This is going to be my last post about Crete and my time there. It is not going to be long, but I hope (and think) it will contain everything you want to know. Otherwise, just ask me. 

So, I spent almost one third of the year 2013 on Crete working as a horsebackriding guide. The time on Crete was filled with new experiences and people - some of the memories will last for life, hopefully also a few friends.

I really enjoyed my stay on Crete, even though the work was stealing most of my time there. Being with horses every day is something very special, and I definitely loved to work with these beautiful creatures. I will most probably return to Crete one day to work on the farm. 

At the moment I am still very happy to be on my way home, not only because I miss Finland, but because the work was quite hard the last few weeks. Now I am in Aarhus in Denmark visiting Julia, who was working with me on Crete for five weeks. 

Until January I do not have any plans, so I will have to see what life brings me. 

This blog is finished for now, but you will never know what happens. I might have another reason to write a blog at some point, so keep your eyes open! 

~Anna

It has been so busy these last weeks, so I did not have time to write any blogposts. I am leaving Crete on Thursday at 6:35 am, so I will write as soon as possible again!

~Anna

The last week has been very busy at the stables. Long hours of work and riding. Today we are probably going out for dinner, since Karen in leaving on Tuesday. Then I will be alone the last two weeks of October. My father is coming on the 18th, and he has promised to help out at the stables as much as he can, so maybe that will make it a bit easier on me. 

I am really looking forward to starting my journey home on the 31st of October. It is going to be amazing to visit Julia in Aarhus in Denmark, and then go to Sweden and maybe get to visit Johanna in Uppsala. Then I will meet the second Julia in Stockholm, and we will go by boat together to Turku. 

Yesterday there was an earthquake here, not very far away from where I live. I did not notice it though, because I was driving the car when it occured. Kristy told me that she had been in her appartment when it started, and everything was shaking. I would have liked to experience the earthquake now, when I had the chance, but of course I did not feel anything.. Now Kristy confirmed that we are going out for dinner with Karen, so I have to pay and leave the café quite soon. I will try to write something again soon, but I cannot promise anything.

~Anna

Actually, I would be more correct, if I said "Stormy morning". I had my alarm about 10 minutes away from waking me up, when Kristy calls me and says she has cancelled the rides. I could clearly hear, that the weather outside was not the best for riding; the wind is extremely hard and you can hear things moving in the wind and hitting stuff. Well, then she asked how fast I can be ready, and I with my still sleeping brain said my normal +30 minutes. She said she could go alone then and it did not help when I said that I will manage in 10 to 15 minutes. Now she has gone out in that rageing storm to clean at the stables and I am sitting here with nothing to do, because of course I am completely awake now. 

The weather outside is very much like an autumn storm in Scandinavia. The wind is blowing with a huge power moving stuff around, creating all kinds of noices. Everything I had hung outside either to dry up or because of the smell was lying on the ground. It is not raining though. Just a few small drops was everything I could feel on my face during my short stay outside when I was checking that my shoes and the bike Teri lend me are at their places. What I could feel, was, that the wind felt unusually warm. Apparently the wind is coming from the south, which makes this autumn hurricane not even the slightest chilly. Well, of course it is easy to say when you are sitting inside writing on your computer and sipping your hot tea..

Sometimes it sounds like the wind stopped blowing, but then it continues. It is annoyingly hot in the studio at the moment, but I do not want to open the windows because of the sounds that are coming from outside. I am not saying they are scary, but annoying they definitely are. Annoying is also the fly inside here flying around. Yesterday I already killed about five or six flies. I cannot believe there is more! 

Work is as usual, apart from that it seems to be that we have the most crazy people in the end of the season. That is, of course, a minor detail. Swedish Sofia has stayed in Georgioupolis for 10 days, and she has been really helping a lot at the stables. She was guiding many rides, and then I could stay at the stables and clean with (or without) Kristy. It has also been nice to speak some Swedish! And more Swedish will I speak from the 18th of October, when my dad is coming. He will stay here with me at the studio for one week. 

Now, when I really have time to write, I could introduce all the horses at the stables to you.

Aiko - Big, dark and really nice to ride. He is almost only used for guiding. I cannot remember one single time he would have gone out with a customer. Aiko came from Poland a few years ago, and was doing showjumping there. 

Akira - Grey, pony-sized, but not ponyish at all! Akira is a very good guide-horse as well as a good horse for customers. She is secure and comfortable to ride. She also came from Poland at the same time as Aiko. Akira is a Polish pony.

Alithis - A brown-coloured grandpa. Alithis is very sweet, but not cuddly. In the field he is the big boss, but when you walk him through the stables, he is unsure. Alithis only goes on beginner rides, and he is very good at what he is doing. The only thing he does not like is smelly garbage.

Amatore - Amatore is our dark-brown sweetheart. He always has a very sincere expression and likes to cuddle. Customers like him, and we do too. 

Amigo - Aiko's best friend, and very much like Aiko also. Amigo is a little bit more jumpy, than Aiko, but still a very good guideing-horse. He came with Aiko and Akira, and was also doing showjumping before. 

Amir - Half Arab is what I know he is. Amir is a sweet horse, but it takes some time for him to like to cuddle. He is a bit lazy when you ride him, but he listens best to the voice and the seat. The colour of Amir is brown. Amir came with Aiko, Akira and Amigo.  

Artemis - She is the latest project for Team Zoraïda's. 4,5 years old, and lovely to ride. She still needs a very good rider, because of her young age. Artemis is almost black. 

Athila - Athila is Sifi's stallion.

Bonito - Bonito looks like a Welsh pony. He is white and a bit older. 

Capitanos - Capitanos is also a stallion, but he is not used for anything at the moment. 

Chiquita - Big and black, lovely to ride. Chiquita is a beautiful lady, very sensitive and responding. 

Erato - Erato is a Cretan horse. She is extremely comfortable to ride, even though she is quite small. Cretan horses know how to do pass and tölt, and this is what makes Erato so nice to ride. She is white.

Haffi - Haffi is a Haflinger. He is very playful and naughty, if you let him do what he wants. He is also one of our two swimming-stars.

Harry - Red-brownish in colour, very fuzzy hair and personality. Harry is a pony, who likes to eat and eat and eat. He is very cute. 

Inshalah - Inshalah is a beginner horse, because on the beach he goes wild. On the beginner rides he is doing brilliant. He is brown with a black fuzzy mane. 

Jameela - Jameela is our bald beauty. This means that she has no mane and a very short tail. She is still very beautiful with her white-grey colour and differently shaped head. Jameela is wonderful to ride, but is quite young, and needs a secure rider. 

Latitsia - She is our Black Beauty. Latitsia is a Friesian horse. She is 23 years old, and the other swimming-star. Latitsia loves to cuddle. 

Manoli - Manoli is our Shetlandpony. He is very cute and steals a lot of hearts. He only goes out now and then with small children on the beginner rides. 

Nefeli - Nefeli has the colour of bricks, and is a lovely horse. She is one of the easiest to ride. 

Penelope - Penelope looks like Akira, because she is also a Polish pony. They came at the same time. Penelope is more difficult to ride than Akira, because she likes to play on the beach. Otherwise she is very sweet.

Rocky - Rocky is a good guide-horse. He is white and very, very sweet. He is afraid in the stable and sometimes when he is locked outside. Rocky is good to ride on hard ground. 

Rosi - Rosi is a very sweet, white horse. She had a foal in february, Alicia. (Alicia is very cute, and she is already going from black to white.) Rosi is a real mother-character. 

Spirit - 3,5 years of Caramel colour. Spirit is in my opinion the sweetest horse at the stables. You could cuddle with him for hours. He is being trained at the moment.

Tchoco - Tchoco is the son of Nefeli. He is also very easy to ride. Tchoco was born chocolate-brown, but now he is white. (A white horse is never born white, always black or brown.)

~Anna

Hello!

I am sorry that I have not been very active on the blog. Today I will do a picture-post with small texts for every picture. 

Here is Angelique and Karen. We were having a small lunch the day before Angelique flew back to Paris and to school.

A&A from the same day at Tropicana. 

This is from the day I went to Lake Kournas with my mum and aunt. Lake Kournas is located a few kilometers south from Kavros. Very nice place, so I recommend you to pay a visit, if you ever come to Crete.

A mojito I had at the lake (and my aunt's hand).

A mountain-view picture from the middle of the lake. (We had a paddleboat for one hour and went swimming from it in the lake.)

A donkey on the shore.

Karen with two of our customers on a beachride. 

As the last picture you get a picture of my cut and soon-to-be-eaten vegetables. Well, actually of the pacman-tomatoes eating the cucumbers..

~Anna

There is a change in the blog, as you might already have noticed. I am going to write in English in the future, because it takes quite a lot of time to write in both Finnish and Swedish, and since I also have some friends, who do not understand any of the two languages. 

Life is going on here as usually. Last Thursday my mom and aunt left Crete after a one week holiday here in Georgioupolis. Marko also quit working at the stables and went back to Athens with his wife, so we are one less now. Today I have the evening off, and tomorrow I am also free in the morning, so I am spending my afternoon in the cafe for the Internet, and when my computer runs out of power, I will head to the beach. 

The 22nd of September my friends Emilia and Saara are going to come to Crete. They are staying in a small village called Maleme, so they will probably only visit me for one or two days. I am going to take them out on a beach ride, since they have both been riding for several years. It is going to be nice to share some parts of my work here with friends from home.

Now I will head off to the beach. I will try to be a little bit more active here, but sometimes it is hard, when I don't have wi-fi at the studio anymore. 

~ Anna

Nyt Suomessa on jo melkein syksy. Tuntuu hassulta, sillä täällä on täysi kesä. En osaa kuvitella, että Suomessa jo illat viilenee ja on pimeämpää. Kun palaan kotiin, on varmaan hallaa öisin. Istun mun ja Julian kantakahvilassa. Tultiin aina tähän netin takia. Eilen Terri toi mulle polkupyöränsä, jota ei käytä, jonka iltatallin jälkeen polkaisin pimeässä kotiin. Eikä kestänyt, kuin 15 min! Pitää ostaa lukko, jotta uskallan jättää sen kaupan ulkopuolelle, kun teen ostoksia. Tällä hetkellä väsäsin siihen rautalangasta ja matkalaukun lukosta pienen lukon, jotta pyörä ei ole täysin lähtövalmiina, jos joku siihen päättäisi koskea. 

Hollantilainen Karen muutti eilen mun seuraksi asuntoon. Tänään aamulla mulla oli vapaata, joten valmistelin tämän päivän ruokaa; kanaa valkosipuli-hunaja marinaadissa. Tein siis marinaadin itse ja nakkasin suikaloimani kanan rintafileepalat vanhaan jugurttipurkkiin soosin kanssa. Iltatallin ei pitäisi olla kovikaan kiireinen, vain kolme hevosta. 

Varasin pari päivää sitten lennon Tanskaan lokakuun viimeiselle päivälle. Käyn Julian, tytön joka oli täällä reilun kuukauden, luona kylässä Århusissä. Sitten tulen kotiin joko Ruotsin kautta, tai lennän suoraan Tanskasta. On vähän huvittavaa, että maksan itse lennosta vähemmän, kuin matkalaukuistani. Mutta minkäs sille voi, kun lentää halpalentoyhtiön lennolla. 

Höst

Nu är det nästan höst i Finland. Det känns konstigt, för här är det fortfarande full sommar. Jag kan inte tänka mig, att det redan blir kallare om kvällarna i Finland och att mörkret faller tidigare. När jag återvänder hem har vi säkert frost om nätterna. Jag sitten på mitt och Julias standard café. Vi kom alltid hit för nätet skull. Igår kom Terri till stallet med en cykel som hon inte använder. Jag trampade hem den i mörkret efter kvällsstallet och det tog inte längre än 15 minuter! Jag bör nog köpa ett lås så att jag vågar lämna cykeln utanför affären när jag handlar. Nu har jag ett litet fjuttigt lås av ståltråd och det lås jag har på resväskan, så att cykeln inte följer med första tjuven.

Holländska Karen flyttade in igår med mig i lägenheten. Idag på morgonen hade jag ledigt, så jag förberedde dagens mat; kyckling marinerat i vitlök-honung marinad. Jag gjorde alltså marinaden själv, strimlade kycklingen och lade allting in i en gammal youghurtburk. Enligt Kristy har jag bara tre hästar för kvällens tur, så det kommer inte att vara jäktigt. 

Jag bokade ett flyg till Danmark för några dagar sedan för den sista dagen i oktober. Jag skall besöka Julia, tjejen som jobbade här med mig i en dryg månad, i Århus. Sedan kommer jag hem antingen via Sverige eller flyger rakt från Danmark. Det är lite skrattretande att jag betalar midre för själva flyget, än för mitt baggage. Men vad kan man göra, då man flyger med ett billigt bolag.

~ Anna

Bilder.

~ Anna

Istun syömässä lounasta kotona; tuorepastaa paistetun paprikan, sipulin, herkkusienien ja pienen tomaattikastikkeen jämän kanssa. Eilen Julia lähti aikaisin aamulla takaisin Tanskaan. Ikävä on, mutta kyllä me vielä nähdään. Tähän väliin voin mainita, että Apulannan Paha Ihminen lähti soimaan tietokoneelta. Mukava pieni muistutus kotisuomesta!

Kaikki sujuu täällä kuten ennen, eli hyvin. Onnistuin kuitenkin satuttamaan vasemman käsivarren, joten sitä koristaa kaunis mustelma. Ei kuitenkaan mitään vakavempaa. Töitä olen tehnyt tavalliseen tapaan. Tänään illalla Zoraïda'silla on täys hulabaloo, koska hevosia lähtee tallustamaan 18. Saa nähdä, josko kaikki sujuu ongelmitta.. Tänään aamulla sain viedä mukavan Suomalaisen tytön keskitason ryhmässä rannalle. Oli kivaa jutella vaihteeksi suomeksi ja ratsastaa kahdestaan jonkun kanssa. Huomenna on päiväretki ja uiminen. Tällä hetkellä tiedossa on kolme osallistujaa, joten ei sen suurempaa porukkaa. 

Tallilla on viimeaikoina auttanut Englantilainen nainen, Terri. Hän asuu täällä miehensä kanssa, ja auttaa aina silloin tällöin tallilla, kun sille on tarve. Terri kertoi, että hän vuokraa kahta huonetta talossaan, joten saattaa hyvinkin olla, että pidän oman minilomani töitten loputtua siellä! Nyt alan tiskaamaan ja siivoan vähän, koska huomenna sillä välin, kun olen vetämässä päivä retkeä, Hollantilainen Karen saapuu. En halua, että paikka näyttää sikolätiltä.. 

Dag 44

Jag sitter hemma och äter lunch; fräsh pasta med stekt paprika, lök, champinjoner och en liten snutt tomatsås. Igår åkte Julia hem till Danmark tidigt på morgonen. Jag saknar henne, men vi ska nog ses igen. Jag kan också nämna att Apulantas Paha Ihminen började spelas upp från datorn. En trevlig liten påminnelse om hem och Finland!

Allt är fortfarande lika bra här som förut. Jag lyckades trots allt skada min vänstra arm, så den pryds av ett vackert blåmärke. Inget allvarligt dock, så jag har arbetat som vanligt. Idag kommer det att vara fullt cirkus på Zoraïda's, för vi har 18 hästar som ska ut. Får se om allt går till utan problem. I morse fick jag ta ut en trevlig flicka från Finland som bokat sig in på medium gruppen. Det kändes bra att kunna prata finska med någon. Dessutom var det bara vi två, vilket också var skönt. I morgon har jag en heldagsritt med simning att guida. Hittils har vi bara tre deltagare, så inte en för stor grupp.

Under de senaste veckorna har vi haft en hjälpreda på stallet, en Engelsk kvinna, som heter Terri. Hon bor här med sin man, och hjälper till på stallet då det behövs. Terri berättade att hon hyr ut två rum i sitt hus, så det kan hända att jag har min mini-semester där, när jag slutat jobba. Nu ska jag diska, för imorgon under tiden jag är på heldagsritten, kommer Holländska Karen att anlända. Jag vill inte att lägenheten ser ut som en svinstia..

~ Anna

Några bilder.

~ Anna