Friday 17 october 2008
Weather: NL 14 degrees and rain / GR 20 degrees and sunny
Finally, after a year of waiting, we have vacation again. At 12:15 we finish messing around in the house and drive to Wim. He is willing to take us away again. It is quite busy on the road to Schiphol, but on the other side of the road it is completely jammed. Lucky for us, but unlucky for Wim. He has to go back as well. We have to be at the airport around 3 p.m. and we are. But after we say goodbye to Wim and get to the departure hall, we see that our plane does not leave at 5:10 pm, but at 6:40 pm. Our plane has to come from Tenerife and on the plane we later hear that someone from the crew there had gotten very sick. And was taken by ambulance to the hospital. Therefore they left there too late and we too were delayed. We therefore decide to eat something in the Netherlands instead of in Crete. Otherwise we would have had a Pita Gyros in Malia. Now it will be a tournedos with fries and some salad. The flight otherwise goes well. And at 23:00 Greek time (this is an hour later than in the Netherlands) we arrive in Crete. The suitcases also arrive quickly, so then quickly to the people from Sunweb to sign us out. And in search of the car rental company. After some searching we find it and fifteen minutes later we can leave with the car. What a big car, cool KIA Sorento! We dare to drive it in the dark. The car has air conditioning and there is even a radio in it that can also read MP3 CDs. Only we forgot to bring the CDs. After about 40 minutes we arrive at the apartment. Rene drops me off first and then looks for a spot for the car. Yorgos already gets my bearings and immediately starts talking in Greek and kissing and hugging me. I missed him too. Meanwhile, René is also there and he too is greeted extensively. Then we have to sit down with the rest of the guests and he gets us something to drink. And then we catch up. How are we, how is René’s father, how is the house? And René is too fat and what are we white. Then it’s our turn. How is he and the kids? How did the season go? How is Katerina doing? Who have all been there that we also know? By now it has been 1:30. Yorgos gives us the key and then we say goodbye for the night. Quickly to room 104, the studio. We just took the toilet bags out of the suitcases. We’ll see the rest tomorrow. Now first, sleep. It is 2:00 a.m.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Weather: 26 degrees and sunny with veil clouds
At 8:45 the alarm clock rings. Neither of us slept great. These beds are nothing like the box springs at home. They are much harder and a lot shorter. But oh well, we’ll get used to that. First we unpack the suitcases. René quickly puts on a pair of shorts and goes out on the balcony to smoke. I jump into the shower. After a brief struggle with the shower curtain (long live the cabins) and mixing the water, I wake up nice and warm. Then I get dressed and Rene can shower. We decide to do some shopping first and only then see what we are going to. When we return, Katerina and Rania are there. So first we say hello and then put our things away. Then quickly back to the bar. While enjoying espresso, we now catch up with Katerina. She is just as busy (so too) as ever. A little later, Yorgos arrives as well. With both children!!! How Nikos has already grown! A very cute little guy. And of course I also have to hug Irini. She plays the worried big sister, who is now also used to not being alone.
After two cups of espresso we get some things together. The camera, some water, the sunglasses. We go out for a while. We decide to drive to Agios Nikolaos.
There we walked around a bit and ended up eating again at Du Lac. René a ham-and-cheese omelet (which turned out to be feta) and I a Greek salad. Accompanied by fresh gravy. Delicious. We walk some more and then take the car via the old road back to Malia. We park the car somewhere and walk through the village. Many businesses are already closed. This really is the end of the season. Hopefully the restaurant will be open until the end of our vacation. We drink some coffee and tea at Revolution. Then we go hunting for CDs for the car. Unfortunately, we can’t find anything. Better luck another time. We go back to the apartment. First we have a drink. In the room, because from 15:00 to 22:00 the bar is closed. I start the travelogue and René reads some more. Then René closes his eyes for a while. At a little before 18:00 we get ready for the evening. We are a bit early, so first we sit on the balcony for a while. Around 19:00 we go to the restaurant. The covered area is almost full. We take a seat at table 21. We have been sitting for almost half an hour when Aristo notices us. He is almost shocked that he had not seen us come in, but greets us immediately. From Yorgos we do get the menu, but with the urgent advice to take lamb chops or Stifado. So we do. René the lamb chops of course and I the Stifado. Delicious with beer and red wine. Yorgos also drinks red wine with us. He also gets Rene to drink wine. After dinner we take axbax. Eddy is not behind the bar, so Aristo has to prepare them. To finish, we take a metaxa 5* and an ouzo. By then it is almost 10 p.m. Yorgos has already gone to the apartment and we are also going back. On the way there I had already seen 3 lizards and on the way back Rene sees another one. So the score is 4 today. We have a drink at the bar and talk with Yorgos. We were supposed to go to Arkadi tomorrow, but he wants us to go to another monastery. He also sent two other guests there today. And they tell us it’s really worth it. A special experience. They both got a bracelet. Yorgos wants René to ask the father of the monastery for holy oil for his back problems. He later gives us a bill in Greek explaining that. So tomorrow to Anopoli. We then ask him if he also has a CD for us to borrow for in the car. Afterwards we talk a bit about music. It turns out that I indeed had the right Greek artist in mind when he wanted to go on the road with us last year. It was indeed Michalis Tzouganakis. I have already seen videos of him on YouTube and my favorite song turns out to be Yorgos’ favorite song as well. Yorgos will try to make a copy of a DVD of Michalis. It is already very late and so we rush to bed. It is 3:00 am.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Weather: 27 degrees and partly cloudy
This morning I got up again at 8:45. After showering, René went to the supermarket to get bread and tea for me. Meanwhile, on the balcony I got everything else ready and was boiling the egg (from where I didn’t feel like egg). After breakfast we loafed around a bit and then got ready to leave. We are going to Anopoli, to the monastery. Once there, there is almost no one there. Just some women cleaning. But no monk and certainly no Father Apostoles. Unfortunately, no oil and no bracelets. Maybe it’s because it’s Sunday, no idea. We walk around a bit and do enjoy the tranquility of the place.
Since it is still quite early, we decide to go to the Nida plateau and to the Ideon cave. A very nice drive and great views. It is just a lot cooler here. Still only 15 degrees. Being this high up. Just below Psiloritis. The cave is also beautiful. Much bigger than you would think.
They probably pulled all kinds of things out of the ground here. There is still a piece of railroad tracks and one cart. But the cave is also mentioned in Greek Mythology. According to mythology, the goddess Rhea brought Zeus to the Ideon cave to protect him from his father, Kronos, who swallowed him alive, as he had done to all his siblings. Here Zeus was fed by the goat nymph, Amalthia. He was protected by the Kuretes (5 Cretans) who danced and beat their weapons against each other to drown out the sound of Zeus’ crying.
We view the cave extensively and once outside again we enjoy the view of the Nida plateau. Around us, crocuses bloom here and there, and everywhere the bells of sheep and goats sound. Before we entered the cave, I also saw lammergeyers. How big they are! Average wingspan is between 2.5 and 2.8 meters! Unfortunately I could not take a picture of them and later we did not see them again. On the way back we want to go to the star center on a mountain top nearby. But we are not allowed to enter the road leading to it. There is a fence and a prohibition sign. The road continues along the mountain. So René drives on.
As I write this I now know what the rest of the road is like and that it is doable with this car. But when we drove there I didn’t know that. I only saw very deep chasms and a road that was too narrow to turn around. And if you’re afraid of heights and the precipices are on your side, that’s not so funny. In retrospect, it was okay and I definitely want to ride this route again. When we got back to civilization, we saw hikers walking along the road. They gestured for us to stop. Whether we could take one of them down? There was their car there and it was still a very long walk (certainly for them another 3 to 4 hours). Then that person could pick up the car and then the rest of the group. That’s what we did. We ended up in Gergeri. From there we drove to Varvara and then on to Heraklion. Around 5 p.m. we got back to the apartment. I start the travelogue again and Rene wants to lay down again. Then we get cleaned up and wave goodbye to our guests. We talk some more with Katerina and then on to the restaurant. We don’t get a menu. Yorgos makes something up for us. First we greet Eddy. He brings us sandwiches. Then we get garlic rolls and a big salad. I am already starting to get pretty full. And then I get my food. Mix grill! Five pieces of meat. I will never finish that. No matter how hard I try. René gets a big piece of meat. It looks like a steak. He too has trouble with that. So I don’t expect any help from him. After 3 pieces, I give up. There is no point in eating more. Full is full. With dinner I get organic dry red wine from the bottle. It is very good. Rene is allowed 1 beer. Then he also has to drink wine. After dinner we get raki. It makes me feel better. The full feeling burns away. I signal to Eddy and he immediately says “I know, I know, dio axbax”. But no more than two! But we do get two cups later after some chuckling. Yorgos still played tonight. Then the atmosphere is complete. Around 10 p.m. we walked back. In the meantime there appear to be new guests. They too have come for the baptism. It is October 24th instead of the 26th.
We chat some more and suddenly I hear a strange sound. It appears to be raining. But even then it doesn’t really cool down. Not long after that we close up and Yorgos goes home. We go to sleep. It’s 2:00 a.m. Oh yes, in terms of lizards … 4 of them this time. Of which 1 very big one. So total we are now at 8 pieces.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Weather: 23 degrees and partly cloudy in the north, 27 degrees and sunny in the south
Got up at 9:15 this morning. Yesterday’s bread is just fine. It saves René a trip to the store. I cook eggs again and get things ready. At 10:30 we sit on the balcony for a while. There is a little more wind and clouds. But it is not really cold. No shirts again, but shorts. After breakfast we hit the road. Today the journey goes to Selekano. First towards Agios Nikolaos and then via Kalo Chorio to Kalamafka. There is also the first stop. In this village a long steep staircase leads to a chapel on top of a hill. A real challenge for people with vertigo, but worthwhile.
After Kalamafka we continue in the direction of Males. The tank is only a quarter full and because we do not know where we are going to end up, we decide to drive towards Mithis first. More towards civilization. A little past Mithis we can refuel. Then quickly back in the direction of Males. We take the exit to Christos and then suddenly we see the sign “Selekano”. The road immediately becomes steeper and less good. Again along high cliffs and immense mountains and suddenly you are with your car in the gorge.
We take some pictures and after a short stop we drive on. According to the map you should be able to drive around here for quite a while, but we don’t manage to find the right road. After a short tour we drive back in the direction of Christos. René does not want to take the road to Mithis again and according to the map we can also drive via Metaxochorio to the south coast. After 3 different attempts we finally give up. We cannot find a road that goes in the right direction and does not lead to a dead end. So back and via Mithis to Ierapetra. And from there to Agios Nikolaos. It is already four o’clock and we are quite hungry. We stop at a bakery and buy two large donuts. We eat them a little further on near the beach. There is a strong wind here and much more cloud cover. As we drive on to Malia, the sky gets worse and worse. We have obviously been on the right side of the island, because we had 27 degrees, no wind, no clouds and only sunshine. Back at the apartment we read some more and Rene goes flat. I update the travelogue again. After our siesta we change clothes and go to the restaurant. Irini is there too. She helps out. She asks what people want to drink, writes it down, gives them a menu and she brings the drinks and the baskets with bread and cutlery. Last year she lasted five minutes at most, but now it went perfectly. I get a few kisses and hugs and Rene is out of favor again. What else is new? We get to choose from the menu. Rene chooses Gyros and I ask for Soutzoukakia. But there is no such thing, only Bifteki. Also fine. As long as I get Greek potatoes with it and Rene gets “chips”. Rene gets another beer and then a wine glass. The message is clear. After dinner Aristo immediately writes down 4 axbax. And after coffee we take another metaxa and an ouzo. Right away we ask if Aristo has a bottle of raki for at the apartment. Yorgos would bring it, but he left again without it. At the apartment we also meet Oliver again. This man is half German, half Serbian and lives in Frankfurt. He is 37 years old and works in security and before that as a police officer. He is very nice. And always up for a good conversation. Yorgos joins us and we discuss, for example, the financial crisis and its consequences here in Crete. While talking and discussing, it is almost 3:30 when we go to sleep. High time. Oh yes, 3 lizards, so 11 in total.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Weather: 25 degrees and partly cloudy with strong north wind
This morning the alarm clock rings again at 8:45 a.m. Rene is hard to wake up. This is probably due to the short night and yesterday’s drink. But after some insistence, we are at breakfast at 10:00. Then we read some more and at 11:30 we set off. We are going to try the monastery again. But when we get there there are even fewer people than last time. We decide to drive around and try again later in the afternoon. We drive via Episkopi to the road towards Kastelli. After Apostoli we turn off again in the direction of Smari. According to the map, close by there is the Smari Acropolis and a little church dedicated to Prof. Ilias. We cannot visit the Acropolis because there is a gate in front of the road with a large padlock. Neither can we go around it. We do find the little church, there is even another one. The little church for Prof. Ilias is not very special, but the other church dedicated to Saint Georgos is worth seeing.
It continues to contain frescoes from the 13th and 14th centuries. The exterior has been completely refurbished and looks almost new. Outside the church, I suddenly see a group of 10 lammergeyers flying. René now sees them too. I try to take a picture of them, but it becomes a puzzle. They are very fast, very high up. We drive back to Anopoli, but again it seems deserted. The store is even closed. Then we don’t, since it has only just been 2:00 p.m. We continue to the Cretaquarium. Before going inside, we have a sandwich and Nescafé at a stall. And then go inside. The fish that swim here are from the Mediterranean Sea. We take a lot of pictures. But it is difficult to take pictures. The light in the room where you are standing is blue-purple. And the tanks can be viewed from several sides, so you get reflections in the windows. And the windows aren’t entirely scratch-free, either. But it’s quite nice to see.
Then we drive back to Malia. There we arrive at a little past 4:00 pm. We read a bit on the balcony, but the cold wind soon makes us go inside. I get drowsy and we both decide to close our eyes for a while. At 6:00 pm we get up again and get ready to go to the restaurant. Rene chooses Bifteki this time and I take Kipsouvlaki. With the standard drinks. Yorgos may want to go out tonight, have a drink. But that depends on the other guests. By then they should be in bed. It doesn’t work out in the end. Oliver is also at the apartment and Frank also stays put. But it is cozy. We also play some games on the pool table. Me against Oliver. But I am absolutely not having my evening. I can’t get a ball in. No matter how many chances Oliver gives me. We talk about everything else. Oliver is going home again tomorrow. If the buses really go on strike (there has been talk of that for a few days now), he will need other transportation. René has already offered to take him to the airport. He would then call. Today Yorgos also told us that the restaurant will close in 5 days. We are then on our own to eat somewhere. I’m sure we’ll find something. By now it is almost 2:30 when we close up and go to sleep. Rene was already not very talkative. He was always listening and thinking. This spontaneously earned him the nickname Socrates.
As for lizards: 3 today, one of them in our room. Total is now 14 pieces.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Weather: 21 degrees and partly cloudy with strong north wind
Today we got up at 8:45 a.m. again. There is still a strong wind. It’s just between long pants and shorts in terms of the weather. I don’t feel so cool today. My stomach is in knots. My bowels are restless and my head is very light. I am also sneezing and sniffling. Hopefully it will be short-lived. First we drive to the village to replenish supplies. And then we have breakfast on the balcony. There it soon becomes too cold for us and we go inside. We have no plans today. Maybe just passing through Old Malalia. We end up doing just that. After the walk, we stop at Revolution for espresso and tea. We have nice chairs on the sidewalk again. I could sit there and people watch for hours. Everything is happening and you see the strangest vehicles passing by. In the village it is also warmer than at the apartment. There is less wind here and the heat stays between the houses. Around 15:00 we go back to the apartment. We read and lounge around and I close my eyes for a while. It makes me feel better. Meanwhile, Rene has had a message from Oliver. Whether we can pick him up at 18:00 at the old house of Yorgos and Katerina. He wants to go to the restaurant first. His plane leaves at 11:00 pm. And you have to be here 2 hours before departure as well. René and I eat something. Rene takes lamb chops and I take Stifado. Oliver wants nothing, because hot food makes him lazy and he still has a journey ahead of him. Since René still has to drive, he drinks Coke. Yorgos still jokes about whether he really doesn’t want 1 raki. At a little before 8:30 p.m. we head for the airport. First we have to go to Aristo’s house. Store Oliver’s motorcycle. Then we drive on. Just after Gouves it starts to rain. The asphalt here is very different. It gets slippery quickly here. At 20:55 we are at the airport. We say goodbye to Oliver and drive back. Again through the rain. This time the shower has already moved more towards Malia. In the end it stays dry. We park the car again at the apartment and walk to the restaurant again. There we have another drink. A little after us, a big burly man in a suit appears in the restaurant. He looks very much like Yorgos’ father and it turns out to be his uncle. He is also here for baptism. He stays for 5 days and then goes to Sfakia, where he is from. According to Yorgos, the man is the black sheep of the family. Later he also arrives at the apartment. There is a busy talk there by Yorgos and his uncle. There is a lot of mutual respect. You can see that. At 1:00 we call it a day. We ask what time Yorgos wants to wash the cars tomorrow. He comes to the apartment tomorrow at 10:00. The reason that our car also has to be washed is that our car also has to be used the day of the baptism. First to pick up the mainland guests from the airport and then to take those people to the restaurant, the church and the baptismal party. They don’t all fit in Yorgos’ car. His is black and so is our rental car. (At least when ours is washed again, it’s a bit very dusty right now.) Both are quite large cars. So that makes an impression when you pick up people with them. And René should wear black sunglasses that day. See it all before you. Hahahahaha
Lizards: 3 pieces, total is now 17 pieces.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Weather: 25 degrees and partly cloudy
This morning we got up at 8:45 a.m. again. We both shower quickly and then sit down at the bar. We have coffee and tea and, for a change, two sandwiches. At 10:00 there is no Yorgos yet, but that doesn’t surprise us. We tell Rania that we are in our room in case he does come. And at 11:30 he is there. The gentlemen go out. And I quickly wash some things out. But less than 10 minutes later Rene is back. Both carwash companies are closed. They are going to try tomorrow on the way to the airport. We decide to go out by ourselves now. We are going to Chersonissos. Fenna would like another Greek pendant for the bag. And Rene wants cigarettes. We find neither. The store of the pendant, no longer sold that kind. And they don’t have a carton of Lucky Strike anywhere. We walk around and then go back to Malia. There we get new desserts and some stuffed croissants at Ariadni. The weather is a little better, less cold but still a rather cold wind. Still, we put on a short-sleeved T-shirt at the apartment. We read again and eat a croissant. Since it is still early, we first go back into Malia. We drink espresso and tea at Revolution. By now the girl already knows exactly what we want. After a while we first see Yorgos passing by, then we see Katerina, then Aristo and also Eddy popping by. If you sit down long enough, the whole world passes by. Great! We then go through Malia in search of Lucky Strike. After a long search we find three slippers. We also immediately take the slippers of Marlboro for Erica and Linda. We also buy an extra book. Otherwise we won’t make it to the end of the vacation. We go back to the apartment. Rene goes flat and I update the report. Then we change clothes and go to the restaurant. Tonight the Mousaka, the Gyros and the Soutzoukakia seem to be very good. We soon find out why. Yorgos’ uncle, who has been a cook on several international ships for years, is in the kitchen. We opt for Soutzoukakia. Rene is not too good today and I am soon full. They are large meatballs and 3 is just too many. In any case, neither of us make it. Yorgos is very nervous about tomorrow. He keeps contradicting himself. First he wants to go to bed on time. Then he wants to go out. First Rene is allowed almost no alcohol, then he gets Whiskey. And we don’t get much wiser about tomorrow either. First we have to be ready at 8:30, then 10:00. Then 11:30, but with a clean car. We’ll see.
We haven’t seen any lizards. So the total is still 17.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Weather: 24 degrees and partly cloudy
Today, then, is Nikos’ big day. We get up at our normal time and after our breakfast we drive the car to Silk Oil to have him washed. We can do that but he will be ready in two hours. That’s too late. We explain to the man that we must have it no later than 11:30. And then suddenly it can be done in an hour. We walk to Revolution, only it turns out their coffee machine is undergoing maintenance. We find another place and drink coffee and tea there. At 11:30 the car is ready. We quickly drive to the apartment. There Katerina (who had also texted us) tells us that Yorgos called and that we both need to get to the restaurant as soon as possible. When we get there, we have to leave right away for the airport. I also have to go with them. That wasn’t supposed to happen at first, because it couldn’t be done with the number of people that had to go in the cars. And I would then wait until René called me on the way back from the airport, so that I could go with Hans Meijer and his family to the restaurant for lunch. But so now I also have to go with them. I hope Hans himself discovers that I am not there and that they go to the restaurant by themselves. Anyway, we are now leaving for the airport. We turn out to be way too early and stop at CoffeeRight for coffee and a sandwich for Yorgos. I try his suggestion in terms of coffee. Ice cold cappuccino with whipped cream. Very tasty! The ones we are supposed to pick up are delayed. Yorgos does not want to wait so long at the airport, so he would like to drive on to a friend of his in Heraklion. There we drink Frappe while Yorgos catches up with his friend and discusses music. Then it’s time to go to the airport. There we have to wait another 20 minutes before the guests arrive. In the meantime, the gentlemen amuse themselves by trying out wi-fi. In many places this is open and Yorgos is absolutely crazy about it. When the guests arrive, we throw most of the luggage into our car. That one has more room and eventually most of the people get in there. W e have 3 guests and Yorgos only 2. We drive straight to the restaurant. They had been roasting a lamb on the grill since this morning. It is chopped into pieces in the kitchen with a large cleaver. Along with bread, Greek salad, dolmades and potatoes a sumptuous lunch. Tonight after baptism there will be much more food. But first we all get to rest for 2 hours. At 6 p.m. we have to be ready at the apartment. Yorgos arrives not much later. We load everyone up again and go to the church. We get out and René looks for a place for the car. This is more difficult than you might think. We leave our gift in the car first, because we don’t know what is the purpose of it. We enter the church after waiting a while. The whole ceremony is very impressive.
Nikos doesn’t like it at first. He cries and alternately asks for mom or dad. He doesn’t want to take a bath. But after being placed naked in the warm bath water, he calms down and meekly accepts everything. He is given new clothes and after another short act, the baptism is over. So then it turns out that everyone does give the gift now. We congratulate Yorgos, Nikos, Katerina, the godfather and grandpa and grandma. I tell Katerina that we do have a gift, but it is in the car. It doesn’t matter, they don’t unwrap anything directly anyway. Later it doesn’t even matter at all, because there are so many things that need to be transported that almost all the presents end up in the car with us. Is ours right there. From the church we drive in the direction of Sissi. Just before Sissi is the restaurant / hall where the party is. Aetos is the name, I believe. There follows an evening of eating, drinking, music and dancing. We do not venture into dancing. Too complicated. René and I seriously suspect that the cars will be driven back again. Drink or no drink, it doesn’t matter. Yorgos confirms this. René therefore drinks very moderately of wine and much, much water.
Halfway through the evening, pictures are taken of everyone, which you can buy later, and we all get a cross of silver. Normally they are not, but now they are! Katerina is even shocked by it. And we had also received a gift at the church (a bag of blue tulle with sugared almonds with a beautiful pendant in the shape of a cross on the satin cord)! At the end of the evening (we have to wait, because we are still a cab), René drinks a whiskey with Aristo. He can’t get away from that. If he wants to become more and more Greek, that’s part of it says Aristo. So completely against René’s own principles, he later drives with liquor on, back to the apartment. Tomorrow Yorgos and Katerina will get the gifts out of our car. Now we’re going to get some sleep first. It was a great night. Nikos step the show when he started dancing regularly during the party and kept shouting hoppa! And that for almost 2 ½ years old. He even wanted to join the band and sing, but that may have been because of the beautiful singer with a wonderful voice. An unforgettable evening, an impressive baptism. Glad we could be there!!!
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Weather: 21 degrees and partly cloudy
Got up at 9:15 this morning. Not much breakfast, but we’re not really hungry either. Rene takes a dessert and I stick to liquid (tea, chocolate milk). We decide to have another coffee at the bar. Rania is only here for a short time, she has to take the children to swimming lessons. Yorgos doesn’t come anymore, he thinks the season is over. We text Katerina if maybe we should bring the gifts that are in the car with us or if she will pick them up herself. She comes to us, we get in reply. Not long after, she arrives. We reload and talk some more about yesterday. Yorgos was so pleased that René had helped with the pick-up and drop-off. He loves René and told Katerina that he is like a little brother to him, that is how he feels. Well, what more could you want. You can’t get a bigger compliment. While many things we do are so obvious to us. We get into the car after repacking ourselves and decide to drive to Heraklion. We park the car again at the port in the parking lot and walk towards the center. This is because the gypsy market has already ended. But of course there is day market. We look for an eye for Fenna, but we don’t see a nice one here either.
We do find belts for Daan and René takes one as well. Real calfskin, for €18.50 each. Better than those €3.00 fake belts. I look around the store while René’s belt is being tailored and see a very nice bag. Dark blue with red and very soft leather. It costs €99.00! I decide, after long hesitation, to take it anyway. This bag also turns out to be made of calfskin. So that’s why it was so soft and supple. In a CD store we find a double CD + DVD by Michalis Tzouganakis. At Greek World they also have it, but it is more expensive. Now €20.00. We also buy a calendar for 2009. One with all the beautiful old doors on it. Then we go somewhere to eat an omelet with bacon. We have just finished it when Katerina calls to ask where we are. Whether we want to come to their house for lunch. The other Greek guests from the mainland are also there. Despite the omelet, we do. We first drive to the apartment to drop off our stuff and then drive to their house. How steep that road is! We can just park the car and then ring the doorbell. The Greeks from the mainland are already there and so is Katerina’s mother. The table is already full of food. Tatziki, pork, chicken, salad of wild vegetables, Greek salad, bread, homemade fries and various drinks. And then there is more to come. Some kind of pancake filled with cheese and honey, pieces of pear and some kind of thickened apple juice with chopped walnuts. No matter how many times you say you’re already full, they just put it down. After dinner (it is now 5 p.m.), Yorgos wants to have coffee somewhere. After all, the Greeks don’t want Nescafé. That somewhere Yorgos, via Agios Nikolaos, where we take a look at the lake, eventually becomes Elounda! It turns out that there is no more coffee there either. In the end we take fresh juice, water, tea, Greek coffee and… Nescafé. By now it has become dark. Yorgos leads the way on the way back and drives in the direction of Plaka. Instead of going the other way to Agios. We drive straight back through the mountains in pitch darkness. You really see nothing here and are 100% dependent on the light of the headlights. Then 40 kilometers is very long. But still beautiful. Very occasionally there was enough moonlight to see the ridges opposite us. And crawling through the small villages in the dark has its charms. But with a Greek in front of you who knows the way. Although, we know from experience that with Yorgos it can be a bit of a wait and see. After more than an hour, we are back at the apartments. The Greek women who were with us in the car are very happy to be back. I think they found it scary. They were very quiet in the back at one point, and Greeks are never quiet.
We quickly put on something warmer, then a long-sleeved T-shirt or polo shirt. René calls Baudouin to congratulate him on his birthday and I tell Yorgos that we want to go to Arkadi tomorrow if he doesn’t need us. We can. Then we walk to the restaurant. We don’t need to eat anything more. We are still full. But some drinking is possible. We end up drinking two liters of red wine (2 different kinds) and René gets another metaxa. We are not allowed to pay. We are given the jug of wine. Which is nice, as there is a writing error in it. “Cretan Fafily.” This is also the last night of the restaurant. The bar near the apartment is also already closed. Now the season is really over for them. We close with Aristo and he brings us back by bus. I quickly go to bed. This has been quite a day.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Weather: 21 degrees and semi-overcast and rain
We get up at 8:45 a.m. Yet we have an extra hour of sleep. After all, last night winter time went into effect. This also means that it is now already dark at 6:00 pm. We have to take that into account when we go out. We drink some tea, coffee and chocolate milk and then get ready for the trip to Arkadi. We stop at the bakery in the center for 2 filled half baguettes. For less than 5 euros. Into the cooler and on our way. We drive at a nice pace towards Rethymnon, stop for gas and turn off just after Stavromeno. Back on the old main road and then follow the signs to Arkadi. Around 12:00 we arrive at the monastery. There are several cars. Now we are not the only ones in a monastery. We walk around, but don’t take pictures this time. The weather is not very great and we have taken beautiful pictures other times. We do buy 2 knotted monastery bracelets and a booklet about Arkadi. Do we still have a bracelet. In the parking lot we had already eaten half of our sandwich, so we walk past the taverna. The store is open. There we look again for an eye for Fenna. We buy one, it is different from the one she had. I hope she likes it. Daan got his bracelet here and wanted another one. But there are beads everywhere and he didn’t want that. So we won’t take anything with us. Via the old main road we drive back to Malia. On the way a few drops regularly fall, but it does not really rain. We are back around 3:00 p.m. and decide to have a drink at Revolution. Katerina sees us and comes in for a moment. She goes to the apartment until the last guests leave. That leaves only us. After 2 cups of tea and double espressos, we return. Katerina tells us that tonight she will close the door / gate and from then on we will have to go in and out with the second key. We know the trick from a previous off-season vacation. Also, the lights will all go out. So the flashlights will have to come with us again.
Tonight Yorgos wants to go out with us, eat something somewhere and so on. Until then, we will wait in our apartment. As if the weather also wants to signal that the season is over, it starts raining cats and dogs. At 8 p.m., Yorgos is indeed there. But not alone. The whole family is with him. Katerina actually didn’t want to go, because of Nikos. But Nikos himself had very different thoughts about that. Pamé, pamé he had said all the time. In other words, we’re going, we’re going. And so the six of us sat in the RAV. Yorgos was thinking of two different restaurants. First, we drove to Neapoli where there seems to be a very good pizzeria. But it turned out to be closed. So on to option two. A bit back and then to Latsida. Here is a restaurant that makes very good small souvlaki’s. It was very busy. Only Greeks. Katerina told us that people drive here even from Heraklion. After waiting a while, we got a table for six. Nikos sat obediently on his own chair and enjoyed his meal. Especially his favorite food, souvlaki. But for us there were also cheese balls, patties filled with cheese, snails, salad of green vegetables, tatziki with and without cucumber, souvlaki , lamb chops and a bowl full of French fries. In terms of drinks, some kinds of soda, beer and wine and water. For Nikos there was sinas for little ones. The little guy was eating well and chatting nicely with me. I can still follow him a bit. Although he already talks whole sentences and a lot, a lot. After dinner we left right away, as the children were very tired. On the way Yorgos just managed to avoid a very big dog. It wanted to cross the main road. Nikos shouted at a man who was overtaking us, “βλάκα” (Vlakas = stupid, loser, jerk). We asked Yorgos if he would drop us off in the city center. It was only 10 p.m. Then at Revolution we had some beer and wine. And then we also went to the apartment and slept.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Weather: 22 degrees and partly cloudy
Got up again at 8:45 this morning. After breakfast I just texted Katerina to see if she had any clean towels for us. The rest we can manage with until Friday. She replied that Yorgos was there if all was well, and that he would give them to us. He did so afterwards. Meanwhile, I did another quick wash and René had put some things in the car. Today we are going to Preveli. When the towels are brought, we get in. We drive briskly until we reach the Kourtaliotiko gorge. This time we do not stop at the big parking lot, but drive up to the steps to the little church for St. Nikolas.
We park the car here and grab the cameras. Then the trek down begins. Another challenge to my fear of heights. The steps get narrower and narrower and at the end there is no railing or wall either. The stairs split to the left and right. We walk down the left stairs first. This one leads to the little church. There are even people working. A little past the little church. At a huge stone you are rewarded with a magnificent view of waterfalls. The water here comes straight from the mountain, not from the mountain. So there are springs here!
We walked a little further and finally stood in the river at the bottom of the gorge. And what runs up to us there? A cat! No one lives here in the far reaches of the gorge. After a few photos, we walk back up the stairs to the junction. Now we take the other staircase. This staircase is in even worse condition. But we make it to the end. Here is a plateau made, with a kind of lock. And again, beautiful views of the gorge and the waterfalls. After a few more pictures, we walk back. Jeez, what a climb!
I am broken at the end. This route is definitely not for amateurs with poor fitness. It is tough, but what a view. WOW! We get back in the car and continue to the parking lot at the top of Preveli, so this time we don’t take the dirt road to the bay next to it. I had seen pictures from a certain spot here once on the internet. There should be a path at the top along the edge of the gorge. After some searching we find the path and indeed, this offers a magnificent view of Preveli from above. It is quite a climb. I even fall on my butt once, because my foot slips on small, fine gravel.
This route is also worthwhile, but be sure to wear proper footwear (we were not wearing). We walk back to the car. It is 2 p.m. and we go to Spili. There is a beautiful fountain there and also the village itself is beautiful, but touristy.
We also decide to have a drink here. We choose frappé with a scoop of ice cream. When the girl brings it, she bumps right into my knee with the tray. The frappé falls over and one of them goes all over my camera! Luckily only whipped cream and ice cream and no water, but it’s all over the place. We get a tea towel to clean it up and after we dampen it a bit and with the help of toothpicks, we get most of it out. The camera still seems to be working. Thank goodness, the camera is less than two weeks old. We get two new frappés and after we finish them, we walk through Spili itself. We find a Kouboloi for Rene, made of jade. And we find another pair of beautiful old doors. We also find another store that sells various beauty products made from olive oil. We take some products with us. Then it really is time to drive back. It has already been 16:00. At a little before 6:00 pm we are back in Malia. We drive past Eva to see if that restaurant is open. It is. Then we are going to try that one. First we are going to get cleaned up and recover from all the scrambling. Around 19:00 we go to Eva. René orders a Souvlaki and I choose chicken-souvlaki. Both turned out to be gort dry, the fries that came with it were very greasy and there was no flavor to the tatziki. I absolutely do not understand why people praise this restaurant so much. If you cannot prepare souvlaki properly… I will never eat here again. I would rather eat Pita Gyros for the rest of the week. After eating, we immediately pay and walk straight to Revolution. There we drink coffee, tea and then beer and wine. We are good customers, the rest order 1 drink in the whole evening. We even get another shot and later a beer and wine on the house. Then we go back to our “home.” Oh yes, our neighbor has also moved back into room 101. Eddy! We also see 2 more lizards tonight. The count is now 19 in total.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Weather: 21 degrees and partly cloudy with rain
We get up at 7:45 a.m. today. We make 1 last attempt before the monastery in Anopoli. During our breakfast, Yorgos stops by. He still has to cut the grass and he has discovered that one of his palms has died. This is due to a fly that traveled with the large palm tree from Egypt.
He is not the only one on the island who has this problem. Many businesses suffer from it. Tomorrow he will get poison, to fight the mess. Today he can’t. It is a national holiday, oxi day. I later found this information on the Internet: “No Day (Ochi): Oct. 28: During World War II, Mussolini sent an ultimatum to Greek Prime Minister Metaxas demanding free passage through Greece. Metaxas’ response was “Ochi!” (No!) which led to a battle and later the downfall of the invading Italian army in 1940. Today, Ochi Day is celebrated with memorial services, military parades, folk dances and parties.” We also tell Yorgos that we had no hot water today. So we both had a quick wash with cold water. He will look into it.
At 9:15 we leave for the monastery. Again there are very few cars, which already doesn’t start hopeful. The sweet kitten at the entrance (a red one) is there and immediately starts purring and lying on my shoe again. We walk inside anyway and we do see a monk now. He greets us and we ask him if Father Apostoles is there. He doesn’t think so, but maybe he is in the big church at the top of the complex. We walk there, but alas the man is not there. I’ll keep the bill, then we’ll try again next vacation. The monastery is very beautiful, so it’s not so bad. We take the old road back to Malia. In Malia we see lots of young people wearing white blouses. And it looks like the street will soon be blocked off for a parade. We also see many girls in Cretan costumes. At the apartment we eat a croissant. We are expected at Aristo’s place between 12:00 and 12:30. He called yesterday if we were coming by. Since the weather has improved (the wind has died down and the sun is shining) we will sit outside in the sun until then. It bakes well. At 12:15 we drive toward Aristo. We go via Beachroad and that’s a good thing. The main road is indeed blocked off. We park the car at Aristo. He is already busy lighting the bbq. There is another man. I suspect this is a cousin of his. He is also a mechanic and works at Aristo’s garage, which he has had since this year. And a little later, Yorgos is there too. First, sausage goes on the bbq. This is meant only as mezes. Then chicken goes on and many, many chops. I think 25 or so. That seems a lot for our little group. But a little later the cousin’s wife arrives with two children and a little later Manos with the brothers’ aunt (who looks so enormously like their mother). Irini is also there. One of Niktarios’ daughters and the brothers’ sister picks up food for a floor below.
Not long after, we go to the table. There are potatoes, salad of wild greens, salad, bread, some kind of Mousaka and, of course, the chops. And lots of beer (8 percent bock beer), wine and various kinds of soft drinks. And no matter how many times you say you’re full or don’t need any more drinks, you just get more. After dinner comes coffee and for René also metaxa. Even if he has to drive, drink first, you have no choice. And then come the conversations. Mostly in Greek. And Aristo tells about his first attempt to speak English. “Fokkap lease.” I won’t explain here what was meant. We’ll keep that to ourselves at Aristo’s request. After two cups of coffee and some yawning, we get to go home. It is then 3:30 p.m. I really don’t need any more food today. I have had enough. We are going to belly up at the apartment and Rene wants to lie down for a while. Then we’ll see. Around 5:00 p.m. we get moving again. We put on our walking shoes and walk through Malia Port along the beach to Tropical Beach. Occasionally we see small fish, shrimps and crabs in small pools. I find another beautiful shell. We walk back along the road, past the restaurant. It is still a strange sight, so empty and bare. By the time we get back to the apartment it is almost dark. All in all we walked for an hour. In the room we read for a while. At 7:30 p.m. we go to Revolution. I am happy with my denim jacket. It cools down quickly here too now. We stay in the bar until 10:30 p.m. and then we go back. We watch some more TV, while enjoying some cheese cubes. And then fast asleep. Tomorrow we go to Chania. Lizards: 2 today, in total we are now at 21.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Weather: 26 degrees and sunny
We get up at 7:45 am. Quick shower and yes! We have hot water again. Later we hear from Yorgos that we owe the hot water to yesterday’s sun. The boiler on the roof is turned off and then the water in the black tank has to be heated by the sun. And so yesterday it did, but not the day before. Then a typical Greek breakfast. Only coffee (or in my case tea). I update the report and Rene reads and smokes. When we have both been to the toilet, we gather our stuff for the trip. At 09:00 we get into the car. The drive up to Souda goes smoothly. But then we get a detour and enter Chania from a completely different side. When we drive past the market building, I can find the way again on the map. We find a parking garage just outside the old center! There we park it. By now the map is well in my head, so I leave it in the car. Only the cameras go with me. We had on the long pants with a long-sleeved shirt when we left. But the weather cleared up so much that we put on the shorts and something with short sleeves in the car first. Quite a hassle in a car like that. But those long pants are really too warm. Then we can really get going. The old center with its narrow streets is just as beautiful as we expected.
We interrupt the walking and photography only for a moment to eat something. A fredo with ball of ice cream for René and one for me, but cappuccino. Both of us also take an omelet. René with bacon and I with mushrooms. After breakfast/lunch we continue taking pictures.
While walking we find another synagogue from the 15th century. With a beautiful courtyard. And two interior gardens. At a little past 2:00 pm we call it a day. We find the garage again and after paying €4.80 we are allowed to leave. I maneuver us out of town again with the help of the map and a little later we encounter the road detour again. We don’t want to go right back, but to the Souda Bay war cemetery. Here lie all the fallen soldiers of the battle of Souda, more than 1,500 in all. Many New Zealanders, Australians and Englishmen. Many of them without names, “Known upon God” is written on the stone of many. Very impressive.
I take some pictures and then we do go back. At 5:30 we get to the apartment. Just in time for the hostess. She would come at 5:45 pm. We bring the stuff that was in the car to the apartment and wait at the bar. At 6 p.m. we give up. Maybe we just missed her or she thought, because the gate was closed, that no one was there anymore. Tomorrow, according to the list, she should come again. We’ll leave a bill on the gate and if not, we’ll just have to call her. After all, we don’t know what time we will be picked up on Friday. Now first we go back to the room. Rene wants to lie down for a while and I update the report. At 21:40 they come to pick up the car. So before that time we must have eaten. René calls the car rental company just to be sure and it will be 8:30 pm when they pick up the car. So quickly to the center to eat. We eat a Pita Gyros and drink some beer and coke. Then we walk back. We are almost too late because they are too early. Only 10 minutes, but still. And that for Greeks! After giving them the key, we walk to Revolution. There is a nice place by the sidewalk. That’s really where you see the most anyway. We have coffee and tea first, then beer and wine and water. At 10:30 p.m. we call it a day. In the room we watch a movie together with some cheese cubes and chips and some drinks. I am tired and fall asleep while watching the movie. Rene watches it though.
Lizards: 5 of them today, in total we are now at 26.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Weather: 27 degrees and sunny
Got up at 7:45 this morning. I shower right away and then René. While hanging up the towel outside, I hear honking and not long after that I see Yorgos. He was supposed to pick us up at 9:00 to go to his cousin Apostoli in Rethymnon. But he’s 45 minutes early! He couldn’t sleep anymore and already wants to leave. I explain that Rene is still in the shower. So Yorgos goes to the restaurant first and in 20 minutes he will pick us up. So no time for coffee or breakfast. But that is no problem, we will stop along the way. We do so right at the first CoffeeRight before Heraklion. Yorgos doesn’t want coffee but is hungry. He has half a baguette with cheese, ham and tomato from the grill and later a cinnamon roll. Rene and I share half a baguette of cheese, ham and tomato, but not from the grill. And we both take a frappé. Past Heraklion we stop again, but this time for the view. Beautiful, but because there is not a breath of wind, there is also smog. And there are some veil clouds. I take a picture of it. Then we drive on again until we reach Fodele. Yorgos asks if we have been there before and we haven’t. We drive there for a while. The village is flooded with tourists. It is, in fact, the birthplace of El Greco. A very famous Greek painter. By the little river is a beautiful park. It is also really autumn here, but with 27 degrees. It is beautiful here.
I take some pictures again and we move on. Just before our exit in Rethymnon, we stop again. This time for Souvlakia’s. Delicious! But after 2 pieces we are actually all full. Then we go to the cousin’s. Yorgos deliberately did not want to eat there, because then he would immediately hear all the family problems and he does not want that. He has to talk like a fool and say no 10 times. We also get another chance to see how raki is made. At the end of our visit, we take raki back with us.
Yorgos charges, again we are not allowed to pay. Then we drive back again. Yorgos is so busy pointing, talking and singing that we almost have an accident because he almost didn’t see a road narrowing. Back at the apartment we read some more and then pour the raki into water bottles. Then a metaxa box around it and they are ready for the suitcase. Rene goes flat for a while and I update the report again. At 5:15 pm we walk to the front to see if the hostess is coming too. But then I see at the bar that she has already been and that our departure time for the bus is hanging there. We will be picked up tomorrow night at 7:45 pm. Our plane leaves at 10:30 pm. Yorgos would have liked to take us away too, but checking in with the whole bus is easier and faster. It is still too early to go downtown. We go back to the room first. Until 18:00 we read a bit, then it is too dark outside. And then on to the Pita Gyros tent. Rene takes Pita Gyros again, I take Pita Chicken. It is still early, so we walk through the village after dinner. Now everything is really closed. Even the souvenir store is closed. End of Season. We then go to Revolution, which is always loose. We have coffee and tea again. But after that I don’t go straight to the wine. First we have a coke. It may still be 8:30. We send Boudewijn a text message to congratulate him on his daughter. And one to Katerina to ask if we can come over for coffee tomorrow morning. She needs a haircut first, so we have to send another message before we come. Meanwhile, it just won’t cool down. There is also a south wind now and at 10:30 p.m. when we go back it is still 22 degrees. In the Netherlands they have frost on the ground! Tomorrow is supposed to be another beautiful day here. We are going to enjoy that then.
Lizards: 5 of them today, the total is now 31.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Weather: 28 degrees and sunny with veil clouds
This morning we got up at 08:45. After showering, I attempt to make a bacon omelet, but it fails hopelessly. The bacon is black, the egg is not cooked yet. So we share the remaining cottage cheese and stick to coffee and tea. We wash the dishes and throw away everything in the refrigerator. Then we enjoy ourselves on the balcony. Rene texts Katerina. She’ll be there at 11:00. So we head out. By stroller. We don’t have a car. It is very hot today and there is hardly any wind. Along the way we even buy a bottle of water. It is always a long walk anyway and with this heat you definitely need water. The last part, the ramp, is the toughest. When Katerina sees us, she immediately starts grumbling that we are walking. She could have picked us up too! But the exercise is good for us. And she is always so busy. She is alone now. Yorgos is taking his car to Heraklion for service. Irini is at school and Nikos is at Grandma’s (so unfortunately couldn’t take a picture of him). Katerina did some tidying up of the house and went to the hairdresser. They have a baptism to go to tonight. She is for her part, nice and relaxed. We drink coffee and some juice and eat some cinnamon bread. And we talk about all kinds of things. At a little before 1 p.m. we want to go back. We are really not allowed to walk now. Katerina brings us back. And how! When we start the descent at the top of the ramp, the brakes suddenly fail! We go down at breakneck speed. Katerina panics and does nothing at all, but fortunately Rene has a quick response. That one grabs the handbrake and pulls it all the way. Past Aristo’s house we come to a stop. The stench of the handbrake hangs in the car. But we are all still alive. Katerina sits trembling behind the wheel with big eyes of terror. Carefully we try the normal brakes again, with our hand at the handbrake, of course. And now they do! They have been talking about a new car for Katerina for some time, but she is really ready for one now. We proceed very carefully and meet Yorgos on the dirt road. We explain what has happened. He looks at the car and the engine, but cannot find anything. Katerina has to take it to the garage. So we get back in anyway. We drive on the paved road and now it sounds like we have a flat tire. When we get to the garage (but this turns out not to be the right one) we check the tires, but they are not flat. Probably there are just flat sides on them now. I also don’t want to know what kind of rubber trail is on that driveway now. Since we are at the wrong garage, Katerina takes us to the apartment first. There we say goodbye to her. We had already said goodbye to Yorgos earlier on the dirt road. We unwind on the balcony from our adventure. Fortunately we were with her and not she alone or the children. In her panic she probably would not have done anything and would have shot straight into the bushes where there are also large pieces of rock. After sitting for a while we begin the inevitable. Packing. One suitcase we prepare completely. The other we do later, it’s too hot for jeans and hiking boots. We plop down on the balcony again. Both of us another can of Fanta Lemon, some chocolate and some chips. The rest can go. I continue working on the report. It is 2 p.m., we have plenty of time.
At 3 p.m. Rene goes flat for a while, then we change into the return clothes anyway. The rest now goes into the second suitcase and then it too closes. We walk towards the center. Check out a few more stores and then we take a last frappe at Revolution. And at the neighbor across the street the last Pita Gyros. By now it is 6:00 pm. We go back to the apartment. There we clean up the trash all, put the beds back in place and check all the closets, drawers and room for the last time. Then we read and do puzzles until 7:00 pm. We bring the stuff forward and wait for the bus. We are early but still have time to look for geckos. René had seen a toad earlier close to our room. He was almost on top of it. At 19:30 we put the suitcases outside the gate and close the gate, waiting with the lock itself until the bus actually arrives. That’s at 7:50 p.m. Now it has really happened. We are the last for the bus and it goes straight to the airport. We have to check in at desk 11,12 or 13. Then get the bags checked at desk 9 or 10. Overweight but not out today, they don’t check for that. Then we walk to counter 35. There we have to go through customs. In terms of smoking it doesn’t matter. You can smoke later. We walk through the tax-free shop. Rene buys another carton of cigarettes and a bottle of “Grand Fine Metaxa”. Not because of the metaxa itself. But because of the bottle. You can use it later as an oil lamp. Then we have to wait until we can board the plane. According to schedule, that happens exactly at 10:30 pm. The rest of the flight goes smoothly. The vacation is over. We will return at the end of May next year.
Lizards: we counted 7 more today, making a total of 38 for this vacation. Not bad for so late in the season.
For the rest of the vacation photos see HERE