The Wine-Dark Sea: A Mountain Crete Retreat

Traffic on main street in Axos

J: Before leaving the US, G bought a copy of a food magazine -- Saveur -- because it was the "The Greece Issue". In the list of resources in the back, there was a mention of Enagron, a farm and cooking school in a villiage called Axos in the remote mountains of Crete (see www.enagron.gr). We took a bus from Agios Nikolaos back to Heraklion, then a cab to a different bus station on the other side of town. The cab driver knew the village, but didn't think there was bus service, and he offered to drive us to Axos for 50 Euros. We checked at the ticket office in the bus station and yes, there is one bus each day for 6 Euros.

Axos at the upper right and Enagron at the lower left

It was a wild 1-1/2 hour ride up into the back country, through rocky gorges and winding up into the center of Crete. Axos is a one street town, population 200, and when we got off the bus we had no idea which direction to Enagron. While we were standing in the street, a car stopped and Marcel, a kindly older gentleman, asked in very broken English if we needed help. When we mentioned Enagron, he looked at our three suitcases, guitar and two backpacks and said, "Problem". Enagron was about a kilometer away, down a very steep canyon. So he drove about a block away to empty out his trunk at his house and squeezed all our bags into his car and drove us down to Enagron. He was a most welcome bit of luck!

Our building

G: We could see the cluster of buildings that makes up Enagron and as we approached, we noticed each building was different from the next including the largest one which houses the reception, office and living room and balcony upstairs and the kitchen, dining room and outdoor dining room below. Although the buildings, including guest rooms, look deceivingly small from the outside, inside are cathedral ceilings, thick stucco walls. And the placement of the buildings make it appear to be a small village nestled on a hillside just above river canyon with the village of Axos perched high above us on a ridge. We noticed immediately how absolutely quiet the mountains are except for goats outfitted with bells that echo across the canyon.

The owners had a vision 10 years ago to create a mountain retreat in which the guests would feel a part of a "village" surrounded by olive and fruit trees, vineyards and produce, all organically grown and prepared by the kitchen staff. And there are goats, sheep and donkeys too. It apparently is a very popular place for families searching for a "farm experience" in July and August, with its 32 rooms in all--but just a few guests here now in late September.

We ate well and watched cheese being made (wine vinegar added to boiling sheep's milk creates the curds) as well as moussaka. When we approached the kitchen/patio, our favorite server and kitchen helper, Afrodite, would always greet us with "Kalimera!" (Good Morning"), followed by "Tell Me" in English, which is "what can I bring you?" Her husband works as a shepherd with a flock of sheep.

We spent the week hiking to various destinations with other guests: Polish and Americans. The resort provides good maps of the area and a Dutch woman (the only non-Greek employee) leads informative walks "in nature". Lots of steep ups and downs.

J: We had a wonderful time at a beautiful place and certainly enjoyed getting to know some very interesting new friends. The week flew by!

Here are some photos from our time at Enagron in Axos, Crete: