For once I’m not starting off with a breakfast picture. I’ll only mention that I tried the Oak honey and the honeycomb on my toast and the latter was wonderful! Think I’ll have to see if I can find it at home.
Today we explored the nearby town of Rethymno. We arrived fairly early and were lucky to get a space in a small car park in the center. Rethymno is smaller than Chania but is similar in that it has a small Venetian port and lighthouse and an ancient fort (of fortezza, as it’s called here). It’s a massive Venetian citadel built on the flat topped hill above the town. Historically it was an Acropolis dedicated to the God Artemis, then the Byzantines built a fortress..that was taken over by the Venetians…that was taken over by the Ottoman Turks.
We walked up the paved path from the town level and in the main gate. Then explored some of the area, it is huge!
We took a different down from the fort into the maze of narrow streets and lanes of the old town area behind the port shoreline. As in Chania, they were lined with shops and cafes.
At the junction of three lanes we found the Rimondi Fountain. Like the one in Spili, it was built by the Venetians, still spouts clean water, but this one only has three lion heads. Located in Platanos Square, it dates from 1626 .
It was only a block from the fountain to the Neratze mosque, easy to find because you can see its towering minaret everywhere. It’s another one that was originally a church and converted when the Ottoman Turks took over.
We strolled down a few of the little lanes and I hit pay dirt! Ever since we’ve arrived in Greece I’ve been admiring the lovely linen clothing that is sold everywhere, but I hadn’t found anything that was just right (right color, right length, right style etc etc) In one tiny shop I spotted a dress..then another ..tried them on and bought them both on the spot. Also at a great price, yay!
Neil had been chatting with the owner while I tried the dresses on, and he was explaining how much quieter it is now that it is in August. It seems pretty busy to us, another time we’ve been grateful that we chose not to come in the summer.
We also saw some new candidates for my “Cats of Greece” collection 🙂
Eventually we arrived on the waterfront and sat for a while where we could see the lighthouse. There were several places here where people could rent a boat and we watched a family discussing taking a boat out with one of the proprietors.He wasn’t very keen on them taking it themselves as the wind had been picking up and it was getting choppy out on the water.
We made our way back to the car park which was now full, keeping the gate attendant busy waving people away that were trying to pull into it from the very busy street. He was very glad we were leaving so he could at least make one more customer happy.
We made our way slowly out of the town in the slow moving traffic, and headed back to the hotel via a petrol station and a small supermarket. Stocking up to have a nibbles dinner tonight on our balcony, we enjoy a quiet night in every now and then, very relaxed.
At the resort we went down to the Pool Bar for a drink and some lunch, once again sharing a club sandwich and chips. And once again congratulating ourselves for sharing, the portions would make Americans happy! I treated myself to a cocktail, a Strawberry Cloud, made with gin and strawberry puree and syrup. Lovely! Neil found another local beer, he was glad they had an IPA, a change from the lagers that seem to dominate here.
The wind was getting stronger and stronger, but it wasn’t particularly cold. We did have to hang on to our napkins and at one point a chunk of bark from a nearby palm tree landed with a thunk on our table…only centimeters from my cocktail!
Back in the room, Neil had to break out the laptop to do some work and I’ve been catching up on news from home and writing this.
We are very excited that tomorrow afternoon we will be able to meet up with Erin. She is joining us for our mainland Greece roadtrip. She had a three hour layover in Dubai and will arrive in Athens at about 8.20pm tonight. She is going to stay in Sounio for two nights, we will arrive there tomorrow afternoon. We can’t wait to see her!
We watched the sky growing greyer and around 4pm.the rain started to come down. Our quiet night in has been a good plan because one disadvantage of the rooms here is that you have to go out in the open to get to the restaurants. We’re having a drink and will break out the cheese and salami and biscuits shortly.
We have been tracking Erin’s flight and she is now flying over Egypt. She will have a late night by the time she gets to her hotel. Tomorrow’s weather is looking grey and drizzly so she can have a quiet day to regroup and get over her jetlag before we get to Sounio ( south of Athens airport) by early afternoon tomorrow.
We need to get to Heraklion airport ( an hour away) by 9.30 tomorrow, so an early start for us. Looking forward to our family road trip!