A hot and lovely Thursday!

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Hello, and Happy Thursday to all!

Here, our time on Crete is growing shorter, and we just learned this morning that the next general strike in Greece has been called for May 20. If we are REALLY lucky, we should be able to get out of Crete to Athens on Saturday, and then out of Athens to Istanbul on Tuesday – so let’s ALL keep our fingers crossed for us, please?! Many thanks!

So…up this morning at the normal 6:30-ish time. Found that some cats were now on the roof of the place next door – really a ruin, which is too bad! And one of the little ones found himself on the ledge by our balcony, and was mewing away! Talk about heartbreaking! R took a cute picture of him, and explained to me that this was the sort of things that cats always did…never having had cats, I wouldn’t know! And, though breakfast isn’t scheduled until 9, the owner was here early, and offered to get things together for us early! YEA! This morning we had good grilled ham and cheese sandwiches, along with strawberries and yoghurt, breads, cakes and cookies, and a truly terrific melon. Finished up, and while our hostess outlined a day’s scenic drive to Robert, I headed out looking for an ATM. Nice time to be up and about; still coolish, although the promise of more heat to come. R had programmed Emmy for me, but she had some trouble getting satellite reception. Finally got her going, and have to admit – following walking directions was a bit odd – and very hit and miss, what with the street names! Finally got to the right spot, but the promised ATM for Citibank wasn’t there…another one was, though, so no problem; just odd! Back to the hotel to collect maps, hat, water, etc. for the drive. Found that the cats had disappeared, so suppose they know what they’re doing…I do tend to worry!

First, however, we wanted to reconfirm everything at the Chania Airport with Aegean Air. (Remembering that they hadn’t told us our flight time had changed, so we just wanted to make sure we were all on the same page!) Found our way out of town and to the airport in something like half-an-hour, which isn’t bad, considering the traffic that we had. On Saturday morning, we’ll be leaving REALLY early, so should be an ever quicker drive! Parked at the a/p and confirmed everything with Aegean, then back on the road, this time heading for the oldest living olive tree in the world!!

R had read about it, and been very intrigued. Back to the national road, and then headed west. Ano Vouves was about 4 or 5 km off the main highway, but fairly easy to find. And there it was! WOW! This thing (as you’ll hopefully be able to see from the pictures!) is HUGE and estimated being from 4,000 to 6,000 years old! From Vouves, we decided to follow the scenic route to a beach area on the far western edge of the island; supposedly referred to as the Caribbean of the Med! How odd!

Wound around and around and up and through a beautiful gorge, complete with caves! Stopped at Elos for lunch. R had O.J. and something called a boureki; I had small spinach and cheese pies. R’s boureki was FABULOUS. Technically, I found it described as a Turkish word meaning little pie with meat or cheese. Basically it consists of layers of potatoes, zucchini, myzithra cheese and mint, and it was GREAT! Fortunately for me, we shared both of our lunches. (Oh…plus my latest Classic – but Hil and Kate – here I’ve just realized that they’re called MAGIC Classics! Whatever happened to Magnum do you think??)

From Elos we headed down toward the western coast, and boy, did it get HOT and HUMID quickly! We turned on the so-called a/c in the car – but to be honest, it was truly negligible! Found the beach, and it was blowing a GALE! Reminded us very much of the winds that blow at Point Lobos – just really hard and really constant! Really beautiful turquoise water, and there were people on the beach, but we just got out for a short walk, as it was blowing sand all over the place – in fact, there were people who were holding on to huge kites on boards (but not like typical wind surfers you see in California) and they were physically being lifted up completely off the water for 10+ feet before they’d crash down into the waves again! It was amazing!!

Turned the car Chania bound again, and were really glad when we reached the other side of the island, as it was immediately MUCH cooler! Found a parking space without problem in the public lot nearest to the hotel, and back in for a rest! Now getting ready to head out for dinner … stay tuned!!

Much love,
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