Tuesday, July 20, 2021

Cozy day without a fixed plan.

Today, everyone except for the Irish girl who had to leave early in the morning for the airport had the sleep syndrome! The cleaning lady made noise as quietly as possible at 9 am. Smile.

The planning of my car-free days until Sunday continued this morning. Since the websites of some tour operators are anything but complete or up-to-date, I decided to search locally in the city today and inquire about the possibilities again.

On the way to the city, I walked through the highly recommended park to admire the animals. Um, yeah.... let's leave this topic aside...

Much better, however, was the old market in the cross-shaped building. As often happens, many stands have the same offer. But with different prices! So keep your eyes open before filling your bags with packaged olives or herbs, olive oil, soaps, t-shirts, leather goods, wooden items, cotton dresses from Greece, or other stuff. Since I will still be driving into the hinterland with my car and will surely come across 'truly' handmade products there, I didn't buy anything. But I was amazed! In the market hall, there are a handful of mini-taverns that offer fresh meze (many small plates with various things from the kitchen). Well, there are also unusual things like snails. But also the meat counter with all the chickens or the selection of fresh fish makes the Swiss marvel. Always an experience, such a market!

At the KTEL, there were only printed timetables lying around and the information counter was not staffed. So here is no further news on which lines they EXACTLY serve. Hmmm. Stupid. This is already hindering my planning a bit. How do I find out where I can go with these buses in the Chania region?

In the same street, I found 3 travel agencies. None of them had a program with prices and details. And sorry, but I just can't memorize all the information! In the 3rd one, the nice young lady then wrote down the excursions by hand on a mini note. Okay, that probably falls under job creation or something. Whatever. In any case, the yield was not really great.

In Greece, the shops on the streets are often arranged by themes. There is a leather street, a household items street, a wedding and baby items street, a clothing street, etc. this makes the search a little easier.

Spontaneously, right next to the large KTEL parking lot, so in the transport street (?? with 2 fresh fish shops! Smile), I came across a tourist attraction: a city tour in a red bus without sides (not topless). 1.5 hours for 15 euros, including interesting information in the desired native language. The ticket is valid for 24 hours; sit as long as you want or do "stop and go" again tomorrow. I was alone in the bus with 2 very young German girls. The ride also took us out of the city and to my surprise directly past the hostel. lol
We drove to the SOUDA Bay. There, the large ferries leave for Piraeus. In addition, there is a Greek naval station used by NATO and the US NAVY. The depth of the anchorages up to 150 m is sufficient for aircraft carriers and even submarines to anchor.
An entertaining and exciting thing, this tour. Exciting because the driver had to perform real wonders at times (see picture). He had no more than a hand's breadth between the parked cars everywhere. A masterpiece! But, I got caught anyway. The bus without sides also has its pitfalls! The trees along the road really fly around the tourists' heads. Even if the driver goes very slowly; the branches have a real drive when they shoot into the bus. And yes, a branch hit me hard. I don't have any marks on my face, but the pain lasted a bit longer. OUCH!

Today, I was a bit early at the hostel. Time to sort the suitcases again and prepare clothes for tomorrow and especially for the day after tomorrow (Santorini). This way, I can take everything to the bathroom at 5:30 and not disturb my roommates too much.

After changing clothes (today it was often cloudy, but still warm) to my regular tavern. And again, he asked me about a dessert. NO, still no raki and no mini dessert in a glass. I bought Cretan specialties for myself in a bakery, which I will enjoy right away.

I haven't made a plan for tomorrow yet. I just don't feel like going to the beach after a full day trip. But I have all the time in the world to plan or simply do whatever I feel like doing.