The Greek island Crete lies between the Greek mainland and African Libia in the Mediterranean sea.
It is long stretched, has rather big mountains and is very fertile.
Maybe this is the reason why one of the first European civilsations started here about 4000 years ago.
The so called Minoan civilization was very prosperous and at his peak around 3500 years ago it dominated the Mediterranean.
They created a very fine and joyful art; Knossos is here what Pompeii is for Italy.
Also the famous painter El Greco was born in this area

We stayed in a very quiet and remote village in the northern part of the island.
The higher you get in the mountains (reaching up to 2400 meters) the " wilder" the countryside and the people get.
The locals here are famous for their independent character having survived so many foreign occupations.
It is a kind of " wild country" here although the nearby harbor city of Rethymnon is a very lovely.