What would it be like to experience luxurious and exquisite hospitality, without having to pay for it? Such hospitality does still exist, you know? There’s an island, quite unlike any other, the island where Zorba really did dance. Crete is where you’ll find a last bastion of genuine civility.

 

When Hollywood learned of “Zorba the Greek” by Nikos Kazantzakis, the making of the classic feature film starring Anthony Quinn became a foregone conclusion. But for the traveler intent on discovering real Mediterranean bliss today, Crete is best described by this quote by Kazantzakis:

 

 

“This is true happiness: to have no ambition and to work like a horse as if you had every ambition. To live far from men, not to need them, and yet to love them. To have the stars above, the land to your left and the sea to your right and to realize all of a sudden that in your heart, life has accomplished its final miracle: it has become a fairy tale.”

 

Beaches, History, and More

Now I’ve introduced you again to the imagery of Zorba, and the line; “teach me to dance,” made famous by the film. The allusion here, of a place where life is really the joy of dancing, this is but one reason to be enveloped in Cretan hospitality. Others exist, such as regressing to the time of Europe’s most advanced Bronze Age civilization, the time when the Minoans ruled the seas. But before you visit Crete, and you will, rest assured, a basic introduction is needed.

 

Crete is the largest of the Greek islands, and fifth largest in the Mediterranean Sea. As I’ve noted, the island was home to the  most advanced civilization of the ancient Europe, the mysterious Minoans some say were really Atlanteans. This marvelous island, imbued with such a varied landscape, is a world within a world, at once wild and untamed, and at the same time civil and immeasurably hospitable. From the windmills of the Lasithi Plateau, to the Venetian harbor at Chania, the grandeur of the place is really awe inspiring.

 

There’s no dichotomy about Crete. At once we see the fabulous palace of King Minos, the Palace at Knossos, then 5 kilometers in the hills we come across a speck of a traditional village, poor in everything except heart and kindness. To the west there are Europe’s most photographed beaches, and to the east hilltop fortresses, endless groves of olive and citrus trees, and the rocky shores of unimagined hideaways. But the geography, the 150 mile long photo op, these are the least of Crete’s treasures.

 

Filoxenia: For the Love of People

I told you Crete was magic, but that magic does not reside only in the cave where mighty Zeus was born. The people here make one want to dance like Zorba. If I may relate a story, I’ll tell you a bit about this character. We arrived on the island on a windswept day at Heraklion’s airport. So you know, the runway is right on the Cretan Sea. That day, it was very windy, as anyone from a seaside town will know, not such an uncommon thing. Nevertheless, despite having arrived from frigid Germany, everyone from the cab driver to the front desk clerk at Lato Boutique Hotel where we stayed, felt compelled to apologize for the weather. Sorry, “indeed,” I thought twenty times. Things like these, they let you know immediately, Crete is something special. Driving the coastal highway, getting big waves from the ladies selling citrus along the way, Cretans are uncannily friendly, from one end of the island to the other. The locals they are proud too, proud of this “Filoxenia,” or love of foreigners.

 

But just courtesy and friendliness, this simply does not encapsulate what you’ll experience on your first visit to Crete. Our group of sojourners ventured off the beaten path of seaside beach resorts. Prior to our stay of some 22 days we connected with locals Dionysius and Georgia Karalaki some

weeks before inquiring about a stone villa outside Platanias, a place we thought would allow us to blend in with the locals, enjoy the village life, and feel Crete like the Cretans. And this is where we discovered real luxuriousness, and a real five star hospitality, in a place where someone delivers fresh eggs every morning, without so much as being asked to. You see villagers in Crete, they don’t covet the same things the world does. To understand, you simply have to go there. If you’ll imagine a bottle of the local spirit Raki, appearing from nowhere, or a basket of oranges, a smile that lights up the whole day, the things money simply cannot buy, then you’ll easily envision Zorba’s Crete.

 

The Price for Zorba’s Crete

Some reading this may be lost. Maybe you’d like me to tell you about a pristine beach not 400 meters away? Or you may want to know the world’s oldest olive tree, some say 12,000 years old, it’s right down the road too. Balos Lagoon, where Prince Charles and Princess Diana spent their honeymoon, why it’s only a few miles up the coast! Oh, you want to know about the Cretan diet? You’ve heard of longevity here? Well, all that’s part of Crete too. Only not the best part. Oranges that shame those in California and Florida, snowcapped mountains, Minoan princesses at secluded bays, waterfalls or whales, there’s all that too. The jet setter among you can even buy your way into ten million dollars worth of private villa, armed guards at the gates, and all.

 

But I’ll tell you now about the most exotic and luxuriant getaway you ever had. The example that leaps to mind for me is one of the patriarch of the small hamlet Metochi Villas is situated in. Visualize an elderly man with the kindest eyes you’ve ever seen. His family has owned this land for over 400 years, you discover. Then every morning you wake up, you see him herding his animals, you hear his geese on their daily rounds. And with an arm full of oranges from his trees, or a basket full of eggs, he greets friends he’s never met before. Rest assured too, he is not alone in his sincere kindness. You see in Crete, whole villages turn out simply to say hello.

 

And you know what else? You can fly your personal jet to Bali, book the most extravagant passage on the Queen Elizabeth, or buy your own island if you can afford it. But my friends, you can’t pay to make Zorba dance. Zorba dances to live.

 

 

 

 

Chania harbor in April, the perfect weather for sightseeing

The upper terrace overlooking Ekklisia Agios Antonios and Mythos Beach

View from Metochi

The private pool of Villa Sofas

World famous Elafonisi Beach in western Crete

Early Spring Kiteboarding off magnificent Falasarna Beach

The coast road driving east to Heraklion

The sun never really sets on Cretan hospitality

Our suite at Lato Boutique Hotel overlooking the Venetian Fortress