A Little Traveling Music, Please!

Dear Friends and Family, Sorry for the lack of communication yesterday, but we did quite a bit of traveling and there simply was no time for a blog. Hopefully, the interruption will be worth as we explored territory that we had not visited previously. About 9 am we headed west on the National Highway (actually the ONLY true highway on the island!). We were going to spend the day and have lunch in Réthymno, the 3rd largest city in Crete. It is about 78 kilometers west of Heraklion, on the north coast. From pictures, it appeared to be a charming seaside town. It took about 1:45 to get there, and as we pulled on the highway, we found ourselves in bumper-to-bumper traffic. Unfortunately, we immediately took a wrong turn and found ourselves headed out of the town in which we had barely arrived! But as so often happens in travels, the bad luck, turned good. In the heat of the morning and dust of construction and chaos of traffic, we pulled off to a little taverna to get some sense of where we needed to be. We found ourselves at the Taverna Athina

It was run by a plump, older woman (no doubt younger than us) who we found rattling around in the kitchen. We asked if she was open and she was. We ordered a glass of wine each and when she asked if we wanted “Weiss Wine”. Were we still in Greece? This lady was German, but, of course, understood my Greek (Krasai Aspro) and was very delightful, as she guided us to her vine-covered terrace for our respite.

In addition to the grape arbor, she had some wonderful flowers that were clustered together by the side of the road.

After a half an hour or so, she directed us to the waterfront and the central harbor. It was back the other way and suddenly my picturesque village was a swarming hornets nest of cars, scooters and jay-walking tourists. It as a nightmare! As we worked our way toward the harbor we managed to find a parking space. We grabbed it! It was only later that we discovered we were about ¾ of a mile from where we might want to be. So we began our trek toward the harbor and the old part of town.

The beaches that fronted the harbor was a mass of umbrellas placed as close together as was physically possible. The sidewalks were jammed and it was one restaurant after another, each manned with its own huckster, trying with the subtlety of a pimp, to haul you in. Finally, as we approached the Venetian fortress, we succumbed and stopped for lunch. Lunch, which consisted of some tzatziki and friend sardines was okay. Actually the tzatziki was quite good, but the sardines were not exactly this morning’s catch. A bit fishy for our taste. Following lunch we wandered (perhaps “fought” our way is more precise) up along the harbor where the end is designated by a wonderful old lighthouse.

From there we turned into the old town district which seemed more an 18th century mall as it was one shop after another. People were everywhere.

We are not really shoppers so much of the charm of this section was lost on us. Also, it felt as though it was about 100-degrees in the sunny areas. So after wandering a bit, we made our way back to the car and headed along the old National road, hoping to find the charming village setting we had looked for Réthymno. We visited a couple of hopeful looking spots along the way, but, alas, it is high season in Crete and it seems that if it is near the sea, it is packed with tourists. We committed to one little seaside village, Agia Pelagia and drove off the highway and down a couple of miles to the sea only to nearly be trapped in a parking lot that appeared to look a lot like a frozen tableau of bumper cars! We escaped without a scratch, but I am still unsure how we were so fortunate. So, it was back on the National Highway and we headed for home. A rather disappointing outing. However, it did make us appreciate the sleepy tranquility of Sissi much more. So after a deep and rather lengthy siesta, we headed down to the harbor in Sissi for a drink and to check in with e-mail. As we were running a bit later than usual because of the day trip, we were able to catch glow of the sea just after sunset

As well as the harbor itself as the lights came on and created its own romantic ambience.

With that, the dissatisfactions of the earlier part of the day, seemed to fade away and as we drove home for a Greek salad and some Retsina all, once again, appeared right with the world.