Crete - traveling home

 My landlady, Eleni, had offered to drive me to Heraklion but emailed yesterday that she and her son were both ill, so she could not. Instead she arranged for a taxi to take me to the bus station. I hadn't really though about the fact it was a Saturday, so fewer buses and more people. The first bus, after I got to the station, was full, so I had to wait another hour.

The market was in full swing

so time for a quick sketch.

 The bus was full, but the scenery was great. I caught a taxi from the bus station to the hotel (the one that Rick and I stayed at our first night here) and arranged for that driver to pick me up in the morning to take me to the airport.

I thought I had better stretch my legs as they will be cramped up all day tomorrow, so walked down to the marina.

"Phelan Good"

didn't actually look as if she was feeling good at all.

I sat on a bench, soaking up the sun and warmth (26 today) as I know I am returning to cold and grey.

Enjoying the sights

and sounds of the

busy

Saturday afternoon and

the view of the fortress.

I stopped at the Marina Restaurant that Rick and I ate at on our first night, but now they had tables and chairs outside and I was actually searching for shade.

The salad I ordered was so huge that I couldn't finish it - greens, apples, figs, walnuts, cherry tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes and fried Haloumi cheese with a fruity balsamic dressing.

I continued around the harbour - the sailing school has Lasers and Optimists.

When Rick and I were here just before he left we got pretty comfortable in the streets around the hotel we stayed in then. But I managed to get completely lost in the streets behind the harbour trying to find my hotel. I did come across this museum, unfortunately closed, that would have been fascinating - Museum of Ancient Greek Technology.

Less interested in this. From its website it says it is the first museum in Greece dedicated to the history of electronic gaming but it is not clear on the site whether it is even open yet.

Just as I was thinking I was going to have to ask someone, I turned a corner, and found my hotel.

Crete - last day in Rethymno

 I did the blog yesterday before sunset so here is last nights sunset sky.

Still pretty hazy but clearer than it was earlier in the day.

 I have been in this apartment for 6 weeks so, after breakfast, and putting washing on, I did a good scan so I don't leave anything behind. Even so, all day, I kept finding things.

Washing went out on the back balcony as that's where the sun is in the morning. It now reaches the front terrace by about noon.

I thought I would post some photos of the apartment today as I don't have anything much else to put on the blog and I can't remember if I have done this already. This is the main bedroom, with the little balcony and facing the bed there is a huge built in wardrobe. There is another bedroom as well but its a mess with my suitcase and packing so I didn't take a photo.

The living room.

with a big tv.

When we arrived the big chair was turned to face the TV but it became the place to have coffee in the morning and look out the big windows at the sea. These windows open (big sliding door) but don't have a screen. The sliding doors from the kitchen to the terrace and the ones to the bedroom balcony both have screens so they are the ones that are open to the breeze.

There is also a desk, under the clock in the corner. Since covid renters want to know that there is a place where they can work.

The furnishings are comfortable. There's a large table that seats 6 in the kitchen and one that seats 4 on the terrace. 2 lounge chairs on the terrace. All the equipment you need in the kitchen. A heater/air conditioner in the living room and one in the bedroom too. For the last couple of weeks I have just had the living room one on in the evening and haven't had the bedroom one on at all.

While the laundry was drying I finished up my painting of the Chania lighthouse.

I also tried to rescue the painting of the beach that I did yesterday but decided that sometimes you just have to accept that they are crap and move on.

  Tomorrow I travel to Heraklion and then the next day fly to Frankfurt and then home. So two days of travel, unlikely to be any blog posts.

Crete - Episkopi Beach

Well the weather wasn't quite what I expected today but I decided to go to the beach anyway. We are having a bit of a heat wave and that is making it very hazy, almost foggy, The air is "close", feels heavy and moist. It's headache weather.

Anyway I made myself a sandwich and packed my painting stuff, towel, bathing suit and and headed for the bus to Chania. When I asked for a return ticket to Episkopi the woman told me that I would have to call the Chania bus station for the return journey and make sure there was room on the bus. I currently have no working phone so just bought a one way ticket, not really thinking that I would have any difficulty just getting on the bus at the stop and paying then. When the bus came into Rethymno there were crowds of people, very few empty seats and I was surprised how many more tourists there are, than just last week when I last took this bus.

Episkopi is 15 km west of Rethymno and the main road, that the bus takes to Chania, drives right along the beach. The far end has a cluster of large resort style hotels but I got off in the middle. This is looking west and you should be able to see the mountains but it was just too hazy.

This is looking east. There are a few of these lifeguard stations and I have seen pictures of the summer time when it is covered with sunbeds and sun umbrellas.

The beach is 31/2km long and I walked east just enjoying walking in the sand and watching the sea. I took lots of photos of the waves for painting reference.

The beach was mostly sand with some areas of small stones.

It was a warm enough day for a swim but there was no one else there and I felt the water was too rough to swim alone, so didn't.

I found a solitary sun lounger and dragged it out onto the beach and set up my painting paraphernalia. Painting is tough enough inside, on the kitchen table, outside it's a whole new ball game. The breeze wants to move the paper and the paint box. The water dries almost instantly on the paper so when you touch the brush to it, it immediately soaks up all the colour, so it is difficult to get the lovely wash effects that watercolour works so well for. I had been sitting there for about an hour, gradually getting the hang of how to deal with the environment when I felt a sort of misty rain. I turned and realized that the cloudy haze had moved in from the west and it was sort of drizzling. I quickly packed up. I will work more on the painting at home.

I sat under the canopy of this, closed, beach bar

ate my sandwich, drank some water, used the washroom (open by no tp, I always carry some with me) and it cleared enough for me to continue walking.

This time on the road that backs the beach.

Cottage?

It had a "Beware of the Dog" sign which I though was probably seasonal until a small dark dog crept out from underneath and gave me a look that said "Beware".

At the far end of the beach a river comes in, so I turned back.

On the other side of the main road is a beautifully painted church. I was tempted to investigate but really didn't want to deal with navigating the river, bridge and highway.

On the walk back I focused on the

diversity of the plants growing

on the sand dunes

and

beside the road.

On the other side of the main road, up on the hill, a herd of goats.

My last chance to get some goat pictures for Christine.

I navigated my way across the busy road and waited in the bus shelter. The bus was, again, nearly full, but I was able to get a seat and paid for my ticket on the bus.

Still hot and humid and I was sticky and my hair was wet so, for the first time, I paid for a taxi to take me up the hill. Well worth the 6 Euro.

Tomorrow will be packing, cleaning and hopefully some painting.