Lighthouse and kegs, Chania Harbor
Virtual Volta: Spotlight on Crete
by At-Large Rep, Gina Billy
DAGR’s Virtual Voltas connect our members-at-large with each other – and also, with members living in the Athens and Thessaloniki Chapter areas.
Hosted by our Reps-at-Large, Daniel and Gina, the April 11th Volta spotlighted Crete and also highlighted the value and “fun factor” of these regular virtual meetups.
Following the “say hello and introduce yourself” warm-up that begins every Virtual Volta, the ten members in attendance began sharing their reasons for either visiting Crete – or deciding to move to the island permanently.
“The climate!” “The mountains and the sea!" "History – especially, Minoan!” and “Cretan Roots” were the top Crete motivators members named. Cretan culture and food and its "Wild West” flair received honorable mentions.
Crete: Home to circa 650,000 people - and approximately 2.74 million sheep!
Participants went on to give each other tips and insights about things they love doing on Crete, places to visit on the island (and a few to avoid). Those who call Crete home also talked about what “Cretan Life” is like for them in their various locations spread over the island.
Epiphany on Crete: The water is icy in winter, even in the south of Greece!
With the ice well broken, this Volta-ing veered away from Crete towards more personal topics. For example, one member who lives in a quite isolated part of Crete shared how much they were enjoying this volta because it gave them the chance to speak English with other native speakers.
Aghios Nikolaous: Less well known than the bigger towns, totally charming!
Another member was curious about whether anyone had advice about the best airlines and routes for travelling between Greece and the US west coast. This question prompted a fruitful discussion with members sharing the ins and outs of various airports. (e.g. Choose Munich over “huge” Frankfurt as a stopover; consider flying via Iceland.)
However you get to or from Crete, the beach beckons casual come summer.
“The time flew by,” as one participant shared afterwards – but not before the group had held lively exchanges about:
- getting out the vote in November!
- the media’s role in shaping political viewpoints and winning/losing elections
- the eventual formation of a DAGR chapter on Crete
At-Large Reps meet up on Crete: Have ideas, will travel ... to your part of Greece!
Gina and Daniel will be following up on the “Crete Chapter” goal and are happy to announce that the next Virtual Volta will take place on Wednesday, June 5th from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. RSVP link to come!
Before we go, one last glance at Crete, serene at sunset.
