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Published: October 10th 2016
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2016.2 Blog 3
Saturday 8
th October: after a late start which involved a quick visit to the nearby Sitia Museum in order to view the Palaikastro Kouros, a famous and sublime piece of Minoan art/workmanship (look it up on Google), we headed off south again to Hiona Beach (right next to the ancient settlement of Palaikastro where the kouros was discovered). We had lunch at the Hiona Studio restaurant which sadly did not come up to expectations, although the location with the sea on two sides and a cool breeze could hardly have been better. After lunch we headed off west into the mountains for Kato Zakros where there’s a pretty beach and a Minoan Palace. The road was quite tough
The Gorge of the Dead
With Zakros Town on the far hillside going: narrow, very winding with lots of climbs and descents. We made it Zakros, a modern village in the hills, then the satnav went a bit nutty and directed us off the main road and through some narrow village streets before we gave up on it and returned to the main road and followed our map until we saw the signs for Kato Zakros. We stopped off above the hamlet at the start of a gorge walk: the Gorge of the Dead, named because some Minoan tombs had been discovered in the caves that overlook the valley floor. The walk didn’t appeal however as the land was extremely arid with very little in the way of greenery. So we continued down to the coast and the little bay of Kato Zakros. Jane went for a look around the Minoan palace site while I stayed behind. Afterwards we went for a reviving drink at one of the tavernas overlooking the shingle beach then headed off back to Sitia: only 33 kms distant but it took 55 minutes on account of the narrow, winding and hilly road.
Sunday 9
th October: off south yet again. This time to Makry Gialos (or Makriyialos,
Kato Zakros
At the mouth of the Gorge of the Dead and the site of a (another) Minoan Palace or a few other options none of which seemed to feature in the satnav memory) so once again we relied on our excellent Michelin map; which is now more Sellotape than paper. Although our Rough Guide was quite disparaging about Makry Gialos we thought that it’s one of the nicest and most charming places we’ve been to in Crete. It has a pretty little harbour and a great sand beach, gently shelving unlike most beaches which usually drop away steeply from the shore. On account of this the water was warmer than at any of the other beaches we’d visited; so much so that Jenks the Timid transformed into Jenks the Intrepid and enjoyed a swim in the Libyan Sea (Libya being 200 miles due south). All this and a good selection of tavernas on the shoreline. So we had a very enjoyable day and the drive back to Sitia was very easy on the good quality road. Off to Zorbas again for dinner in the evening (four days in row) which was as good as usual. A very satisfactory day.
Monday 10
th October: we decided on a day off from driving so spent the morning walking around the
Jenks trying to take the pithos at Sitia Museum
A pithos is a Minoan era storage vessel and not a rather sad attempt at vulgar humour by the aforementioned Jenks: who must now write out 50 times: "Archaeology is a serious subject and is not to be treated flippantly". old section of Sitia behind the new harbour and up the hill to the Venetian era fort. The weather for the past two days has been perfect, warm and clear without being too hot, so walking around the harbour area was very pleasant. For lunch we decided to head off to Palekastro, just 12 miles away on a good road, as we had previously had an excellent lunch at the Hellas Hotel there. We ordered the same meals as we’d enjoyed previously and they were just as good the second time around. Then it was back to Sitia and a quiet afternoon in our hotel.
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