Blogs from Kissamos, Crete, Greece, Europe - page 2

After yesterday's long day, this morning was spent taking in the sights and sites of Kastelli, culminating with a lovely lunch in the main square. Satiated, I took a taxi up to Kioliana from where I would embark on a walk through the Sirikari Gorge. Watching the taxi disappear, I looked around at the solitude of the environment and started walking along the road from the village towards the footpath visible across the valley, winding up to a small col behind a rocky outcrop. Maintenance work had recently been done on the footpath and it was now loose stone. This made the climb more difficult but at least it was cool compared with the previous days. Reaching the top, I passed through a couple of gates before beginning the descent towards the little village of Sirikari. ... read more

It was wonderfully hot this morning. Extra water had been put in my rucksack and liberal amounts of sun cream applied. Shortly after breakfast, I headed to the bus station and, once on the bus, settled down for the 30 minute journey through the little villages and up to the Kalidonia Peninsula. The bus stopped on the main road but, as seen in many American films, although this was the main road, there was no other sign of life. Indeed, once the bus had moved on, all was quiet. Taking the steps behind the bus stop, I made my way through the sleepy village of Melissourgio and began to wind my way up the hill. In the hot sun, I took a water break at a little church part way up before continuing all the way ... read more

What with delayed planes and the amount of time it took for baggage to appear, I was five hours late in getting to bed after having arrived in Crete from Manchester. I was so tired that nothing short of an earthquake would wake me. At 06h30, a magnitude 5.5 earthquake woke me. Furniture rattled and my bed shook even though the quake lasted only a few seconds. This was certainly going to be a fun trip! Before breakfast, I headed into town to get a copy of the bus timetable - from the new bus station. This was described to me as being in the second square, not the first. When I eventually found it, it was actually in a lay-by! Fortunately, inspection of the timetable revealed that the buses I would be using were not ... read more