Settling in for Xmas in Crete

Approaching Crete or is it Vancouver Island

So it was only one storm but it left an impression on us. Really we've had very good weather and not much rain at all. We left Santorini early Saturday morning 4: 25 am but really it was 5:30 am because the ferry was an hour late. It was windy and Gabriele will admit that she was a little nervous in light of the weather we'd had. But we found a central location and although the crossing was a little rocky it was uneventful.... she's experienced worse crossing Hecate Strait. We arrived in Iraklio (Heraklio) at 10:30 am, 18 degrees, clear skies with a gentle breeze off the ocean.

Throne room in Knossos

We did the last of our Xmas shopping in Iraklio...... western consumerism has caught on.......”city sidewalks, busy sidewalks” everyone loaded down with Xmas shopping. We jostled along with the crowds soaking up the atmosphere ....not the least bit stressed. We were led to believe Xmas isn't that big here., they don't exchange gifts until January 1, so they can enjoy shopping a little longer and alot of people do seem to enjoy shopping. Sometimes you'd like to be a shopper but you do have to think twice when you know you have to carry it home and you already have to much in the backpack. So we did laundry instead .... important to have clean clothes for Xmas.

Appreciating the perfect Minoian male

Visited Knossos the Minoan Palace outside of Heraklion. Site of the first recorded flush toilet. Only it didn't have a handle to push, just relied on constant running water. And it is rumoured that the Queen bathed in sheep's milk and honey rather than water. 

Chania pronouced "Hania" lighthouse

We then bussed it to Chania, the Venetian port on western Crete. Had thought that we would spend Xmas there, but it was way too noisy and felt too much like a tourist hub. (If you ever meet a front man working for a restaurant that say's he has cousins in Canada, run away quickly.) We're tired of being tourists so we hightailed it out of there to find a more rural setting to celebrate Xmas. 

We are now in the middle of an olive grove outside of Kissamos. Situated between tiny villages that seem to go back to back. You leave one village behind to simply enter another. We have views of the sea and moutains, much more our style. And quiet, we're back to listening to roosters crow and dogs bark rather than people yelling, motorcyles roaring oh and our all time favorite: church bells ringing. Have we mentioned the large number of churches per capita in Crete.

Enjoying the crystal clean aqua blue waters

Holiday...... crazy shoppers.

Crystal clear aqua blue water

Went swimming today at one of the most beautiful beaches in western Crete which by the way we had all to our selves.... wonder what everyone else was doing. A lot of the locals were busy picking olives but we thought there would be a few others enjoying the beach on such a beautiful winter day. In the summer these beaches are packed.

Ahhh... the endless beaches (note lack of tourists)

Gabriele and Dave's travel tip number 201: do not rent a hotel room beside (or near, although this is hard to do in Greece) a church. They all have bell towers You just don't know when they will ring.
Merry Kissamos from Christmas,


The Merry Wanderers

Stairs, Storms and Strikes December 16

Goat pens and Duck ponds

The cutiet Billy (Davey) Goat ever

December 6

Last week we re-located to Halkida, a more urban area. Some might even consider it a suburb of Athens. Halkida is an hour out of Athens on the island of Evia. The Pelion was much quieter and more isolated and instead of walking ancient paths in the mountains we're walking ancient paths pounding the pavement in Athens. Last week was still warm and humid here but today winter arrived.....feels more like fall to me.... it was 5 or 6 this morning which is normal for this time of year.

the nanny goat escaping

 Natalie lives in a two hundred year old farm house that her grandfather had bought as an investment. It used to be surrounded by vineyards, olive groves and orange groves but clearly suburbia has gobbled up a good portion of the original estate. We are using the stakes from the old vineyard to build a goat pen. Last week we moved the compost and this is to become the future duck pond.

No olives but lots of oranges. She still has an orange grove in front of the house and the trees are loaded. We've been squeezing fresh orange juice every morning and eating at least one a day along with learning how to incorporate oranges into our meals and make Greek style jams and marmalades.

Took the bus into Athens yesterday and spent a whole day being a touris,t and we weren't the only ones. There were still tour buses everywhere, the Acroplis was crawling with people ........ if it's this busy in December what must it be like at the height of tourist season, all I can say I'm glad we're here now with a few less tourists. Of course one day is not near enough time but it's good to break these kinds of things into manageable chunks.......so, so much history to digest and make sense of.

The  Plake- tiny little houses directly below the Acropolis

The Acropolis entrance

the theatre

The temple of Zeus as seen from the Acroplolis

 Highlights...the bustling markets, the Plaka with these tiny  whitewashed houses built on top of one another, the Temple of Zeus and of course the Acroplis.

My favourite .....the chandalier

We didn't make it to any museums (hoping to do that next weekend) but you might say we're living in a museum. Natalie's grandfather was a sea faring man and collected things from all over the world in his travels. There is no shortage of interesting things to look at in this home and on the property. They even have a cache of coal ??? maybe Black Peter stops by here in case he needs some for those naughty children???? Natalie's house is all decked out for Xmas already, hope you all are moving into the Xmas season with happy hearts and good cheer. We're thinking of you and hold you all dear in our hearts.

The huka (hooka) pipe I don't know what he's smoking

The Happy Wanderers