Blogs from Crete, Greece, Europe - page 43

Through Fervent Seas Peering through the dark, ravished from a night on a bench with the soft vibrations of the ship’s engines, I saw Crete. My eyes shuttered. They wanted rest, to evaporate from the world surrounding and return to the forgotten lands where dreams relate to one another on a gossamer thread. But my mind; it singed my lashes and brows with the ferocity of ancient fable. Crete. I heard so much. I had a conscious tale of the Cretan in my mind. Who was he? Where did he come from? Half passed five o’clock in the morning, the land was dark except for sparsely dotted housings emitting a constellation of pulsing lights. I saw the tracers of headlights, darting through the thin brush like fireflies. I smelled the sea air of maritime travel, now ... read more

Todays blog is going to be quite different from the usual travel updates as it summarises my trip and experience in visiting the battlefields and war cemetaries of the Battle of Crete. It will involve a bit of a historical context to begin with and will probably be quite long, so perhaps you could find time to read it later. I think I will start with explaining just what went on during the battle, as it is an inspiring story that I think all New Zealanders should be aware of and pay their respects to. First the historical context. In April 1941 the Germans were on a roll and had invaded Greece and their battle-hardened and superbly equipped army pushed a much inferior Allied force, including the NZ Division, out of mainland Greece. The survivors withdrew ... read more

On Sunday night I arrived in Heraklion (capital of Crete) on the fast ferry from Santorini. With Jane heading back to the UK yesterday I am cutting my own track through Crete for four days, spending one day in Heraklion and 3 days in Hania, on the western side of the island. From what I have seen so far I think that I like Crete better than anywhere I have been yet, even magnificent Sanotrini. The difference is in the friendly people and the way they say hello to you in the street without the expectation that you will dine in their Taverna or buy their goods. There isn't the desperation to milk tourist dollars like in the greek islands or the in your face rudeness of Athens. Then there is Crete itself, which is a ... read more

Crete is the best yet other then corfu ofcourse. We got of the ferry at like 9 and went right to a jeep rental place and rented a 5 speed vitara it was sweet rippin around the sides of the mountains with no guardrails good times. Right off the hop we went south across the island just checking shit out and got some info and gas and shit, then carried on to the haunted castle in frankostella or something like that lol. Pretty wild to this castle that was around 3000BC and the beach that it was on was so beatiful, it came out to this point and then back in and went for miles so nice. We both went for a nice swim then carried on rippin towards chania to go and see the samahria ... read more

Today I don't have much to add because there was a weather related change to my plans. I am staying another day in Hania, and I had planned to take a boat cruise to the nearby islands. This boat has a glass bottom, and perhaps as they advertised, we would have seen some Aegean Sea fish, turtles, rocks, arthropods etc. But it is very windy and all small boats are staying dockside. The waves are crashing against the breakwater and lighthouse. It's quite dramatic and worth a couple of photographs. There are even some clouds developing up against the mountains behind us. So all I can do is sit and watch the weather. The Greeks are very friendly people, they work so hard to make us tourists feel welcome. And it never feels disingenous. Sure there ... read more