So bae departed today to Cyprus and we were to leave for Crete. Bae's boat was very late and was so tiny and the seas so rough that she missed her flight from Athens. Ours was so big that it had a helicopter pad, four levels, restaurants and an enormous amount of mirrors to check yourself in and as most of the people were Greek and looking glorious in their summery outfits, gorgeous wavy hair and lots of bling; there was a lot of checking out to be done. But because it was so large, I made sure I checked out all the exits and found where the most lifeboats were located, memories of Titanic in mind.
I had been to Crete many years ago with the husband to see the Minoan ruins of the Palace of Knossos that I had studied both in ancient history and art so was keen to return with the daughter but Heraklion was not as I remembered it. Lots of modern ugly buildings, the odd old one snuggled in between, luckily I had found an old style hotel.
We walked into the centre where all the restaurants were but the vibe here wasn't what I had remembered either. We did find a cool cafe with fantastic small cakes and later we walked down to the old port.
The next day, we went to the Archeological museum which was amazing. The pottery, jewellery and frescoes from Knossos built around 2000 BC were unbelievably beautiful. Shops surrounding the museum had wonderful copies of the jewellery and artefacts. Knossos was known as Europe's oldest city and is where the Minotaur was supposedly kept and where Ariadne fell in love with Theseus. It was also one of the first settlements with sewage systems and flushing toilets and their artistic endeavours were superb.
The next day we were on our way by bus to Chania. I hoped my memories of that place still held true. And they did. The trip by bus showed a wild, barren rocky countryside; the outskirts, as with all cities, were industrial and sad and I wondered whether I had made a mistake coming back. When we arrived at the bus stop, the daughter said: Are you sure this is it? And I wasn't but then we saw my mother's name on a bus and then the late husband's at a print shop and suddenly we were in the centre as I remembered it. Tiny streets full of gelato coloured old houses, artisan shops, cafes and restaurants. We found our hotel and were welcomed by classical music and were shown to our room, where the host opened the shutters and showed us with a flourish, the view of the harbour. There were fresh flowers and a small bottle of liquor. All was well.
We ate in an abandoned roofless building that was so cool, sharing fried zuchini balls with haloumi and salad and then spending the afternoon discovering the beautiful boutiques. There was old shabby deserted buildings in between with ancient paint peeling doors, cats everywhere and we stumbled upon the place where my husband and I had stayed and the same lady was there, running the show around 28 years later! If I come again, I'll stay there.
We walked around the port and chose the restaurant Amphora, beautifully decorated with blue tables and chairs, red checked tablecloths and a great menu. We had eggplant stuffed with feta and our favourite horta and as usual when we asked for the bill, free chocolate slice arrived with muscat wine, the late husband's favourite.
I woke early and put an ad in for a tenant at my home in Randwick (as the last one had moved out) and made a booking for Morocco which I had put off twice before, slightly concerned about going there alone but I did it. The deed was done!
We breakfasted at Phyllo, had a croissant filled with a bitter chocolate ganache and strong Greek coffee and then I shopped till I dropped. I bought two beautiful dresses; the materials here are so beautiful and all natural. Lunch again at Phyllo, chicken with okra and moussaka. We visited a house that had been turned into a museum which was really interesting, showing life here in the 1800's, the crafts the women did, the beautiful sewing and tapestries, the tiny kitchen which would have produced amazing food.
At one of our stops, a woman recommended a place to dine that cooks in ceramic dishes. It was fantastic. We started with fried zuchhini chips in a light batter then we had chicken with prunes, potatoes and spices cooked in ceramics in a wood fired oven. Extremely full, of course they then brought us free yoghurt cake, watermelon and the traditional aniseed flavoured rake. We walk home slightly inebriated, the cats darting out of our way.
Arriving back at our hotel, we looked out our window to see a lot of people gathered around the water's edge. We re-dressed and went down to find out what it could be. It was two sea turtles, they kept surfacing and staying near the edge as the crowd followed them along the sea walk. Our last night was made memorable by their appearance.
Comments