The village of Merona welcomes the Pancretan 2022 Excursion

Merona
This village in the mountains of Crete open their arms and welcome a group of more than 220 mostly Americans who have come to share in the Cretan tradition of hospitality, otherwise known as, "φιλοξενία" (filoxenia), or making friends of strangers. When we arrived, this village offered us some traditional Cretan snacks (maze) and of course Tsikoudia, made only in Crete, and it was smooth and it was strong.
This group of musicians played for us and sang us Mandinades, which are poetic verses written by them for this particular event. On one of these serenades, they turned around and walked into the village, and of course the entire lot of our large group followed these lyradzides as they sang and played their Cretan instruments: Lyra and Laouto.
We meandered through the village walkways, and at one point, we stopped by the church where the priest comes out to extend his welcome to our group, after which the serenade continued. Villagers watched the procession from their front porches, patios, and windows.
Along the way, at minute 14:30, they had two bon-fires with lamb roasting round the fire-pits. They call this “Anti-Cristo”, which is a particular style of cooking the lamb. It picks-up a wood smokey kind of flavor and it is a traditional and very special way to prepare lamb usually for special occasions.
Towards the end, the procession found their way to the school grounds that where they had tables all set-up for a feast they prepared for us. The musicians gathered around together and then dancers from the village demonstrated their local style of Cretan “Sirto”.
After the video ends, this same group of musicians and dancers start mixing with us and also helping to bring-out an amazing feast of “Vrasto” (boiled lamb), “Pilafi” (rice cooked in the broth of the boiled lamb), and of course the “Andi Christo” (lamb cooked in the fire pits), along with all the other normal offerings that make-up a traditional Cretan meal.