Going further down memory lane

Here’s another post of images spanning our two decades of life here in Greece. The one above was taken on board the Triton, during one of my excursions while I was working as an escort on Rhodes from 2007/8 until 2018. This shot was taken in July 2016. There is another, much more modern vessel with the same name operating out of Mandraki Harbour, on which I also served now and then, but this one was a beautiful traditional caique, originally built to carry cargo, although people visiting Greece on their holidays would be forgiven for assuming that all vessels of this type were first built as fishing boats. Here’s another shot, showing her under way in all her glory…

A true highlight of our earlier visits to Crete was when our good friends Timotheo and Sylvia (originally from Rhodes, but now living in Crete) surprised us by taking us to see the amazing Palace of Knossos. We went in November, so the place was virtually deserted, whereas if you go during the tourist season, be prepared to be among the hordes…

While we were living on Southern Rhodes, we ran a small charity event for a couple of years aimed at raising money for the local doctor’s surgery in the village of Gennadi. It was a great experience and to receive the gratitude of Doctor Niko and his team at an unexpected re-opening ceremony attended by some local dignitaries was truly humbling. The cash we were able to raise gave the surgery the opportunity to purchase much needed medical supplies and even one special piece of machinery for carrying out specific examinations (can’t remember now what it was though!)…

Finally, we’ve been to Vai quite a few times now, as it’s in our ‘county’ of Lasithi here on Crete, but I still well remember our memorable first ever visit, which was once again during November, when the beach was clear of umbrellas and the only people around were locals…