Greek cuisine

  Greek cuisine is in family with the Turkish and Middle Eastern cuisine and if you are familiar with anyone of them you will quickly find your way around a Greek menu. Crete is self-sufficient in year-round fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as in seafood, and proud of its culinary traditions. Cretan food unsophisticated and solid, fresh and plenty. There is nothing delicate or precious about the cooking. Fish is usually baked or grilled with nothing more elaborate than a sauce of oil and lemon, the meat - traditionally lamb or goat - is grilled or cooked as a stew. Spices are minimal: maybe a little pepper and some local herbs. There is nothing sophisticated about the cooking but the quality and freshness of the individual ingredients: the oil (always olive oil) must be the best, the fish very fresh, the meat tender and the vegetables preferably just picked from the garden.

  Cretan specialities are the local graviera cheese (a kind of gruyere) and myzithra, creamy white cheese often served instead of feta in the common Greek salad of tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and onions. Cretan country food or "horiatiko fagito".

  The most common dishes are: Stifado, "beef stew with wine", Arní me angináris, "lamb with artichokes", Kréas kókinisto, "meat in tomato sauce", Chortopitakia, "small spinach pies", Kounéli me yiaourti, "rabbit with yoghurt", Grilled lamb, beef, rabbit or pork and many varieties of fish. You can also order mezes, which is a variety of dishes, shared by everyone as either appetizers or as main courses. With the food you can enjoy the local wine, a light sherry like red wine, when it is more than 5 years old it is called "Marouvas", there is also retsina,”resinated wine”, raki and ouzo. For dessert there is, fruit of the season e.g. Watermelon, honey melons, figs, fresh oranges and not forgetting the grapes, but if you have a sweet tooth, then baklava, kataifi or Greek style yoghurt with honey and nuts will satisfy you.

  When eating out: Eating out in Crete has its own customs. You will not offend if you do not follow them because Cretan are used to foreigners and pretty broad-minded. Still, knowing the dos and don'ts might save some awkwardness. For Cretans, a meal is a social occasion and accordingly, food is ordered for the "table", not for the individuals. You order a bit of everything, spread it around the table, or more often cover the table with different dishes and everybody picks at everything. If or when more food is needed, more is ordered. There is also quite an element of status involved in the ordering and it is not uncommon for Greeks to order far too much, either to show off their status or show their generosity. Table manners are pretty relaxed. The main bad manner would possibly be ordering for yourself when in company. Use of the fingers instead of forks and knives is very common. After all, food is there to be touched and eaten, not picked at. When pouring wine, don't fill the glass to the brim, when drinking it, leave a little in your glass until it is being refilled.

  Paying the bill: As with ordering, paying a bill has a lot to do with offering hospitality. I have never seen Cretans sharing the payment of a meal (at least not in a way that could have been visible to others). One will pay for all and there is often a hefty argument about who will be have the privilege of paying. As such, if you, a foreigner, are eating with Cretans you will be pretty hard put to foot the bill, unless you resort to sneaky ways such as paying the bill away from the table when no one is looking. Even this can lead to awkwardness because the traditional Cretan hospitality makes it almost a duty to act as the host to foreigners.

Golf

  The Crete Golf Club lies approximately 23,5 Km east of the "Nikos Kazantzakis" International Airport of Heraklion and 6,5 Km south-west of the village Limin Hersonissos and the CRETA MARIS. Web-site:www.crete-golf.gr. Here you can have a virtual tour of the Golf course.

  With Heraklion as your starting point, you go East on the National Road E75 with direction to Ag. Nikolaos and turn right (south) on the Lassithi Plateau intersection with direction to Kasteli, 3,5 Km. The Crete Golf Club is situated on your right hand side next to a water park.

  Distance:

  Golf Course:
  This is the first full 18-hole golf course to be built on the beautiful Greek island of Crete. The 6430-yard, par 71- has two loops of nine, which seamlessly blend into the existing landscape. The slopes, visible rocky ground, groundcover plants and absence of trees provide a character, which is easily identifiable as Crete. Each hole has a selection of 4 tee beds, providing a challenge for all golfers whatever their standard. Where the scratch golfer will find the course a tough enough test from the back tee, the novice will find the forward tees more suited to their game. The natural terrain has been maintained with the continual wind and breeze conditions will present a good test to all golfers. As a resort style course it will require the use entirely of golf carts and buggles. The course also comes with the full range of practice facilities for novice golfers, tourists and golf club members. This includes a double-ended covered driving range with practice bunkers, short game area and practice putting green. There is also a second putting green adjacent to the first tee.

  Driving Range:

  Golf Academy: The Golf Academy at The Crete Golf Club features a variety of golf programmes offering unparalleled instruction and the most advanced teaching methods to improve your performance, whether you are a novice or you need a "refresher' for your game. Our PGA qualified instructions will assess your standard and recommend a suitable programme, with the emphasis on relaxation and fun.

Horseriding

  A horseback riding tour on the Island of Crete. The horseback tours are a great way to travel the backcountry, encounter nature and explore the most spectacular areas of Crete. Riding the back roads and trails take you on an adventurous horseback riding-tour to places like the Lassithi Trail, the Dikti Mountains and the gorge of Gonies. This is one way of experiencing Crete by horseback. Riding Requirements:

Hiking

  Crete 'on foot' is a real walker's paradise. There are only few places in Europe where you can find this combination of high mountains close to the sea, mild climate with long dry seasons and a large network of ancient paths and shepherds trails. Add to this the closer contact with the locals, their hospitality & their great cuisine and you have a perfect receipt for an unmatched experience. Crete is a place of great,un-spoilt natural beauty,offering the plant lover an absolute treat in terms of the variety of flora to be found, thanks to the island’s good climate, position, altitude and terrain. Many of the 1500 flowering plants on the island are endemic. Every where you look on the high mountain plains and along the country dirt tracks that lead to them are bright splashes of colour. This makes it ideal for botanical – walks. You can book hikes with dramatic isolation combined with cultural & archaeological highlights, covering 8-15km daily. Trip members should be in good physical condition, capable of walking 4 to 6 hours a day on well maintained trails with some steep ascents and descents. Except for hiking boots and a day pack, no specialized equipment is needed.

Cycling

  For those who will prefer to explore the island on two wheels, our bicycle tours are ideally suited to the pace of the relaxed adventurer: slow enough to allow participants to fully enjoy the scenery and the sights, yet fast enough to easily cover 30-50 km per day. You can book the most attractive routes in Crete, with the recreational cyclist in mind. Tours cover quiet back roads (paved & unpaved) and have moderately steep climbs and fast descents. A good level of fitness and bike handling skills are required. Participants are supplied with a good bike and a helmet.

Diving

  Crete is offering PADI as well as a CMAS OCC diving centers, with a team of experienced instructors, boats and equipment selected in compliance with the strictest specifications of safety and performance. They are officially licensed diving centers and also features schools, for those wishing to become certified divers. Special educational courses of 5/6 days are offered, according to the standards of PADI and CMAS. The diving tours are addressed to both novice or experienced divers, as participants are grouped according to their experience and skills. The ratio dive-master/diver is 1:4 for novice groups and 1:8 for experienced groups. The diving spots selected are the best underwater sites in the area of East-and West Crete.The clarity of the water is excellent and allows us to observe a wild range of marine life from both above and below the surface.