Palekastro - The people
Life in the village follows firm rules. One rises very
early in the morning the whole year through. In the summer its
important to use the cool hours of the early morning in order
to do the first part of the day work. In the winter it's almost
the same cause the olive harvest is waiting from November until
February. Each and every hour counts.
While life in the summer takes place
exclusively in front of the door and on the road everybody is
in the house during the winter time. If the rain comes its pretty
unpleasant. However if the sun shines everybody runs in front
of the door in order to warm up in the mild winter sun.
During the hot summer life fades around midday. The village
is calm, no one is out in the heat and the shops are closed,
''Siesta''. The heat leaves in the late afternoon and within
few minutes there's live's back in the village. Gradually the
first "old-aged" emerge at the village square from
one Mini-Market to the next, the craftsmen begin to saw and
hammer again.
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| Village square Palekastro |
Heart of the village - the square
The centre of the life is like in almost every Greek villages,
the square or ''Plakia''. People meet each other, here is the
main exchange place for messages and the obligatory "..have
you heard that....and he and she....bla bla". Those who
have been to one of the tourist centres of Crete may have recognized
that this aint taking place there anymore. The tourists requires
24/7 supply, the usual cretan rhythm of life has gone.
In Palekastro however life still goes on the "ancient"
way. The only ones which deviate from it are the strangers running
around even with 40 degrees in the shade. However one can count
those at a hand because there are just a few..
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| Fishing has become
a job on the side |
In the evening the "real life"
begins
During the summer real life starts at the evening.
Many women are sitting in front of the doors cutting vegetable,
men repair their nets while first tourists enter the restaurant.
Tourists, primarily from the Federal Republic, are usually always
first who take place at the tables. "We always have dinner
at seven, vacation or not...''.
The younger locals however meet with "Xaritos" in
the "Cafe Center" directly at the village square,
the older in their Kafeneon. Later when the tourists are fed
locals will have their dinner. Rarely before nine o'clock, frequently
at ten o'clock in the evening. With the whole family, even the
smallest ones ones are playing at the village square after 23.00
at night.
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| Xaritos - Owner of
legendary Cafe Center |
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