From 'summer' to winter – 3 January 2010

Our final day in Crete was again beautifully warm and sunny. We were told by the rental car rep at the airport, that it was the warmest Christmas for 100 years. She was not impressed, but we have been delighted.

We spent the first half of the morning in Heraklion, at the Archaeological Museum. Unfortunately it only has a small display open at present, as the museum is being redeveloped. But the best of their artefacts are on display, and it is amazing to see items that have been recovered from the sites we visited.

Before returning to enjoy the sun on our apartment balcony, we detoured to see a renovated monastery nearby, which other guests had recommended. Apparently the bishop in charge was credited with many miracles, and money obviously poured in to redevelop the original monastery. The new monastery is amazing, but we were told the bishop is truly a man of God,and has moved away from the crowds to a more secluded monastery elsewhere in Crete.

The whole time we were in Crete, the warm 'summer' weather made us long for an ice-cream. But no one stocks them in the off season. So waiting in Athens for our un-hurried connection to London, we at last were able to have an ice-cream, before flying from the high 20s to the sleet and snow showers of London.

Through the interior – 2 January 2010

The main road to the south coast, took us to a Agia Galini, a very attractive seaside town. After walking the town & enjoying a coffee beside the harbour, we set off on a circular drive around the Amari Valley. This drive would be difficult without the detailed instructions in the AA Crete guide book.



We felt as if we had seen the real Cretan village scene, after completing the 100k round trip.

Many of the villages had a war memorial, which in particular remembered the German slaughter of these villages, just the same as Anogia. Most of the houses have been rebuilt, as whole villages were destroyed, along with schools and even cemeteries.

The villages had real charm, from a distance, and were spaced about every 5k around the valley perimeter. Many had Byzantine churches, and one anomaly was a Venetian tower which we were able to climb for a rather windy view.

At the end of the drive, we visited another nearby coastal town - Matala. The interesting feature is the catacomb caves cut into the cliffs as long ago as Roman times, and lived in down through the centuries until the 1960s.

During our time on Crete we saw various ruins on our travels, and after leaving the coast, we passed two more extensive sites. The first was Faistos, a Minoan palace, and Gortys, a Greco-Roman city. Both sites were closed by the time we arrived, but what could be seen from the road was interesting, especially a 1,600 year old protected olive tree at Gortys, which has grown around a Roman pillar. Both are so old now, we weren't sure which was holding the other up!

Central Crete – 1 January 2010

The New Year started with a very windy, although warm and sunny day. We set out to explore the central area of Crete behind Heraklion, up into the foothills of Mount Ida.

Our first stop was Arolithos, which is a purpose built 'traditional village'. It is privately owned, and really delightful. In the busy season, it would be very interesting as all the old crafts are on show for the tourists.

The road climbed higher to the village of Tilisos. Here a modern village is built right beside an ancient Minoan town. Unfortunately the archaeological site was closed for New Year's Day, but we were able to see part of it beside the road.

After Tilisos, the road started climbing in earnest, and unfortunately, the wind picked up considerably, so by the time we reached the interesting village of Anogia, it felt like gale force, and was most unpleasant. As a result, we only toured the village by car. The villagers have a reputation for toughness, they certainly would need to be tough to endure the winters, so close to snow covered Mount Ida. They have had a very sad history, being the target of various invaders, most recently in 1944 the Germans shot every male in the village and burnt every house to the ground in retaliation for their part in the capture of the German General in charge of Crete.

We had planned to drive up the mountain, as the road goes another 21k to the Idaean Cave, but the wind made it far from pleasant, such a contrast to the previous days.

Rethymno – 31 December 2009

The last day of another year, and we choose to head west again to visit the third largest city on the island – Rethymno. This is also a Venetian town, like Chania, with the largest fortress the Venetians built anywhere. We parked on the far side of the fortress, and it seemed to go on forever, as we walked around it's base. We drank the best coffee on the island, sitting beside the small harbour.

Once again, the traffic was chaotic getting to the old town from the east, but leaving towards the west, was very quick and easy. We headed inland and followed the signs to the Arkadi Monastery. This was one of the finest Venetian churches built on Crete, and seems really amazing in it's isolated setting. It has had a troubled history, which was hard to imagine on such a beautiful warm winter day.

We wended our way back to Gourmes, via Eleftherna, the site of an old Doric and later Roman city, and Margarites, an attractive town where the industry is still pottery making. Unfortunately they weren't prepared for the tourists making the most of the sunshine and driving in the foothills to the mountains.

Chania – 30 December 2009

It was time to explore Western Crete, and we had been told Chania was the most beautiful town on the island. It largely escaped being bombed in WWII, so the old town is still made up of narrow streets, lined with Venetian houses. The harbour still has it's Venetian lighthouse, fortress and shipyards. This is definitely a place to relax, the only non-relaxing aspect, is the stressful drive in and out, through the modern town. I had investigated accommodation here, and although it would have been lovely, the 30 minute drive in and out of town would have spoilt the therapeutic effect.

After leaving Chania we drove to the nearby town of Souda where the Allied War Cemetery is a green contrast to the surrounding barren hills. About a third of the war graves are New Zealand soldiers, many of whom were defending the airfield, which fell to the Germans in May 1941. It was a very moving experience to visit this now tranquil spot.
Men, in khaki dressed.
Twenty columns, twenty rows; a rose between the headstones grows
Rank and file, creed and race, all are gathered in this place
Now all here is neat and ordered, not so then, for the war dead
Cretan soil their final rest; four hundred men in khaki dressed.

New Zealand's shores they'll never reach; Souda Bay, their nearest beach
May '41, the leaders knew, the date their foe's arrival's due
Enigma signals told it all, but Freyberg had to hold the call
Strategy, played close-to-chest, doomed these men in khaki dressed.

Brothers, uncles, fathers, sons: family heroes every one
Heard the call their country made; great the price that many paid
Now that generation's passed and we wander on this grass by sea
And in our freedom feel so blessed by all the men in khaki dressed.
M Grainger, Souda Bay, December 2009

Eastern Crete – 29 December 2009

Driving past Neapoli, we explored the eastern end of the island. The first major town is Agios Nikolaos, an attractive seaside town, which has a solid ring of cafes around it's twin harbours (one of which is actually a lake). Driving into the town centre must be horrendous in the high season. We had no difficulty driving in and finding a park, but by the time we left, the town was busier and we had to patiently negotiate the traffic jams.

A short drive inland is Panagia Kera, a Byzantine Church, almost completely covered in 14th & 15th century frescoes. The church is near Krisa, the largest village in Crete, and quite charming in a shabby-chic kind of way.

The fifth largest city is Siteia, further east, and definitely worth the drive around the coast. Although the waterfront was lined with cafes, there was a much less touristy feel about the town, and a great place to spend some relaxing time.

To save returning by the same route, we headed to the south coast, and after passing through Ierapetra (whose only claim to fame is being the most southern city in Europe), we found another delightful tiny shabby chic village, Myrtos, which did live up to its description in the guide book.

The road left the coast at this point, and wound through the rugged interior back to the northern side of the island.

Lasithiou Plateau - 28 December 2009

Eastern Crete has a high mountain plateau, which made a very pleasant circular drive from our base at Gournes. The drive started from Neapoli, over the mountains and through many small villages to the Lasithiou Plateau. This is an area where traditional stone based windmills have been used for centuries to grind corn. Today there are also many more of a more recent vintage, all over the plateau.
After leaving the plateau, we stopped to see a small 9th century church at a convent, which contains 15th century frescoes. This is near the only memorable village on the route – Krasi. This still has washing tubs by the spring, and it is easy to imagine the women gossiping as they worked in years gone by.

Knossos - 27 December 2009

Sundays in winter have free entry to all Museums, so we made our way to Knossos, to take advantage of this. The site was excavated in Victorian times by a museum curator from Oxford, and much of what you see, is his interpretation of what it could have looked like. Visiting on the free day, saved us from being too critical of his handiwork.

We followed the road from here further inland, as we had been told about the village of Archanes, which has won two awards - 2nd place for best restored village in Europe and 1st place for long term development prospects. Unfortunately we were rather underwhelmed here too, and were pleased we hadn't driven far out of our way to see it.

We should have known better, but for our third visit of the day, the best we can say is that our entrance fee was at least helping the local economy. It is some years since we have visited an aquarium, but although there were plenty of large, well arranged and stocked tanks, the overall impressions was of sterile clean artificial rocks.