Crete - Kissamos (Kastelli)

 

Today I caught the bus in Rethymno (#1 on the right hand side of the map) to Chania (#2 in the middle) and then another one to Kissamos (#3 left hand side). This map shows about a third of the island. I wanted to go as far west as I could, easily, by bus.

Got the 9am bus that got me in to Chania at about 10:20 then I had to wait until 11 to get the one to Kissamos. The temperature was very comfortable....

I got a snack, went to the washroom and kept an eye on the board announcing the buses but there was no bus number or platform listed for the bus I wanted. When I asked, I was directed over to a bus that I had assumed was a city bus (as opposed to an inter-city bus, there are 2 systems)

It was one of the extra long buses, with an accordion middle section.

It followed the coast and we got further and further away from the the White Mountains (that is actually their name, they are not always covered in snow) and the landscape was hills and agricultural land with a strip of development along the beaches.

The ticket taker on the bus told me where to get off for Kissamos centre (even though my ticket said Kastelli, the names are interchangeable). It had a nice shaded central square.

Figuring I would check out the beach area first, I headed down hill and accidentally found the castle walls.That is why it is also called Kastelli, because of the Venetian castle.

The towns website indicates that the economy is driven by agriculture (olives and wine) but welcomes tourists. It seemed pretty sleepy

as I walked away from the commercial centre and into "the suburbs", occasional dogs, cats and chickens.

The little church behind the beach looked freshly painted

The beachside tavernas were all closed

Though some had workmen inside, sprucing up for the start of the season.

In the summer ferries come in from mainland Greece to the harbour just along the bay.

The beach was a mix of sand and stone

with one large hotel and a smattering of small ones.

I walked along the promenade

and then back up the hill

and into the town.

In a little square, hemmed in by tables and chairs from the surrounding cafes and restaurants

was the tiny, Church of the Archangels. I found it rather amusing that it had been "assaulted" and turned into a grocery shop by Turk.

The door was open and inside it was entirely

painted in vivid colours.

On the same square (in an old Venetian building) was the archaeological museum. I was the only one there and on the first floor it had Minoan finds from locations at the West end of the island.

but I was more interested in the upstairs, the Roman finds. Kissamos had been a rich area during the Roman occupation with villas and baths.

This is what I was here for

I had been going through

"mosaic withdrawal",

having seen so many in Cyprus. The Minoans were into frescoes, not mosaics.

I love the translation in the description of this one

I looked for Summers "nude backside" but she just had a nude back (I guess that is a side).

A vegetable pie and glass of wine while waiting for the bus. I jumped up at one point when a bus came by but the man sitting next to me, whom I had told that I was going to Chania, said "Oxi, Oxi, megalo" (No, no, a big one) to remind me it was a long bus. Luckily I had just learned what megalo meant in my daily Duolingo lesson.

 A long day of walking and over 3 hours of bus riding, which I also find tiring.