New day, new port!
This time we landed on the largest and most populous Greek Island- CRETE! Overall impression? I adored this island! It was picturesque, friendly, the waters were clear and beautiful, and it was green and lush with loads of agriculture sandwiched between the rocky coast and snow-capped mountains that fill the center.
Follow me for a hit-and-miss tour of a few of the sights around Souda, Chania, and the nearby countryside of Crete!
Crete is a long, narrow island oriented mostly East-West with a fairly lofty mountain range that’s visible from most every beach. It’s history, of course, is noted for hosting Europe’s first advanced civilization, the Minoans. Since then, it’s been inhabited by Arabs, Ottomans, Romans, Venetians, Byzantines, and obviously Greeks. The island is covered with olive orchards, vineyards, citrus fruits, nuts, and avocados. Who wouldn’t to have all that nearby?!
The island is also home to a sizeable US Navy port, NSA Souda Bay, which you can read about here:
(https://cnreurafcent.cnic.navy.mil/Installations/NSA-Souda-Bay/About/
On the way back to the Old City, our tour guide pointed a carrier out that happened to be in port that day. All the locals know their comings and goings and she surmised they’d be sailing out later that afternoon.
If you’re interested in WWII history (hey, I try to include something for everyone here!), Crete was quite important. “During World War II, the island was the scene of the Battle of Crete in May, 1941. The initial 11-day battle was bloody and left more than 11,000 soldiers and civilians killed or wounded. As a result of the fierce resistance from both Allied forces and civilian Cretan locals, the invasion force suffered heavy casualties, and Adolf Hitler forbade further large-scale paratroop operations for the rest of the war.
During the initial and subsequent occupation, German firing squads routinely executed male civilians in reprisal for the death of German soldiers; civilians were rounded up randomly in local villages for the mass killings, such as at the Massacre of Kondomarisa and the Viannos massacres. Two German generals were later tried and executed for their roles in the killing of 3,000 of the island’s inhabitants.” – Wiki
(As a sidenote, and as a direct result of this massacre, Crete is a heavily civilian-armed population. Almost every household has at least one registered firearm, and while there have been many, even recent, attempts to change their gun laws, there has been no progress. The memory of that war is still very fresh with the Cretians and it’s not likely they will give up their means of self-protection. It’s not surprising there is very little crime on private property there.)
And yes, our tour guide did tell us about that history on our first bit of bus ride. Like I said, they know their stuff!
Our first stop of the day was a village about 30 minutes from the Souda Port. Believe it or not, all 4 of us joined in! Described as one of Crete’s most traditional villages, I was excited to stroll and take in the atmosphere. I thought we’d have a bit of free time to explore independently, but instead our tour guide led us on a group walk through some of the more picturesque neighborhoods. I guess in the end that is okay as I may not have found places on my own that were quite as lovely. On the other hand, I might have found better ones. And for that reason, I almost always do my OWN trip planning and generally don’t do group tours.
The memories that stand out most were of plaster-covered, stone homes with quaint little, shaded courtyards with plenty of colorful potted plants, bistro-style tables and chairs, weathered bric-a-brac, and vines climbing up the 2nd story balconies. It evoked feelings of old Europe where neighbors share pastries and coffee in the morning and wine and dainties in the evening; where old ladies share their family recipes and old men swap news of the crops and solve all the world’s problems; where youngsters play with friends until it’s dark and mommas call them home for a hearty home-cooked meal.
(Does this not conjure up a story?! Maybe the owner, who also serves as server, cashier, bartender, and cook was totally wiped out after a long evening of serving customers, and poured a late nightcap for himself to enjoy a few moments of quiet taking in the warm summer night air before kissing his wife goodnight.)
Wandering at a leisurely pace, our guide pointed this or that out and gave us plenty of time to take the photos we wanted. Dad and I pointed out familiar plants that we have back home and enjoyed the comparison of horticulture. Much of what we saw also grows in Southern California where we lived for many years- grapes, oleander, pepper trees, bougainvillea, prickly pear cactus, loads of wild herbs, oak, and iris.
One fascinating feature she pointed out was a shallow sunken ring seemingly forgotten in a field. Guesses?
Here’s a super informative article explaining the Cretan “Alonia”. (Guess first, then you can see if you were right.)
https://www.explorecrete.com/traditions/alonia.html
We definitely found it to be quite interesting and loved learning about part of the “ancient” culture of this unique Greek island.
(Leaving Vamos- another really crappy, blurry photo from a moving bus, but shows that the island is water-sufficient.)
From Vamos, our tour was scheduled to head to the Saint George Monastery to see the ruins they are best known for, including the 12 remaining arches that once formed the roof of the once-operational olive mill. At its height of production, it had 4 enormous olive presses. In 1996, after having been abandoned for a century, new monks have taken up residence and are slowly restoring the church on the property. How are they doing?
I wouldn’t know. We couldn’t get there. The road from Vamos to the monastery is a winding, uphill road that happened to be getting a facelift while we were there. It was closed.
But how’s a bus to turn around?
It doesn’t.
But our driver was boss! Without breaking a sweat he backed ‘er right on out no less than half a mile, back down the twisting road including two hairpin turns, until there was a turnout that he could get that behemoth going the right way. The busload, many of the same folks who’d a few days earlier endured the boat crossing from hell, erupted in applause for such a job well-done. Here’s the Google Map to show the heinous hairpin turns; we had to back all the way from the bottom arrow to the road split at the top arrow. Beep, beep, beep….
I’d have LOVED to have seen the monastery with scenes like this, but alas, it just wasn’t to be.
I did get a nice shot of another church not too far from the Monastery though. Churches like this are commonplace all over the countryside in Greece and Italy.
Instead, we headed for a family wine and raki making business. Tucked along a quiet road amongst rows of olive-laden trees and surrounded by lovely gardens was the generations-old winery and distillery. The gracious hostess escorted about tour group into a small, dusty room obviously long-abandoned for winemaking, yet still useful to give an informative, short lecture on Greek wine making and subsequent tsikoudia/raki distilling.
In Crete, tsikoudia is a pomace brandy that is sometimes called rakı. It is used to make rakomelo, which is flavoured with honey and cinnamon. Rakomelo is served warm during winter months. Cretan Raki does not contain anise, so it is not to be confused with the Turkish version.
The centerpiece of the room was the antique still. There were wooden shelves lining the walls with a mish-mash of winemaking equipment strewn about.
[img]https://photos.smugmug.com/ItalyGreece-2022/i-zszh87q/0/b3c3af5d/L/IMG_E6458-2-L.jpg[/img]
If you’re really into liquor and want to understand the nuances between Ouzo and Raki, this may help. I’ll just say that I enjoy a small shot of “lion’s milk” when the occasion dictates.
https://www.greecefoodies.com/raki-vs-ouzo/
After the process was passed along, the hostess led us out to use the restroom and browse through the courtyard and a small “museum” of antiques gathered from the old family home (did you know the ancient Greek word for “farm” is “Georgia”?) and other villagers’ donations.
After we were done at our leisure, we were invited to make our way to the area where rows of tables were set up with each place having a little snack plate set at it. This was not a meal sort of shore excursion, so a few little Greek tidbits would have to do. As we made our way to one of the spots, we could grab a small glass of wine, white or red, and enjoy what they offered: 2 tyropitakia (small hand pies, one cheese and spinach, the other ground beef), some olives, a bit of hard cheese, some rocks that reminded me of the starvation food from Magellan’s sailing, and a tiny bottle of olive oil for dipping. Mom liked the olives, I liked the hand pies, Mikki liked the wine (no surprise there), Dad ate… nothing.
By the time we landed at our last stop of the day, to say we were hangry is like saying Disney prices are too high. The most notable tourist spot on Crete is the Old Port of Chania with the Venetian Harbor. Here, our tour guide started with a brief history of the area and a few tips on how to be a savvy shopper then turned us loose to explore, shop, eat, whatever.
Mom, Dad, and Mikki couldn’t wait to eat any longer, but I was there for photos so went my own way. I had also decided that I wanted to buy a little piece of jewelry. We said we’d meet up in a bit; if they were still eating after I’d explored, I’d join in. Like most touristy hotspots anywhere in the world, there were rows and rows of souvenir shops, but this area seemed to have a higher density of jewelry. After looking in about 5 of them comparing prices and styles, I settled on a pair of silver olive branch earrings on posts. They were in my price range (under $30) and remind me of the millions of ancient olive trees we saw all over Greece still giving their gifts of oil and fruit after hundreds of years.
Similar to these, except with posts and leaves that are a bit more “pointy”.
Too bad I broke one 3 days later. One fell out on the floor of our cabin and in the process of looking for it, I found it by stepping on it. Which snapped the post right off. Luckily, I found a place in an artisan village here in Arizona with a legit silversmith who said he can fix it.
Lots of old buildings on the square like this that I could enjoy as I shopped:
Shopped out (it doesn’t take long for this girl to be “shopped out”), I headed for the Küçük Hasan Pasha Mosque. (It) was built in the 17th century in honor of Küçük Hasan Pasha, the first Turkish garrison commander, after the conquest of Chania by the Ottomans, which is the most prominent feature of the waterfront square. Apparently, there is some nice art housed in it, but sadly, the interior was closed when we were there. More hit and miss.
I had wanted to walk out the jetty to the Old Venetian Lighthouse (you can see it in the distance of the first harbor picture up there ^), but was paranoid I’d miss the bus back to port so opted to take a few more photos and try to find the others.
I texted and they told me, or tried to anyway, where they were, but try as I might, I could not find the restaurant they’d gotten a nice lunch at. In the end, I opted to go check out the church closest to the meetup point, light a candle, and trot off for a quick coffee and wait.
Grabbing a “quick” coffee was always an adventure in Greece and Italy. It’s like the ultimate guessing game of how to play. At some places you just find a seat outside, sometimes inside, but most of the time outside, and someone magically appears to take your order. Sometimes, you went inside and ordered and then found a seat, sometimes, you had to stand at the bar. I can tell you that if you guess wrong, you look like an idiot 100% of the time. Which was 100% of the time. Then you had to figure out how and where to pay. The creamy, caffeinated deliciousness was 1,000% worth the turmoil of appearing imbecilic.
And with that, our time on Crete had come to an end. We were whisked back to the ship where warm showers awaited; everyone met back at our cabin for a little naptime before dinner.
This chapter took up more real estate than I thought it might when I wrote it.
Stay tuned, Friends!