Memories of a Good Road Trip

Dear Friends and Family, We are back and still alive! Actually, when you are driving in Crete that is quite an accomplishment! We have completed our two day road trip and had a very nice time discovering the south coast of Crete. It is very different, quieter, and more traditional. We headed out on the National Highway for Heraklion as we have done several times before. This time, instead of continuing west, we turned south and wound our way through the dramatic landscape of craggy cliffs and juts of rock mixed with endless groves of olive trees and lush grape vines.

Our first stop was the Palace of Phaistos, a Minoan settlement that was at its heyday around 1500 BC. Homer mentions it in the Iliad as a populous city. We arrived there around 11:30 and it was hot!

It sits at the very top of a mount on a kind of plateau. But there was nothing in the way of protection, so our strolling about was a bit limited.

It is a struggle to fully imagine these settlements as so much is, naturally, crumbling. There were some interesting urns in places were food and wine were stored

But our primary reason for making the stop was the connection Polley had as for the last 7 or 8 years she has been wearing a copy of the famous Disc of Phaistos, which is a still untranslated tablet that was found at the Palace.

When we finally escaped the punishing heat, we did find a nice spot at the little café on site and enjoyed a very cold beer before hitting the road again. While we had one other antiquity that we wanted to catch, we decided to catch it first thing the next morning when it would be cooler. So we headed for the seaside village of Agia Gallini. This had been recommended to us by a colleague at the University, so I got on-line and booked us a room. We arrived about 2 and checked in to the most delightful little hotel, called “Idi.” It was a lovely, simple room with a very nice balcony that looked at the sea

Agia Galini is practically all hotels and tavernas. But unlike Rethymno that we visited last week, Agia Galini is a peaceful tourist destination. There were lots of people there, but it seemed to be a crowd that appreciated the opportunity to get way from the hustle and bustle of everyday life and just relax. We loved it. We found a place for some lunch and took a rest before planning on dinner. The proprietor of the hotel recommended two possible choices for dinner on the beach. We chose the nearest one as walking in Agia Galini is a real challenge: everything is built up the side of the mountain. We ate at a terrific place. Couldn’t have chosen better. It sat right on the beach; it was Stochos

It had the most wonderful staff, especially our wait-person. She was funny, quick, efficient and seemed to be someone who full loved her job and the people she served. She immediately informed us of a special that was not on the menu, but was available tonight: Kleiftiko. This is almost more a process that a dish. They take baking potatoes, onions and chicken and lamb and put it all is a large clay oven and seal it up and cook the food for hours. A few minutes after we arrived they unsealed the oven

And a few minutes later, we were delivered this huge portion of lamb with all the fixings

It was fabulous. There also was a wonderful garlic-infused olive oil that you dripped over everything. Amazing. We staggered back up the hill (partially from the challenging climb and partially from the wine and raki that we had consumed. It was a great day, however! The next morning we arose about 6. Breakfast in the hotel was not served until about 8, so trying to find some coffee was my first order of business. As I walked about, I found nothing open. However, I thought there is assuredly some local place where old, fat retired guys gather each morning swapping lies. Sure enough, I find it and 10 minutes later had two cups of coffee to go. After the coffee I did a short morning walk around the town and out onto the breakwater that serves to protect the port from the sea in harsh weather. It gave me the opportunity to take a photo of the town from the sea looking back, as the sun came up

At breakfast, which was excellent as well, featuring coffee, a variety of breads, a crepe and fruit, we had a lovely conversation with a fascinating woman from Milan. She had very good English and had traveled extensively, including a couple of years in the US. I was sorry that we were not staying another day or two to get to know here a bit better. However, if we have the chance to return to Crete we will including more time it Agia Galini. It was a delight. Again, about 9, we headed to the antiquity at Gortys. It was not far and the day was much more comfortable in the early morning. Gorty is a newer settlement and apparently replaced Phaistos as the most influential city in southern Crete by about 200 BC. There was a quite nice basilica

Along with a theatre

There was also a very interesting Code of Law for the town that was inscribed in stone on the wall behind the theatre.

Gortys was quite large. We had to walk down the highway about 300 meters to see another portion of it.

By that time, the day was warming up quickly and there was little protection from the Cretan sun. So we headed back to the car and started our journey home. We headed east on the south coast highway. Our goal was a little coastal village called Arvi that Stuart and Angela recommended as a wonderful place to stop for lunch. Arvi is about 12 kilometers off the road, winding down to the sea, with switchback turns and hairpin curves that make the trip seem twice as long. However once we arrived, in was a quiet charming little place and we headed into the first taverna we found, right on the sea.

There was not a soul in the place, it was just the family sitting about. With our order for tzatziki and fried fish, the family sprung into action. Well, that may be overstating it; they began to move. It was worth the wait, however. The food was fresh and perfectly cooked. There was a lovely sea breeze and we had a pleasant hour in this largely unknown spot on the coast. Then it was back up the mountain and we began to head for home. About 2 hours later, we pulled into Sissi as we were schedule to have dinner with our hosts, Stuart and Angela in their home, just upstairs from our apartment. The food and company were wonderful. We had a sampling of very Greek starters (Mezes) including stuffed grape leaves, meatballs, tazatziki and even some Greek-style chicken wings. Stuart grilled some pork and we all consumed a healthy amount of wine. We also got to catch a sunset from there balacony

It was a lovely evening and we are looking forward to returning the favor as we will take them to dinner on Saturday evening. All-in-all, it was a perfect break from the routine of Sissi, but we were glad to be back and look forward to our last few days here just relaxing and embracing the ambience of Sissi and Crete.