Probably, there are experts who can distinguish the taste of four-year-old “Metaxa” brandy from a 12-year-old one. For the rest, here is a cheat sheet.  Metaxa 3 stars is the most spicy variety, so it is advised to drink it with lemon or ice to reduce the harshness of the taste.  Metaxa 5 stars in […]

Fly away from your routine of snowdrifts (or puddles), from minus on the thermometer (or zero), from snowy (or bare) trees to December on Crete, where the dried over the summer grass is being saturated with moisture and turns green again. Orange and tangerine groves are lighting like red lanterns. You can’t believe it—roses bloom! […]

The job of a shepherd is one of the oldest. Of course, the free grazing of animals is less and less practiced in modern agriculture. Progress is going on: green meadows are replaced by compound feeds, and milkmaids’ hands are replaced by automatic milking systems. Very often we hear about hormones and antibiotics used by […]

Crete is the biggest island of Greece and the 5th biggest in the Mediterranean Sea.  It’s a land with an impressive array of biodiversity, a wealth of rare grape varieties, excellent vineyards and a long viti-vini-cultural history of more than 4000 years. In the modern era, Crete is one of the most uprising wine regions. […]

The city of Hercules is the first to meet the bulk of guests arriving in Crete. Here are located the Nikos Kazantzakis International Airport and the island’s most important seaport. The airport named after the writer Nikos Kazantzakis is not as large as one in Moscow or Athens, but it receives about five million tourists […]

The ancient Greeks taught humanity an important craft – winemaking. Unfortunately, most of their secrets were lost. However, there was one recipe that has been preserved and has reached our days – the resin wine “Retsina”. This is the business card of Greece, its manufacturing technology is allowed exclusively in this country. Retsina is a […]

One of the seven world wonders is the Gardens of Semiramis, admired by Herodotus and known only from descriptions, and legends. Now we can safely say that they exist: you can really enjoy this fairy tale in the magical garden of the Botanical Park of Crete! It spreads over an area of about 49,5 acres […]

“The sun drinks grapes, and we drink wine from grapes: we drink the sun!” I don’t remember who said this, but was absolutely right… It penetrated all capillaries, warming and delighting: “Vidiano”, “Muscat of Spina”, “ZaZaZu”. What other names were there? Not to remember. The main thing—on all bottles was listed “Lirarakis”. This is the […]

Spices and herbs of Crete! Our newspaper has previously written about the Creta Carob (carob syrup) and Cretan soap. What else can you bring as a gift from this island? Crete is very famous for its herbs that grow almost everywhere: in the mountains, coastal areas, and even in settlements. Crete is a real pantry […]