Harmony – a society in the right place at the right time, people loving life and celebrating it, this is the legacy of Crete. And visitors can best see, feel, and understand by living life like these people do, by staying for a time with people like Vassilis Petrodaskalakis and his family.
Standing on a hilltop overlooking the Cretan Sea to the south, gazing south and westward toward ancient Eleftherna, then eastward to mighty Knossos, the great bronze sentry Talos stands guard over the forebears of civilized man. Created for Zeus by Daedalus, in order to defend the birthplace of the mightiest god, Talos must have stood in stark contrast for the common farmers and herdsmen beneath his mighty metal feet. One can imagine him outside his cave at Melidoni, peering down on endless olive and fruit groves, from whence the great Minoans derived their fortunes. Standing in front of the cave today, visitors to Crete can see spread out before them a land and a people little changed in spirit, from those that were the envy of the known world eons ago. Here’s a modern adventure, one with roots as old as Cretan time.
Whether or not Zeus was born on Crete, this matters little. Even if Talos, or even Minos himself did not ever take physical form, the shadows and rumors of them still pervade this magical island. It was these rumors, and echoes of my own memories, that prompted me to send my son Rhett to explore the Crete landscape. So it was our own amateur archaeologist set out on a small adventure to find, live with, and explore the longest lasting Crete legend, that of “filoxenia” – the unique quality of adoring visitors. One of his first destinations lay beneath the gaze of Talos’ hideaway, down the slopes of the White Mountains toward Rethymno and the sea, to Dalabelos Estate and one of the island’s most fascinating agro-tourism retreats. Of all the vacationing or touristic adventures one can undertake on Crete, living like the villagers and farmers do is by far the most enthralling. This is what I learned on my first trip there, and it was Rhett’s mission to further explore a real farmer’s real life there. To this end, owner and director of the eco-resort Vassilis Petrodaskalakis (below) provided an ideal opportunity. Quiet, hardworking, unassuming, these are words Rhett used to describe the man who runs this family owned getaway. Having taken over from his father Manolis, who still works on the farm at age 76 by the way, Vassilis is one of those rare people who is at once a visionary, and at the same time the pragmatic farmer.
By way of a description of Dalabelos Estate, the place sits at the foot of Mount Ida, deep in the countryside that sits almost exactly in between Chania prefecture, and the land overlooked by the palace at Knossos. To say this is the “center” of Crete is not really a stretch, for the whole of Rethymno prefecture is about pristine hidden natural treasures, tiny villages on hidden paths, Minoan tombs and caves, and people living as they have for millennia. Petrodaskalakis, according to my missionary’s descriptions, is just such a millennial man. The day Rhett arrived the boy took up helping Dalabelos’ director nurse an ailing horse named Tito, a four legged friend the farmer/innkeeper would later pine over, as Rhett recollected for me his adventures there. For the reader a bit lost in this story, life on such estates is a unique mix of plowing, seeding, harvesting, cooking, feeding the animals – integrated with infinity edge pool swimming and late night traditional music infused with local raki, a Mythos beer or two, and all the amenities resort guests expect. An agenda at Dalabelos might read:
Day 1 – Helped the owner tend to the olive orchard, fed goats, lazed by the pool, was serenaded
Day 2 – Borrowed a mountain bike from the owner, went to secluded beach, visited the village
Day 3 – Took a traditional Crete cuisine cooking course, attended pottery making sessions
Day 4 – Helped gather veggies from the farm, went bird watching in the hills, sat on my balcony all night
Day 5 – Visited Eleuftherna (below), was so amazed I stayed all day, to gather in the spirit of this place
Of course the limitations of one person’s traditional Cretan dream can be stretched 360 degrees to reveal another visitor’s ultimate experience. For a young man like Rhett, gleaning a wholly separate reality from that of a city boy, accentuated with new smiling faces to get to know, seems a natural first reaction. This is what he has told me, but I know the lasting impression will run much deeper. Rhett and Vassilis had many conversations surrounding how Dalebelos materialized out of the vision to share all that is best from the Cretan point of view. From the food served guests made with ingredients off the farm, to the activities led by family members or staff, everything about this place is a mini-symphony of congruent life. But like any such experience, it simply has to be felt in person. My conveyance is only marginally better than a vacation review. Well, expect that Dalabelos mirrors other experiences I have had on the island. The people here, really do spring up out of the wonderous land.
I could end this reconnaissance mission by telling the reader about the complex, the one-bedroom apartments or the modern facilities of Dalabelos. Any writer might laud the natural landscape and surroundings nearby too, but this would not accurately convey visiting the “real” Crete. Anyone reading this might like to hear about helping to make bread for a real stone oven, or trekking seldom trod paths into the mountains too. But I think on what gift I might give, in reflecting on Rhett’s and my adventures in this part of the world. So here it is.
There is no place on Earth that possesses more mystery and inherent patience than the island of Crete. While thousands come here for the aquamarine waters and sandy beaches, the real treasures wander these ancient hills, timeless spirits who once understood life better than we do. The Minoan Civilization was swept from the earth by an epic cataclysm 3,000 years ago. This land of boundless wealth was held together not by hordes of warriors, no pyramid spires loomed over mud huts as was the case of ancient Egypt. No man reigned supreme over his subject, but instead men and women lives in total harmony with nature, the gods, and with one another. Harmony – a society in the right place at the right time, people loving life and celebrating it, this is the legacy of Crete. And visitors can best see, feel, and understand by living life like these people do, by staying for a time with people like Vassilis Petrodaskalakis and his family.
Phil is a prolific technology, travel, and news journalist and editor. An engineer by trade, he is a partner in one of Europe’s leading PR and digital marketing firms, Pamil Visions PR.
He’s also a Huffington Post contributor on many topics, a travel and tech writer for The Epoch Times in print and online, and for several magazines including Luxurious.
Phil also contributes regularly to TravelDailyNews, The official Visit Greece Blog, and is an analyst for Russia Today and other media.
His firm has done all the content for Time Magazine’s top travel site Stay.com, as well as other online travel portals such as Vinivi out of France. He’s also a very influential evangelist of social media and new digital business, with a network of some of the most notable business people therein.
