http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/living/travel/15156301.htm Make a healthy choice -- Crete They live long lives on this Greek island, where it's warm and the olive oil flows JOHN BORDSEN Travel Editor Peter Fletcher, 63, is from Windsor, England. For the last 6 1/2 years, he has lived in Modi, a village on the Greek island of Crete, where he runs www.cretanproperty.com, a site for foreigners who want to buy property on the Aegean island. Q. What's the attraction for Crete? The weather. It's very warm during summer, quite mild during winter. Right now, at 8 p.m., it's still 24 outside (75 degrees Fahrenheit); it will go down to about 20 (68); during the day in July, it's in the mid-30s (95) on average. In winter, average daytime high is about 15 (59) with a night temperature of 8 to 10 (46-50). Q. Crete is famous for ancient ruins; are there any where you live? I live on the northwest side of Crete. The capital is Heraklion, in mid-Crete along the northern coast. There's a little around here. The majority are near Heraklion. Of course, the famous site is Knossos, a Minoan palace discovered toward the end of the 19th century; there was some renovation done by Sir Arthur Evans, an Englishman. It is an enormous palace -- it covers several acres -- and is a big tourist attraction. How old is it? We're talking 3,000 years, I suppose, at a minimum. It was built out of stone in a site carved into a valley. It was actually connected to a port: The ruins are only two or three kilometers (about one-and-a-half miles) from the coast. Q. Crete is the setting for the Greek myth about the Minotaur in the labyrinth. Is there actually a maze at Knossos? There is. No one knows what it was used for, but we assume it was the labyrinth mentioned in the myth. There are areas underground that appear to be quite intricate. The myth grew up about the Minotaur in there. The story is that they used to bring young men over from Athens and sacrifice them to the Minotaur. The history and the myth are wound together. It makes for an interesting visit. Q. Do locals capitalize on it with modern mazes? No. It's quite laid-back over here. Their attitude is, "If you want to visit it, you know where it is." It's mentioned in tourist brochures. There are other sites here as well. There are Roman sites -- their capital was on the south coast. The Cretans have had many conquerors. There was 400 years of Romans, 400 of Venetians, about 400 of Turks. Cretans only became independent in 1898. In 1913, they decided they wanted to become part of Greece. Q. Is Cretan food a variation on Greek food? It's slightly different. According to the World Health Organization, the Cretans are supposed to have the second-healthiest diet in the world. They use olive oil for almost everything. It's of very good quality, and nearly all cooking done here uses olive oil. Olives take up a fair portion of farming. Four months a year are spent collecting them. They grow a lot of oranges, too. There's fish. They eat a lot of lamb. There's pork. Not much beef, though it's here. I get the feeling the majority of beef is imported. Q. Are there Cretan wines? Nearly every village produces its own; it's called "crassi." From the pulp of the grapes they distill raki, a clear liquor that's 40 percent alcohol. Cretans swear it has a medical purpose, but I wonder if that's just an excuse to drink it. I do have to say that it does seem to settle a meal. Q. Sounds healthy. There are a hell of a lot of old people here. They seem to live beyond the norms of northern Europe. There are many active 90-year-olds who still go walking, and go down to the cafenon -- the village cafe. That's a man thing in a very male-dominated culture. They meet there and spend the morning putting the world right.