On the Road Again

Dear Friends and Family,

If your recently thought you heard a distant sound, it may have been the reverberation of autumn "falling" here in Greece. It has suddenly turned dramatically cooler. The days have still very nice, but mornings call for an extra layer and the last few nights we had to pull out an old blanket that was stored inour bungalow. It smelled a bit like old carpeting from an often used W.C. in a shelter for incontinents. Nevertheless, it kept us warm (and occassionally awake!)

A couple of days ago we took advantage of the bright sunshine to take another road trip, this time down the east side of the gulf, headed for a little village of Asporos. We first drove through the village of Mieli, which had a very impressive church

We carried on down the coast, looking back across toward the western coast where the bungalows are located, with the very impressive cliffs

About 20 kilometers further south, we turned a bend and found ourselves in Asporos. Actually we found ourselves in a narrow one-way street that forced up a very steep hill which overlooked the village And the bay

And, eventually, out of town. So, it was back for a second stab which was more successful. The town has a pretty little harbor

And seems to be a hot vacation destination as there were quite a number of clubs and tavernas along the bay. However, the season is definitely coming to a close as many of the places were already shut down and the village was very quiet. We did find a little taverna along a side street

and had one pork and one chicken gyros. Delicious! They were definitely the "full-meal-deal," as they were stuffed with meat, tomato, cucumber, tzatziki and about a half dozen French fries all wrapped in pita bread. I got the sense that Asporos must be a vacation destination for mostly Greeks as during our time in the town, we met known who had more that the smallest smattering of English. It was a lovely spot, however, and I would willing return for a future visit.

From there we headed back up the highway, stopping to appreciate a few of the sights we missed on the way down

One could find oneself stopping after every bend in the road, as it is a quite breathtaking drive

And another

And it just goes on and on. However, I will not. We now have just a bit more than a week and our thoughts begin to turn toward home. We are anxious to reacquaint ourselves with friends, family and our cats. Reality is beginning to set in as I have made several Skype calls setting up doctor appointments, dates for haircuts, and other duties of daily domesticity. But not yet! Let the dream continue for a bit longer. More soon.

 

Posted with Blogsy

A Random Thought and a Road Trip

28 September 2014

Dear Friends and Family,

I begin my blog with a random thought. Quite a number of years ago, as I was going through my "Greek Phase," a briefer, less intense period than my "French Phase," I took a semester of modern Greek at the Orthodox church in Portland. While I made some progress, none of it stuck for very long (of course, now, NOTHING sticks very long!). I could not connect it to anything. It was simply strange letters and sounds. Yesterday, as I was walking through Tolo, I passed two women, each on opposite sides of the street. Traffic was whizzing by, accompanied by the normal white noise of the morning. I could hardly hear them and could not imagine how they could communicate, especially with, what to my ear, was nothing more than a jumble of sounds. I have decided to dub it "GobbledyGreek!" While it is a comprehended series of sounds and meaning for the Greek people, it will remain "GobbledyGreek" to me.

Having gotten that off my chest (mind?), I promised to share a bit about our little road trip. We had stayed pretty much in the vicinity of Ingrid's since arriving. We did venture to a local beach on Monday, but a strong, warm, blustery wind (said to be a "scirocco" coming from Libia) Drove us from there after a relatively short time. So, this time, we headed towards the southeastern coast of the Peleponnese, past the famous theatre of Epidavros. We climbed some dramatic mountains before coming to a prominent overview of the Mediterranean, looking to the south.

As we made our way along the coast, we looked back to the north and the Isthmus of Corinth

We proceeded south, twisting and winding along a narrow two-lane highway, making the occasional stop when struck by unique sight, like this colorful church

That over looked a bright blue bay

We were headed for the town of Methana which lies on a finger of land (or perhaps it is a thumb! It has near it an active volcano (quiet at the moment) and we were told, has some sulphur hot springs. As we approached the harbor of the village, you could smell the distinctive odor of rotten eggs coming from the aquamarine bay.

As the high season is mostly over, it was very quiet in Methana. We stopped at a local taverna and realized we were the only non-Greeks in the place (possibly in the town!). We, naturally, ordered too much for lunch. It often happens that when Polley and I are traveling and discover an interesting new restaurant, we are drawn to several new things on the menu. Here we ordered the standard Greek salad. However, they also featured meat on a skew, so we ordered one. What we did not know is that we ordered 3! They were served on two large discs of a pita-type bread (meant to absorb the juices of the meat) and covered with French fries dripping with some sort of spicy sauce (also designed to soak the bread), with a side of tomatoes and onions. It was huge! Fortunately, hungry band of harbor cats were on hand to assist us in devouring our meal

It was a lovely afternoon and as we drove out of town, I took one last view of the setting

before tackling the twisty road back to Ingrid's. It was nice to get out and about to a part of the Peleponnese that we had not visited previously and it gave us a taste for hitting the road again soon. It can be very easy to just "veg-out" in this slow-moving world. One must force oneself to make a move. We will try again soon!

 

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Up to Our Ears in Greece

Dear Friends and Family,

Travel days are always tough, but Saturday was worse than usual. Bidding adieu to Angela and Crete was sad, but we were excited about seeing our Peloponnese friends once again. All went well in getting to the Heraklion Airport, getting checked in and finding our gate. We left for Athens on time, 8:50 am and set down about 9:20. There was wheelchair assitance for Polley. We grabbed our bags and headed out for our awaiting rental car. Wrong! No one in sight. I applied my "give them 15 minutes" rule before making a phone call. No record of a reservation. Of course, 24 hours previously I had a text confirming the rental. However, that was from the booking agent, not the actual agency itself. I ad a coucher, an order number, all the documentation for a reservation made nearly a year ago. Speculation now is that might have been the problem. It was so long ago, they had simply lost it, forgotten, who knows? Long, long story short, two hours later and several phone calls and we had our car. Of course, it only had a quarter of a tank of gas! So, our much-anticipated journey had another brief delay. Finally, a bit after noon, we were on our way.

Soemhow, over the years, we have developed a tradtion of stopping at a very local taverna in Cornith for some retsina and tzatziki. So, around 1 pm we made our pit stop.

When I say a local place, I mean it. Whenever we stop, the whole taverna seems to freeze. Who are these aliens and what are they doing here! When we order, they usually have to run next door to find someone who has some English, the residue of a one-time trip to his brother in "Shee-kago."

With one tradition out of the way, we accomplished yet another. We always stop at a certain roadside shack that sells 5-liter plastic bottles of retsina and jars of olives. We stocked up and headed to our new home: "Bungalows Ingrid."

These are lovely little studio apartments

Facing east/west with a patio at each end. They are a bit smaller than our Cretan accommodations, but as we are celebrating our 20th year of coming to Ingrid's, we get settled in quickly. Of course, our primary entertainment at Ingrid's is the cats. They are everywhere, but in short time mostly in our room

However, as you might notice the bowls of food, we will confess to offering bribes. You, no doubt can count on more "precious" photos in the weeks to come.

Yesterday, after a relatively good night's sleep after a stressful day, we had lunch at a family-run taverna in the little village of Drepano, located right next to a lovingly cared for church

We had heard good things about "mama's cooking," and we were not disappointed. In addition to some rosé retsina, we had a delicious "fried feta, rolled in sesame seeds

along with a Briam

This is a kind of vegetable stew of potatoes, zucchini, eggplant and tomatoes, drowned in olive oil. Fabulous!

Last night, we stayed in, talked with a German couple for a bit and then enjoyed bits and pieces for a light supper. So, once we got the car all is off to a good start. More coming soon!

 

Posted with Blogsy

Moving On, Leaving Odd Bits Behind

Dear Family and Friends,

Early tomorrow we leave the lsle of Crete. As always, it is with mixed feelings: difficult to say goodbye, but exciting to move to our next set of friends. So, as my last Cretan blog, I decided to just provide with glimpses of those moments we enjoyed, but that didn't fit well into any particular narrative.

One thing I have been struck with has been the bright bursts of color in this very dry, rockey landscape

You seem to be caught up in neutrals of the countryside and then turn a corner and "voila!"

And then around the next bend

Or at the side of the road

Surprise after surprise. We, of course, also kept our eyes out for cats. At a bar called Hemmingway's, not surprisingly, there are always a few felines snoozing in the sun. I loved this fellow, resting his chin on the lower rung of a chair

Or the night we came home to a male Praying Mantis seeking sanctuary on our patio wall

I can' leave out the afternoon, when out of nowhere, we were attacked by pirates!

Or the wonderful view down from our apartment in Kolimbari where evidence of the anciets seemed to be right in our own backyard (minus the clothes line)

Nand the endless parade of giant clouds that rode over our terrace

We have enjoyed each of our 20 days, each in slightly different ways. We recommend this historically rich island. The food is wonderful, the people some of the most friendly and the weather, a treat nearly everyday. Now, it is on to mainland Greece. The changes will be subtle, but eagerly anticipated. More in a day or two as we make our 7th or 8th visit to Ingrid and Yorgos, on the Peloponnese pennisula.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Road Warriors 2: the Journey Continues

Dear Friends and Family,

Our two-day trek to the far western regions of Crete carried us to the town of Kolimbari which we decided to use as our base. After dinner at a local taverna and a restful night's sleep, we pulled open our shuuters, stepped out onto our balcony and were greeted with this early morning sight

The sun coming up over the eastern Mediterranean

It was a glorious gift for our second day. After fumbling together some coffee, I took a walk around the village, first exploring the harbor from the vantage point of the end of a sea wall

From there, looking toward the north, I could make out the monastery i. The distance

It was a crystal clear morning and you still see the faint outline of the moon against the brilliant blue backdrop

I did venture back toward the town, the catch a glimpse of the fishing fleet nestled into a watery nook

A very attractive and quiet little resting place. From there and with the recommendation of Stavros, we headed further west for the town of Platinos, located along the very western side of Crete. It was more dramatic coastline

And shimmering bays

Upon arriving in Platinos, we turned off the main road and began our descent into the tiny beach hamlet of Farasarnia

Which was little more than a series of tavernas and a bevy of beach umbrellas

We paused there at the bottom, but decided to climb halfway back up the hill to a charming, quaint taverna that almost literally seemed to hang out from a mountain side

We had a delicious lunch, trying a new dish called "boureki," a very traditional Cretan dish associated particularily with this western side of the island. It was a casserole, layered like lasagna, but with layers of potatoes and zucchini, topped with Greek myzithera cheese and thinly sliced tomatoes. It is then baked and it was fabulous. It immediately went on my "to cook" list upon our return home. After lunch, we returned for siesta in Kolimbari and had a decent, but not memorable dinner before turning in after a long, tiring, but satisfying day.

Friday morning we leisurely got up, packed and bid adieu to our host, taking a couple of his cards, so as to remember the place if fortune returned us to Kolimbari. Along our route home, we stopped at a lovely stretch of beach for a beer, but by mid-afternoon found ouselves back i Sisi. It was a nice coup,e of days, but we did realize that despite the new scenery, there was something comforting about the familiarity of our own village, however, only our own until Saturday when we head for the mainland of Greece. Hopefully I will find one more blog from this ancient island. Stay tuned.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Road Warriors Returned

I know . . . Sounds like a movie sequel or a Crosby/Hope episode and us as "warriors" may be a bit over the top . . . So let's just say we are safely back in Sissi after our two-day trek to the west most edge of Crete. It was a good trip, but, as always, it was nice to settle back into the routine of our little village.

We left Sissi about 10 am on Wednesday heading west passing Heraklion, Crete's largest city and whizzing out into the less tamed parts of western Crete. We passed dramatic bays

 

Some spectacular stretches of beach

And some stunning symphonies of light, water and clouds

We could have stopped amd taken photos every few hundred feet, but we did manage to push on. After a couple of hours of scenic sensory overload, we stopped in the little beachside village of Georgioupoli for some refreshment

Polley maintains she was shielding her face from the sun, but she appeared to be auditioning for a role in an Our Gang comedy. Anyway, we continued on, passing numerous little village churches, each lovingly cared for

We took a lunch break in the town of Souda which lies at the end of a great bay. It was not as charming as we had been lead to believe, mostly a big harbor for ferries

And the cafe we found was equally disappointing, offering us only a choice between toasted ham and tasted ham and cheese sandwiches. Sparing no expense, we split a ham and cheese. Following "lunch," we set out for our goal for the day, the beach village of Kolimbari, about 20 kilometres west of Chania, another larger city just west of Souda. We decided to spend the night there, so after parking Polley in a space with a sea view and a car interior temperature of about 110, I headed off to find lodgings. Good luck! It seemed to be a town of endless tavernas, but no apparent hotels. Finally, in desperation, I stopped and asked the fellow who was working in an empty lot. His name was Aris and he was, in fact, Yugoslavian. He had a bit of English, but more importantly, a cell phone. He would call a fellow about a room. As he made a number of unsuccessful attempts to reach his friend, he insisted I sit with him in the shade and fetched a bottle of raki (you remember, Greek moonshine) and 2 glasses and we drank as we waited. At last, he reached Stavros, a darling man, who drove down to meet me. We proceeded to get Polley and we then drove straight up the side of a mountain to his apartment building. Except for Polley having to navigate a fair number of steps, he gave us what he felt was his best apartment. It was perfect. It had a small kitchen and a newly refurbished bath, but its best featurewas the balcony, which afforded us a mangificient view of the Mediterranean

And the village

We could have spend the whole trip just sipping wine and enjoying this view, but we did mange to move on. Stavros recommended and wxcellent taverna on the water and we caught the dramatic moonlight of a perfect Cretan evening

It was a wondeful first day. Tomorrow, I will share our second day of travel as we headed siuth along the Cretan coast. Best to all and only 4 weeks until we are home!

 

Posted with Blogsy