Leaving Sitia, we couldn't go without a long chat with Vassili our host. We wondered why he was at home looking after their baby, whilst his wife was working, and unable to take time off. It turned out he was in the navy and sailors are given 6 months paternity leave, whilst she was employed by the civic office who needed her, so he took the time off which he was thoroughly enjoying! When they are not running the apartments, the family are picking olives and making delicious olive oil which we were given to try out. He said that Crete has everything one would need to live well and people can be totally self sufficient. We had been told that this is the major area for Raki making. However we can't find anyone to show us how it done. There is a rumour that the EU are banning the making of raki but can't believe anyone would take any notice as it is such a part of life here.
So we eventually left Sitia and headed west with our first stop being Gournia, a Minoan settlement which had been excavated by an American lady Harriet Boyd-Hall in about 1901 (don't quote me on that), and guess what, on Mondays, it's closed. So we wandered about outside the wire and were just returning to the car when a German couple said 'if you follow the fence for 100 mtrs and climb over a wall you will find a hole in the fence which you can get in through', So we did.
The site had been very thoroughly excavated but without the 'guide book' which we would have been given had we paid to get in, it was difficult to know just exactly how all the walls fitted together. The American, Harriet, had however reconstructed quite a lot of the site to about waist height which made it a bit easier than just viewing a pile of stones.
Since the recent rain there are quantities of tiny wild crocus and other tiny pink flowers coming up all over the settlement like a carpet, covered in honey bees.
Afterwards we headed on for Agios Nikolaus, drove around it's one way circuit thrice, decided we didn't like big cities and continued north toward Spinalonga and Elounda where we hoped to find somewhere to stay.
We passed through Elounda which had a desolate air to it, despite massive villa development all around the town. It definitely felt like a town on it's uppers despite the huge volume of tourists all wishing to visit The Island. So on we went to Plaka, the small village from which you can row to Spinalonga. There wasn't much to write about here either, but we were harpooned by an old lady who told us her bar was open, so ended up having a drink and some lunch with her and then being shown her best friends 'apartments'. There was nothing wrong with the apartment, it was just dark, cold and very unwelcoming - probably how the residents of The Island viewed their new home too. So we set off back toward Agios Nik to try and find somewhere to stay. There was frankly nothing and in the end we ended up exactly where we didn't wish to be, on the front overlooking the harbour in Ag Nik. Still, it was a 4 star modern hotel the like of which we hadn't seen for a while so who was complaining!
The kind receptionist sent us off to Manouselis' restaurant in a back street. He advised us to have a selection of Mezedes, ouzo , wine etc and it was all excellent but as always, far too much so from now we are go to only order for 1 person.
So we eventually left Sitia and headed west with our first stop being Gournia, a Minoan settlement which had been excavated by an American lady Harriet Boyd-Hall in about 1901 (don't quote me on that), and guess what, on Mondays, it's closed. So we wandered about outside the wire and were just returning to the car when a German couple said 'if you follow the fence for 100 mtrs and climb over a wall you will find a hole in the fence which you can get in through', So we did.
The site had been very thoroughly excavated but without the 'guide book' which we would have been given had we paid to get in, it was difficult to know just exactly how all the walls fitted together. The American, Harriet, had however reconstructed quite a lot of the site to about waist height which made it a bit easier than just viewing a pile of stones.
Since the recent rain there are quantities of tiny wild crocus and other tiny pink flowers coming up all over the settlement like a carpet, covered in honey bees.
Afterwards we headed on for Agios Nikolaus, drove around it's one way circuit thrice, decided we didn't like big cities and continued north toward Spinalonga and Elounda where we hoped to find somewhere to stay.
We passed through Elounda which had a desolate air to it, despite massive villa development all around the town. It definitely felt like a town on it's uppers despite the huge volume of tourists all wishing to visit The Island. So on we went to Plaka, the small village from which you can row to Spinalonga. There wasn't much to write about here either, but we were harpooned by an old lady who told us her bar was open, so ended up having a drink and some lunch with her and then being shown her best friends 'apartments'. There was nothing wrong with the apartment, it was just dark, cold and very unwelcoming - probably how the residents of The Island viewed their new home too. So we set off back toward Agios Nik to try and find somewhere to stay. There was frankly nothing and in the end we ended up exactly where we didn't wish to be, on the front overlooking the harbour in Ag Nik. Still, it was a 4 star modern hotel the like of which we hadn't seen for a while so who was complaining!
The kind receptionist sent us off to Manouselis' restaurant in a back street. He advised us to have a selection of Mezedes, ouzo , wine etc and it was all excellent but as always, far too much so from now we are go to only order for 1 person.
No comments:
Post a Comment