Wednesday, July 28, 2021

Sometimes it just fits!

Wake up without an alarm clock, get out of bed at your own pace and out of the hostel.... Look at the map and simply choose today's destination! The island of Loutro, right across from Chania in northern Crete, is the place to be today. Clean the car windows quickly and off we go.

The drive goes steeply up into the mountains and then steeply down to the sea again. So, a few meters of altitude and even more curves. Fortunately, we Swiss are experienced with mountain passes, so this is not a new situation for me. I love driving over mountain passes. Plus, very little traffic and the roads are mostly in good condition. If only there weren't these hairy pedestrians again! And they even lie comfortably in the middle of the road and surround the car when you want to sneak through slowly! Scandalous! Smile

But, don't worry, this time it was NOT dark and it was NOT a cow (the last encounter with a cow in Greece ended fatally for the cow, badly for the car, and with a scare for me). So everything is fine and dandy, nice and siga siga (slowly, slowly).

When the thermometer already shows 29 degrees at 9 o'clock, Daniela is doing VERY well! Then all you need on the radio is lively Greek pop sound and the car drives by itself! Life is beautiful.

Arriving in Chora Sfakion, I looked for an affordable parking space and then your ticket counter. Perfect timing! The next ferry leaves in 20 minutes. Otherwise, I would have had to wait for 1.5 hours. When it fits, it fits! 10 euros for the short return trip by ferry to Loutro and 4 euros for parking. The costs are manageable. The experience, on the other hand, is not! Pha, once again a big surprise. This Loutro is a little treasure in every sense of the word. Small, manageable, almost empty (!) and the water.....! If you haven't seen it yourself, you can hardly believe it.

I usually don't eat anything before dinner. BUT, right here I finally found the Cretan breakfast: Bougatsa (fresh cream slice. Just without the stupid sugar icing like in Switzerland!). YAMMMMY. With a frappe and all this 1 meter away from the bluest water ever, in a small Greek lagoon village. People don't need much to be happy! LOL

At 12:45 pm I took the ferry back. From there, I went back the whole way. Up, down, left, right, steep.... oh yes, and don't forget the pedestrians!!

Since I had marked a few things on my map around Chania, I drove around a bit:
- In 'Douliana' I wanted to visit Natalia and her very own products. But unfortunately, the shop was closed. So maybe I'll come by again in the morning. On the way back, I came across another little treasure: a shop with all sorts of things from local artists: ceramics, photos, paintings, jewelry, soaps, embroideries, oils, etc.

- In 'Kokkino Chorio' I got lost (because the description in the travel guide wasn't so clear). So much so that I ended up at the transmission antenna at the top of a dead end. But, as always, when the path leads somewhere: it was worth the journey. So if I ever win the lottery, I would buy a house here! Smile. In the end, I did find something: the glassblowing shop (unfortunately not in operation today) and the very impressive shop with artworks in all shapes, colors, sizes, and price ranges.
- In 'Aptera' there was a bit of culture to visit. for 43 euros. The archaeological sites are not very noteworthy. The theater has been extensively reconstructed (before-after photos show this very impressively). So it's not really worth a trip, in my opinion.

By now it was 5 pm and I had to decide where to eat tonight. Definitely somewhere by the sea. The peninsula above Chania has a few beautiful, small beaches. Marathi caught my eye on the map. So, program the GPS and off we go.
The small sandy beach was still full of people bathing or chilling. I found a table right in the front row and enjoyed myself. This time, dessert was complimentary again. And it was incredibly, mega, fantastically delicious!

Back to the hostel. Apparently, 2 Russian women checked in yesterday. At least that's what they were speaking when they came into the room last night (or rather this morning). The 4th bed is empty. And today it seems to still be the same situation. Let's see if a newcomer arrives during the night.