The next day we went to the other archaeological site of the area, the Minoan palace of Phaestós dating from the 2nd and 3rd phases of the Minoan period, 1900-1700 and 1700-1450 BC. We were glad we had gone to Gortys first as this site was much more interesting and easy to imagine. It sits on a hill overlooking the fertile Messara valley, which must have financed it by the production of olives, wheat, grapes and other crops and fruits.
The hire car problem meanwhile remained intractable, so from Phaestós we returned to Agia Galini by bus where we eventually obtained a little car for 48 hrs. In this we set off north into the Amari Valley,
a rural bowl dotted with little white villages and remote churches overlooked by Mt Ida, at nearly 2,500 m the highest peak on the island (at left).
You can visit a cave on its eastern slopes where Zeus was reputedly born, but we remained on the western side. We meandered about looking for somewhere to stay and eventually came to the Aravanes hotel in the little village of Thronos at the north end of the valley.
On arrival I found an oldish man sitting outside shelling walnuts, whom I asked for directions. He turned out to be the owner and on closer acquaintance proved a charming and cultured man who made us very welcome. We shared our table on the first night with a French couple and on the second with our host and two Norwegian women and the Swedish husband of one of them. We explored the valley during the day visiting various villages, in one of which we had our only experience of a rather grasping restaurateuse. We will not be returning to Gerakari. We also found an abandoned monastery which served for a few years as an agricultural college but is now falling down; the church however was perfectly kept. And we went for a beautiful walk down a limestone gorge with a shrine now devoted to St Anthony, but which has been a place of worship since long before christianity.
We duly returned the car to Agia Galini on the following day. We had a long wait for the bus so I walked an hour along the coast to the little village of Agios Georgios (St George) and back, while Magda went to the beach and round the town.
Our bus deposited us in Rethimnon, another Venetian port in the centre of the north coast. Again Venetian buildings, walls and mole set the tone but there were also a few mosques. We stayed in a “boutique” hotel – a bit above our normal price range but very nice apart from the mozzies… We dined in a restaurant with live music played by a couple of students who, while technically quite competent, lacked spirit. No one danced, so we went back to bed.
On our last full day the south wind was blowing hard up from Africa, sprinkling the island with Sahara dust. I did a good walk up into the hills just inland to a couple of pretty little villages, and passed by Crete’s only fresh water lake, Kournas. I had lunch in a little taverna in the tiny village of Kastellos. When I opened the door, sweaty and wind-blown, the eyes of the “waitress” – the owner’s 14-year-old daughter – opened wide in surprise, but after that she looked after me very well, practising her school English. I was the only non-Greek in the place.
Our last night in Chaniá was spent in another restaurant with live music – very professional – and we were able to dance a bit. We found ourselves next to a Brit in his 80s who has lived in Western Australia for 40 years where he became a Greek Dance instructor!
The hire car problem meanwhile remained intractable, so from Phaestós we returned to Agia Galini by bus where we eventually obtained a little car for 48 hrs. In this we set off north into the Amari Valley,
a rural bowl dotted with little white villages and remote churches overlooked by Mt Ida, at nearly 2,500 m the highest peak on the island (at left).
You can visit a cave on its eastern slopes where Zeus was reputedly born, but we remained on the western side. We meandered about looking for somewhere to stay and eventually came to the Aravanes hotel in the little village of Thronos at the north end of the valley.
On arrival I found an oldish man sitting outside shelling walnuts, whom I asked for directions. He turned out to be the owner and on closer acquaintance proved a charming and cultured man who made us very welcome. We shared our table on the first night with a French couple and on the second with our host and two Norwegian women and the Swedish husband of one of them. We explored the valley during the day visiting various villages, in one of which we had our only experience of a rather grasping restaurateuse. We will not be returning to Gerakari. We also found an abandoned monastery which served for a few years as an agricultural college but is now falling down; the church however was perfectly kept. And we went for a beautiful walk down a limestone gorge with a shrine now devoted to St Anthony, but which has been a place of worship since long before christianity. 
We duly returned the car to Agia Galini on the following day. We had a long wait for the bus so I walked an hour along the coast to the little village of Agios Georgios (St George) and back, while Magda went to the beach and round the town.
Our bus deposited us in Rethimnon, another Venetian port in the centre of the north coast. Again Venetian buildings, walls and mole set the tone but there were also a few mosques. We stayed in a “boutique” hotel – a bit above our normal price range but very nice apart from the mozzies… We dined in a restaurant with live music played by a couple of students who, while technically quite competent, lacked spirit. No one danced, so we went back to bed.
On our last full day the south wind was blowing hard up from Africa, sprinkling the island with Sahara dust. I did a good walk up into the hills just inland to a couple of pretty little villages, and passed by Crete’s only fresh water lake, Kournas. I had lunch in a little taverna in the tiny village of Kastellos. When I opened the door, sweaty and wind-blown, the eyes of the “waitress” – the owner’s 14-year-old daughter – opened wide in surprise, but after that she looked after me very well, practising her school English. I was the only non-Greek in the place.
Our last night in Chaniá was spent in another restaurant with live music – very professional – and we were able to dance a bit. We found ourselves next to a Brit in his 80s who has lived in Western Australia for 40 years where he became a Greek Dance instructor!
1 comentario:
Now that you mention it, I did visit Rethimnon and stayed for a few days in Agios Giorgios, in 1973, if memory serves. At the time there was only one place with 2 rooms for hire. The friend I was travelling with and myself were the first visitors ever to stay there. It's just as well we arrived vith bread and cheese as there were no restaurants anywhere. When that was finished we asked the landlord if he could do something about food, so for the next couple of days we had omelette and more omelette and then on Sunday we were lucky enough to share a rabbit casserole with him. Apparently, they had not thought that tourists not only sleep but also eat! It must be rather different now, 42 years later....
Thank you for sharing the trip, very interesting. What's next?
Isabelle
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