Crete - Rethymno. Winding down

As today was an "at home" day I only had one agenda item: get a gift for the "butcher lady"

The lady who is usually behind the counter in the butchers shop, just down the road, is a very kind and warm person. When Rick and I dropped in for honey, early on in our time in Rethymno, she also gave us (free) a bagel shaped loaf of bread. Then Rick discovered the chocolate filled croissants and we were in more frequently and again we often got a free loaf/bagel thing. She always has a smile and when I went in last week for some honey, she only had large jars. I explained that I was leaving soon so wouldn't go through a large jar. She went into the back and came back with a small jar, 3/4 full, that she uses for her tea and gave it to me (free again, even though I wanted to pay). Every time I walk by I wave, she waves, if she doesn't have a customer she calls our "Yia sas" (hello).

So I painted a card and wrote Efaristo (but in Greek letters) and dropped it off with a potted plant. She had a customer so no time for anything but an exchange of thank yous. She is an example of the kindness and warmth I have experienced here. I suspect that it is a part of the Greek character that it is easier to find outside of tourist season.

Lunch was using up some of the food in the frig. I have an abundance of salad fixings and want to enjoy them while I can.

On to some painting. I am playing with seascapes

and I started working on the Chania lighthouse.

But it was 26 degrees today with a warm south wind and the terrace was calling.

When I booked this apartment (back, last summer) one of the things in the listing was that you could swim at the hotel next door as long as you bought a drink at the bar. Well the hotel has been closed and the pool empty and dirty. This week they cleaned it, and the hot tub, and filled it.

They hosed down the terraces and cleaned the outdoor furniture

and they are assembling an area to give shade on the roof. It may actually open just as I leave.

So warm today that there were lots of people swimming in the sea.

If everything goes according to plan I hope to take the bus to the next beach to the West tomorrow. I will take my bathing suit and may swim, if I can find a place to change.

Crete - Kyriana

 A new bus schedule has come out and I went looking for a place to go, to get out of the town and into a more peaceful area. The bus schedule indicated that there were numerous trips to and from Kyriana so next, I googled what there was to do there....not much. 

I purchased my tickets at the bus station and the woman told me that it is a "city bus" and directed me to the bus stop above the bus station, by the church.

All of the other bus trips have been on the big, intercity, buses and have driven just a short way along the shore road and then up onto the highway. This one went through town and I got to see the bustling area behind the beach strip.

Then we went under the highway and up into the hills, through a couple of little villages, people on, people off and when I got dropped off here, I was the last one on the bus. I asked the driver and he said to wait across the road, on that bench, for the return trip.

Although I would not call the apartment, where I am staying, noisy, there is the sound of the road, people coming and going in the apartments around and the waves. Here it was so quiet that I could here the swish-swish of the guy using the scythe on the other side of the valley.

When I googled "What to see in Kyriana" this was the only thing mentioned. The 3 bell tower was identified as unusual.

One website listed the population as 400. They were all at work. The traffic on the road was just going through. Many of the houses were the usual cement, flat roofed that are built now. Just a few looked older and I could see the occasional tiled roof further up in the village. There were however, lots of flowers, mostly in pots, that really prettied the place up.

Small roads ran steeply up from the main one but I kept walking on.

There was, of course, another little chapel tucked in behind some village houses.

I could also see another chapel further up the hill so I headed for that.

Now out of the village (that didn't take long) and into my "happy place"

in the olive groves

with views of snowy mountains to the East

and to the West.

The church I was headed to turned out to be the village cemetery.

I continued up the road, searching for the one taverna that had been mentioned on the internet

but it was closed.

It would have been a lovely place to have lunch, out in the countryside

with views down to the sea.

I was getting hungry and hoped there would be other options in the village. Pruned orange trees,

the ground being cleared in an olive grove,

a pretty villa,

blossoms and

grape vines sprouting

all on my walk back into the village.

The wasn't much foodwise. The Kafenion (coffee shop) didn't sell food, just coffee, beer or raki. I ended up getting a premade sandwich and some nuts at the little supermarket and ate while admiring their spring bulbs emerging

and sketching the railing decor.

Revived, I walked up the steep streets into the village

and then back down to the church.

I had over an hour to wait for the return bus so I decided to go slower and get a bit more detailed with the sketch.

There was a lot of

detail

to deal with.

Past the mail boxes

and the tractor

to the bus stop. One other passenger waited with me. It must be a requirement that after a certain age women must always be dressed in black...black sensible shoes, black skirt, black cardigan or coat, and a large black purse.

Over the last couple of weeks I have seen a few swallows but they were abundant here, swooping and diving. I have no hope of getting a photo of them on the wing but got this one on a wire.

The bus was right on time. I had spent about 2 and a half hours there and it had been just what I was looking for, peace and quiet and a bit of countryside.

I stopped for milk and bananas and as I was huffing up the stairs a woman climbing more rapidly offered to take my bag up. So kind, but I explained it wasn't that the bag was heavy. I am just not in as good a shape as the locals who climb these steep inclines every day, for their whole lives.

Crete - Greek Independence Day

My plan for today was to take a bus ride, either to a village inland or to a beach to the West. I hadn't decided which. Over coffee I was scrolling through facebook and found it was Greek Independence Day. I went out on to the terrace and there were very few cars on the road...must be a public holiday. There go the bus plans, they are different on weekends and holidays, less frequent.

March 25 celebrates the Greek Independence from the Ottoman Empire in  1832 and is a public holiday in Greece and Cyprus. From nationaltoday.com

So instead I read and I painted.

Photo taken yesterday

Painted today.

I also took 3 plein air sketches and

 added colour

And got ready to tackle the Chania lighthouse

 

I needed to use up the lentils that I had purchased for the Vegetarian Pastitsio so for my last Greek recipe I made a Greek Red Lentil Soup. Although I did look up a recipe, I just did what I usually do with soups and added things I wanted to use up - some rubbery carrots and a bit of red pepper, smoked paprika because I didn't have turmeric, the last of the cherry tomatoes.

Luckily the apartment has an immersion blender so I could make it into a nice smooth, cream soup.

 

What made it Greek I suppose was that it called for copious amounts of oregano and at the end you add lemon juice and sprinkled the bowl full with feta cheese. Anyway, it is delicious and made far too much, I will be eating it all week.