The Mediterranean was once one
of the most important crossroads at the heart of
the ancient world. Today it has become a barrier
separating Europe from Africa. Is there anything left
of a past once shared? And what do today’s distinct
cultures have in common? Searching for answers, journalists
Sineb El Masrar and Jafaar Abdul Karim travel the coasts of the
Mediterranean, in search of answers. How do you see
yourself, as Tunisian Jew? Yes, with all my
rights and duties. How do you afford to
feed all these animals? God stands by us. This is an exploration of people and
their dreams - A Mediterranean Journey A mosque without a minaret, a
lighthouse like the ones in Venice and buildings with the names “Villa
Venezia“, “Il Padrino“ and “Casa Leone”? Where am I? One thing’s for sure,
we’re on the Mediterranean. On an island ruled by Italian trading
powerhouse Venice for 400 years. Ottoman influence
is also evident. Both left a lasting mark on
the architecture of the island, primarily in
the port towns. The answer: Crete. And Crete has
so much more to offer than tzatziki. Crete is the fifth largest
island in the Mediterranean. It lies south of the
Greek mainland. The capital
is Heraklion. My journey begins in Chania
in the west of the island. To be precise, in a tiny street called
Odós Skrídloff, or Leather Street. The stores here sell bags, belts
and shoes - all made in Greece. I could actually use a
new pair of sandals... Hello, I look for
something special sandals. I can make you
something like this. Oh, it looks like
Hermes Style. Yes, I like it. I would take it. Yes. Do I have to
take seat here? Have a seat and we
start to take the measures. With the socks? With the socks
is no problem. Georgios Pirpinakis still
makes everything by hand. The shoemaker begins by taking
the customer’s measurements. The sandals are made
in a factory on Crete a regional craft with
a long family tradition. I see also the
boots over there. They are warm. Why do you produce
boots here on Crete? This is the traditional
Cretan boots. When they make big dances, Cretan
dances, they dance with two uniforms. The one uniform
was the black Stivania, the other uniform was
with white Stivania. But in Greece there are a
lot of dances, different kinds Okay, because the
Greeks like dance? We like to
dance, yes. With my new sandals on, I leave
Chania for the Cretan hinterland. There are olive
trees everywhere! Greece is one of the world’s
top producers of olive oil, after Spain
and Italy. There are more than 30 M
million trees on Crete alone. The annual yield is between 150,000
and 180,000 tons. Some of that comes from Ióanna
Paraschakis’ olive oil factory. Most farmers don’t have their own
press and bring their harvest here. Now we are on the first mill,
your family worked a long, long time with
this kind of mill. Yes, it was running
with the donkeys. This is approximately
200 years ago. And now the donkey was hooked
on that long piece of wood there, so the donkey was rotating
and now those three stones were also rotating and they
were breaking the olives, this was making a
pulp with the seeds. How long it takes
to work like this? Timewise I don’t know, I’m estimating
approximately 6 Greek coffees. 6 Greek coffees? Yeah, now
I’m down to 1. So it’s a huge
difference. Harvesting was
also an arduous job. That’s what they
were picking with. And now they were
waiting for the olives to fall from the
trees to the ground. Ah, okay. Yeah and now you had two choices, you
could either pick them up one by one by hand or you can
have one of these. And now they were pushing
that on the ground like that. And now the olives were getting
stuck on those little needles and now when the wheel was rolling,
they’re being thrown into the bucket. Okay, cool. It’s harvest day on
Ioanna’s farm. These days, These days machines make fast
work of the process. So now that’s what
we harvest with today. And now that’s
a “small brush”, that’s the name of it and so
that’s held on the branches. So that just vibrates
the branches, and it makes the olives and
some leaves fall on the net that I put under the tree and
then you get on your knees and you pick the olives and the
leaves up in a bag or in a crate and they are brought
to the production line. Can you show me? I can’t show you,
my husband can. On Crete, harvesting
begins in November the olives are either picked
by hand, or using machines. First, the fruits are
cleaned and ground up. Then the oil
is extracted. When we’re talking about
the quality of the olive oil it has a lot to do with
the acid of the olive oil. Normally if you’re
having an “extra virgin”, you have to have
an acid under 0.8. The lower you go,
the better the quality. Okay, so zero... This is 0.3. Okay. Oh wow. Here we have a lot
of it, honey, we use it. In Germany you guys have
beer, in Greece we have olive oil. Okay. You said you do
everything with your olive oil, but sometimes
you bought olive oil from other productions
or the supermarket? Sweetheart, this
is a sacred product. I am married to a Greek man for 21
years if I cook with other olive oil, he’s gonna
divorce me. Not far from the olive oil plant is one of the island’s
most revered sites. The Arkadi Monastery
is a national sanctuary. In 1866, Cretan rebels
and their families sought refuge here from
Ottoman troops. Instead of surrendering, more
than 500 men, women and children made the ultimate
sacrifice: they blew themselves up. What makes me especially
sad is that this is a beautiful, peaceful place where things
are growing and flourishing. And the sad thing about this
place is that brutality and violence are so often found in so many
different corners of the world. The Arkadi
Monastery is still home to a secluded community
of Greek-Orthodox monks. On Sundays, the church
is open for prayer services. It’s also home to
a clowder of cats. My next stop
is Margarites a small inland town located
between Chaniá and Réthimno. Well, I’ve got an appointment
soon, but I’m also pretty hungry and I’ve got
a bit of time. I’ve spotted a taverna
and I’m going in. Good evening. Good evening. Can I get something
to eat here? Yes. Yes? OK, then I’ll
take a seat. Thank you. Can I help? Yes. Yes? OK. Thank you. Is this a main course
or an appetizer? That’s a meze. Before dining,
we eat mezes. Ah mezes, yes, I know
about that from Lebanon, from Morocco,
where my roots are. And what about Greece,
what do you eat here? Olives, stuffed vine leaves,
tzatziki, eggplant, zucchini... And olives,
I’ll help too. Great. What are we
making now? Tzatziki. Tzatziki, OK
let’s start. I’ll roughly grate
the cucumber. Mmmm, that smells
really good, very fresh. Yes, these are good cucumbers,
because they’re from Crete. Then we’ll
grate the garlic. garlic. OK. Garlic is very
good for you. So, it’s all nicely blended.
Shall I add the oil? Yes. Yes? OK. Lovely! It’s ready. May I? Yes. Yes! Thank you. After the meze
at Eleni’s taverna, I’m ready for my next appointment
at the Keramion pottery. Pottery is a craft that’s been
practiced on Crete for centuries. So, now I’m at the
pottery and straightaway, I’ve discovered two strange
objects, a cup with a hole in it and another item that looks vaguely
obscene, also with a hole in it. I’m going to ask the
owner for an explanation. The work of Giórgos Dalamvélas
blends the traditional and the modern. The artist works mainly with local
clay that only needs firing once. What are you
doing there? I try to make a little bottle. I’m using local clay, the black
quality, a mountain clay from here. I think it’s nice to try it
yourself. What do you think? Yeah, I
would like to. Please. Okay? Yeah, I’ll
come over. So, so we start. Always hands together,
from the center down. For the first time it’s
impossible for anyone. Okay, but now you
have a little shape, so now you have to
choose if you want to make it, to throw it up or you want to press
it from the inside to make it flat, that’s a dish,
that’s a plate. Okay, yeah, I would
like to try a dish, a plate. Stop. We need to put it
back in the center. When it starts dancing, ehm,
means that we have to stop. We have to cut it
and this is your pot. Okay, my oval pot. Yes. A work of art... highly
individual and unique. The workshop contains ceramics that
have been very useful for centuries. Every bottle they produce here,
they produce it for a special purpose. For example: Bottles
for olive oil and wine. This is for the honey,
they put the honey inside, they cover it with a bit
of cotton or a ceramic lid and around the rim here
they put everyday water. You know why
they put water here? No. What do you think? To
protect the honey from the? Ah, the
little bees? Ants. Ants, oh OK. Ameise likes honey very very
much. But they cannot swim. Another clever idea, the design comes
from 750 BC, I call it watering can. Because if you will press it
in the water for a few seconds, because of the pressure the
pot fills now from the bottom. Then we put our thumb on the top
of the can so you can hold the water, we can bring it where we
like it and we lift our finger the water falls
like a shower. Like a shower, yes. I’ve got a
new shower. 750 BC that’s
amazing, hm? Crete is the largest
Greek island. It has gorgeous stretches of
coastlines and charming port towns like Ágios Nikólaos interspersed
with picturesque mountainscapes. Huh, as you can see,
I’ve rented an e-bike so I can explore this beautiful
landscape in a different way, instead of on foot
or in a boring old car. Wish me luck! The five highest
peaks on the island are all up to 2500
meters above sea level. The coast is visible from
pretty much anywhere. Crete is home to a variety
of raptors, including bearded and griffon vultures, as
well as the rare golden eagle. From the capital Heraklion
in the north, I set off for Matala a coastal resort
steeped in history. The weather can be unpredictable
according to the season I’m here in
December. Right now I’m in
southern Crete. These are the
caves of Matala. There were loads of
hippies here in the 1960s. Many of them
came from the US, because they didn’t want
to go to war in Vietnam, but there were also a few
celebrities among them, including Bob Dylan
and Cat Stevens. These are the caves
where the hippies lived. Modern Matala is much
bigger than it was back then but the expansive sandy
beach hasn’t changed, neither have the old
fishermen’s houses converted into bars and restaurants. Not far from Matala is the
mountain village of Kouses. The strings of
chilis look amazing. But I’m looking for
a particular spice. I’m looking for little, small
pink berries. Do you have some? Yes, we have some. Wonderful. Yes yes yes, I would love
to buy a little, small bag. This store called Botano,
run by Yannis Giannoutsos, smells of local herbs such
as thyme and oregano, but also of exotic spice
blends transported here by sea from
faraway places. But do you have
more pepper sorts? I can show
you some. Yeah? Okay,
I would love to. Be careful, because
it’s a little bit hot. Okay, put it
in my hand. A little bit. Stop. Mhm stop. It starts to fire
in my mouth. Are you interested
only for peppers? Or No, of course, let me
see what you have. It’s like
something... Ah, lemon
salt. Okay. Oh, okay, it
smells like... Pure lemon. Ja, the lemon cake of my
“tante”, ehm of my aunt. It’s very
intense and Ah, very good. So we can make the
salt how you want it. I would like to put
some lemon in it. Is that possible? Yes, we can choose a quantity,
you can choose your own quantity. Okay. Can I add
some chili flakes? It tastes and
looks cool. It looks
like saffron. It’s really important
to also how it looks. And we have to
find a name for this. Sineb’s lemon
chili heaven. Lemon chili
heaven, na super! Over a cinnamon tea, Yannis
tells me that the spice store used to be
the village pub. Today, there’s only healthy
drinks and spices for sale here, attracting not only tourists, but
customers from the Greek mainland too. It was my hobby. I started to cultivate my own
“basilikum” and my own kind of “Mint”. And we have an
organic cultivation. Slowly we made
it biodynamic. We have to leave something
for our kids, for this planet. Yes, the following
generation. Yes, I hope, I believe
that we will do it. Inshallah... How did
you say that? Inshallah, when uhm,
inshallah is an Arabic word... Yes, I know it from
the North, we use it. Ah you
use it, okay. Yes, inshallah
means something. If god wills it,
that’s inshallah. Bravo, inshallah. The Cretans call their
land the “island of the gods”, the supposed
birthplace of Zeus. They believe that the largest Greek
island harbors great positive energy. And nothing should be
allowed to interfere with that not even
climate change. That’s why these two scientists Ioannis
Daliakopsulos and Anargyros Sideris are working on a project to
help the agricultural sector weather the effects
of global warming. Everything’s fine, the second
conceived connections are solid. What is it here? This is a
microclimate station; this is used to measure earth
temperature and humidity. And there are also
underground sensors. With this
cable here? The underground sensor
measures also the soil temperature. Why is it so important to know more about the
temperature inside the earth? These two aspects
are important, because they deal with water quality
and water quantity in your shore. As I discovered
earlier, Crete is an olive growing stronghold
in the Mediterranean region. The industry uses almost
85% of freshwater reserves. Because of the extreme
heat the soil moisture was lost and then the
connectivity was lost. This can become
a really big problem, especially when you don’t
have this ground covered. Then this will
eventually erode away and you end up to a state
that is called desertification. It’s also not to just,
ehm, climate change is not just the problem of trees
and nature it’s a huge problem. No, it’s a
social problem. Droughts, water shortage
these are pressures that eventually
drive migration. I think it’s a huge problem in
the whole Mediterranean area. Currently we’re running a project
with other Mediterranean countries outside Europe that involves
Morocco, that involves Israel. To bring all these
countries together, exchange know-how and
understand what the problems are and how we’re gonna
solve it in the same way. Community is
important for the Greeks, and dance plays a key role in
fostering this sense of belonging. Traditional Greek dancing as a symbol of national
identity gained global fame in the 1960s with the movie
“Alexis Sorbas”, set in Crete. Mikis Theodorakis
composed the Sirtaki music that gets everyone’s
feet twitching. You have danced
so beautifully. Thank you. Welcome. Most people think about Greece
they often think also about Sirtaki. I would love to learn
a little bit of Sirtaki. Would you teach me? Sure, I’d love to,
come with me, yes! Your hands here, and one,
two, three, four, five. One, two, one,
two, very good Hello! Hello! What are you doing,
are you dancing? Yes, do you
want to join in? I’d love to. Come on then.. Antonia Pantelaki has been
teaching in Archanes for many years. She’s so good
at her job, she’s even managed to teach ME
the island’s most famous dance... So, my trip to Crete
has drawn to a close. What did I like
most about it? The way people here feel
so connected to their island, for example when
they’re dancing sirtaki. It’s such a fantastic
mood-booster, I’m really happy I was able
to learn some of the steps. And now I really do understand
why people come back here, I’ll certainly be
doing the same. And above all I
understand princess Europa, abducted by Zeus and
brought to this island. Instead of returning home to
her father, she opted to stay!
