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Gastronomy and Shopping
 Faithful to the Cretan culinary tradition, the local cuisine is simple,
genuine, natural and palatable. Tavernas, restaurants and eateries offer a
great variety of local delicacies featuring the Cretan olive oil as their
basic ingredient. Wild-growing vegetables, consumed either raw or boiled,
rich dairy products, fresh fish and an array of tasteful combinations of
vegetables with meat provide for a wholesome, healthy and uniquely tasty
diet. A glass of local wine or a shot of home-made "tsikoudia" are
inseparable escorts for the superb culinary creations. The market of
Heraklion, the richest in Crete and one of the finest in the Mediterranean,
is in the centre of the capital city with vendors selling from fresh meat,
vegetables, fish and species, as well as leather goods, tourist knick-knacks
and beautiful gold jewellery. A great number of shops, high-class jewellers
and clothes outlets are lining the central streets of the city. Popular
artists are highly productive in such areas as woodcarving, glass- making,
weaving, jewellery making, pottery and hand-painted icons. The ingenuity of
the finished products, the overall workmanship, is the heritage of the
Minoan civilisation.
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