quintinus (10. 259)

Venerated with a feast on the calendar of saints on this day, marking his martyrdom by beheading whilst on his way to trial in Reims, the capital city of Gallia Belgica, for proselytizing Christianity in the late third century, Quentin of Amiens, was charged by the prefect Rictovarus (the province’s vicarious, a deputy, a vicar) whom under the reign of Diocletian (see previously) is cited as a the persecutor of thousands of the faith community—before converting himself and put to death, at least by tradition though that may be a pious fiction, and subjected to torture though refused to relent. Unceremoniously tossed in the Somme, his body was first miraculous discovered by a Roman woman visiting the region on pilgrimage—her sight restored—and then again in the seventh century by Saint Eligius who established a permanent shrine which became the basilica of Saint-Quentin. For no particular reason that I can fathom, Quentin is invoked against sneezes and coughs and dropsy (edema, water retention) and is the patron protector of chaplains, locksmiths (see above), porters, tailors and surgeons.

8x8 (10. 258)

♄iii: a 1980 Kirk Douglas, Farrah Fawcett sci-fi vehicle about colonising Triton by Star Wars set designer John Barry  

le forme variabili: a comprehensive guide to pasta selection  

christ stopped at eboli: an abandoned village in Basilicata—via Things Magazine  

the consent of the governed: as a platform, Twitter is a train wreck despite itself 

sessile by nature: Charles Darwin documents movement in plants—via Nag on the Lake’s Sunday Links—see previously  

here an anteater that also appears to be some sort of quail in a sweater: an AI virtually, humanely dresses up cats in costumes for Halloween—see previously  

dead man’s body buffet: spaghetti is the creepiest food  

earth minus zero: a 1996 “Honey I Shrunk the Kids” with Sam Jones, Pat Morita and Joey Travolta

how-to-draw (10. 257)

Via the always excellent Present /&/ Correct, we were delighted for the introduction and sketching exercises to be found in Ed Emberley’s 1973 Little Drawing Book of Weirdos, the prolific illustrator and graphic designer especially lauded for his children’s picture books. Believing anyone can learn to draw, that not everyone has the calling or necessarilily needs to be an artist but no one should ever feel inadequate in their attempts to represent or convey, Emberley’s style of instruction employs letters, shapes and numbers and titles include Green Says Go, Flash, Crash, Rumble and Roll, Suppose You Met a Witch and Glad Monster, Sad Monster.

arrivals and departures lounge (10. 256)

On our final day in Crete after checkout and waiting for our flight, we returned to the beach at Stavros that we explored on our first day and took the hike up the rocky hill to Lera Cave, the cavern opening where the cliff-face went from steep to vertical, affording amazing views of the village below and the rougher sea beyond, a comprehensive look back at where we stayed.

We made the climb unscathed but it was a bit more demanding, like the descent to Seitan Limania, and well worth the concluding adventure.

level 42 (10. 255)

Was really pulling for my Team Europe to pull into the lead—albeit this is a strangely weighted scale given that we’ve resided in three different Bundesländer, had extended stays in different regions within several of these countries and have been there on vacation multiple times (plus discounting the other two dozen nations in North America), but nonetheless—courtesy of Maps Mania, we enjoyed tallying places we’ve lived, made holidays or just transited through. There are expanded, more cosmopolitan versions to be found at the link up top. Do let us know your score.

unblogged crete (10. 254)

A few bits of miscellaneous reflections on traveling in Crete that didn’t quite fit elsewhere: Like the German practise of erecting crosses at the roadside to memorialise a tragic death in an auto accident, in Greece, they use these miniature concrete churches, often with a small shrine inside to those lost and are mass-produced.

There are cats everywhere that belong to no one and will congregate around one at a restaurant, and generally have very good table manners and will not beg or harass but will sit quietly and mildly look at you.

Far more intense and immersive than a cat cafe, only once when we were the sole guests at a criminally under-partonized establishment did they bother us, until an older woman riding a motorbike arrived and with distinct Ernest Hemingway Martha Gellhorn energy produced a bag of cat food and proceeded to portion it out on the railing and announcing that she wanted to eat in peace and requested the waiter bring her “fish and white wine.”

There is also seemingly a preponderance of distressed and half-finished property developments, single-family homes ready for a second storey but with stairwells to nowhere, skeletal foundations, uncompleted resorts and obviously orphaned restaurants. Such commercial ruins make a strange landscape.

άπτερα (10. 253)

On the south shore looking back over Souda Bay, there is an ancient settlement that enjoyed strategic importance from Minoan through Hellenistic times and to the modern day given the nearby Greek and NATO military bases, called Aptera—without feathers—owing to the legend that Hera, Queen of the Gods, convinced the Muses and the Sirens to a song contest, with the former sister-act handily beating the latter, the Sirens being so upset by losing that they rent their feathers a wings, dusting the Λευκά Όρη (White Mountains) with them and plunged into the sea.

The archaeological remains of site mostly date to the Roman occupation and include a cistern and baths and an impressive amphitheater. Visiting on Oxi Day (Επέτειος του Όχι, the Anniversary of the ‘No’)—marking the date that Greece refused the ultimatum issued by Benito Mussolini and resistance to fascism during World War II, entry was free as well as the bit of history and the more contemporary couching. On same high plateau of Paliokastri, there was also the Kule (Castle) of Subashi with a view of the Ottoman Izzedin Fortress below.

In the area we also toured the monastery of St George (Μοναστήρι Άγιος Γεώργιος) outside of Βάμους (Vamos) with tranquil small church and old olive presses that highlight pre-industrial extraction with millstones and frails, the round bags used for squeezing the pulp.

We got to sample some of their bread and olives afterwards.

ακρωτήρι (10. 252)

Staying on the Akrotiri peninsula and not far from the Holy Trinity monastery we visited earlier, we embarked on a long trek down to the sea and back from the grounds of fourteen century Gouverneto Monastery (Our Lady of the Angels, Μονή Γουβερνέτου)—among the oldest and most extensive religious communities on the island.

A paved pilgrims’ path leads to a cave called Arkouditissa (cave of the She Bear, owing to the appearance of the stalagmite pulpit) that was once a place dedicated to the worship of Artemis but is now a retreat for the monks to pray in solitude.

Though not expecting the trail down the gorge to be this much of a challenge, we made it passed the ruins of a pre-Schism church and cloister called Katholiko and down the craggy cliffs to a cove with turquoise waters that channels out to the open sea.