Crete

It's time to revisit Crete; it was so nice there. And warm. Getting there was an overnight ferry ride. We arrived in the port of Chania (pronounced Hania) at 6:00 in the morning, just as the sun was coming up.

It had been raining, but once we were settled into our apartment, Patricia and I went exploring. This rainbow greeted us.

It's not every day a person gets to see a rainbow that touches the horizon, and seeing it here, in Crete, over the Mediterranean Sea, was just so (expletive deleted) awesome.

The buildings are packed together pretty tightly, but it makes for a very charming town.

This mosque has been turned into a community building and was holding a Christmas bazaar while we were there. The Greek Orthodox Christmas is celebrated through January 6th, the Feast of Epiphany.

We found a wonderful gift shop on one of our meanderings. When Susie sat down on the step, the cat crawled into her lap and made herself to home. Meanwhile, the shop owner left us to mind the shop while she went to get samplings of raki for us to taste. This anise-flavored brandy was nice and not as strong as the Bulgarian rakia. Many of the shop owners were interesting with great stories to tell. 

Old warehouses

We celebrated Patricia's birthday at this wonderful restaurant with a view.

Amazing friends...

...and amazing food.

It was cloudy much of the time, but there was one cloud catching the sun.

Seriously, I was in Crete!

Susie and I took a bus ride to the south side of Crete and saw how mountainous the island is, and covered with olive trees.

I noticed many of the towns along the way had similar churches.

My first glimpse out the bus window of the Mediterranean south of Crete.

The bus took us to the town of Paleohora where it was a beautiful 70 plus degrees. How could we not go exploring? A local stopped us to visit and suggested we walk west to a park. We didn't find the park, but we found sheep, and Susie dug around in her purse until she found something to offer them.

Then they posed for us.

And we posed for them. Okay, not really...just another attempt to use my camera's self-timer.

Yup. Took the boots off and waded.

Back in Chania, we ate a last meal,

took a few more photos,

walked out to the lighthouse...well, almost,

almost stepped on the catch of the day,

then packed up and boarded this mammoth ferry for the mainland.

Back in Athens we stayed at this hotel with a four-story bougainvillea. I loved Greece. It was the first week of January, the flowers were still blooming, and the trees were still green.

We took a taxi as far as it could go up Lykavittos Hill, and then walked the rest of the way to the chapel of St. George on top.

The view was incredible up there including this of the Acropolis and the Saronic Gulf.

I used to ask my students to tell about places they had been for writing projects. A few years ago, one student told me she had been on a Mediterranean cruise. If people really do turn green with envy, I must have looked like a giant pea. Then, I could only hope someday I would be able to just SEE the sea. I'm so fortunate.

Thanks for reading.

Peace, love and all the best,

Joan