Cretans are not Cretins

gyros, greek salad and a mythos bira
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The ferry landed at 6am in Heraklion, Crete.  Elisabeth was not due in to the airport until 3:30pm.

I took a quick stroll around the dockside of town stopping at a bakery for a flakey pastry stuffed with feta and ham and a multi vitamen fruit drink that seems to be popular in the markets here.  I sat in a small square bordered on one side by the archdiocese of Crete main church here in town.  There were jacaranda trees in purple bloom, cute small dogs looking for a handout and locals making a stop in the church.  When I peeked in to see the interior there were little ladies in black making the rounds of the icons crossing themselves in the Orthodox way which is looks upside down from the catholic version.  They also give the glass encased images of Christos, Mary and the particular saints associated with the church a quick kiss.

the interior of Arkady monastery
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I had seen some of the remains of Byzantine imagery in Turkey but seeing the practicing churches of Greece with the sad gaunt faced saints, the frankinsense being burned and the black cloaked priests gives life to the past.

I asked the lady at the bus station for a ticket to the closest beach.  For 1.6 euro I was let off at Kokkinh where I was immediately unimpressed with the beach.  All right, after being in the most beautiful beaches on the planet in Seychelles I am a bit jaded.  Still the beach was pebbly, dark and very narrow.  I found a bunch of chairs, plopped my stuff down and waded into the Cretan Sea.  Then I waded back out quickly from the chilly waters.  It took a few tries but I finally dove in and swam in the very clear waters.

Eve and Adam getting the sales pitch by the snake
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The sun was welcoming.  The fellow from Albania who worked here was very easygoing and the nap I had was needed.  I basked for a bit and then took the bus back into Heraklion and met up with Elisabeth for lunch.

We decided to head to Rethymno west of Heraklion because it is a pretty little beach town very near her ex place of work.  She sold timeshares in the area for a few years ending just last year.

The minute we got off the bus a tout, as usual, latched on to us and ended up being the proprietor of a downtown pension.  We split a two bed double for 25 euro with a sweet balcony overlooking the busy commercial lane below.

part of the well tended gardens around Arkady
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We slept in until after 9 which was really late for both of us.  We found breakfast on the beachfront in a lovely place with cushiony chairs and a waiter in very tight pants.

We debated the best approach to seeing the island and decided to rent a car.  We got a bright yellow Hyundai for 3 days.  I am the driver and Elisabeth is the navigator.  We took an initial spin around the nearby area stopping first at the Arkady Monastery.  Famous as the last stand of the Turks who set fire to the place and made martyrs of the local freedom fighters.  Today it is a lovely set of buildings with well tended grounds, a church with an ornate interior and lots of scented blooming roses.

an ossuary at Arkady
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I really took to driving this small car through tiny villages with narrow streets passing old black clad ladies carrying their groceries home and old men sitting out on the stoops with cane and dog.

The weather was cloudy and threatening with thunder and sudden drops of rain then bursts of light would strike down on the bone white exposed rocks of the ravines and spotlight a stark white chapel or a far cliffside.

Crete is a stark and naked landscape that looks scraped of its fertility by centuries of use and then full of bluish green from thousands of olive trees, alive with the sound of turtle doves and song birds, and around the bend of a road the land slips into the blue blue sea.

a cliffside outside of Rethymno
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The music is a higher pitch of string and a softer flavor of vowels tinkling with endings in the sound of e.

I will have to swim a lot while in Greece or I will gain weight from eating so much delicious food.

Turkey vs. Greece

Turkish folks are quicker to smile and greet you with friendliness, The country is richer in potential and contains a greater variety of peoples and a bigger history of forces having conquered and been conquered.  The guys are sexier

a classic Greek Orthodox church
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My taste buds vote Greece.  The land has a more romantic appeal.  The bathrooms are much cleaner and I have yet to face a squat toilet here.  The girls are sexier - It is the west where women on the beach can show their breasts.