Halki: My dream retirement

We woke up bright and early to begin the hour long drive to the ferry port to catch our boat to the beautiful island of Halki! We were extremely pleased to be getting off Rhodes for a bit, as it had proved rather a disappointment. After a strangely disgusting Cappuccino which I am almost certain contained no milk at all - only coffee and water - we headed onto the ferry!
It was a fairly brief ferry ride, and as we pulled into the harbour of Halki, I was filled with absolute wonder; it was like something out a fairytale, and not somewhere you expect to actually end up.

As soon as the ferry docked, the tourists spilled out and milled around in a large group, before heading off in one direction like sheep, all staying together. Keen to escape, we headed in the opposite direction like the rebels we are! We soon found ourselves climbing up through the village, giving us beautiful views back on the harbour, and bringing us past the clock tower that dominated the skyline. Interestingly enough, when the sponge trade (which was an important and lucrative trade in the islands around for a long time) began to fail, many sponge divers moved to Florida to continue their profession there, however they never forgot their roots on Halki and it is the expats in Florida that paid for the clocktower here in their motherland.

After some wandering, we found it to be much quieter a little way away from the harbour. We decided to go for a swim, but as there was only a very little beach and thus not really any room, we settled for swimming off the rocks which we had all to ourselves. The water was beautifully clear and all but beckoned us to jump in - which we soon did, avoiding the numerous sea urchins (a testament to how clean the water is here) as best we could without aqua shoes.

Overheated in the sunshine, we wandered back into the town in search of shade and a cool drink. The gaggle of squawking tourists had mysteriously disappeared (probably on some awful bus tour without air-conditioning or a fish picnic) leaving the town pleasantly quiet. The houses were a interesting mix of dilapidated and abandoned, and beautifully renovated in pastel colours. The juxtaposition was actually rather beautiful, and made me wish I had the money to do up my own house by the sea in this paradise.

Feeling hungry, we settled down in the shade of a large tree at one of the many tavernas on the waterfront. Not needing to drive, we imbibed freely on the refreshingly cold rosé and Yannick and I had the pleasure of trying shrimps for the first time, which, to our dual surprise, we rather enjoyed! We also had one of the nicest versions of Tzatziki we had tried so far, as well as gigantes (a type of large white bean in tomato sauce that was utterly moreish). We finished off with refreshing watermelon for dessert, and sat back, replete and happy. We had just enough time for another swim, so headed back off to one side of the town where we found a small public accessway to a concrete strip off from the houses where one could climb straight down a ladder into the clear water.

We ended our swim in rather a hurry when we suddenly heard the ferry motor start up, causing us to dash for the harbour (luckily it was another boat leaving instead, so we made it well on time). As we headed away my only regrets were not being able to spend longer on this lovely island, and not having the time to visit the nearby island of Symi, which sounded equally amazing. One day!

Before we knew it, we were back on Rhodes for our last night, with the plan of heading to Rhodes town in the morning for our ferry back to Athens. 

Rhodes

After our whirlwind trip of Karpathos, the next morning we headed to Karpathos town to take the ferry to Rhodes, of which dad had fond memories. We had spent hardly any time in Karpathos town itself, which seemed a shame as it was rather pretty, however we were out of time and soon on the ferry headed to Rhodes.
It was as uncomfortable as ever (though beer always helps) and I had just settled myself in for a long boring journey when we unexpectedly stopped at another little port on the way, on an unknown island. It was easily one of the prettiest places I had ever seen, and I was itching to get off and explore! We discovered we had just seen the tiny and beautiful island of Halki, and resolved to see if we could perhaps return there from Rhodes on a little day trip.
















The rest of the ferry ride passed uneventfully, and we were soon landing in Rhodes town, from which we immediately headed off to the small village of Masari to meet the airbnb owner for our accommodation. He soon rocked up on a little moped in salmon pink shorts and jandals, reminding me slightly of my Uncle Vincent, with his endless energy and jokes. He showed us around our house, recommended a bakery down the road, and zoomed off again. Misari was not far from the town of Lindos, which made it nice and centrally located, but completely off the tourist radar, managing to retain its quiet charm.
Before we knew it, it was dinner time, and having been warned off eating in touristy Lindos by the airbnb owner, we headed instead for the nearby town of Haraki. Picking a taverna with a beautiful view of a castle all lit up on the hill, we had the best hummus i've ever eaten in my life - so much so that we ordered a second plate of it!
The next morning it was time to explore, first heading to the nearby beach of Masari where we could take our morning dip - something that would become a habit while we were there! We then tried out the local bakery we had been recommended the day before, and were pleasantly surprised by the sesame seed roll the baker had thrown in for free as it was delicious! I then spent the next hour ringing all the ferry companies I could find to try and book us a return ride to Halki for the next day. After a few unsuccessful attempts I finally got through to a company that wasn't sold out, and quickly booked us in for the next morning!
















Our exploration of Rhodes itself proved to be a disappointment, as although the coastline and mountains were beautiful from afar, everywhere we went we found full of tourists, hotels, resorts and built up areas. Although we had come across areas like this in our past travels, we had always rather easily escaped the beaten track and found little villages and beaches untouched by tourism; not so here. Every we beach we came to was thronging with tourists, the waterfronts built up. It was depressing and must have been worse for dad, who remembered Rhodes as a beautiful island. We had planned to go to Lindos, but took one look at the crowds of people and throngs of donkeys waiting to be ridden by tourists up to the top of the hill, and decided there was no way in hell we were enduring that.

After almost a full day of disappointments, we fully struck gold on our way back to our airbnb, as dad noticed a sign for archaeological ruins, and in typical dad fashion decided we should go on a spontaneous adventure and check it out! As usual it worked well, and we soon found ourselves exploring the ruins of ancient Kamiros, a Dorian city that flourished under the Mycenaeans until it was destroyed by earthquakes.

Rhodes had one more surprise for us on the way home, as we passed through the village of Elousa we spied a beautiful abandoned building that looked almost like a villa. We of course explored.

There was nothing to describe what this building had been, however after looking it up on the internet later, it seems as though it was an Italian sanitorium, and was used in the 1940s to both treat and keep people with tuberculosis quarantined. 

It was actually very beautiful, and I imagine with work it could become a lovely villa to let out to tourists, though there was something touching about its faded glory, as though altering it would ruin it. 

Karpathos

Because the ferry was so late (something you have to get used to in Greece) we didn't arrive in Karpathos until past 11 PM. We had booked an airbnb and luckily the owners mum owned a restaurant in the village below the house, so was happy to show us where it was if we came to her restaurant. Oddly enough as she had to be at the airport early the next morning, she was in fact spending the night in our lounge. We hadn't expected her to come along for the ride in our car, and it saw us hastily shifting boxes of heavy wine onto our laps to make room for her. It was extremely hot, even at night, and unfortunately the house itself, whilst pretty, had a few major problems. It had been advertised as having wifi, but did not in fact, have this feature. Although annoying, my main problem with the house was the heat - although advertised with air conditioning the unit was only in the corridor and didn't blow enough into the bedrooms to keep them cool. A few nights of sleeplessness was to be had for me, as this island was the hottest we had come across.
I forgot about all these problems however, when we woke in the morning and saw our view from the house for the first time.

Our first order for the day was of course a swim, and we quickly drove down to the little village to throw ourselves into the beautifully clear water. Dad had come to this island many years before with mum, and spoken of a little village they had walked to, which they had loved. Seeing this little place by the light of day had dad seriously wondering if by some strange coincidence this was that very place! Unfortunately there was no way to know for sure. 

 

We headed north to explore, soon discovering Karpathos was a rough and wild island, where having a 4-wheel drive would have come in handy. There were many roads we couldn't traverse down, or had to turn back, or struggled down with much nervousness due to this fact. Our little car was pushed into places it probably never should have been, but it performed admirably. We passed so many gorgeous views and little bays on our way, and it made me wish we had a yacht to navigate the secret coves that can only be reached by boat. 

There was something torturous about driving those roads only to see the many impassible paths which we knew would lead to beautiful secluded beaches. Finally we did decide to just follow one and hope it led to the sea, even though there were no signs. It was slow and narrow going, and I didn't want to think what would happen if we met a car going the other way. However we did eventually make it for our dip in the ocean at a dusty and quiet beach which held only freedom campers and a single little taverna. It made me curious to try Greece one day as a backpacker and freedom camper, as I think the experience would be very different, and thoroughly adventurous.

 By this time we were hungry, so we stopped in the pretty fishing village of Diafani to look for lunch. After pausing to admire the pretty fountain we stopped at a little Italian and Greek fusion restaurant, hoping for something a little different from our usual fare. We were not disappointed as we were soon dining on delicious bruschetta. It was an extremely laid-back restaurant, and it felt like we were waited on by the family and friends of the chef, who came and told us what was actually available and fresh on the menu. We would be served and then our server would wander back to the terrace to continue drinking beer. I loved it! I had delicious spaghetti Carbonara, and enjoyed the change from our usual diet very much. 

Feeling very replete from lunch, we headed for the town of Olympos, which in antiquity was near to the Doric city of Vrycous. Little of it still remains however, aside from a few ruins of walls and houses and graves. The citizens of Vrycous fled during the 7th or 8th century due to pirates, and it is probable that this is when Olympos was founded, although others believe that it was a series of earthquakes that scared the towns inhabitants away from the sea.

 People still dress traditionally here, and it has become a massive tourist attraction due to this. Despite its popularity however, it was still an extremely pretty village to explore. As we arrived in the late afternoon, we missed the tourist hoardes and were able to wander at will, with only the locals around.

It had been a full day, and as we started the journey home the day only got longer as we blew out a tire on the road home. Winding past the cliffs, it was full of rocks fallen from above, and apparently the island was known for road slips and earthquakes. A kind Greek man and his entire family stopped on the side of the road and were able to help us put the spare tire on, so we could continue on our way. Disaster averted! We were tired and it was late, so we decided to find a replacement tire in the morning.

This of course, proved easier said than done on a tiny Greek island, and we ended up asking at a rental car place, at loss at what else to do as we couldn't see any garages anywhere. The nice lady there rang up her mum who then directed us to a petrol station that also doubled as a garage - not something we would ever find on our own! The man inspected the wheel and took it off our hands, asking us to come back in a couple of hours.

With little else to do, we headed for the town of Menetes to kill some time. This mountain village was extremely pretty and quiet to wander, clearly far off the beaten tourist track. I liked how we were told 'kalimera' by a bunch of elderly men all sitting in the sun drinking their coffee as we passed them by. We politely wished them good morning back, and went on our way, smiling at the friendliness of locals.

























It was about time to check on our car by this point, so we returned to find that he had found a second-hand tire for us to use, and it only cost us twenty euro! Happy with our good deal, we decided to return to the pretty town of Meletes for lunch, as Karpathos town was less than inspiring. We had passed a taverna called the Dionysus Fiesta with a terrace full of greenery, and had been rather entranced with both how it looked and its rather unusual name, so decided it would be the perfect place to feast (it also featured in our Lonely Planet guide, which is always a good sign). The owner was extremely happy to greet us, and couldn't believe we were from somewhere as far away as New Zealand! He offered us the large round table causing us to hesitate as it was already occupied by an elderly lady, but he quickly waved our worries aside, explaining she was his aunt, and quickly re-settling her at another table. Feeling mildly guilty, we soon found ourselves seated and enjoying delicious food cooked by his wife. One of the most interesting dishes we tried was a specialty of the region called Macarounes which turned out to entail extremely oniony pasta (although it reminded me of gnocchi) which was rather nice but a tad overpowering for me. We also tried the Bram which was like a vegetable stew and was really quite lovely. We finished off with a complimentary, and apparently rather traditional, almond crescent biscuit.

The experience was not over yet however, as he insisted on showing us his beautiful home. The large front room had been turned almost into a museum, showcasing what a traditional house on Karpathos had once looked like. His entire family had slept in this room together and his grandparents had made all the cloth hangings themselves. The ancient and enormous TV had a pride of place in this room as apparently his father had brought it back all the way from America! His enthusiasm for his history and Karpathos itself was enjoyable to listen to, and I felt lucky to have been shown his home.

Blinking in the bright sunshine after seeing the cool and dimly lit house we headed for the small town of Finiki in hopes of a swim. We were not disappointed by the tiny and rather pretty harbour town, and went for another dip.

We then headed onwards towards Lefkos, keeping an eye out for a Roman cistern that was supposed to be about. We found it along the road and I had to admit I was rather surprised by the form it took. On my own limited excavations I had in fact come across and partially dug up a Roman cistern, however it had been more like a marble-lined floor used as a tank for storing water. This was of the other sort, an underground reservoir made for storing the water. It was a rather mysterious structure as we descended underground to great pillars and blocks of stone held up by scaffolding, and old blocked off tunnels leading to nowhere. On our way back we noticed a separate dwelling built into the rock face with a cave leading back. Necia and I had a quick explore of the little house and it was all quite interesting and old looking, though there was nothing to explain why it was there. We soon left after Necia almost knocked herself out on the low-hanging doorway (and you know it's low when Necia walks into it!)
After our long day we headed to another bay for yet another swim, before heading back to our apartment for a lovely long dinner on the balcony involving bread, feta, olive tapenade, cucumber, roasted tomatoes, garlic and wine. This is the life!

Crete Part IV: Archaeology and Octopi

Refreshing ourselves from the long day before, we started our day with a morning swim in the pool. We decided to take breakfast in the village, and also enjoy a wander around by the light of morning.
The waterfront was very pretty to walk along, with the restaurants that lined the beach getting their chairs and signs out ready for the day. We picked one and random, and I soon found myself dining on fresh orange juice, coffee and a local crunchy bread recipe called dacos, which consisted of chopped tomatoes and feta and herbs generously piled on top of the brown bread - it sounds like a strange breakfast, but it was absolutely delicious.

We left pretty Myrtos behind, and after a brief dip in the ocean to cool ourselves off, we stopped at the archaeological site of Gournia. This ancient Minoan settlement was prospering around 1600 BC and is interesting due to the insight it provides into every day life at that time. Like most ancient sites, there is a clear geographical hierarchy seen here, with the palace built at the top of the hill with houses spilling down from it. Although many of these buildings had once been two stories, little but the foundations were left. However I really enjoyed this site for how intact the foundations actually were, with a strong delineation between houses and streets allowing for a really clear idea of the layout of the town and how it must have once looked. 

The name of the site itself was also interesting, as no information remains on what the inhabitants themselves called the town, it was named instead in modern day by the excavating archaeologists. One of the defining features of this town were the strange indented bowls we found in many of the houses (which I clearly found very exciting) these were in fact water troughs (though Necia and I had wondered at first if they were cooking up a storm with giant mortar and pestles) that are commonly known as 'gournes' or 'gourni' hence the naming of the town. There was hardly anyone else on the site and it only cost 2 euro, making it a place well worth visiting! There was however no shade at all within the ruins, so I recommend sunscreen and water, as it became very hot.

Archaeological adventuring completed, we headed for a little seaside village called Mochlos. We stopped at the first accomodation we found and checked in no problem, which made for a pleasant change from the debacle in Myrtos the night before.
We spent a small amount of time wandering the pretty little village and taking in its sights, enjoying the sea slapping against the rocks. The heart of the town lay at the small harbour, and tavernas dotted the oceanside. We however, already had food for our lunch, and soon retired back to our apartment for lunch on the balcony. Feasting on fresh bread that we had found on our travels by following our noses to a bakery, we enjoyed our fare of feta and olive tapenade and fresh cucumber, washed down with cold Rosé and finished off with Greek chocolate. The whole affair took a good few hours and we had to retire in the late afternoon for a well deserved nap!

By the time we roused ourselves, it was dinnertime, and we decided to make our way into the village to scope out the tavernas. Like any typical Greek village, it had come alive at night and the tavernas were bustling (always a good sign of which ones to go to). We found a lovely place on the corner by the ocean which was not only busy, but also had gorgeous little displays of fresh veggies out (and an octopus hanging on the line!) the staff were lovely as well, so we happily sat ourselves down. The menu was interestingly in English, German and French, and we noticed some of the staff were happily chatting with some french tourists in French too. Why this was such a hotspot of french activity, we never found out. The food provided was delicious and we also tried zucchini flowers, which were rather interesting. We were given fresh fruit for complimentary dessert, and were soon polishing off the nicest grapes I have ever eaten!

Feeling completely full and rather satisfied, we retired for the night.
In the morning we headed off for Sitia, though first for a dip in the ocean at a beach along the way which strangely enough appeared to be a resort catering only to German tourists. Moving on we arrived in Sitia and found a nice place for lunch to kill the time. We mentioned to our waiter that our ferry was at 2 and he airily told us that if it was at 2, it would probably arrive at 6. And how right he was! Our ferry was unfortunately totally delayed, leaving us with a day of waiting and cafe hopping as we used the internet and tried to kill time. Finally the ferry arrived and we headed off towards Karpathos, which would be the seventh Greek island I had visited!

Crete Part III: Knossos: How to entirely ruin a ruin

In the morning we headed for the famous archaeological site of Knossos, which I was really excited about seeing as it is not only something I've always read about, but also was one of the sites that got me interested in archaeology in the first place!
Unfortunately I was to find myself severely disappointed due to the preservation methods used.To explain this properly however, I must delve further into the excavation history itself, and in particular the main villain, a man called Sir Arthur Evens (curse his name!). Up until this point, my main vendetta in archaeology had been against the infamous Heinrich Schliemann, a man whose archaeological methods involved dynamiting through all nine layers of Troy, throwing out anything not shiny, and a propensity to make outrageous claims (I'm looking at you, so called 'Death mask of Agamemnon!) Arthur however, took it to a whole new level.
 Heinrich was in fact set to excavate Knossos himself, but thankfully died before he could desecrate it, allowing his good friend Arthur to step in (of course they were chums!) Arthur began his excavation in 1900, and continued for 35 years with a mixture of both excavation and partial 'restoration' As a product of his time, and more antiquarian than archaeologist, I allow him partial leeway for his methods. However his 'restoration' attempt at showing exactly how parts of the palace would have been, is not only dismal but horrifically damaging. Due to the methods he used it is now impossible to remove these changes and put it back to how it was, as areas have been completely rebuilt and restructured to the point that modern day archaeologists aren't even sure what it looked like before he got to work and which parts are old or new. Worse, his work was a complete guess and many have criticised it as nothing more than art deco fantasy (ouch).

All of this, whilst awful, is not my main problem with this ancient site. New conservation methods were implemented in the 1990s as winter rains were causing concern and the soft stone used for most of the building was subject to erosion. Instead of the usual covered roofs that are placed over the architecture and raised walkways to avoid damage by tourists, the majority of the site was simply sealed in concrete on all their surfaces - walls, floors, stairs. Everything was covered in a thin layer of concrete, causing this once wonderful site to lose all sense of age and personality.
Leaving the site feeling rather depressed, we headed for the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion, where all of the artefacts from Knosso are kept.

The museum was full of interesting pottery, weapons and ornate gold work that was extremely delicately made and beautiful to behold. We also of course, came across the recurring motif  of the bull that Knossos is famous for. The Minoan civilisation is an interesting and sometimes mysterious one. Starting in the bronze age, it predated the Mycenaean civilisation and is thought of as one of the most early complex civilisations in Europe, flourishing on Crete and other Aegean islands. Knossos is known as their largest site, with the famous palace and surrounding buildings. The reason for the name 'Minoan' comes from King Minos, a mythical character from the legends of the Minotaur, and the one who constructed the supposed Labyrinth for the monster, until Theseus killed it. The archaeology left by the Minoans supposedly gave credence to this story, as the bull was clearly an important symbol to them. However more than this is difficult to say, as the Minoan writing system (known as Linear A) are currently still not understood. 

Feeling pleased with our museum experience, we decided to try our luck at another archaeological site, the Palace of Malia. We didn't have high hopes after Knossos, however after seeing a sign for it we decided to spontaneously check it out - it surely couldn't be any worse! Happily we were in fact very pleasantly surprised. 

Malia had been excavated by the French Archaeological school, which meant everything was done with an extremely high level of precision and care. Better yet, the site was preserved with large coverings and wooden walkways for tourists - why couldn't Knossos take a leaf out of their book! The site was overall far more enjoyable to visit than Knossos, still holding onto its ancient context and allowing you to feel its sense of age, as all good ruins should. Interestingly the visible ruin we saw was not the first palace but the second, the one prior was destroyed - probably by an earthquake - and it was rebuilt around 1650 BC. 

Our busy day was far from over, as after a good wander through the ruins we next headed for the famous Dikteon cave, where in antiquity it was believed that it was here Rhea gave birth and hid Zeus from his child-eating father Cronus. Due to this belief it was an important place of religion in ancient times, and many votive offerings were found there. 

The tourist trade had of course seized on the dramatic sounding 'Cave of Zeus!' and we found it busy with tourists, however I still enjoyed it thoroughly. It was a good trek up the mountain, and some tourists paid donkeys to take them up part of the way, leaving us plebs to sidestep the manure left behind.

The cave itself was far larger than I expected,  and we descended carefully into its maw, clutching the damp railings with care. Huge stalactites hung from the ceiling and the large area was bathed in a green glow that made photos turn out less than attractive. However the cave itself was beautiful and eerie, and well worth it to me, even with all the other tourists bumbling around.  

We had climbed our way up to the Lasithi plateau to see the cave, and drove back across it afterwards. It was strange being so high up when we were on such a large plateau. A great expanse of flat fields lay before us, and it was difficult to imagine the sea being so far below us. We stopped briefly to take in the ruins of windmills which we had seen earlier but had been inundated by tourists at the time. Now empty, we still only stopped briefly, as unsurprising given the nature of these ruins, it was extremely windy. 

Driving through the plateau after admiring its views, we got down to business. We were on the hunt for lunch, but did not have high hopes as it was by now rather late in the afternoon. However this was Greece! Not France or Italy where after 2pm everyone closes shop for the afternoon. We were pleasantly surprised to come across a beautiful little taverna that did not have any other customers but was more than happy to serve us. Our waiter was a greek man in properly traditional dress, from the beige trousers going into his tall leather boots to his white shirt and amazing twizzly moustache and big beard. He was friendly and the food was very good which all made for a very good meal!

We shared a bunch of dishes tapas style, from stuffed peppers to snails! This was a first for Yannick and I, and although our waiter had expertly shown us with a little twist of the wrist how to get them from their shells, it turned out to be far harder in actual practice. After much huffing and puffing and fork prodding, we were able to try this strange delicacy, and I had to admit to my surprise that I quite liked them, once you got over the odd texture. These were done in rosemary and oil, and I would curious to see what the more traditional garlic and butter would taste like.
Another point that needs raving about is the most amazing olive oil that he provided us with. It was so delicious we used copious amounts of it to dip our bread. Our waiter explained that the families of the village all grew olives in their gardens, and then came together to harvest them and make a small amount of oil just for the village, and in his family's case, for their restaurant.

Our next destination was the village of Myrtos, so we headed back onto the road again. We had booked accomodation on booking.com so we weren't too worried about getting there in the evening. However upon our arrival they told us they had no rooms available, and there was nothing they could do, even though we had already been charged for the rooms! While dad got the owner to come down and tried to reason with him, Necia and I set off to have a quick look around the village for other accomodation. It was a terribly cute place with little alleyways and pretty places that beckoned from just around the corner, but we were on a mission! Although we tried every sign for accomodation we came across, everywhere was full or didn't have the space for all of us. The last place we tried ended with a friendly man at the cafe ringing for us and although we had no luck there, he cheerfully invited us back later that evening for live music which sounded lovely. 

We were just giving up and driving around in slight desperation when we saw a somewhat hidden hotel outside of the town which had enough rooms for us and even a pool!

Deciding it was high time to unwind, we decided to head back to the village, thinking we would grab a drink and listen to some live music before heading to dinner. Unfortunately it proved so popular there were no seats left! We headed instead for a restaurant around the corner called Katerina, which wasc beautifully placed in a cobblestoned alleyway with a patchwork of vines above our heads.

We dined on Ouzo flambéed Saganaki (fried cheese) and Necia was able to introduce me to Skordalia, a potato dip made with garlic and herbs and just about the nicest thing I've ever eaten (although the garlic kick had me trying not to breathe on anyone by the end). I was amused by the table next to us soon asking the waiter if they could please have some flaming cheese too? It had certainly been an impressive spectacle. I was also impressed with the Raki that was as usual given to us at the end of the meal - it was extremely nice and mild. Perhaps I should judge restaurants quality by how edible their Raki is in the future.

Crete part II: Wine tasting - the good, the bad, and the ugly

Palaiochora was our next stop, a pretty town which we wandered around a bit before taking a dip at the nearby little beach. Having had a full day of ruins and exploring, we then headed back to our temporary home. We had planned to visit the village's one taverna as it looked very cute, however it turned out to be closed that evening, so we whipped up an impromptu dinner instead. Thyme lemon pasta cooked in Raki (when in Greece, right?) accompanied by a lovely wine - not a bad effort!

The next day we sadly said goodbye to our beautiful house (I would love to return one day!) and headed for the town of Rethymno, which turned out to be a seaside port. Whereas Chania had been pretty but somewhat run-down, this town seemed more well-off. Crowning the town was a beautiful Venetian era citadel, known as the Fortezza of Rethymno. Although part of the battle of Crete in world war II was fought here (interestingly enough mainly consisting of New Zealand and Australian troops alongside the Greeks) the city was largely undamaged and most of the visible city today dates from the 16th century, when it was under Venetian rule.

We enjoyed our wander around the old city, feeling no need to pay the fee to enter the fortress when there was so much to explore around us for free. The little network of streets were especially fun to wander! We also spotted and bought a couple of what I call 'twizzle sticks' but should probably called honey-sticks or something equally mundane. These fun sticks are used to twizzle the liquid honey around them and drizzle on beautiful Greek yogurt - delicious! 

We then headed inland and into the mountains, making for the village of Spili. The drive along the way was pleasantly scenic, and after driving up the hill behind Rethymno, we stopped for a picture of a little road side shrine (found dotted throughout Greece) and an aerial view of the city we had just left behind. 

Spili is a gorgeous little village full of cobblestone streets that climb their way steeply up the mountainside. My favourite thing about it however was the main square, where an impressive fountain of lion heads spilled out fresh clear water which locals were constantly filling up large water bottles from - what better way to get fresh water for your home!

 We enjoyed wandering the back streets which instantly became quiet and devoid of tourists. However we couldn't linger for too long as there was much we wanted to see that day, including an all important stop at a local winery!

We picked the Lyrarakis Winery to get our tasting on, which I was really excited about due to the Lonely Planet guide mentioning an ancient Cretan grape variety called Dafni that had almost gone extinct and had only been saved by this very winery!
It was a fantastic tasting experience, we didn't book ahead and were welcomed without problem. Initially I was worried that it would be pretentious, and it did seem a little so at first, but we soon relaxed and happily tried wines left right and centre for the next hour! We were given many different types of wines in generous portions and nibbles on the side, making it a very enjoyable experience. The Dafni was an incredibly unusual though nice wine, in that it tasted extremely herby, and was like nothing I had experienced before!
The owners happily explained and described each wine for us as we tried them, and we ended our visit with many more bottles in the boot than when we started!
That evening I tried wine of a considerably different vintage, sampling Retsina for the first (and last) time at a rather forgettable taverna for dinner. I came to the conclusion that drinking liquid pine needles was not to my taste, and decided that was enough Retsina for me for a lifetime. 

Crete: Chania and other adventures

Crete, July 2016

Leaving the port to Crete, we noticed another ferry of the same company sunk on its side in the port  - not too reassuring! To make it worse we had also seen a burnt out shell of the same ferry company we were on in Bari on our way to Corfu, there seemed to be a common denominator here! Although ferries in Greece do leave something to be desired (often turning up very very late) our ferry was actually much nicer than any others we had experienced so far, we were able to sit comfortably inside at a table, and the waiters were very nice. Additionally the food was actually edible, and we even enjoyed a Scottish red beer called Macpherson on our way over! We really couldn't have asked for a better voyage.
We eventually arrived at 8pm that night and checked into our pre-booked airbnb. Tired from all the travelling (funny how sitting around waiting can be so exhausting) and with the knowledge that my brother Yannick and his partner Necia would be arriving early the next morning, we soon headed to bed. New adventures awaited!

After an early morning start we breakfasted and left our airbnb, heading for the nearby town of Chania, once a Venetian port, and now the second largest city on Crete. This area had been inhabited since the Neolithic area, and it showed. Almost every time we rounded the corner it was as if great layers of the earth had been peeled a way, allowing the stratigraphy below to once again become visible to us.
Although a very old city, having flourished under the Minoans and grown larger still under Roman rule, it was razed to the ground by marauding Saracens in the 9th century, meaning its archaeology was fragmented.
Upon our visit, we found the place quiet as it was still early morning, with only a few locals going about their business. We took a wander down to the ocean, where one period of Chania's history still stood out, the Venetians and their ship yards. Once 23 of these proud buildings (known as arsenals) stood here, but now only nine remain.
The remaining arsenals had been turned into a maritime museum, and we enjoyed a small wander inside. My favourite display was a full scale replica of an ancient Minoan ship, made using traditional methods and tools (down to using ox fat to cover and seal the ropes). It was sailed for the 2004 Olympics, and must have looked amazing.

After our brief foray into Crete's history, it was time to meet up with our new airbnb host, a good drive away and tucked into the mountains, in a tiny village named Meskla. Our host was a lovely elderly Greek man who was waiting for us inside a small cafe (or so we assumed as there were no signs nor menus) there were a few tables and chairs around and locals enjoying drinks. We joined him and he quickly ordered us some local Cretan soft drinks, the orange one was quite nice, but the lemon one tasted strangely like bananas!
 The house itself was absolutely stunning, with an outdoor eating area, a pool, and a gorgeous view of the mountains. We enjoyed ourselves here thoroughly, cooking dinners and drinking wine until the sun had long fallen below the hills. 

Still having a good part of our first day left, we decided to head to the beach of Sougia, which dad had fond memories of. Of course, things change in all the years he had been away, and he said back then there had been a single cafe which had the best greek yogurt ever, and a long unspoilt beach, whereas now it was built up and busy. Having nothing to compare it to, I was happy to settle into one of the tavernas for lunch. After enjoying a variety of dishes including baked feta (where I was most surprised to find Yannick had gone from disliking to practically hoarding it!) we went for a quick dip in the ocean but soon retreated due to the gusting wind and stinging sand. It was interesting to note that unlike the other islands we had been to, Crete was extremely windy. 

We headed back to our airbnb for dinner, and enjoyed a quiet evening outside, accompanied by bread dipped in olive oil, and a nice cold rosé. We would find ourselves taking advantage of the lovely area a lot over the next few days, including refreshing breakfasts with jam and orange juice! It was the perfect end to a beautiful day in Crete. 

The next day was spent relaxing, reading by the pool, swimming, and eating by the pool. Anything to do with the pool really. It was heaven! We had planned to go for a walk in the nearby gorge that the owner had mentioned, but we ended up having a totally relaxing day of napping at the house instead. After dinner we dared to try the tray of goodies that had been left for us in the house, and discovered the mysterious clear liquid was Raki, an alcohol popular throughout Greece and often mind blowingly strong. This one however was not so bad, and we rather enjoyed it in small doses!

The following day we decided we had better be proactive after our lazy day and begin exploring Crete, so we headed first for the beach of Elefonisi as it was on the way and supposedly beautiful. This was difficult to ascertain however as it was so crawling with people, so we instantly fled and headed instead to the much quieter ruins of Phalasarna. This ancient site was oddly enough a port town, even though the sea was a distance off. We soon learned that this was due to an earthquake that had raised the land and left the port quite effectively useless. 

I really enjoyed wandering these ruins, windy as they were. They were free and open to the air, and also rather quiet with only a couple of other people wandering around. As with most ruined sites (especially in Greece) this one was only partially excavated, and awaiting more digs, especially in the necropolis. Given the lack of funding and the economic situation in Greece in general, I think we will be waiting a long time before we discover more,  but in the meantime the ancient ruins lie where they are safest, secure beneath the earth.