First dive of the season!

Have a nice summer!!!

Frangokastello Jazz Festival 2016

Cretan Jazz Mix by saxophonist Dimitri Vassilakis & violonist Maria Manousaki!!!

Date: Thursday, 28th of July, 2016
Venue: Frangokastello Fortress
Time: 21:30

Μίξη Κρητικής μουσικής με τζάζ απο το σαξοφωνίστα Δημήτρη Βασιλάκη & τη βιολίστρια Μαρία Μανουσάκη!!!

Ημερομηνία: Πέμπτη, 28 Ιουλίου, 2016
Τοποθεσία: Φρούριο Φραγκοκάστελλου
Ώρα: 21:30

Happy Greek Orthodox Easter!!!

Our blooming garden!

Sfakia - Σφακιά 17/04/2016

Low cloud concentration over Sfakia!

Χαμηλή νέφωση πάνω απο τα Σφακιά!

Have a nice month with a GIF!!!

In the foreground is Monachus Monachus Apartments' pool and cafeteria area, while in the distance you can catch a glimpse of Frangokastello fortress being illuminated by the cars' headlights!

Good morning sunshine!

Nothing beats morning climbing... up the cafeteria roof!

Blue Moon at Monachus Monachus Apartments!

Around 6 o'clock in the morning.

Monachus Monachus Apartments!

Foggy morning yesterday, gloomy day today!

Yesterday, morning...

Around 6:30 in the morning

...and a little bit later

Our parking area

Spot, if you can, Frangokastello's fortress on the right of this building (taverna)!

Today, evening...

Patsianos & Kapsodasos villages

To travel is...

Happy Monday, folks!!!

Kick your week off with a great view!
And if that doesn't work, add some caffeine in a funny mug!

Here's to the weekend..!

May at Monachus Monachus Apartments

Our preparation period, at least for the last six years, is usually in May. This is when we do all the pruning in the garden, we clean the pool and in general we run all day long to make it happen. So we thought it will be nice to share some of our most interesting moments. Enjoy!!!

Finished cleaning the pool and the deck around it. What a happy day as it means we can now start to fill it with water...

A couple of days later, admiring the weather early in the morning and thinking hmm...cloudy...

And then, while the pool was finally full, Sahara dust paid us a visit. Though, it did not rain for too long, you can see in the photo below how it is when the atmosphere is dust-laden, now imagine the aftermath in the tiles!

Next it was time for garden pruning. Well, sometimes that can be rewarding, yeah right, especially when you come upon a beautiful small nest hanging, literally, from an oleander's branches. 

It is hard to tell at that young age the type of the bird but I am guessing it is blackbird (Turdus Merula) due to the size and the position of the nest.

Unfortunately, the rain and the strong wind that followed these days did not help them survive. 

Thus, time passed and we reached our opening day, 1st of June. We prepared some chocolate treats for our first customers, yogurt-based to keep it on the healthy side!

And Greek yogurt with homemade apple marmalade, as breakfast supplement, some sugar there though!

Talk to you later...

DIY wooden pergolas

First of all, Happy New Year, all the best to you and your families. 

Usually we start the year with a photo wishing you Happy New Year but this time things were a little bit hectic. We decided to construct on our own two wooden pergolas to provide extra shade for the coffee house!!! Here are a few selected pictures of our work. We still have a lot to do but the weather is not playing nice at the moment. Lots of rain and strong cold winds, followed by snow on the mountains around the plateau, make it difficult to work outside.

These are the two metal pergolas we want to replace, on the right and left of the coffee house.

Disassembling the first one.

Indoor painting of wooden beams and purlins.

Installing the first ledger board.

Securing the posts and the corbels for the girders.

Girders in place.

Adding the rafters.

The same process will be followed in the second pergola.

Progress of the second pergola up to now.

6 meter rafters for the second pergola.

We will keep you up to speed with as many regular posts as possible, weather permitting.

Discover Loutro!

Loutro is a coastal village in Southern Crete, in Sfakia, accessible only by boat.

A small chapel carved in rock under the shadow  of Loutro's ruined fortress.

View from the boat to Chora Sfakion.

Galaktoboureko - Γαλακτομπούρεκο!!!

Just finding an excuse to consume sugar and share it with our guests!!!

Full Moon last night!!!

Dancing moments in Frangokastello fortress!

More photos will probably follow tomorrow. This one is from the celebrations, after the end of the open water swimming competition, in Frangokastello, Sfakia.

1st Open Water Swimming in Fragokastello - 1ος διάπλους στο Φραγκοκάστελο!

1st Open Water Swimming in Fragokastello
6th of July, 17:00pm
Adult 5500m and 1500m,
200m for children up to 15 years of age
Location: Fragkokastello fortress


Awards, traditional festivities and music - dancing will be held at Frangokastello fortress after the games!

Everyone is welcome :-)


1ος διάπλους στο Φραγκοκάστελο!
5500μ, 1500μ και παιδικός αγώνας 200μ για όλα τα παιδιά έως 15χρ!
Η απονομές θα γίνουν μέσα στο κάστρο όπου θα ακολουθήσει παραδοσιακό κέρασμα από τον Δήμο Σφακίων και τον Πολιτιστικό Σύλλογο Καλλικράτη ενώ θα μας διασκεδάσουν ο Γιώργος Πέτρακακης και ο Τάσος Μπουχλάκης με το συκρότημα τους, τον Αλέκο Κάπριδάκη στο μαντολίνο και τον Παντελή Ρεβελακης στο λαούτο!
Στην εκδήλωση συμμετέχει και ο Παραδοσιακός Μουσικοχορευτικός Σύλλογος Σφακίων "Τα Σφακιά"!

Source - Πηγή: Τzortzakis Μanolis' facebook page

Photos from the celebrations-awards can be found here - Για φωτογραφίες απο την εκδήλωση, πατήστε τον παρακάτω σύνδεσμο:

1st Open Water Swimming, Celebrations & Awards in Frangokastello, July 2014

Relax in Sfakia! - Χαλαρώστε στα Σφακιά!

Ilingas beach, is situated in Southern Crete, only a few minutes drive from Chora Sfakion. It has more than meets the eye. Swim to discover the two protected beaches nearby.

Η παραλία Ίλιγκας, βρίσκετε στη Νότια Κρήτη, μόλις λίγα λεπτά από τη Χώρα Σφακίων. Κρύβει εκπλήξεις. Εκτός από τις περίφημες σπηλιές της, κολυμπήστε για να ανακαλύψετε τις δύο παρακείμενες μικρές παραλίες.