Rock Climbing in Crete

7.25.10

About a year ago Jon Newman suggested that I try rock climbing. Ever since then, I've been practicing regularly at the Cornell Rock Climbing Wall with friends and Jon took me outdoor rock climbing when I went to visit him in May. If I didn't mention it already, Giannis is a member of a local rescue team. Besides fighting forest/brush fires, he often saves hikers and farmer who get lost in the Cretan cliffs. He trains for these rescue missions at a rock climbing wall/gym in Agios Nikalos. The gym is owned by a fellow rescue team member named Dimitri, and his son Nektarios, is one of the top rock climbers for his age group (14 years old) in Greece. Giannis invited me to go climbing with Dimitri and Nektarios since they would be practicing for one of Nektarios' upcoming competitions. We went to a cliff near the city of Ierapetra on the southern coast of Crete.

The cliff is not too far from the coast near Ierapetra. 'Petra' is the Greek word for rock so I wonder if this is how the place got its name.

I outlined my route in green. I had forgotten to pack my climbing shoes and was only able to get up to the red dot wearing my sneakers.

One of my favorite experiences in Crete was going hiking. The land was do dry and harsh but the smell of herbs was amazing. I would brush up against a wild sage plant (shown here) and inhale the amazing aroma of this plant. The same was true for wild oregano and thyme.

View of the cliff up close. We could also boulder along the bottom portion. The rock had lots of pockets that were perfect hand holds. Parts of it were a little rough but most was smooth and didn't cut up your hands too much.

Giannis is a mentor for many of the young boys in the Neapoli foster care house. He invited Kostantino to come with us on the trip.

Margaret sat back and watch us monkeys climb around.

Giannis Warming Up

Nektarios is leading the route (he's setting up the top rope for the rest of us).

Giannis was next. I have no pictures of me climbing but I only made it to the red dot shown here. I should've gone all the way to the top! ;)

Here, I'm spying on people from a rock above.

Giannis and Nektarios are helping Dimitri on his way down.

View from My Spying Rock

Me!

Climbing was an amazing experience but I still had 30% more of the route to complete before getting to the end. I will have to try again (maybe next summer) and also remember to pack my climbing gear.

Advanced Sternas

7.24.10

Today Giannis took us to the village where his ancestors used to stay during the summer months. There was a few homes, a chapel, and extensive olive orchards. He showed us his family orchards and also pointed out several sternas used to collect spring water instead of rainwater. If you're just tuning in, please see some of my other entries (July 20 and July 23) for more information on sternas.

So far Giannis had taken us to see sternas constructed for catching and conserving stormwater. The spring wells; however, were built to hold water naturally bubbling up from the ground. In hydrology, we call this a spring. Springs usually emerge when the groundwater table (the height or elevation of the groundwater) reaches the land surface. Later on we visited a monastery set right on top of a large spring. For pictures of this please see my July 30 entry.

This chapel was around 500 years old and this stone work around the window was all done by hand.

Grapes on the porch of Giannis' family's summer home.

View from the Porch

We stopped to pick mulberries from a tree on the land owned by Giannis' family. The berries were so ripe that they squirted all over your hands when picking them. They were slightly tart but very delicious.

Channel for Water

(It's dry during the summer.)

This sterna was supplied by a spring. Giannis told us that he used to swim in this sterna when he was young.

Family Olive Orchards

A spring well that's not very full.

This spring well has more water.

James wanted to sit on the ledge and look in.

This old sterna was used for holding rainwater. Now it's in disrepair...

...with a fig tree growing through its side.

Almonds!

A Fresh Almond with the Brown Shell Removed

James, Giannis, and Margaret

These goats are owned by a monastery. They're spending some time near the sterna.

More goats. Margaret used to raise goats and she told me that both the males and females have horns. I didn't this. I also didn't know that they are typically removed when the goats are still kids. If they're aren't removed then the goat is more likely to get its horns stuck in something...like a fence!

Greek Desserts: Loukoumades and Baklava

Intermediate Sternas

7.23.10

Today Giannis took us on another tour of the sternas. We were feeling slightly more experienced but were still just as amazed by these structures. If you're just tuning in, please look at my post on July 20, 2010 for an 'Intro to Sternas'.

In the middle of this olive orchard, you can see two big pits. These were used to collect water for irrigation of the olive trees.

Covered Sterna

A reflection of me looking into a covered sterna.

Water trough next to the sterna for the animals.

Giannis pointed out the holes in the sides of the sterna wall. From what I understood these holes helped release some of the pressure from the land surrounding the sterna; they allowed the stones to expand and contract with the surrounding earth.

Margaret and James are looking for 'psari' (fish) in the sterna. The lady behind them explained these sternas became contaminated when someone dumped their goldfish into them. The gold fish multiplied and now the animals refused to drink this water. The villagers are trying to drain the sternas, remove the goldfish, and see if they could be used again.

Either there's a leak in this sterna or the villagers have used all the water.

Pumping Water from the Sterna

The owners of these vegetable gardens (background) use the sternas to water their crops.

The farmers let us try some of their tomatoes. They were very fresh and flavorful. Margaret agrees!

Giannis and James agree too!

'Cultural Folklore Association'

'Have a good trip'

The sign above was right next to this man-made lake. The lake was basically a very large cisterns, used by the farmers and villagers.

The one side of the 'lake' had collapsed a few months ago. The villagers were trying to find funding to fix it.

Just across the street from the 'lake' was a stable for goats. The goats were so noisy! And cute.

The small black and white goat on the upper left was the loudest. I couldn't stop laughing at the racket he/she made.

Another group of sternas. I think there were at least 5 in this location.

Steps down into the sterna.

James and Margaret are having a little chat while the older Greek woman who spoke to us about the sternas (see images above) returns to her field work. She leaned on me as we spoke to her and I felt welcomed; like one of her granddaughters. She explained that the sternas were falling apart because over the years there were less and less people in the village to do field work. Families were having fewer children and most of them moved into the cities away from the farms for job opportunities, etc. She shared her worries about the quality of water being supplied by the municipal wells. She repeated what many other people had been telling us during our sterna travels, the rainwater collected in the sternas was cleaner and healthier.

Old windmilled used to mill grain.

Giannis took us to this Monastery because he wanted to show us the covered sterna. It was situated in the middle of the courtyard; when you walked through you were standing right on top of it.

Inside the Monastery

View from the Monastery

A Hanging Priest's Robe

Hall of the Monastery

Wild oregano was growing out of the roof.