April 23, Crete: Ready, set, nowhere to go

 “The best laid plans o’ mice and men gang aft agley.”  Our day was completely agley, but we saw some amazing countryside as the GPS led us blindly through the mountains of Crete.

In theory, our day was going to be a whirlwind, beginning with the Minoan city of Gournia.  To this end, we had deducted a day from our stay in Eleonas and booked into a hotel on the North coast, east of Iraklion, in Elounda.  Since the novel I am reading, The Island by Victoria Hislop is set in this corner of the world, I hoped to see the village of Plaka, and the island of Spinalonga just across from it.  First, however, we had a very good breakfast, even more appreciated as we had not managede to get dinner the night before.  Our plan was to see Malia, the archeological museum in Agios Nikólaos,, and Gourniá, all of which are Minoan sites. 

The view from our hotel balcony in Elounda

 Unfortunately, we missed the turn up to Plaka, and decided that we would go on to Gourniá.  We then discovered that all three of the sites that we had hoped to see in the area are closed on Mondays, so we revised our plans, planning to go overland through the mountains to the Libyan Sea, and on to the Hellenic/Roman city of Gortys, after which we would have a beach afternoon on the Libyan Sea before checking into our hotel.  To this end, we tricked the GPS into taking us down to the sea by entering the name of a random seaside town. 

The vineyards of Crete, with the snowy "White Mountains" in the background.

On the way, high in the mountains, we pulled over for an hour’s walk through the countryside toward a little place called Agios Ioannis.  I got used to people in Turkey thinking the Margaret was a Turkish name (they usually pronounce it Magara, wich means “cave”), but here in Greece everyone assumes that Ian is Greek, either Eon or Ioannis (John).  Since Ian is Gaelic for John, they’re sort of right, I guess!

I can’t describe how lovely it was to walk through “the bee-loud glade” amongst the olive trees, and the amazing fragrance of herbs in the clean air.  The view of the sea below was worth every step. 

A field of gorse

Where green olives come from

Where black olives come from

Where old goats come from.

A bee keeper at work.

Lots of pitted white rock in the fields, a great contrast to the vibrantly red soil.

I loved this arch over the road.  A bit different from some of the arches we've seen.

However, Gimli doesn’t like to be fooled, and while we thought that by entering “Gortys” into the GPS we would drive along the south coast of the island, she took us right back up to the point where we had started three hours before.  Apparently, the road across the North side of the island, through Iraklion, is the fastest, and to Gimli, all roads lead through Iraklion.  We realized our mistake, and also that we are really going to have to rethink our strategy, since according to the new tourist information we got, museums in Greece aren’t open after 2:00.  We headed for our hotel – no easy feat, since the road that the GPS found for us is now at the bottom of a valley.  Ironically, the detour took us right past Gortys, now long closed.

Almost every hilltop has a church on top.

 We worried that our hotel was in the middle of nowhere, since it is the last place in Zaros, just behind the bottled water plant.  However, it makes up for a lot of frustration, as it is a lovely destination resort, with hiking all around.  We have an authentic Greek cottage to ourselves, and spent a lovely hour or so first swimming, then reading by the pool.  Tomorrow afternoon we plan to hike up to a fourteenth century monastery in the hills.  We had an amazing dinner, have a deep tub to soak in, and the first truly comfortable bed we’ve had since we gave up our foam mattresses.  Meanwhile, the hills rise around us, reminding us somehow of Strathcona Park. 

 

Vieew from our front door.  Yes, that's an herb garden, but then most of Crete is!

Our plan is to rise early for the next two days, see the archaeological sites, then after 3:00 to see the natural beauty of this amazing island, before returning here for the evening.  Since breakfast doesn’t start until 8:00, “early” won’t be very early, and since dinner isn’t served until 7:00, bedtime won’t be early either.  We are going to have to learn the trick of resting in the afternoons.  A rest on the beach or beside a pool isn’t too much of a hardship!