I arrived in Heraklion in September 1981. I was with a diverse group of young people all in our early twenties. We slept overnight in the local park. A group of young Cretans arrived in the park around midnight and began playing traditional music and dancing traditional Cretan dances. I fell in love with Crete that night. I am still in love with it.

In Matala right now for the first time, the caves are only for tourists now. This place is magical, beautiful swimming beach, divine sunsets, great locals, and yummy local food. I hope to be back soon. So grateful x

Woww so awesome to hear the stories of these beautiful free spirit ladies😍

I was there last week for the first time. I, too, enjoyed the music and dance in Crete. I was a teenage hippy and went to see the Greats on the Isle of Wight. I did wonder how stonedhippied managed to climb up to the higher caves! A young Australian man fell to his death from there a few weeks back having visited solo. I am now seventy so knew the climb would be too hairy. My son went up though and as I watched from below a lady slid down her feet flailing dressed in a smart cream trouser suit! I chortled. The beach is glorious and the sea azure! The Mermaid cafe mentioned in Carey by Joni Mitchell now renamed and closed and due to my age and the modern Greek proclivities few even knew who those Great musicians are, or their rich contributions to our life! Even Dylan, Joan Baez and Cohen had tarried there! It is a magical place full of ghosts and dreams. I still embrace it now back in UK. My hippy route led me to Parga where I hitched to aged fifteen in those ambrosian days of peace and love. I got a lifetimes worth of hedonism and flower power!

Wonderful, beauteful Ladies. Hippiegirls, i just imagine, how they looked at that time. 78 i went on my Motocycle from Cologne to India and Nepal. And my Destination was Goa. And i made it. Ive been together from Istanbul to Kashmir with an english Girl. She came from Crawley, Sussex and i had such a good time with her together. Gay Fensom, i called her “Browneye“. 85 i went with my mexican woman to her Wedding but it was a surprise, because Chris her husband didnt told her, that i came to the Wedding. Good time, Hippietime. Greetings from Lamspringe Germany from DANIEL Schmitz, “Kawa“.

Joni Mitchell used to mention in concert those chocolate bar collectible cards right before playing Carey! Great stories from these women -- they made me homesick for a place and a time that I was not a part of!

This was just adorable! I’ m so jealous of their experience!❤️❤️❤️

-whatever you do,never go to Matala. -so,we caught the next pass to Matala.

I first went to Matala in 77, when I was just 18. I was rather scared of some of the 'hippies'. There were feral packs of children who had never gone to school, and feral packs of cats who swarmed the cafes. I had a chicken in a bag under my chair, and they stole it in a second. The police kicked the people out of the caves while I was away, and shot the cats, but you could still sleep in the trees off of the beach. I moved to a house in Kamilari up the road, working in the fields, but returned every now and again for a night in the disco. I last went in 1990. It looks a bit crowded now, but the evening light turning the caves gold, and the sea and sky lavender must still be as beautiful 🗻🏜⛵

thank you !!!!! you are so adorable all of you!! respect from a Greek guy ! ❤

The weed we smoked made us philosophical and perceptive,sublimely happy and chilled. It was different from the hallucenogenic skunk present today, often deliberately laced with addictive additives. When my time comes put me on a beach,spliff in hand please dear Lord and let me drift peacefully to my horizon. Let me not die disgracefully in an atmosphere of disinfectand and sedated oldies in a home for the aged. I will look forward and never throw the towel in! I promise to remain a free spirit and to be kind!

Awesome stories

This is amazing, thanks for sharing!

Been there, love that place.

Wie man sieht die besten Dinge der Welt sind umsonst , nette Leute, frische Luft, das Meer und die Schönheit Kretas. Wäre so gerne in den 60 ern dort gewesen. Die Ladies sind einfach toll , man spürt förmlich wie viel positiver Energie sie immer noch bis heute behalten haben.

Bellisimo !.. Love is Memory - Memory is Love! , thanx 4 sharing..Inspirational ..Ich Liebe Dich Mein Herr! 💚

Been there twice , no drugs, no sex. Bullshit. It was very nice.

When working in the west end of Crete in 76-78, the Cretans there talked about the "shippies" of Matala. They called anyone with longish hair, or who hitchhiked, or had a backpack a Shippie. The local dialect near me pronounced the hard H as a soft SH ... such that their arch wartime enemy Hitler was pronounced Shitler. Cracked me up. I later went to Athens and, still using that dialect I had learned there, was immediately identified as from West Crete!

"we were very innocent"...yeah right !

this is priceless Wolfgang , where did you find all these ladies ? wonderful memories of the 1960's and Hippie days . imagine the day the bread arrives to be the most exciting event of the week . and to become a belly dancing teacher as the result of visiting Matala . and these wonderful ladies from across the world obviously still visit Crete and enjoy its atmosphere . would have been nice to see a bit more of the place they were sitting in , as we could hear the chair moving in the background but could not see it . knowing the place it was filmed would have made it more rooted in Crete .

jumping off the rocks from 20 meters - great experience ..

💜

Γιασσου Ελλαδα Ματαλα Κρητη nearly fifty years of Love Agapimou Neon 72

Dear Wolfgang, I featured your video in my (rather long) article about Matala. I loved this interview and as always, it's best to find out information 1st hand. Thanks for sharing this video. Here's my story about Matala: aworldofhavingtime.com/matala-crete-greece-hippie-destination/

Just say NO to drugs.