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Normally when we
travel to another country for holidays, we make sure to eat in a local
restaurant or local cafe. We avoid
tourist spots because they are artificially expensive, but most of the
time these dishes are mass produced and have no taste whatsoever. We dined in a
nice local restaurant which our hotel owner recommended while holidaying in
Venice, Italy. It was an amazing culinary experience.
Well, we found a similar place in Crete. It's called Rhinoceros in Greek.
It’s Greek to me why they chose that name though. They pronounce it Rhinokeros. Our hosts were George Clooni lookalike (that's what he says)
Georgios Zervakis and his kind and always happy mother Fifika. Georgios reminded me Alexis Zorba - the main character of ksazanzakis novella- , in his opinions and general outlook on life.
Ines and I were just
going for a stroll and we thought to check the menu. It was already late and
they were about to close. Georgios offered to do a simple meal just on the spot
and I agreed. I ate risotto with mushrooms and Greek pasta. It was an excellent
dish. He also gave us some home made wine too.
The following day, we took our daughter Shakyra as well. The four days we
were in Crete we always went there to eat in the evening.
Fifika is always happy and smiling. She was making our tables and food
ready while Georgios was cooking. We had nice Greek folk songs in the
background. The Cafe is a small one, not grandiose. But food is amazing. He is very
good at doing grilled meat. But there is a good selection of vegetarian food. HGeorgios would cook anything, even if it is not on the menu. Well, I asked him to do some spaghetty bolognese. It was amazing too.
I gobbled down my food with homemade excellent raki, and Ouzo.
If you really want not very higly expensive but quality cooking, then this is
the place for you.
The name Santorini is said to be derived from the name of the Italian Saint Irene. Its original Greek name was Strogili, in the 16th-17th century BC (3600 years ago) a great earthquake called the Minoan explosion and the subsequent 600-foot tsunami completely destroyed the island and its settlements and Five islands named Santorini, Nia Kameni, Palaia Kameni, Aspronisi and Christiana have been created.
Due to the magnitude of the earthquake, a crater with a diameter of 20-40 km was formed and it was filled with sea water. That's what it looks like in the picture. This huge crater full of water is called caldera. Volcanic eruptions in this area started about two million years ago. There is still a dormant volcano on the island in the middle of the crater.
Also, the Minoans, who originally built settlements here, have completely perished because of this earthquake. We visited the settlements of Akrotiri and Knossos, the past glory of the Minoans and their palaces.
The destroyed city of Atlantis is also believed to belong to the Minoans.
Then the Phoenicians who settled here named it Kalisti. The Dorians of Sparta, who conquered it in the 9th century (2920 BC), named it after their general Theras, and a part of the island is still called Thera. It is said that the Christian soldiers who captured it during the fourth century crusade called it Santa Irini because there was a church of that name in Perissa.
The following pictures shows the ship we traveled reaching Santorini. The above named islands are also in the background.
After
arriving in Santorini, we rented a car. The taxi driver who took us said that
it was difficult for us to go to many places as there were very few buses. We learned
later, it to be true. He had taken us half way but turned back and came and
helped us to rent a car. He took us about halfway up the hill from the pier in
the picture above. He refunded us the taxi fare. He could have exploited
tourists like us, but he didn't.
The
first thing we did was to go to the hotel and leave the stuff and go to Stavros
Church. The caldera below can be seen well from its top. The church is in OIA,
which is about 30 minutes away from Fira where we stayed. When we stopped the
vehicle there, we saw that we can go up the mountain by donkeys. It is indeed a
difficult climb. We were tired and asked the person there about it. He said
that they were not donkeys but mules and he took us up for some money. From the
fifties to the seventies, tourists travelled on donkeys and mules. Before
starting the journey, he called his wife to offer us some homemade wine liqueur
by himself to drink and she also gave us a jam she made from dried grapes.
Although the donkeys travel very easily, we realized that it is not an
easy journey because if mule were to slip while walking on the edge of the
cliff, we will end up in the sea. But the view with the crater below is
absolutely beautiful
Many people climb this mountain not only because of the beautiful view of the caldera below. Because the charm of the setting sun can be seen very spectacularly. The sight of a ship sailing toward the sun seemed to me like going to an oblivion.
We came down the hill not on mules but on foot. Although it took more than half an hour, we could see better views of the crater. Also, the lava fragments and basalt rocks are still there after 3500 years. The wall I am holding is made of such basalt rocks.
On the way, we also met the parish priest. He stopped and chatted with us and he did not forget to bless our holiday.
I was enjoying the sea view while watching my daughter who is soon to be 20 playing wih her cousin who is 10 years old. Then I joined them with their 78 year old grandfather to throw stones at sea.
Elizebeth Of Russia (one of the most power full leaders of Russia)
When you look at the Russian and Ukranina history, one thing is clear. Both nations were born and bread by their Kievan mother. Both nations originated from Kiev.
2000 BC –
Nomadic Tribes (kurgans) – Called the Scytheans were in Russia , Bronze Age Cultures , They
were overrun by nomadic tribes
0650 AD -
Slavs (many tribes)
0800 AD
Vikings from Scandinavia (varangians) rowed up to Russia via Rivers Don, Dnieper
and Volga
0862 AD –
East Slavs selected Varangian Chief Rurik to be their Prince and he Created a
kingdom with the capital city as Novogorod
, Rurikids ruled Russia for 700 years, his people called themselves Rus and
named the land after them.
Important
part – Rurik’s Successor Oleg (Prince Oleg – 879-912) captured the Kiev making
it the capital of the state called Kievan Rus.
0988 AD - Vladimir
the Great (980-1015) converted to Orthodox Christianity (Still Kiev is the
capital) (both Ukraine and Russia adopted Christianity)
1040 AD –
Yaroslav the Wise (1019 – 1054) -Golden age of Kievan Rus. He conquered new
lands. He was credited for codifying the laws.One of the powerful states of Europe.
1054 AD –
kievan Rus disintegrated to princedoms (brothers fought among themselves)
1223 AD The
Mongolian Attack under Genghis Khan, Defeated Kievan Rus kingdoms, retuned back
1237 AD-
Mongol Army led by batu Khan overran the Kievan Rus and all the land (Cities of
Vladimir, Rostov, Kyazan, Kiev)- Novogorod submitted to Mongols so spared
1242 AD –
Alxander Nevsky from Novogorod defeated Teutonic Knights
1253 AD –
Mongol King (Tatars) – The Golden Hord ruled Kievan Rus and all the land (Under
the “Tatar yoke”)
1283 AD –
Nevsky’s son Daniel founded the Grand Principality of Moscow
1313 AD –
Tatars converted to Islam under Uzbek Khan
1362 AD – Grand
Duchy of Lithuania defeated the Tatars and conquered Kiev as well.
1380 AD At
Kulikovo battle s Grand Prince of Moscow Dmitri Donskoi also defeated the Tatars
1453 AD
Tatar empire (Golden Hord disintegrated) , Constantinople (Byzntine empire)
fell to Turkish Ottoman Empire
1478 AD –
Grand Prince of Moscow annexed Novogorod – Created first Russian State, At 1480
AD Ivan II defeated Tatars once for all.
1547 –
First tsar of Russia – Ivan Iv (Ivan the terrible) 1533-1584 . He was defeated
by Polish-Lithuanian Empire and Kiev was under the Commonwealth. (Livonian War)
Important-
1572 AD – Raiders from Crimean Khanate (Muslim) raided Moscow.But Russians defeated them the following
year. Cossacks were living in steppes.
1582AD –
Cossack led Russians defeated Tatars in Siberia
1598- Death
of Feodorov 1, end of Rurik Dynasty, Boris Godunov Became Tsar
1608 – 1613
AD- No ruler and Russia was in state of anarchy – Polish occupied Moscow,
Swedish- Novogorod, Prince Pozharsky
and Kuzma threw out Polish in 4th of November 1612 – Russian unity
Day
1613 –
Mikhail Romonov – First Tsar Romonov came to the throne. His son Tsar Alexei implemented
a new legal code
1649 -
Russian peasants (80% of them) became serfs (like slaves – No freedom to travel
or choose a master, They were objects belongs to landowners and lords)
1654
– Important – Ukrainian Zaporizhian Cossacks rebelled against Polish Lithuanian
commonwealth and accepted Russian tsar Alexei as their overlord and asked for
military support.
1667
– Russia fought under Tsar Alexi with Polish Lithuanian commonwealth for 13
years. Russia won and annexed Smolensk and Eastern Ukraine.(Now Donbas)
1686 –
Russia joined Holy War against Ottoman Empire (With England and France)
1688 –
Under Queen Sofia – Russia Signed the first treaty with China
Peter the Great
1689 – Peter
the I, became the ruler
1700
– War against Tukey was won at sea., Crimea became Russian Enclave and sea port
in black sea and Azov Sea (They had only Archangelsk) –by the treaty of Constantinople.
1712-
Russia fought together with Poland, Lithuania and Denmark – against dominant
power at the time Sweden. (Battle of Poltava), St Petersburg created.
1721- great
Northern war ended with Sweden’s defeat. Russia gained Baltic states at Sweden’s
expense. Peter the First became emperor and
Peter the Great.
1759 –
Russia’s Queen Elizabeth’s army defeated Prussian King Fredrick the Great’s army
1762 – Peter
the Third's wife, A German Princess Catherine became the Empress of Russia -
Catherine II – Russia defeated Ottoman empire (1768-74), Polish Lithuanian
commonwealth collapsed and Russia took the control of Poland until 1918.
1809 – Tsar
alexander 1 invaded Sweden and Finland then Finland came under Russia as an
Autonomous Grand Duchy
1812 – Napoleon
lost to Russia, then together with Britain and Prussia went up to Paris. Alexander
became King of Poland
1815 –
Russia invaded and occupied Georgia, Chechenia, Dagestan, Armenia, Azerbaijan
1828 Persia
(now Iran) lost the war with Russia and lost lot of territory to Russia. Russia
liberated Greece from Ottomans.
1854 –
Russia defeated Turks in Black Sea, Britain and France declared war against
Russia. (Crimean War) – Russia was
halted from further expansion after losing the port of Sevastopol.
1861 –
Abolition of Serfdom (Slavery)
1865-
Russia acquired new territory in central Asia – Tajikistan, Kirgizstan, Uzbekistan,
Turkmenistan. Russia sold Alaska to America (1867)
1877 – Russia
together with Bulgaria Faught with Turks again. But under international pressure gave independence
to many countries including Rumania, Bulgaria and Montenegro.
Lenin
1917 - Ukraine parted from Russian Empire in 1917 and until 1918 was semi-independent under German control. When Keiser fell in 1918 Ukraine became independent, but the power was coming from one rule to another. Eventially independent Ukraine was conquered by bolsheviks and that's how it became a part of the SU. (Maksim Kuzmin)
1917 – With
the first world war defeats, February revolution brought end to Tsar’s rule. Russia was now a republic. In October Bolsheviks
took power under Vladimir Lenin after the coup master minded by Leon Trotsky. Under Bolsheviks 15 Soviet republics were created. Ukrainian Soviet Socialist republic was created
with its capital as Kiev. Ukraine
became a country and republic within the Soviet Union.
1954
– 19th of February – Under the Soviet Leader Nikita Khrushchev Presidium
of the Supreme Soviet passed a decree transferring the Crimean oblast from
Russian Soviet socialist federation to Ukrainian soviet socialist republic.
Tsar Vladimir Putin the I
2014
(23-24 February) – Under the Tsar Putin 1 (or president Putin) Russian Federation
annexed Crimean Peninsula from the Independent Ukraine.
2022 (23-24 February) - Under the directive of Tsar Putin 1 ,
Russia recognized independence of two republics in Eastern Ukraine , which were under the Russian Empire in 1667 very first time.
