Trading Paradises

Dear Friends and Family, We have reached our last full day in Sissi on the isle of Crete. It has been wonderful and the weather has been near perfect. As I have said before, in terms of actual temperature it has been very hot, but with the ever-present breezes, for us, it has been delightful. Yesterday, was about the same as I have reported to you since our road trip ended on Wednesday. A good walk, an hour by the pool, a little trip into Sissi for a drink and a bit of peeking at the tourists, home for lunch, a siesta, and then out for the evening. Yesterday was much the same and, I trust, today will be nearly a carbon copy. The one difference was that last evening we took our hosts, Stuart and Angela, out for drinks and dinner. At 7 we went down to the harbor for a drink and to watch the sun set. Then it was up to the little garden restaurant, Liofito, for dinner. Stuart and Angela had never been there so it was fun to introduce them to a new place in their very own village! We started with those wonderful tomato fritters that we have been raving about and Angela added an order of Cheese Saganaki (a kind of fried cheese: feta, of course). Stuart and Angela were very impressed and as we moved to the entrées, they were looking forward to the meal. Stuart and Polley shared roasted rabbit (from the Liofito farm), Angela had chicken and enjoyed a Greek salad. We also enjoyed a couple of liters of white wine and polished it all off with the white-lightening Cretan “raki.” Actually, it might be more appropriate to say that the Raki always manages to polish us off. Caught this photo of Polley the other night after the Raki

Just kidding, but a little of it can have that effect. The other entertainment at Liofito, aside from the meal and the occasional strolling “bad musician,” are the two cats, Charming Charlie and his brother who remains “Anonymous.” While Charlie was around, he was mostly being abused by small children, however, he seemed to relish the attention and never put up much of a fuss, regardless of how the little monsters carried him. The brother, however, gave most of his attention to us. He and Angela became quite close

and she was even threatening to steal him away and take him home. It was a wonderful 5 hour evening and we all dragged our butts up the hill about midnight. For any other you interested in Crete, I highly recommend Stuart and Angela’s place. With the pool and the quiet, rural setting, it is ideal, and Sissi is a perfect little coastal village that has charm, but still remains largely unspoiled. I am not sure when we will be able to return, but it will always remain a very special place. So now, I will be away from the blog for a day. We catch an 8:30 am flight for Athens in the morning and head out to Ingrid’s on the Peloponnese from there. We spent a month with them last year, so you may already be familiar with our time there, but we are looking forward to our couple of weeks there. It is so comfortable and is a very different rhythm from Sissi. That is largely due to the energy of Ingrid, but also because here in the apartment in Sissi we have had the place to ourselves. Ingrid’s has 9 bungalows and there is a little bit more of a social atmosphere. As I say, it will be change, but I think we are ready for that. I will report more on Tuesday. So long from Sissi, soon to be in Ancient Assini.