Crete - a day in Sitia (2)

I left off yesterdays post at the fortress above Sitia. This morning the internet is marginally better so I will continue.

 

There was an expansive view of the bay from up there and

we made our way back down through narrow streets

populated by many cats. They all look pretty well fed though I suspect they are feral. Most have the notch in their ear that indicates they have been neutered.

We kept walking down hill. That church, up there, will have to wait until another day.

The neighbourhood turned from residential to small stores and we stopped at this green grocers and loaded up with tomatoes, bananas, onions, garlic, romaine, apples, carrots and broccoli. Everything looked so fresh.

At this little store we picked up local sheep's milk yogurt, local feta (so much cheaper than at home) and local honey.

I was looking for some sketching pens and, after inquiries at 2 bookstores, found a book and art store. As it was a Saturday the woman behind the counter had her son with her. He was about 6, maybe 7, Joseph, and he was absolutely fluent in English. I asked if he learned it in school and she said no, he learned it watching YouTube videos in English. He seemed very pleased to have English speakers that he could practice with. 

Next stop, a bakery.We didn't get these mouse shaped mousse but instead got some slices that looked like baklava but were also filled with custard.

We stopped for lunch so we wouldn't be hungry when grocery shopping. A traditional Greek salad....no lettuce, tons of tomatoes, cucumber, green pepper (I think she added this because we asked for no onions) and a huge slice of feta with a sprinkle of oregano. Neither of us finished it so it came home in a box. Love leftovers!

Grocery shopping is always an adventure in a new place. Although Sitia is known for its olive oil it was very expensive so, although we bought Cretan olive oil, it was not local. A nice young man, a customer, noticed us searching for Oregano and pointed it out to us. We then found him again to ask about salad dressing. He said he didn't think there would be any as everyone just used oil, vinegar and herbs, so we will too. Eggs were just on a shelf, not in a cooler. Rick bought Cretan beer and I bought a couple of Cretan red wines to try.

Crete - a day in Sitia.

 We had not grocery shopped before arriving at the accommodation so today's breakfast was instant black coffee and Rick had instant porridge he had bought with him. We drove back into town trying to memorize the route. It is not long but is a series of tracks - "left at the end of our track", "follow the track down hill", "take the bigger of the 2 roads", "hope that cat stays there so we know where to turn left" and "on to the main road at the graffiti on the wall". Coming back I only took one wrong turn and had to retrace "my steps"!

We parked at the museum and had a coffee at the same place that we lunched yesterday. This is the pork and chicken gyro grills.

Although I don't eat much meat the smell of it on an open grill is still tantalizing.

We walked the couple of blocks down to the harbour. This boat was registered in Quebec!

Up, above the town we could see the fortress.

A mix of modern yachts and traditional, colourful fishing boats.

We walked all the way around

past all the water side restaurants,

then walked up towards the fortress.

steep steps, dead ends, old and new buildings.

Finally reached the top but the fortress wasn't open

It was built by the Venetians in the 1300s, damaged by a couple of earthquakes and then damaged some more when the pirate Barbarossa attacked in 1538. When the Turks attacked in 1651 the defenders destroyed the most important parts to stop them using it. 

The internet is really slow tonight so I am going to publish this and try and complete it tomorrow morning in the hope that it is better.

Crete - travel to Sitia

Nicola drove me to the airport and that went without a hitch. There were plenty of hitches to follow. I had checked in on line but just before I got to security my travel agent called to say there was a strike in Frankfurt (my first stop) and to go to the Lufthansa check-in desk. I was assured that the passengers traveling through Frankfurt were not effected but there was some consternation about the following 2 flights. We decided to send my bags on to Athens and hope for the best.

The flight to Frankfurt was fine, maybe 3 or 4 messy hours of sleep. On arriving in Frankfurt my next flight was cancelled. Fun finding a service desk to help but they booked me on my next 2 flights and rerouted my luggage (that made me a little nervous!). quick run through the Frankfurt airport and I was on the way to Athens.

My first coffee of the day (at about 2pm Athens time). I had decided to try and sketch more on this trip. As I was sitting there, Rick came down the escalator. He said it was "the luck of the Sweeton" at play, as we couldn't believe our plans to connect there had come to fruition.

Flight to Heraklion, my baggage made it too, taxi to the hotel, sigh of relief.

Fortress at Heraklion harbour.

 The hotel was in the old part of town with narrow, windy streets and we were able to walk down to the harbour and ate dinner with a view of the fortress. Bed by 8:30 and slept erratically for about 12 hours. The hotel had a fabulous breakfast, taxi back to the airport and picked up the rental car. 

It was an easy drive out to the main coastal road which diminished from a 4 lane straight highway to a twisty, turny 2 lane as we drove east. Of note- in Crete the shoulder is considered a passing lane!

Periodically there was a place to pull off and take in the scenery. A brief break from driving stick shift for the first time in a few years. Here we stood enjoying the warmth of the sun and the sound of goat bells in the valley.

 

We were to meet someone in Sitia who would guide us to the Airbnb but that didn't happen. When we finally connected with the owner they sent a GPS link. Well that got us thoroughly lost in narrow farm lanes. In the end we went back to Sitia and someone else showed up to guide us out.

Our home for the next week

We took a walk through the olive groves with a view down to the sea and the sound of birds (according to Rick's Merlin App, European Robin and Great Tit)

Sunset from the patio. I just checked the weather and there is an "orange warning for extreme low temperature" because its going down to 12 tonight (thats centigrade)

Christmas catch up

 I haven't felt like blogging this Christmas. My brother, Simon, is very ill and everything else takes a back seat until we find out what is wrong and what the treatment will entail. To that end I have also delayed my winter travel. So this is just a quick review of Christmas to get some photos off my camera and on to the blog.

The trip to Arizona was a Christmas gift from Christine and Jason and we all had a lovely time there and I enjoyed it enough that I think I will go back.

Mike and Aimee moved into a new house, in St Albert (near Edmonton) at the beginning of December so I went for a visit and to help with some painting.

The whole house was painted brown so Mike, Aimee and I painted the living room (shown), dining room, hallway and kitchen a pale grey (with a touch of blue in it) and it brightened the space significantly.

 

The kitchen is s large space with much less storage or counter space than their last place, so they bought and built this unit.

Avery wanted his room black and white but was talked into a compromise of the light grey and dark charcoal (called "zombie"). Mike and Aimee had to go back to work so this was largely my job. Avery plans on decorating with video game posters and a decal of video game consoles.

I got started on Maya's room...the pale grey and a sky blue (we talked her out of turquoise) and she plans a rainbow and butterfly decal for her wall.

When not painting or babysitting I worked on River's stocking. George's mum started the tradition by making felt stockings for Mike and Chris and I have continued it with stockings for Aimee, Jason, Avery, Maya, Cigi and now River.

The weather was surprisingly warm, and cloudy, for Edmonton and if I hadn't been so busy with the house and kids I would have enjoyed walking around their new neighbourhood. I managed to spend an afternoon with Aimee shopping for their Christmas gifts, which I left for her to wrap.

Chris, Jason and Cigi came for a few days before Christmas and we had a mini Christmas celebration and had Daniele, Fiona and Rick for a Christmas lunch (Nicola and David were sick and couldn't make it).

We also fitted in a walk around the Simcoe Panorama of Lights and Cigi saw her first live Santa. She was mesmerized and when he asked her what she wanted for Christmas she said "socks" (good job I had bought her some - with baby Yoda on).

So it was then a very quite Christmas, just Rick and I. We did do the whole turkey dinner thing.

Christmas Day was grey and mild

so we had an "urban hike" on the pier,

beach

and around town.

There were lots of people out walking off the turkey

and Mergansers in the water.

Arizona - Phoenix Art Museum

 Built in 1959 and with it's most recent renovation in 2006 PhxArt is the largest art museum in the South Western United States, according to Wikipedia.

I started with the exhibition of work by Amelia Mesa-Bains. Pieces in the first room resembled home alters and ofrendas found in Mexican-American homes.

 

Her other sculptural pieces used diverse materials such as moss "The Amazona's Mirror",

woven material (that's what the label said but it looks like rug hooking or punch needle to me)

glass and

lights."What the River Gave to Me"

I was excited about this as I had been unable to get tickets to her show at the AGO.

It was just one room, quite disorientating (a number of people stepped through the black curtains and then stepped out again, unable to deal with not being able to see where they were going). I reached out, found a wall (all were mirrored) and followed it around to the exit, some bravely stepped away from the wall and risked running into it.

The mirrored walls infinitely  reflected the strands of lights that were constantly changing colour. Every now and then I saw a ghostly reflection of myself, reflected multiple times and when others were in the room at the same time, the videos they were taking on their phones also lit the space and reflected. It was beautiful and I returned to it 3 times.

Next was an exhibit of paintings by Philip C. Curtis. "Mountain Village"

"Entrance with light bulb"

Between the exhibition halls there were large foyers displaying some of the huge pieces in the collection. From the distance I took this for a painting but up closer all those little black marks were people walking. It was a video and mesmerizing. Michal Rovner "Blue Hills"

This oil painting was massive and I loved the way you first notice the figure on the blanket but the way the light comes through the trees draws your eye until you see the figure centre right. Rebecca Campbell "Jack and Diane"

Enough art for now. The next blog post will have more.