Spring Storms and Sunshine ....

Soon enough, I shall be ferrying back to Athens and bidding adieu to yet another country. Despite many trips here over the years, I have yet to have my fill .... there are hundreds of remote Greek islands left to discover! .... Something surprising this time around .... I have observed that a great majority of Greeks no longer adhere to their own healthy Mediterranean diet!! .... far too many white flour carbs, sugary versions of profiteroles which resemble sticky goop balls to my eyes, way too much meat, coffee, raki/ouzo and oh my, cigarettes ...... seems to be what most live on, particularly the older men!! What has happened to the Greeks??? ......... perhaps joining the EU was not so good for the Greeks in many ways ... many grumble .... agricultural roots seem a distant memory, when walking everywhere was a given. As everywhere globally, many opt to live in cities, large towns, driving rather than walking .... A common sight is older gents, sitting around cafes a good part of every day, drinking that national drink, ouzo and raki with their coffee, smoking, eating junk ..... The transformation is quite startling in many respects. Strange change! Often enough, the only place I see a Greek salad, bowl of olives and a glass of red wine, is in front of me :) ... Still, the more remote the village, some of the old ways remain intact, including dining habits. Greece relies heavily on tourism and all around, I see the prep work taking place for the coming tourist season (April through September) .... lots of repair work, painting, cleaning is keeping many of the younger generation occupied. A busy, happy, spring like energy prevails. It is becoming quite obvious that eventually, I fall in love with every country I travel to ..... so easy to please??! .... Perhaps it is a reversion to childhood, my second or third :), a place where constant awe is a state of being :) Easy to do, on the road away from the daily concerns of life in Calgary. At times, this embracing each country, may take me a few weeks, but rarely longer ..... and then, bamm, another country/island/city is glued to my heartstrings forever. So yes, Crete ... my latest love!! The benefits are many for travelling offseason but it is mostly the quiet serenity everywhere that is so agreeable with my nature. Many museums, historical sites, restaurants, hotels and shops are closed, to re-open in April or May, but I have managed to find nice clean rooms or small apartments just about everywhere ... particularly charming, were the old Venetian mansions, now converted into B&B's in "old town" sections of both Hania and Rethymno. I had earlier winged a lookabout to Eastern Crete, the most touristy part of Crete, only to find pretty much everything boarded up ..... the vistas are grand, but I can see that the area would be intolerable when busy season gears up .... dozens of mega hotel chains, tacky souvenir shops, restaurants, tavernas, night clubs, line the oceanside. A very deserted feel, in early March! A good number of locals from this area head to the cities or even mainland Greece to work over the winter season ... Disappointed though, that the Samaria Gorge hike was closed off due to unsafe conditions. Apparently opens again in May. The pictures I had seen of the hike were splendid and I had so looked forward to it. Of course the temps have been as low as in the single digits and the rain and wind storms were a bit much, flooding the gorge totally. Still, loving a good winter storm as I do, I ventured out one day for a walk, wrapped in trusty goretex, hood and all .... umbrellas, useless in the high winds. So much for gortex, I was thoroughly soaked in minutes, runners squishing as I walked .... came down with a bit of a chill and a cold but heh .... not so bad really .... there I was in a cozy, centuries old casa, a warm pot of herbal tea at bedside snuggled in a down comforter :) .... The storm and cool temps heaped snow in the higher elevations ..... first snow this year and many families drove to the mountains to allow their children to play in the white covered hills :) So despite some lows, it is mostly beyond pleasant, and I may never again travel in high season anywhere, ever!! ............. Crete's myriad of inviting turquoise coves, beaches, caverns, narrow winding village roads leading to hodge-podgey villages, some perched precariously on hilltops are such a joy to experience ..... enjoyed many a Greek coffee and local reds in ambiance-soaked tavernas, walked through quiet monasteries, olive & orange groves, and the almond trees were starting to bloom!! .... I mistakenly thought they were cherry trees :) ..... and aahh, one fine warm sunny day, a blissful skinny dip in the Libyan Sea ........ not a soul around ......... does heaven get better than this? There are so many twists and turns on Crete's mountain and seaside roads, with an endless stream of stunning vistas ....... almost drove myself over a cliff as I came upon one of many jaw dropping views around a particularly tight turn/curve! .... I had taken the advice of Thanasis, clerk at my little casa in Rethymno to head to the remote south one day ... I noted that on the map, the road ended at a spot where Thanasis had told me to go for another 20 or so kms ..... asked if I should hike up the mountain from that point? .... he, in that "typical tough guy Crete way" said "oh, don´t pay attention to the map .... there is a good road up the mountain to the little cove he said I would find at the end of it..... some road, and I must say, once you commit to going up a mountain road in Crete, there is not a chance in hell you will get an opportunity to turn your car around ...... I was literally terrified in one spot .... shere cliff drop off on what was basically a hiking path and bloody Thanasis had called it a road!!! I was beyond cursing him as I ambled up the steep pitch hugging the mountain .... nothing but mountain goats and me for what seemed an eternity ...... okay, once I had my heart beating again, I was able to cruise down to the remote little cove that was every bit as beautiful as Thanasis had said .... the only bit of truth out of that man!!! Thankfully, I eventually found the coastal road back to Rethymnon and did not have to maneuver back along the goat path I had somehow managed to survive!!! ..... Enough blithering and blabbering about the beauty ... time to post pictures though I doubt they will do true justice to the scenery! .... A note: the pictures are of both South and North Crete; the storm in Hania and harbour scenes, Monica (an Austrian lady I met in Hania) and I enjoying a lunch in the little village at the base of the fort and monastery ruins at Aptera one afternoon .... Stephanie (Australian ... think I mentioned her in a past entry) in her cozy apartment in Hania, my room in old town Hania at Casa Delfino, local chaps dressed in traditional garb in the birthplace of local hero Eleftherio Venizelos, the village of Therissos, where the Cretan hero started a movement to unify Crete with Greece and succeeded .... his life is celebrated every year, on the day we chanced to be in Therissos! .... the men of the village sit around, umm, celebrating; sheep are slaughtered and cooked out back of the restaurant on a spit (unfortunately, we chanced upon the slaughter as we walked around the little village .... not pleasant to someone of primarily vegetarian tastes!) ..... We sat down to enjoy our own rather meager lunch, (though I did try a few of the recommended lamb chops) comparatively speaking, behind the large table of men (picture above) and as everywhere in Greece, we were the only tourists around :) Small town, interesting afternoon!