanded that we had a another competition - and so we did.

Once more they fought for their lives and tried to take each others heads off -they succeded! (Sorry, I'm in a bloodthirsty mood today!)

1st prize winner was Canadian Peter
2nd prize winner was David Hale
3rd prize winner was Sakis from Lebanon

(I know it all that sounds familiar but some people are unbeatable, although they did come close to losing to Horst Schaab and Martin Strellow! )

A SURPRISE PARTY FOR MAURA MORGAN IN AZOGIRES

2008-11-03T10:01:00.000-08:00

Mrs. Maura had the shock of her life when she walked into the Alpha Cafe in Azogires and she realized that she entered her very own surprise party organized by her family all the way from Ireland. We all had a great time and we hope she will get another surprise in Azogires next year!

The phone was ringing and ringing and ringing all night long wishing her birthday greetings; family, friends and even the Leprechaun called.

This party was definitely in Irish style, even the decorations were specially sent over from Ireland under top secrecy. The only thing missing was a bottle of Guinness.

One thing I can say, I hope my party will be as good!

THE NEW AGE OF EASY RIDERS COMING THROUGH AZOGIRES

2008-10-31T06:17:00.000-07:00

This is the new age of easy riders

COMMENTS ABOUT AZOGIRES IN POETRY

2008-10-20T07:37:00.000-07:00

We had a visit from a renowned Poet and author from the UK, Mr Jim from Oldham,
and he donated these rhymes to us.

ALPHA

In peace on a hill far away from the crowd
I found this small place and I'll tell you out loud
It's a quaint sort of place full of old fashioned style
And you'd settle and like it if you stayed for a while.
There's no traffic noise, there's no radio blast
It's almost like living way back in the past
Where people are friendly, and genuine too,
If you want to find it here's what you must do.
Go to Azogires village on the Island of Crete
Go into the Alpha and get you a seat
And there settle back you will soon be at ease
The Alpha, in Paradise,
We need places like these.

.........................................................................................

I feel as though I've been adopted
By a village in far away Crete
The village is really quite tiny
It doesn't have a main street.

It's just a collection of Houses
And some rooms for rent up a hill
But there's quite a collection of Churches
And it's generally peacefull and still.

We can eat and we can drink at the Alpha
When we gather there most every night
Some folks play a game of Backgammon
And the otherfolk put the World right.

I only came here for a few days
Everyone made me feel at home.
That is just how I feel, I'm adopted
As if I should settle not roam.

I'm trying to go back there shortly
To renew all my friendships and then
I am sure that I'll really enjoy it
Again and again and again.

Shall I tell you the name of the village?
You might capture the feelings I got,
The village is called Azogires,
A wonderful, magical, spot.

Thank you Mr. Jim, any errors are mine. Come back soon we need you and your Poetry.

THE FESTIVAL OF ST.JOHN THE HERMIT IN AZOGIRES

2008-10-19T05:48:00.000-07:00

The weather was great this year on St. John the Hermit's festival.

About 60 people showed up and most of them remained after for the traditional feast that has been taking place for the past 300 years; a feast that has been handed down from generation to generation of the
Koukoutsakis family.

Since St. John is our family protector, this year as every year, Tony cooked some of the most delicious steaks I've ever had in my life and furthermore, the wine was great.

You should come next year on the 8th of October!

And don't forget that the Hermit is one of the most powerful Saints in Crete so, if you need something in your life just call out to him and he will help you.

THIS YEARS FESTIVAL OF THE 99 HOLY FATHERS IN AZOGIRES

2008-10-19T04:33:00.000-07:00

Over 1000 people visited Azogires this year on the 3 days festival of the 99 Holy Fathers, which started on the evening of Monday 6th October and finished on Wendesday afternoon. It was a true and Mystical festival unlike any other ever seen in the past ten years.
After the Church service everyone went to the cafe for traditional evening festival.
On the photos you can see the Priests prepairing for the sacred ceremonial service

Tuesday morning the worshipers waitng for the start of the service

The bones of the 99 Holy Fathers it is said that they hold secret healing powers

Inside the Church

THE NEW BOOK EXCHANGE IN AZOGIRES

2008-10-18T10:40:00.000-07:00

At last a book exchange in Azogires!

It's the Alpha Cafe "Bring a book - Take a book" programme and it's free!

"Now the locals and tourists have something to keep them going on cold winter nights" says Mr. Arthur Jarvis resident of Azogires.

"I agree" quoted Mr. Martin Webster, also resident of our village.

Next time you're in town, why not bring and take a book of your choice?

GRAPE STAMPING SEASON IN AZOGIRES

2008-10-18T10:16:00.000-07:00

This year like every year, the residents of Azogires took part in the stamping of Grapes in order to make Raki and Wine.
A Cretan tradition for over 3000 years, as you can se on the photo the stamping is done by a Lady. The Ladies were always preferered for this kind of work because it is considered good luck.
In the Ancient days this was done by a virgin so that the Wine will take upon her innocence and become luscius and sweet. Don't forget to check back on the blog in a Months time for the Raki making.

HARRIBOBS AND MANDAKI IN AZOGIRES ONCE MORE

2008-10-18T06:15:00.000-07:00

In a suprise visit from the most famous couple on flikr, Mandaki and Harribobs visited our village once more. We hope to see them again next Summer.

A FORGOTEN TRADITION BROUGHT BACK TO LIFE

2008-09-21T07:32:00.000-07:00

It was more than 100 years ago that this tradition had its place in the Cretan family.

On Crete, as well as in mainland Greece, your Names Day is more important than your birthday, so the old Cretan ladies, instead of buying gifts like they do today, used to make

something known as the ΞΕΡΟΤΙΓΑΝΟ-XEROTIGAN. This is a cake, somewhat similar to the ones they make today for Greek weddings and baptisms, but in a larger form and they would dress it with wildflowers and other good looking things.

This year on my Name Day my Aunt Georgia from Asfendiles brought this tradition back to life just for me.

It is said that they bring good luck and happiness to your house and I guess I will find out this coming year!

You can view the treat on the above photos - don't forget you may not see another one for the rest of your life.

THE ANDY MILLAR MEMORIAL BACKGAMMON CONTEST

2008-08-26T07:28:00.001-07:00

The seventh international Azogires Backgammon contest took place on the 16 of August in loving memory of Andrew Millar. We had contestents from 8 different countries and it was very sucesfull event.

First prize winner was Pete from Canada and second prize winner was Sakis from Lebanon, both veterans of the Azogires tournament

In the Consolation round, with what I call Women power, winners included first time player Linda from England and 11 year old Jessica, who shocked everyone by nearly defeating the three times Champion Sakis.

They all receved a title and a prize and promised to re-enter the competition next year.

Note: if anyone wants to purchase a copy of the above Backgammon board, they can do so in Paleochora behind the Agricultural Bank in "Only Natural."

(Final Note; No information has been received as to where Lucky finished in the competition.)

INVASION FROM OLD RESIDENTS

2008-08-12T03:18:00.000-07:00

We had an invasion from the Lebadas - Wolfgang and AnnaMaria that is -who have been coming to our village as long as they can remember. (Not to mention that they actually lived here back in the 80s for quite a long while and survived!)

All their children have Ancient Greek names and we hope to see them again next year following their return back home to Austria.

FROM BLOGGER TO BLOGGER

2008-08-12T03:12:00.000-07:00

We had a suprise visit the other day from Mr. Ray, another blogger from Crete. He has the blogspot:

Crete, The Island In The Wine Dark Sea. (There's a link to it on the right hand side.)

He said to me "I was so amazed of the stories in your blog, I had to come and see for myself !"

I told him that I too am by amazed of his work and I hope to see more bloggers here in Azogires in the future

More Hydraulics

2008-07-29T05:47:00.000-07:00

Hydraulic Engineering

Take a walk up the hill from the Alfa Kafenion and if you turn off to the right just before the entrance of the Alfa Hotel, you’ll be more of less able to follow the route of the once extensive water works that drove the mills that supplied the flour for the whole of the Azogires area.

The theory behind the network was that water, initially collected from the river, was stored in a series of concrete cisterns above each factory. When needed, it was then extracted from the cisterns by gravity feed through channels and used to drive simple water turbines within the factory. Having been used, the water was then channelled into the next cistern in line to be stored for use further down the hill.

The remains of the network can be seen to start with a cistern at the top of the valley, just below the road but now hidden and partially destroyed, and lead on through a series of concrete water channels, ending up in a final cistern located just above the now abandoned olive oil factory by the Ever Green Plane tree.

The scheme was initially developed by the famous local priest Pater Papagregorakis towards the end of the 19th century and though now in ruins, in its day the complex of channels and cisterns provided the motive power for three flourmills, an olive oil factory and a tannery. To provide some measure of comfort for the Azogirans while waiting for the flour to be ground, and presumably some income when the mills weren’t working, a kafenion was located on the top of the building containing the third, lowest, flourmill and olive oil factory.

The first flourmill, the one at the top of the slope, along with one of the two lower flourmills, the old olive oil factory and kafenion, went out of use in the 1930’s although the tannery is believed to have continued in use for some time beyond this. The second flourmill was still in use, and still driven via the original water scheme, until the 1970’s.

Of the three mills only the second one now remains. The first flourmill has long fallen into ruins. The lower buildings, flourmill, olive oil factory and kafenion, were eventually demolished in the 1970’s to make way for a new olive oil factory that can still to be seen by the Ever Green Plane tree. Although driven by electricity, this new mill didn’t last as long as its water driven forerunners, closing in 1992. Planted next to the remains of the tannery, and having outlasted it, is fine specimen of Quercus ithaburensis subsp. macrolepis (Q. macrolepis), Valonia Oak or Velanidia; an oak that was deliberately planted here in order to harvest its large, long scaled acorn cups, from which a black dye was extracted for use in the tanning process

The best spot for something approaching an overall view of this impressive feat of engineering is standing at the Venetian style bridge. Here you can see both the channels running down towards you, the second and third cisterns behind you and just a bit downhill on the path towards the Ever Green Plane tree, the remains of the second flourmill.

Waterworks

2008-07-29T04:05:00.000-07:00

Sketch of mill works
'Leat' below road
Old Flour Mill ( Holding tanks and water channels are above the mill.)

The basic description of a Cretan water driven mill is given in “The making of the Cretan Landscape”, an excellent book written by Oliver Rackham and Jennifer Moody and published by Manchester University Press.

To see and appreciate just how they operated in real life, take the path opposite the Alpha Hotel down to the Holy Father’s Monastery. About 20 metres in from the road on the left hand side as you go down the path you can see the channel of the first leat or water channel. This took water from the hillside and would have originally directed it to a vertical chimney like shaft with a nozzle at the bottom. The pressure of the water falling from the leat was used to drive a wooden bladed turbine which turned a vertical shaft connected to a mill wheel. The water channel currently ends in mid air but in the past there was a flour mill, built by the priest Gabriel Papagregorakis, about 8 or 9 metres below. This mill was in use up to the early 1930's.

Going on down the hill, if you look from the Venetian style bridge back up towards the road, you will see a water channel on the left hand side of the bridge. This took the water from the flour mill under the bridge and into what appears to be a circular reservoir or holding tank. From this tank another leat carried the water to a point over another flour mill. If you venture very carefully inside the ruins of the factory you can still see the nozzle where the water would have come out from the wall, having fallen the 4 or 5 metres from the leat above. This mill lasted until the 1970's.

Also within the ruins is one of the old mill wheels.

Water from the holding tank above the second flour mill went to another tank and then was used to drive another flour mill, an olive oil factory and a tannery - all subsequently demolished in the late 1930's and replaced by the "new" olive oil factory.

The mill wheels along the road leading down to the Monastery are from the “new”, electrically driven, olive oil factory, built to replace the “old” water driven mills, which were then demolished; the "new" olive oil factory finally being shut in 1992. While it’s difficult to say where these particular wheels originated, mill wheels were apparently cut out of the rock on the sea shore just outside Paleochora. If you walk along the Sandy Beach towards Grameno and continue past the end of the sand, about 100 metres before you run out of land to walk on you will come to a stretch of grey stone sloping into the sea with numerous circular hollows where the stone has been extracted.

More Alfa Images

2008-07-23T07:29:00.001-07:00

All this and good food too!

The Truth is out there!

2008-07-21T01:23:00.000-07:00

Confusion reigns throughout the whole of the interwebnetty community in Azogires, Paleochora and beyond as to when exactly Mr Eftihis Koukoutsakis celebrates his 2? birthday.

According to the posting made by said gentleman on Facebook it was on 20 July. However, other people distinctly recall him telling them it was in mid August and yet more people think it’s sometime in September. The person in question seems reluctant to confirm any date and seems to have forgotten when his own birthday is, presumably a sign of his rapidly advancing old age.

THE FOURTH INTERNATIONAL BICYCLE COMPETITION IN AZOGIRES

2008-07-20T12:47:00.000-07:00

THE CHAMPIONS

The Fourth International Azogires Bicycle Competion took place last week. The competitors were very tired but happy to have arrived in Azogires. The prizes were, of course, all homemade local products such as: Olive Oil, Raki and Wine.

FIRST PRIZE winner was Nobbi Pahl who is a Veteran in our contest and won the Olive Oil.

SECOND PRIZE winner was Nick Placzek who won the Raki.

THIRD PRIZE winner was Stefan Jacobi who won the Red Wine.

They all registered for next year's contest.

We hope to see you there also, so if you want to register or organize your own contest in our Village please feel free to call in or contact us.

(Unfortunately, there appears to have been no record kept of what place Lucky finished in.)

THE VOULISMA - A LOCAL MYSTERY

2008-07-15T03:05:00.000-07:00

Many years ago there was a robbery in a merchants store in Azogires and clothing was taken along with other household items. The shop owner asked the villagers if they knew who did it. Luckily for the thieves, no one knew because the Azogirians in those days used to deliver their own brand of justice to criminals such as thieves, and sometimes their justice was rather painful.

So the store owner decided to play the last Card in his deck. He went to the Metropolitan, the most senior priest, and told him that if the items were not returned he, the merchant, would be bankrupted.

The Metropolitan replied that he would help and that the merchant should go home and seven priests would come on the following Sunday to make an Aforesmo ( An Aforesmos is a piece of paper, writen by the Metropolitan himself, and given to seven priests. They would then come to the church and ring the church bells for a long while to warn the thief to give himself up. If he didn't, they would read the paper and whatever the Metropolitan had writen on it would happen to the thief. Most of the time what is writen on is not so nice; death curses and more, things we cannot even imagine today.)

Eventually the seven priests came entered the Church of the 99 Holy Fathers. It was a peacefull afternoon my Grandfather Eftihis Koukoutsakis, who was witness to the events, said, and the whole village gathered there to see what would happen.

In the late afternoon, before they were about to start reading the Aforesmos, the clothing and the other items were spoted hanging on some trees across the mountain from the church.

Immediately the priests stopped. But it wasn't so simple; once this paper is writen there are two choices, either read it or destroy it. However, where do you destroy such an item? Clearly you cannot do it just anywhere because it contains dangerous magic.

So the the priests set out to find a remote position and eventually they did. Between Azogires and Anidri they found deserted spot and here they stopped, placed the paper on the ground, said their prayers so that the magic would not follow them and burned it.

But as the Aforesmos was burning, the ground around it sunk, creating a huge hole, known as a Voulisma meaning "ground that sinks."

Even today you can view this position: if you take the Azogires to Anidri path, as you walk along you will see the sunken land below the path.

Next time you are tempted to steal something, think again, as my Grandfather used to say; and he was trully a wise man

A 54 YEAR OLD MYSTERY SOLVED

2008-07-09T11:14:00.000-07:00

For 54 years my father, Antonis Koukoutsakis, had been claiming that he had found a ruin above the Church of St. John the Hermit and for 54 years people were telling him that it doesn't exist.Finally this winter my father told me he discovered it when he was 5 years old and together we decided to go out on a hunt for this ruin. In the end we found it, proving the entire village wrong.
But by closing one mystery we opened another when we found a bizarre shaped piece of metal. Not knowing what it is we brought it down to the Cafe and started asking the locals, only to be told that this is not a tool of any sort.

Well today, six months later, we have proved them wrong once more.

My uncle Pavlos Koukoutsakis who has lived in Athens for the past 40 years, told us that he remembered the ruin and that he kept Honey Bees in it 50 years ago. So I thought it would be wise to show him this piece of metal that we found laying around. He immediatly he recognized it he said

"That's mine, I had that tool for separating the Honey trays inside the Bee hive."

So we returned it to him since he is the rightful owner of it, and it made him twenty years old again by brigning back those old memories

ME PRESENTING THE TOOL BACK TO ITS RIGHTFULL OWNER

MY FATHER TELLING US ABOUT THE DAY HE MADE THE DISCOVERY AT THE AGE OF 5

MY UNCLE REMEMBERING THE GOOD OLD DAYS IN AZOGIRES WITH TEARS NEARLY COMING OUT OF HIS EYES

ANOTHER CARD GAME IN AZOGIRES

2008-06-23T10:25:00.000-07:00

Another peaceful Sunday in Azogires with the local tourists having a good time playing cards. This brought up old memories to the Cretan residents, so they went straight to it by organizing their own little card game. Here they are trying to get a Winner.

And of course the locals setting up their own game.

By coincidence we had a visit from an old traveler of Crete, Mr.Bernard, a man who has been traveling all around Crete on his motorbike since 1971 . He has visited even the most of dangerous places to be in the highest mountains and he has met 3 generations of Alfa Cafe owners; my grandparents, my parents and myself. He has been coming for many years and he has not missed one year of not coming to his favourite place, The Alfa Cafe.

Mr. Bernard enjoying a drink

Did I mention that he loves his cigars
And on this famous Paleochora post card from 1987, you can see Mr.Bernard on the backround and his motorbike.

Alfa Olympic Team

2008-06-20T03:59:00.000-07:00

THE A TEAM

Last minute training for the Olympics stepped up to a new level recently in Azogires with a full turn out of the Alfa Sheep Shearing Team, (The A Team for short) I did say shearing ! (The other sheep sport is not yet suitable for the Olympics)

On a hot June day, 15 wooly and slightly bemused creatures, the sheep, were led to the chiken pen (also known as "Team Central" ) Minutes later 4 more wooly and even more bemused creatures were also led to the chicken pen, this was the mighty Alfa shearing team.

It's a well known fact that sheep do not like to be sheared. For some reason they dislike the idea of being dumped on their back and having three legs tied together. To avoid this ignominity, they tend to run away when it becomes their turn for a short back and sides. Under the hot midday sun wooly and bewildered creatures were seen running up and down the length and breadth of Team Central in obviously great distress,,,,,,,,,, trying to catch sheep !

Over the next few hours various sizes and shapes of sheep had their wool cut away, dosed with medicine and had their backs painted in Alfa Cafe colours. No reason for that, but Lucky thinks they look pretty in Blue and Yellow.

The 15 original victims were soon joined by several extras from friends and family who seemed to think that while you are at it you may as well do mine. At a crisis point in the proceedings two of the four shearing clippers fell to pieces, Tony, without adequate tools, went back to the Cafenion for a lie down but Diane sent for a pair of kitchen scissors and continued to hack at a

particularly docile ewe. What team spirit.

Ther day ended with only four serious injuries. The sheep had no wounds !

Images of the Alfa Cafenion

2008-06-16T01:52:00.000-07:00

THE HISTORICAL RALLY OF CRETE IN AZOGIRES

2008-06-15T05:37:00.000-07:00

Today Sunday the 15th of June. We had the honour to have the finish line in our village for the sixth Historical Rally of Crete. Organized by the well known organization of antique cars SIPAK, which means Union of Historical and Old Cars of Crete. Everyone was so amazed that they stood up while the cars were passing by; even my dog Bill Clinton jumped on the railling so he could get a better view. We hope to see more of these kind of activities in our area and we wish the union of SIPAK to honour us again in the future .

I remember these old Citroens from the Hippie days

Certain people would have problems gettng inside one of these

nowadays! The reason? Our diet

The good old Beetle

My Father and Bill Clinton observing the antique car parade -

Just to be clear, my father's the 0ne on the left!

Remember these Buicks?

Now that's what I am talking about!

Tourists enjoying the parade.

Before my time and yours.

The good old Pontiac

Local spectators who came up to Azogires all the way from Anidri

Now that's what I call letting the sunshine in!

A car crossing the finish line.

And finally the Judges who congratulated us for our cooperation - and the lovely orange juice from Alfa Cafe!

A SUPRISE VISIT

2008-06-09T12:12:00.001-07:00

This week we had a suprise visit from the famous English author, artist and poet, Mr Sam Reed.

He is the author of the book "Fractured Dreams and Sunflowers" and he came to our cafe with his gang of friends to eat some chicken, drink some beer and enjoy the afternoon.

A PARTY FOR MR.MICK MCTIERNAN

2008-06-03T11:42:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday all the friends came together to wish Mick McTiernan a good trip back home to the UK. He will trully be missed because he always has a way to make us smile.

We all wish Mick McTiernan a safe trip home and we hope to see him again. Next summer Mr.McTiernan, you always have a second home to come to AZOGIRES.

(Mick McTiernan is the good looking one with a white beard in the photos above, NOT one of the good looking ones with a black beard!)

What's in a name?

2008-05-15T03:44:00.000-07:00

Anagyris foetida L.

Bean Trefoil, Stinkstaur

Description: A small tree, 1-4 m in height with an unpleasant smell and yellow wood. Leaves 3-7cm, with trifoliate, stalkless leaflets, elliptic to lanceolate, smooth on upper surface, covered with pliant hairs on the underside. Papilionaceous flowers, large yellow, in short racemes of a few flowers only, with a standard petal 10-15 mm which bears a black blotch, and wings up to 20mm. Calyx bell shaped, hairy, with 5 teeth. Pod (legume) 12–20mm, asymmetrical with 3–8 large, reniform (kidney shaped) seeds, violet in colour.

Habitat: Edges of roads and fields, dry, limestone slopes.

Properties, Use: Poisonous! The legumes (seed pods), which resemble those of beans have deceived a large number of children who have been poisoned! The plant was once used as an emetic and purgative. According to Cretan tradition, Judas was hanged from its branches and for that reason it is worthy of contempt.

From: “Healing, aromatic and edible plants of Crete.”

Antonis Alibertis.

Mystis Publications, Heraklion

Why is it included in this blog?

Because the Greek version of the book doesn’t give the English name, Bean Trefoil, but rather gives the gives the plant its common Cretan name:

AZOGYRES

Spells against evil

2008-05-09T03:25:00.000-07:00

Dried snakeskin and piece of bread!

Dried bat kept in the wallet of an Azogires inhabitant

Up until relatively recently there were in use in Azogires a number of different ways to make sure that no harm came to a house or an individual. It goes without saying that few, if any of these are currently in use!

Dried Bat
Take small bat and kill it. The sun dry it flattened by a heavy piece of glass or a flat stone, but make sure the head is pointing to the west. Bury it on a crossroad for 40 days and 40 nights. Keep it in your pocket to keep off evil magic and spells, illness, diseases and the evil eye…the bat is a survivor.

The Snake
Collect the cast off skin of a snake and keep it in your house in the dark; add a small piece of bread to the container or packet in which you keep the snake skin.
This protects from witches, they cannot perform magic in the presence of the snake skin and it protects against evil spells.

Bulbs.
The bulb of a asphodel will keep away evil; keep it in a house or stake it on a fence; keep in the shed where sheep are milked. Keeps evil away.

Garlic
Hang it over the doors to keep bad people away STIHIA - lost spirits that come to drain your strength and energy.

Fishing net
Take a new small gauge fishing net and put it in the sea and let 40 waves wash over it. Then sew it into your clothing or hang it over your door to protect from witchcraft, disease, illness. The net catches the evil in the same way it caches fish in the sea. Some people shake it to get rid of the evil.

Evil Eye. Gitia
Your godfather will give you a pendent of a blue stone - the eye - to keep away the evil eye. It is said that people with joined up eyebrows can cast the spell even without knowing it and can hurt you even without meaning to; even a complimentary comment from them can harm. The stone forms a protective barrier with the good eye fighting the bad eye.
The knowledge of the spells used to banish the evil eye is known to a Gitia master who can be either a man or a woman. However, this knowledge cannot be passed on to a member of the same sex.
A Gitia master who knows the spell to get rid of the evil eye will take a piece of very light silk cloth leave it on your chest for 5 mins. or so. He or she will then make a knot in it, place the length of their arm on the cloth and make another knot there, cross you with it and then speak the spell. They will then put the cloth back on the table and place their elbow on the knot. If the cloth then extends beyond the Gitia masters forefinger, you have the evil eye; the length of the extension in figures indicates how powerful the spell cast on you is.
To discover who cast the evil eye, the Gitia master will take a bowl with water in it and drop olive oil into it. The pattern made by the oil will divulge the name of the caster of the spell.

Charcoal cross.
Go into the kitchen, turn round bend over pick up your shirt and get a woman to put a cross on your back with charcoal from the pan.

Early Easter!

2008-04-27T00:59:00.001-07:00

Easter Sunday came two hours early to Azogires when the Easter midnight celebrations being held at 9.30 pm on Easter Saturday!

The reason for the early arrival was that the priest, Papa Eftixis, had to do another 10 or so services in the surrounding villages that evening and had to start early and finish late to fit them all in.

The church of the Holy Fathers was full with about 50 people as the bell was rung to start the 30 minute service. The service came to an end with the announcement “Christos Anasti” (Christ is risen), the lighting of the Easter candles and a procession three times round the church.

After the procession, and as the service was continuing, an effigy of Judas was burnt in the courtyard outside the Monastery to the accompaniment of some very loud fireworks.

At the end of the service the Lenten fast was broken in the Alpha Kafenion with a traditional meal of sweet cake, hard boiled eggs dyed red, kalitsunia and Mageiritsa – a delicious soup made from the intestines of sheep or goats!

First of the summer wine?

2008-04-27T00:51:00.000-07:00

The first of the summer’s backgammon (Tabli* in Greek) competitions took place at the Alpha Kafenion on Sunday 13 April.

In spite of disruptions from bus loads of Paleochorian school children and a passing Cretan shoe salesman who was seeking compensation for damage done to his Aunt’s crops by New Zealand troops hiding amongst them in 1941, (another story for another day) a full complement of 8 or so players spent a pleasant summer afternoon.

One of the highlights of this particular tournament was the participation of young blood in the shape of 11 year old James Webster (shown above). In spite of, or because of, his youth, he didn’t manage to make it to the final rounds but even so did perform very well, beating 2 much more experienced players before being eliminated himself.

The overall winner was David from Anidri, with Suzanne from Germany second and Canadian Pete third.

It’s not recorded where Lucky finished.

* Tabli…a fascinating game to play but one which as a spectator sport is up there with watching paint dry.

The Priest's Vinyard

2008-04-14T00:34:00.001-07:00

If you take the road over the mountain from Azogires to Asphendiles, about 3 Km after the turn outside Azogires, and shortly after you’ve gone around to the Asphendiles side of the mountain, down in the bottom of the valley on your right hand side you will see what appears to be the remains of a large building.

In fact these are the remains of a vineyard constructed by Pater Papagregorakis, the miracle working priest of Azogires.

The long wall facing you was the mountain perimeter wall and the thicker wall at right angles to it on the right hand side of the ruins marks the end of the priest’s land in the valley. The square ruins on the left hand side are the remains of the watch keeper’s building – apparently it was not unknown for people to try and steal the grapes!

The vineyard was apparently in use up to the 1950s but now is just used for goats and sheep.

Sophia's World Famous Omelette

2008-03-15T01:23:00.000-07:00

Sophia Koukoutsakis

Sophia’s World Famous Omelette.

The story goes that sometime back in the 1950’s when Sophia Koukoutsakis, the grandmother of Lucky, was in her kafenion – across the road from the present site of the Alpha Kafenion – two American tourists arrived in the village and called in looking for something to eat. They were noteworthy characters being the first tourists seen in Azogires and being much bigger and healthier than most of the villagers.

Since it appeared that the word “omelette” was the only one that the visitors and Sophia had in common, she prepared them an omelette with three or four eggs and whatever else she had to hand that day.

Her cooking obviously had the desired effect because when the visitors went, they left behind a 100 Drachma tip – three or four day’s wages for work in the fields in those days. Apparently the villagers were still talking about the size of the tip several months later!

By the 1960’s and 1970’s the fame of Azogires had spread and it had become the home of 30 or 40 hippies from all over the world. Many of these young people had little or no money and so every day Sophia would cook a huge omelette of eggs, potatoes, tomatoes, garlic, onions, mizritha cheese and herbs to feed those who couldn't otherwise afford to eat. The hippies eventually moved on but they took with them the memory of Sophia’s omelette and when they returned to visit, as many still do, they always seemed to want Sophia’s Omelette.

Today, Harriet Koukoutsakis, Sophia’s daughter in law, is the one responsible for keeping the tradition going and for preparing and cooking “Sophia’s World Famous Omelette” and if you try one you’ll soon see why it’s so famous!

Another First for Azogires!

2008-03-14T10:20:00.000-07:00

The first delivery!
Today's paper showing we are the first!!! ( The van delivers in Paleochora tomorrow!)

Not only having had the first car in the Paleochora area (circa 1950); the first television in the area (circa 1955) but today, 14 March 2008, at 16.30 hours, Azogires and the Alpha Kafeniion had first ice cream of the 2008 season delivered!!!

Paleochora eat your heart out!!

The Priest's Plants

2008-03-10T02:11:00.000-07:00

The Priest's Vine

The shoot off The Priest's Vine at the Alfa Hotel

Vai

Pirigraphi

The Priest's Vine

Tucked away amongst the bushes, in the ruins of the old village, not far from the Alpha Waterfall, is an old grapevine, the Priest's Vine.

According to tradition, this was brought back to Azogires from Jerusalem in the early 20th century by Pater Papagregorakis. The grapes are the "Rizaki" type, planted mostly for eating although they do make a good but heavy wine. This particular vine isn't currently in use but a shoot from it is now one of the two grapevines that provide fruit, shelter and shade over the communal patio at the Alpha Hotel, just up the road from the kafenion.

Pirigraphi

Close to the priest’s vine down by the waterfall there is growing a single bush known locally as ‘Pirigraphi.’ In the old days this bush was highly prized by the local women for its healing properties. Antonis Alibertis’s book “Healing Aromatic and Edible Plants of Crete” (available in Delphini Books in Paleochora) States, amongst other things, that “Leaves of bay mixed with fringed rue and pounded together are used as a plaster in cases of congestion of the male genitals.”

The plant, also said to have been brought to the village by Pater Papagregorakis, has been identified by local botanist Jenny Neal as a subspecies of Ruta chalepenis, Fringed Rue.

While this is a Cretan plant, it’s very unusual to find it growing on its own, in such a secluded spot.

Vai

The other plant associated with Pater Papagregorakis is the date palm growing down behind the old olive factory. Again it is said that he brought this back to the village from Jerusalem. There were originally three palm trees, known locally as Vai, and their leaves were used during the Vaio, the Palm Sunday celebrations.

I know you!

2008-03-10T01:14:00.000-07:00

Up until the 1980’s the old tradition of masked visiting was kept up by the women and children in Azogires. On the days immediately before the start of Lent, women would dress up, often as men, or cover themselves in white sheets in such a way as to disguise themselves completely – even from their husbands. They would then go from house to house in the village and round the kafenions in total silence other than approaching people and whispering the words,

“I know you.”

They would be given food and drink and then depart, still without having said any more than “I know you.”

The effect of encountering these disguised and almost mute creatures who claim to know you was, and is, very unnerving – as one person who saw this back in the old days said,

“You might even be drinking or playing backgammon with your own wife and never know it!”

Back then the children of the village would also go around in fancy dress immediately before lent and, like they do at Christmas, sing a song or ring a bell outside your door in the expectation of been given sweets or a few drachmas.

The traditions have almost died out in the village but down in Paleochora on the evenings before the carnival, you might still encounter a totally disguised character, possibly female, which will come up to you and whisper,

“I know you.”

The trees, the trees!

2008-03-01T01:02:00.000-08:00

The legacy of the snow continues to persist long after the snow itself has disappeared.

Those who have driven around Azogires on the back roads will be aware of the hazard presented by the stakes used to support olive nets. When these stakes are driven into banks on the side of the road and left sticking out at an angle into the road, they can make very effective devices for stripping paint from the sides of cars! Now added to the stripping stakes are the olive barricades!

The weight of the snow on 18 February had a disastrous effect on many olive trees in the area with many branches being broken off and the hills around have echoed, for the last week or so, with the merry sound of chain saws as the farmers try to bring some sort of order to the chaos.

Until it’s sorted, be careful how you drive on the back roads!

Andy Millar

2008-02-25T06:38:00.000-08:00

Kali, Andy's longtime companion.

Andy Millar, long time resident of Azogires who died in August 2007, was remembered by his friends on 24 February, a sunny but very windy Sunday afternoon.

Several of those attending remarked that Andy would have enjoyed the ceremony, even though it did start over an hour late leading to comments along the lines of

“Typical of Andy, even late for his own memorial service!”

After the brief service by the graveside, kept short because of the risk of falling tree branches, those present adjourned to the Alpha where Andy was commemorated in a way so appropriate for him; with good food, good conversation and good fellowship.

First Winter International Backgammon Competition NOT canceled!

2008-02-22T08:56:00.001-08:00

The first Azogires Winter International Backgammon contest was held in less than perfect weather conditions on Sunday 17 February 2008 in the Alpha Kafenion.

Even though the snow was the heaviest in living memory, a talented team of international players braved the elements to get there and were greeted by Mayor of Eastern Selino who stopped by to check on things.

Winner of the first prize, all the way from Germany, was Martin Strellow, well known local artist and former reporter. Second prize went to Kerstin from Sweden and third to Sakis from Libya.

Sakis is also 3 times first prize winner of the Azogires Summer International backgammon contest.

Also taking part were players from Canada, England and Crete.

It is not recorded what place Lucky came in at.

Snow Joke

2008-02-22T08:43:00.000-08:00

It's always sunny in Crete!

That is unless you get the heaviest snow in living memory, as fell on Sunday 17 Feb. 2008

The village was cut off from civilisation (?) for a while but all is now back to what passes for normal!

3 times 88?

2008-02-17T02:01:00.000-08:00

According to local rumour, during the Second World War part of the German occupation force in Paleochora consisted of an anti aircraft detachment of 3 off 88 mm guns, or to give them their proper name, 8.8cm FLAK.* Following the liberation of Crete it is said that one of these guns ended up being used as a crane in Paleochora harbour and the other two were dumped in a gorge outside town. (We would point out again at this stage that this is all according to rumour!)

What then does this have to do with Azogires, some 8 Km up in the hills from Paleochora, we hear you ask?

It would appear that sometime in late the 1990’s, two young boys returned from a visit to the hills above Azogires and presented the Alpha Kafenion with their latest find. On closer inspection this turned out to be a corroded 88 mm anti aircraft shell, complete with fuse, which they had unearthed. ( It is said that at this point in time, there followed a somewhat rapid exodus from the kafenion as the older, and no doubt wiser, inhabitants recognised what the young boys did not, i.e. that this thing was possibly still live and thus potentially still lethal.) Wishing to save the village and the kafenion from utter destruction, one brave hero, who shall remain nameless but who, for the sake of convenience, we will refer to as Lucky, gingerly took the offending object some distance away from human habitation and hid it safely until it could be decided what to do with it.

Time went by and no obvious solution as to what to do with a live Second World War anti aircraft shell came to mind, ( Readers who straight away think “why not give it to the local authorities and let them get the army to dispose of it” have obviously never been to the hills of Crete!) Then one day, in conversation with a customer, the subject of the shell and its disposal arose. It then turned out that the person to whom Lucky was talking was, in fact, someone with extensive knowledge of explosives, both civil and military – he happened to be German as well but that’s coincidental.

The object was retrieved from its hiding place, various bits of technical magic performed upon it, the details of which remain unknown but are believed to involve the use of a screwdriver, a hammer and a bucket of water. Eventually the fuse mechanism was declared safe, the explosive having decayed long ago, and the shell emptied of its now inert filling.

The remainder of the shell is now sat on the bar in the Alpha Kafenion, as for the remains of the gun that fired it……….

*At the start of the war the 8.8cm FLAK (Flugzeug Abwehr Kannone)was the standard German anti aircraft gun and with a modified mounting and different ammunition, it went on to gain renown as an anti tank gun.

It would appear that for at kleast part of the German occupation, 3 anti aircraft guns of 1. Btr. Gemischte Flakabteilung 286, part of 17 Flak Division under Luftwaffenkommando Südost was stationed in Paleochora.

Below is a brief video of the largest remaining gun emplacement in Paleochora.

Where we are - take 2

2008-02-08T09:33:00.000-08:00

Where we are

Suggestions that this is likely to be the only (possibly) accurate map of anything that you will find on the whole of the Island of Crete have been streneously denied .........but not, we note, by the Greek authorities!

Those visiting the Alpha will not only get the map but also the menu...it's printed on the back!

The "Smiling" Cave of Azogires

2008-01-31T08:36:00.000-08:00

The Smiling Cave of Azogires.

Right below Viglistra there is what the tourists refer to as the “Smiley Cave”, a cave with two eyes, a nose and a smiling mouth. Look across from the Alpha Hotel you’ll see a red rock and then the cave; it has a face nearly like a human; more than human. This is a huge red cave to some known as Kokinos Spilios and to others as the Prosopo, meaning face.

This cave is believed to have been used for sacrifices by the Minoans and was certainly used as a hiding place during Turkish times. The cave has a series of patios inside, not natural but man made, like beds over the entrance and in the sides, possibly made and used by shepherds, and in front was a huge wall. This has now fallen down but you can still see it. Perhaps a kourta (pen) for the animals or a defence against the Turkish.

In the 1970s it was used as a campsite for the hippies. According to one story some of the hippies claimed that one night when they had a party, possibly a smoking party, they saw a UFO coming over the cave and shooting one of the rocks with laser beam! One of the rocks there does look a bit bizarre, as if it has been artificially split, so perhaps it is not just a hippy fantasy.

A woman in the 1960s, who said she was a clairvoyant, claimed she had a vision there and saw the spirit of a woman with a donkey inside the cave.

All around there is the area called Hallara, a place with huge cracks leading down perhaps 50 or more metres deep. In Turkish times when you killed a Turk, that’s the place you would take him so his body was not found; no body no crime. It was also a hiding place during the Second World War.

Tales of the Pater Papagregorakis #4

2008-01-28T02:35:00.000-08:00

The Grave of Pater Gavriel Papagregorakis at the Holy Father's Monastery

The Funeral of Pater Gavriel

At the funeral of Pater Gavriel, one of the nuns who had been spiritually very close to him was praying in the church said, “If we had a good time together, give us a sign that you are here.”

At this, the thurible (the incense burner - currently in the museum) that was hung on the wall came off the wall and was seen by all swinging about in the middle of the church and panic broke out.

The nun again said, “If that was you and if we had a good time together, give us another sign.”

It was raining at the time and very windy and then a large rock fell off the cliff side onto the roof of the church but instead of breaking the roof and crushing everybody inside it rolled harmlessly off and down the hillside.

The nun then said, “If it was from you Pater Gavriel and if we had a good time together, on your 40 day anniversary I want to die and join you.”

40 days later, she died.

Pirgos

2008-01-28T02:23:00.001-08:00

There is a house in the old village with a strange story about it.

It is said that the Turks who had the house, on having it completed, murdered the Christian builders in order that the secret or treasure of the house, whatever it is, would remain secret. Apparently, before they killed the builders they made them run around the house on the promise that if they did they would not be harmed. However the Turks eventually killed them all

It was within this house that two Turkish brothers were standing by an upper floor window in their house arguing over how they were going to divide up the land between them when their father died. As the argument got more and more heated, one is said to have looked out the window and shouted, “Here come the Christians to kill us all.”

His brother turned round, pulled out a gun and leaned out of the window to see what was happening, only to be pushed out of the window.

As he fell he just had time to fire one shot up at his brother. He missed, but the bullet mark can still be seen in the window of that house.

The strangeness of Azogires and the Alpha Kafenion

2008-01-21T07:21:00.000-08:00

Where it all happens -allegedly.

Just in case the earth does move for you, the seismograph in the museum will detect it.

Not sure what or why, but it was there by the path leading from the Hotel to the Monastery!

So, why doesn't the Alpha Cafenion sell Alpha beer instead of Mythos? I think we should be told!

So, why is what appears to be a sea anchor, currently located in the Cafenion about as far from the sea as you can get and 300 or so metres up in the hills?

The remains of yet another mill wheel.

Be very afraid!

If sufficiently provoved, and if he can be bothered to wake up, the Cafenion's guard dog will not only savagely wag his tail at you, but will also attempt to lick you to death! You have been warned!

Just to give you an idea!

The Naiades Pool

2008-01-21T06:56:00.000-08:00

The Naiades Pool

If you take the path down the side of the hill opposite the Alpha Hotel heading towards the Monastery, you come to the remains of the old Alpha Café. By the river there is the place the women used to wash their clothes; the same place the Holy Fathers used to gather to pray. According to local legend it’s also the only place on the river that’s inhabited by the Naiades; the spirits of the river. It’s been said for at least 300 years that that the Naiades would appear there at midnight and if you saw them and spoke to them they would steal your voice. It was enough just to say one word to them and they would take your voice away forever.

The Naiades were the nymphs of freshwater streams rivers and lakes, but were not limited to these water courses. Many Naiades could be found prancing around with Artemis, who chose 20 Naiades from Amnisus for companions. They were the daughters of rivergods. They had extremely long lifetimes, but they were not considered immortal, and were believed to have sat in on the Gods discussions on Olympus. There were 5 types of Naiades:

· Pegaiai, the Nymphs of Springs
· Krinaia, the Nymphs of Fountains
· Potameides, the Nymphs of Rivers and Streams
· Limnades or Limnatides, the Nymphs of Lakes
· Eleionomai, the Nymphs of Marshes

(http://www.paleothea.com/Nymphs.html)