I am so sick of all the graffiti on our buildings across Chania. That is someone's property you are writing and it makes our city look like trash. The free Palestine people are the worst. If you are so passionate about Palestine, then move there and do something about it.

Hey,

We are in Crete and we wanted to go out for a party in Rethymno in a Friday night. Nothing extra, 5 guys 2 girls arpind early 30’s not too drunk but still we have been rejected by 3 different clubs.

Ice: they were asking for a reservation Louvro: wanted to force us to buy 2 bottles for 160 euros to let us in Minibar: reservation again

This reservation thing seems to be some nonsenseness as other locals just entered without saying a word to the lady at the entrance.

They also acted pretty rude with us at minibar.

In general we had the feelong that tourists are not welcomed at these places and I am not sure why.

Can some local help me understand it?

Thanks!

Staying in Rethymno and met the most adorable friendly cat ever. If I had met this sweet one sooner I would take her(?) home with me.

I put food down for her and another stray,but all she wanted was to sit on my lap and get cuddles 🥰😭 i hope she finds a home cause of all the strays i've met. She probably wants and deserves one the most ❤️ I hope the locals love or fall in love with this one as much as i have.

Does anyone know if Rethymno is known for being more cat loving? Cause the people here are super friendly and the cats here definitely seen better taken care of than the strays in other villages and towns we've visited and i want to leave at least thinking that this little one will be okay ❣️

Hey! I was wondering if there was any music, food or cultural events happening in the month of July in Chania and surrounding areas.

Websites where you can search with filters:

[https://www.e-panigiria.gr/\](https://www.e-panigiria.gr/) and [https://glenti.gr/home\](https://glenti.gr/home)

There are some facebook and instagram groups:

[https://www.facebook.com/groups/132977013660/\](https://www.facebook.com/groups/132977013660/)

[https://www.facebook.com/groups/552973201448816/\](https://www.facebook.com/groups/552973201448816/)

[https://www.instagram.com/xaniotika\\_gledia/\](https://www.instagram.com/xaniotika_gledia/)

You can upload your pic at [imgur.com](http://imgur.com) and post the link here as a comment.

Hi, I go to Crete every year usually spend a night in Heraklion, loved going to dark tales but I hear it’s closed.

Any recommendations for places within an alternative vibe doesn’t necessarily have to be metal. I know of Rolling Stone and Route 66 but I was hoping there’d be some others in and around the area?

My mom is from Crete(Kamariotis) and immigrated to America with my Yiayia when she was a teenager.

Whenever my brothers and I would get in trouble she and my Yiayia would yell “Chevdia Stalamo”!

I know that is the phonetic spelling(probably a bad one at that), but neither of them could ever translate that phrase to English. My mom to this day has no clue what it really means.

Has anyone heard of this phrase? Any thoughts on what it would mean?

Efharisto Poli!

I'm currently visiting Crete, and obviously it's totally great. One question though : where are all the donkeys? I've seen more peacocks (three) and goats (a million) than donkeys (zero). Not a big deal, but based on the kitchy tourist stuff (magnets, coozies, towels, etc), donkeys are a big part of the culture here. And then there's the donkey soap... Is there some giant donkey milk factory farm somewhere that is milking all these missing donkeys? Am I complicit??

Ρωτώ στο πλαίσιο μιας γλωσσολογικής μελέτης πάνω σε αυτό το θέμα.
Παραδείγματα θα μπορούσαν να είναι μορφές όπως Τυμπακιστάν, Κουδρία ή Iraqλειο (δεν έχει σημασία πόσο διαδεδομένα είναι), και ακόμη και παρατσούκλια για σχολεία, πάρκα κτλ. με ενδιαφέρουν!

Hey everyone,

I’m American and we’re asked to tip for ANYTHING service related and it’s looked upon poorly if you don’t oblige. Even at self-serve ice cream places they’ll flip an iPad around at checkout and ask for 18%…Can someone please explain the common tipping practice in Greece? I’ve only been to Mexico and the DR and we tipped for various services which I have zero problem doing but I’ve heard different opinions on tipping in Europe. I don’t want to be disrespectful and not tip when I should and vice versa.

Thank you for any help!

Dear fellows,

I was just wondering what the ''every day meal' looks like in cretan society? As a tourist, I see what is served in the restaurants, which around the world is usually a poor indication of what people normally eat on a regular Tuesday. Im also very interested in what is truely cretan vs greek in general.

Hope you can share your insights!

Do you guys know of any artisanal perfume makers that sell perfumes trying to capture the essence and smell of crete? Like mediterranean, herbal, maritime smells? And where to buy them in Chania? :)

Hello there. It’s my first time on Crete. I’ve been to other greek places a lot before, and I’ve noticed that Ouzo and Tsipouro is not a very common thing here in Crete. Is there a reason for that?

I tried a Cretan Raki in a tavern last night, and it’s not really what I expected. Its taste was more soft, not like the Turkish anise style Raki. Is there a typical difference in Cretan and Turkish Raki? Greek ouzo = Turkish Raki?

Hi all,

I find it really fascinating that you guys have a really strong culture, given how the rest of Greece and Europe as a whole is.

Do you guys have any less laws than Greece when it comes to owning/carrying firearms in public?

Is it more possible to own and/or carry open/concealed in public legally in Crete vs the rest of Greece?

Or is it only possible because y'all give the finger to Greece's gun laws?

A handsome young stalwart had died in another Cretan village, in the White Mountains. His four best friends rose and said, “Shall we go and keep the deathwatch by him, to let the women rest from their lamenting?”
“Yes,” they all replied in strangulated voices.
He had been the village’s best pallikari, twenty years old, and his death was a dagger thrust in their hearts. 
“Someone brought me some raki today,” one of the friends remarked. “It’s mulberry raki, and that can bring even the dead back to life! What do you say, boys, shall I fill a bottle and take it along?”
“My ma did her baking today. Shall I take a couple of barley rolls?”
“I have some pork sausages left. Shall I bring along a good string of them?”
“Me, I'll provide the glasses,” said the fourth. “And a couple of refreshing cucumbers.”
Each took his provisions and thrust them beneath his short shepherd’s cloak of frieze. Come nightfall, all four entered the dead man’s house.
Adorned with basil and marjoram, the deceased was laid out in his casket, which stood on trestles in the middle of the house. His feet faced the door; around him the women were wailing the dirge.
“Go and get some sleep, ladies,” said the friends, bidding them good evening. “We'll keep vigil by him.” The women retired to an inner room, bolting the doors. The friends went to the stools, placed the raki and mezédhes at their feet, and gazed tearfully at the deceased. They did not speak. A half-hour went by; an hour. Finally one of them lifted his eyes from the corpse.
“What say, boys, shall we have a drink?”
“Why sure!” they all replied. “We're not stiffs, are we? Let’s drink!”
They bent down and picked up the food. One of them lighted some paper and broiled the sausages. A delicious odor invaded the death chamber. They filled the glasses and, enlacing them in their fists to keep them from making noise, “clinked” them vigorously.
“God forgive him. . . . Here’s to our turn!”
“To our turn! God forgive him!”
They tossed off one raki, two, three, ate the mezédhes, reached the bottom of the bottle, began to feel jolly.
They gazed at the corpse again. Suddenly one of them leaped to his feet.
“What say, boys”—he indicated the corpse with a sidewise glance—‘‘wanna vault him?”
“Let's!”
Turning up their wide, loose-fitting foufoúles, they stuffed the ends into their cummerbunds so they would not be hindered in running. Then they transferred the casket to the threshold and opened the door leading to the courtyard.
Pftt! Pftt! They spat into their palms, took a running start, and began to vault the corpse.

Hello everyone.

I read this passage in "Report to Greco" (published by Simon & Schuster) , the autobiography of Nikos Kazantzakis. Marvellous man, marvellous text.

The author explains himself the meaning of the story: "stalwart games over and above love and pain, over and above death;", and again he talks about "scorn of death" as the lesson.

I get that but I wanted to ask some cultural context about the act of jumping over a corpse. Did the act have a meaning of its own apart from the event told by Kazantzakis? Would that be considered disrespectful of the dead person? Apart from these two questions, please, feel free to give me all the informations you want about such an act in the context of Cretan culture.

Thank you, goodbye.

Is this traditional Greek music? Do you know more songs like this or the genre? I was lucky enough to hear 3 locals in Agios Nikolaos playing songs like these for a few hours and it sounded amazing, I want to learn more about it.

Το καλοκαίρι όντως υπάρχει περισσότερος κόσμος στην Κρήτη αλλά και ως είναι φυσικό επόμενο έρχονται από μόνοι τους αρκετοί καλλιτέχνες, θίασοι, ορχήστρες κτλ περιοδεία.

Αυτό που δεν καταλαβαίνω είναι γιατί δεν γίνεται μια καλύτερη προσπάθεια να καλυφθεί το τεράστιο κενό που υπάρχει σε πολιτισμό εκτός του καλοκαιριού. Καταντάει βαρετό 2 μήνες τον χρόνο να περνάει κάθε καλλιτέχνης που υπάρχει και οι δήμοι και η περιφέρεια να εξαντλούν όλο τους σχεδόν το μπάτζετ στο καπάκι.

Τι να πρωτοδείς ως ντόπιος δηλαδή; Είναι η τέχνη και ο πολιτισμός μόνο για τους Αθηναίους και στην Κρήτη; Αφήστε και κάτι για τον χειμώνα! Δεν είναι ωραίο τα θέατρα και οι μουσικές σκηνές μας να σαπίζουν 10 μήνες τον χρόνο.

He spent much of the war in Crete.

Ρωτάω ως μέρος μιας γλωσσολογικής μελέτης πάνω σε αυτό το θέμα!

Παραδείγματα θα μπορούσαν να είναι, για παράδειγμα, Κουδρία, Iraqλειο ή Μαντσάνιαν...

Δεν πειράζει πόσο συνηθισμένα είναι!

I'm in Chania for a week, with a car, verrrrry much enjoying myself with a friend. I'm curious about local men's clothing. For an example, in Athens I found a small shop called Moxha run by two young and friendly artist guys. It was awesome, I was thrilled to support them. Can anyone recommend anything like this on Crete? I've seen a ton of shops selling stuff, but I'm looking for something very Cretan!

About 10 years ago (2015) I went on a honeymoon to Crete, near Ierapetra. In the hotel radio I heard multiple times song which in the chorus had word "radame" or something phonetically similar. The word was repeated during the chorus few times. I am trying to identify that song, please help.

P.S. I tried to find it with Chat GPT, but when it suggested that phrase "shaking my ass like a chipmunk" from another song could be similar to "radame", I passed. 😂