45 ISLE OF WONDER
It’s always good to at least attempt a few words in the local language when travelling. With this in mind, kalimera (good morning) is one of the first words we learn in Greece, where we are cruising among the famed Greek Islands, heading for Crete (as part of APT’s 13-day Grecian Odyssey). The greeting is a pretty good icebreaker when greeting locals for the first time, and vice versa it seems. Our guide, Andreas Foundoulis, catches us unawares one morning, meeting us with a jovial “Calamari!” We fall for it, answering in the same way before realising the ruse.
Crete is the largest of the Greek Islands, its rugged and varied terrain heavy with history and mythology (the Ideon Cave located on Mount Ida is celebrated as the birthplace of Zeus). In addition to his comedic turns, Andreas is one of the island’s leading expert guides regarding the Battle of Crete.
Over the years he has taken many visiting veterans to local war graves, reliving their days on the island during the four-year German occupation. We visit the hill where New Zealand General Bernard Freyberg was able to see German paratroopers begin the airborne invasion of Crete on the morning of 20 May 1941. The resulting battle lasted 10 days.
At the beautifully manicured Commonwealth War Graves cemetery at Suda Bay, we seek out New Zealand and Australian graves, many marked ‘Known only to God’. One of our group has notes transcribed from her father’s diary, kept during his time on Crete during the war. She is eager to learn where he might have been camped and tries to put pieces of her personal puzzle together. We also visit a German war cemetery – a stark reminder that there are two sides to any war.
We have the unique opportunity to chat to 88-year-old Cretan Nikos Tsakirakis who, as a young boy during the war, recalls seeing the sky filled with parachutes and thought they were umbrellas. “I’d never seen anything like it,” he says. He also remembers stealing tyres from the Germans to line the soles of his shoes, and recalls people ate everything – “snails, hare, rabbits, carob, sparrows”. He says he still feels his stomach growling at the mention of food rationing and coupons.
Still today, Cretans waste nothing. While the countryside might appear stony and scrubby, it is in fact full of edible plants. Refreshing drinks and marmalade are made from prickly pear. Tiny edible snails thrive under wild thyme, while ubiquitous olive trees grow totally wild. Bananas grow in hothouses, and much local produce finds its way to markets across Europe.
As we drive to the most eastern part of Crete, to the historic Greek Orthodox Moni Toplou monastery in Sitia, we traverse hilly terrain dotted with yellow Spanish broom and wattle, while pink and white oleander edge spectacular mountain roads with magnificent views to the coast. Small villages cling to rocky ridge tops surrounded by vast numbers of wild olive trees.
The monastery dates from the 14th century and houses priceless religious icons and elaborately embroidered altar vestments. On top of hiding Cretan and British fighters during the Second World
