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Published: October 1st 2018
"The best view in Plakias"
View from the Kastro Taverna: over-hyped much like their menuNote: there are more photos below the text if you want to skip the diary. Also, if you double click on any of the photos you will get an enlarged image and you will be transferred to the photo gallery where you can scroll through all the photos. You can return to the text anytime.
Thursday 27th September
Not much to report nor even display as the weather was not very good. There was intermittent rain throughout the day and we got caught in a couple of light showers when we went for a walk in Plakias town. We had a light lunch of vegetable soup which one member of our team did not rate very highly on account of lack of taste; although I thought it was ok. The view from the restaurant was also "ok" but certainly not the best view around as claimed. We did better in the evening when we went to a taverna we hadn't previously tried; at a village called Mariou halfway up the mountain behind Plakias. We ate indoors as the weather had turned nasty again with high winds and rain. Fortunately it was a good choice and was something of an
antidote to a rather depressing day.
Friday 28th September:
The weather was still not the best so we decided to head east to a little bay called Agios Pavlos where there's a rock formation called the Sleeping Dragon. Although not far along the coast from Plakias, just over 10 miles, to get there by car involved a 30 mile drive: firstly inland, then east, then south over some very steep mountains before descending to the coast. The beach was quite well sheltered but also quite rocky so we didn't consider a swim and instead had a cup of coffee; then went off to search for the dragon. We didn't find it so we had a light lunch back at the beachside taverna then headed back to Plakias. It turned out that we had been viewing the bay from the wrong vantage point; although to be fair the waiter in the taverna had also got it wrong when we asked him to point out the rock feature. Although the weather at Agios Pavlos had been quite good with plenty of sunshine the weather In Plakias hadn't improved by the time we returned with heavy cloud over the mountains and
still windy, so we made sure that the tavena where we had dinner had indoor seating.
Saturday 29th September
The weather had improved, marginally, in that it wasn't raining and we had some sun: enough at least to persuade us to walk over to Damnoni and check out the beaches there as the beach at Plakias was being pounded by heavy seas. The situation in Damnoni and the adjoining beaches was similar with very large swells being driven in by the southerly wind creating some spectacular waves. Swimming out out of the question but at least we had a bracing walk around the cliffs and got to enjoy another special meal at our favourite taverna before heading back to Plakias.
Sunday 30th September:
Still no significant improvement in the weather, so this time we decided as a back-up plan to visit the Archaeological Museum in Heraklion which is about 70 miles from Plakias (just under 2 hours drive). We'd been there beforein October 2016 and had been very impressed by the range and quality of the Minoan exhibits. The drive there was easy enough as once we got to Rethymno we just headed east on the
Agios Pavlos Hotel logo
poetic licence by the local hotel.......but good E75 highway which is Crete's busiest and most important road running along the north coast linking the three biggest towns on the island: Chania, Rethymno and Herakion. Despite being the main highway the surface was not always good, and also because our rental car a small Nissan didn't have the best suspension system, it got quite bumpy sometimes. Heraklion is much larger than either Chania or Rethymno and the E75 highway runs through the outskirts of the town on an elevated roadway. Using our satnav we located a carpark close to the Museum: co-incidentally the same carpark we'd used when we visited the museum in 2016. We had a quick lunch before joining the crowds in the Museum (free entry on Sundays may have been the reason it was so busy). Partly because of the crowds and having seen it all before our visit wasn't as captivating as it had been before so we didn't stay long and went for a walk down to the harbour where there are some very impressive Venetian era structures. Then it was back to the car and back to Plakias: slightly faster this time. However, the bumpy ride and lunch didn't agree with Jane
who was feeling quite queasy by the time we got back so she went to bed quite early while I had a quiet dinner in the apartment.
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