Crete 2017 Blog 2 Polyrinia, Elafonissi, Sirikari Gorge

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The panoramic photos at the start of the blog change every 7/10 seconds and give a clearer image than when viewed with the other photos. Also, there are lots more photos below the text if you want to skip the boring diary details. Also, if you double click on any of the photos you will get an enlarged, clearer, image. You can return to the text anytime



Saturday 15th April: A quiet morning and we went for lunch at the local fishing port just a few hundred yards from our hotel. Delicious seafood in the open air on the jetty of the pretty little harbour. In the afternoon we decided to go somewhere close that we had been before and knew to be good: Polyrinia a Dorian and Byzantine citadel only 7 kms from Kissamos that has magnificent views over the town and bay. We had an easy drive up there unlike last year when we seemed to take forever to reach the place. We parked as high up as possible in order to reduce the climb up to the acropolis which we knew could be quite an effort. In the event the climb was quite easy and very enjoyable because this time it was much cooler than last year and we had the added bonus of walking past colourful and fragrant springtime flowers, shrubs, wheat and barley. The view from the summit was as good as we remembered and possibly better as the air was clearer. Then back down to town for a shower and for another delicious dinner at the restaurant next to our hotel.

Easter Sunday 16th April: another revisit, this time to Elafonissi a fabulous beach/lagoon on the west coast. We arrived there just before midday so as to beat the hordes of tourists. In the event we were the second car in one of the very large carparks there and although it was a fine day the beach was pretty much empty. So much for the Easter hordes. We walked across the strip of sand separating the lagoon from a large nature reserve and continued to the far end which would have been an island before the lagoon filled with sand. Super pleasant in the warm sun and warm breeze. After savouring the tranquillity of this nature reserve we headed back to the main beach, now with as many as 50/70 people spread over several acres of sand; had a paddle then went back to the car. There were now 12 cars in the car park whereas in mid June last year there had been hundreds: lucky us. On the way back to Kissamos we decided to detour up to a scenic mountain route we had used before in order to go the eco-resort of Milia for lunch. We arrived at Milia at 3.45pm to find that the place was nearly full of families celebrating Easter (it's a big deal here as the Cretans are very religious). We were lucky to get a table in the sun and had a great meal: pumpkin soup followed by roast lamb for Jane and tzatzki (yoghurt and cucumber) and ratatuille for me: superb. So much so that we didn't bother with dinner when we got back to Kissamos.

Monday 17th April: a late start as we had hoped that the shops would be open so that Jane could have a pedicure but Kissamos was still on the Easter break so no luck there. We decided to return to nearby Polyrinia to look at some ancient sites in the modern village that we'd seen sign-posted but not checked out. After walking through the village and back up to the acropolis without seeing much of interest we returned to the village and went to the local, unofficial, information centre which turned out to be run by a retired teacher from England. We had quite a long chat with him and he recommended a walk into Sirikari Gorge, "the best gorge in Crete" (quite a claim as there are quite few more famous gorges) which was only a mile from Polyrinia and he pointed out a church which marked the entrance. So off we went and sure enough the gorge entrance was only a few minutes drive away and we walked up it for just over half an hour before retracing our steps. It wasn't as spectacular as the Imbros Gorge which we'd done last year but was more enjoyable as the path was along the side of the gorge well above the bottom so the going was easier and the views were far better. Very satisfactory. Then it was just a 10 km / 6 mile drive back to Kissamos and another fine dinner at Stelios & Katina next door.

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Photos

Kissamos Fishing Harbour
With appreciative customer at the harbourside taverna

Polyrinia from below
The acropolis covers the entire summit of the mountain in the centre background with a steep gorge to the east/left and a steep climb from any of the three other sides

Polyrinia
Kissamos Bay viewed from the acropolis.

Polyrinia: the summit attempt
Through waist high barley, fragrant flowers and other Springtime bounty

Polyrinia
Ancient gateway en route to the summit

Polyrinia summit view
North to Kissamos, which was the port for ancient Polyrinia

Polyrinia
Ancient stone fortifications at the summit of the acropolis looking west at the Church of the 99 fathers below: where the major part of the old city was located

Polyrinia
In the foreground, the Church of the 99 Fathers, which has many inscribed (recycled) Roman and Dorian era stones in its walls. The acropolis in the background and Kissamos Bay in the distance

Polyrinia, the Church of the 99 Fathers
A number of the stones from a nearby Helenic era temple were used in the construction of the church and are inscribed with ancient Greek writing

Polyrinia
Hellenic era house restored and now a cafe

Elafonissi
One of the beaches on Easter Sunday

Elafonissi
Appreciative visitor to the western promontry

Elafonissi
View north towards the mainland and lagoon

Elafonissi Main Beach
Not quite overwhelmed with Easter Sunday visitors......in summer there are hundreds, maybe thousands, of visitors here.

The road to Milia
Kissamos bay in the background

Milia eco-resort and restaurant
Shangri La combined with Cordon Bleu