Another good sunset last night, but not quite good enough to crack the top 3!
I must admit that we were up earlier than usual today to get a jump on the day. Annemarie and I sat out the deck at 6 in the relative cool of the morning waiting for the sun rise and giving Kathy a bit more time to snooze. It was already about 23 at that time of the morning! A wander down to the bakery for breakfast and hot drinks which we enjoyed on the deck looking out across the Med for our last views from this vantage point. Kalamaki has been a very good choice for a stop and we've had great food, nice connections and good swimming. However, it was time to move west.
We decided to head back up into the mountains which are very rugged and quite stark in all their parched splendour, and then take the steep forays down to the coast.
The drops down to the coast were precipitous on roads that were just a little wider than a single lane where everyone had to suck in their gut to pass when two cars came together. Road rails along the cliff side roads were non-existent, but even then the driving was fun with multiple switch-backs and great views. We passed through pleasant little villages typical of the white mountain villages found all along the Mediterranean from Turkey to Spain. .
We ended up seaside at a small beach called Pavios where we found blue, blue waters and quite surprisingly a row of cabanas! The Germans are everywhere here. The Aussies were all over Santorini (must have been a convention), but here it's the Germans, and to a lesser extent Russians.
And then we travelled a short way along the coast until we found a few more rather secluded beaches, often with a few small guest houses. Definitely a place to return to one day in late September through October. Fly to Crete, pick up a small car and head to the south coast!
We climbed back up by a different road and then found another route down to different beaches.
This country side is just what we hoping to find on Crete. Old and yet very different than the rest of Greece. A real treat to share together.
Another climb back up and then another descent. Crazy roads, but endless fun to drive!
We found this small taverna at the bottom of one of the next hairy descents, Agia Ireni where we had a nice lunch of salads and cold drinks. A real treat to find this where we could sit in the shade and chat.
We watched these older ladies try to park and then come in for lunch and beers. I guess the beers were to steel themselves for the climb back up!! Annemarie thought it was pretty cool that these seniors found the courage to drive down here, have lunch and then drive back up. We chatted about this for a while. Those are really big beers in front of each of them! Liquid courage!
More tomorrow! We are in and it's time for our own cold beers then dinner!
No comments:
Post a Comment