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!

 

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