Charming Chania

Just when we told ourselves that we need to stop lounging around on beautiful beaches and explore historical Crete we arrive at our Chania accommodation and there it is again.... that stunning water beckoning us!

We rented this beautiful white apartment
overlooking the water in charming Chania.

Chania is spectacularly set in the shadow of majestic mountains and around the old Venetian port.  The alleyways of the old Venetian quarter snake from the harbour in all directions.  Each alleyway seems perfect for a shady refreshment stop during the heat of the day, or an outdoor evening candlelit dinner.  There are so many options.  The harbour front is busy with tourists, particularly day-trippers from cruise ships.  It's not surprising that it is a popular destination, it's so very pretty.

The central features of the harbour are many: the beautiful lighthouse built during the Egyptian occupation in the early 1800s (that is easy to walk to along the sea wall); the incredible Venetian dockyards (rows of Venetian shipyard buildings where their ships were stored or repaired, and their arsenal kept);  and the Mosque of the Janissaries (or Kucjk Hassan Mosque, built by the Turkish).

Saturday was farmers market day.  From early morning two local streets are made pedestrian-only for the hundreds of local produces to set up their stalls.    We had fun wandering along, tasting the cheese, fruit and watching the locals haggle and shop for the weekly supplies.

Rows of Venetian shipyards.  One building is the Chania
sailing club, another two are the Maritime museum,
and others, like the ones above, are derelict
and used as a car parking garage.  A 15th century
car parking garage!

A beautiful walk to the Chania lighthouse
along the break water wall.

This picture taken from a window of the excellent Naval
Museum in the restored Venetian Fort Firkas.  The museum
has several exhibits commemorating the Australian and New
Zealand soldiers who fought to defend Crete during the
German invasion in 1941. In this pic, you can see the
Mosque and the buildings and tavernas that line
the harbour front.

I'm a little too in love with the old mosque,
(judging with the number of pics I took).

And again.....
Mosque of the Janissaries - built by the
invading Turks in 1645.  It is the oldest
Ottoman building in Crete, and when we
visited was being used as a art exhibition space.
A very beautiful art exhibition space.

Tucked well away from the tourist-busy harbour front we
found this gorgeous organic restaurant run by Stelios
and his delightful daughter, Filia.  Stelios cooks traditional
vegetarian Cretan food.  We ate here three times during our
time in Chania, and each time we were greeted by Stelios
who would proceed to describe what was on the menu for
that particular day. His kalitsounia (little herb/cheese pastries),
dakos, baked aubergine with saltanas and balsamic, stuffed
zucchini flowers..... every morsel was a taste sensation.

Stuffed zucchini flowers - before and after. Thanks
Stelios.  I hope we get to experience  your cooking
again one day.

We took a boat trip to a nearby island to swim
and snorkle and see the protected Cretan
goats - the kri-kri.

Charming Chania has an abundance of
shady lanes.

Beautiful bougainvillea everywhere.

Inside one of the Venetian shipyards is the Maritime
Museum of Crete which houses a replica
of a Minoan ship - a 15th-century-BC rowing ship!
It's incredible isn't it, one-thousand-five-hundred-
years-BC.....

The days are hot and sunny, the evenings
are warm and it's light until around 9pm.

Dinner under the little lemon tree at Kariatis.

Saturday morning farmers market.

Who doesn't love a summer farmers' market?

Crete mountain honey, the sweetest thing.

The majestic White Mountains - Lefka Ori -
are the spectacular backdrop of Chania.
There are 58 peaks higher than 2,000m!
The island on which I live (it's about
10 times larger in area than Crete) has
only 1 peak over 2,000m (I think :) 

From Chania, we headed over those mountains, through the spectacular Ombros Gorge to a quiet village for five days by the sea. It was a remote village with  no roads or vehicles. We left Spiro parked in a public carpark as the only way to reach it is by boat.  Five blissful days together swimming, boating, fish dinners, sun, reading and reinvigorating our enthusiasm for tavli - or backgammon as we know it.  Tavli is played all over Crete.  Most cafes have a bundle of tavli boards. The older Cretan men play so fast, their hands fly around the board, rolling the die and clicking their checkers on the wooden board.  There's no counting the spaces, it's just a rapid roll-dice-tap-tap-roll-dice-tap-tap-roll-dice-tap-tap......

Spiro took us over the mountains to a boat that took
us to this beautiful village.

Agapi mou assures me that the Cretan
red wine is very good, particularly the
Peza red, and Kotsifali. 

While boating around the south coast
bays and coves we threw the anchor
over while we watched a giant turtle
swimming around and underneath us.
When we tried to retrieve the anchor,
it had wedged fast, deep between rocks, and
as carefully and patiently as we tried, we could not
free it.  An old Greek fisherman rescued
us.  He appeared to be about 90, but he
maneuvered his boat and our anchor line
with such precision that he had us free in
no time at all.  Endaxi!

Glorious sailing. Plenty of sunscreen
and hat required. It's mid 30s, the water
is cool and refreshing.

We moored at this lovely taverna
for lunch and a swim. Watched the
fishermen baiting their long fishing
line with hundreds of hooks - they call
it 'throwing the paragadi'.  It's the
traditional Greek way of fishing at night.

We played hours of tavli, by the sea, agapi mou and I.