Crete... 

The first impression you have of this great island, the last stop in the Mediterranean before the coast of Africa, is of an immense natural fortree. 100km south of the Peleponesse Crete (Kriti) is the largest Greek island ( 8300 sq. km) and the fifth largest in the Mediterranean after Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica and Cyprous.

Since time began, its steep mountains firmly anchored in the sea have watched over a land of legend - the place where Rhea have birth to her son Zeus. The many historical reality, offer a unique opportunity to revisit some of the most fascinating stories of Antiquity, among them those of Theseus and the Monotaur, Icarus and his dream and Daedalus and the labyrinth.

Everything about the island makes one feel that it was indeed chosen ny the gods as the scene for their exploits, great and small. The olive plantations stretching as far as the eye can see, the orange groves in the valleys, and the vineyards jealously tended for thousands of years, all bear witness to a fertile land. The relief, which only the goats seem to have fathomed, is extraordinarily capricious, as is borne out by the vast Lassithi Plateau, a stange circular plain high among the mountains.

The Cretans themselves only joined the Greek state in 1913, a decision they took of their own free will. Still Cretan rather than Greek, they exude a kind of unostentatious pride, as if they were in possession of some ancient secret known only to themselves. In view of their history, this would seem more than justified, since for centuries, they have astonished the world by their ability to preserve their identity and to control their fate. Even today, in the face of a worrying tourist invasion, they remain unshakeable, seeming to take control of the situation with complete peace of mind and mo concessions - but with a smile.