Sail Crete

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Saturday, October 23
A very slow morning this morning for me. I am having a hard time deciding whether I like this town or not. It is quite strange. Having my computer boot up around noon was a definite plus to my day, along with having Chris, again, inquire about laundry, which meant that it was all packed up immediately and hauled off to the poor wife of a very obliging man (who was not going to be doing the scrubbing himself) to be handwashed. Jesus. Having the computer up and running meant that we had access to all of the maps, weather forecasts, and town write ups we could possibly imagine (there is internet here too) so much of the afternoon was spent debating our course for tomorrow, as the winds are still too strong to head out. A yacht came in from Britain today with a shredded jib sail and half a rudder after being out there today. We’ll pass. The reports look really good for tomorrow though. I’m really looking forward to moving on, even if Alex is a very nice man. I had a little moto ride today from one of the electricians, who is also the laundry guy. He joined us for coffee with Alex. Julio was very nice and took me up to a little church (again, they are everywhere, I can’t emphasize that enough) on a promontory. It was quite sweet of him, I’m sure, but I was glad that there was a large group of people waiting for us at the bottom of the mountain, as he kept bring up him several wives and asking if I was married…We had dinner at a restaurant owned by a man who lived and worked in the Bronx for 38 years before returning to Kassos 3 years ago for his daughter. I’m not sure why she had to move back, but there you go. He had much to say about the Hispanic population in NYC. My word, but everyone here has very strong opinions about everything. We had yummy grilled fish, and he gave us preserved oranges as a treat at the end of the meal. My tongue is still numb after two toothbrushing sessions. Wow.

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Comments

[Olivier]

Great blog! Thinking about you. Can you guys get another battery? Perhaps with a voltmeter to find out if your alternator works. Although you probably have one built-in the system.... Big storm here, and four days of rain to follow. Good writing weather. Emma flew from Calgary this afternoon for London. She will take the ferry from Dover to France and go directly by train to Firenze. She got a return ticket and a eurorail pass for less than $1,000!

[anonymous]

Preserved oranges and grapes? Sounds yummy. See if you can dig up or recall some local recipes! Good lamb pilaf? Or is that too Turkish, Iranian like?

[soso]

lucky!
hey ti sounds like your havign a blast im so jealous. i hope the weather gets better. have a an hour before class but a paper to write in teh meantime. weird that nothing lives over there...not what i would have expected from the old gerald durrel books. however, emma has made to florence with annie anne and picking is well on the way. she had to fly from france to italy (trains were on strike) i hear that was a little pricey. shitty. anyhow keep updated ill try to get lu on the check out the site. add some pics if you get the chance! xoxoxo soso

[Olivier]

Signs of life por favor???? Made it to Crete?

[betsey]

across the winedark sea
Dad and Zef tell me there are words in greek for things like winedark or rosy fingered dawn, one word that means these whole things. Can you see those greek sail/row boats going at 30 knots for ten hours across those seas, full of men? Have you come by the island of greek orthodox priests where no woman are ever allowed to land? (And they try to tell us that sex isn't on thier minds.....) How about those little islands that Gerald Durrell wrote so fondly of in "my family and other animals. " What is on those bits of red pottery shards? Where do they get their red clay and is there any left? How about kiln remains? Any sign of Phonecians and their boats? DO I wish I were there? Yes, even if I had to sail in big water. Enjoy enjoy, LOve TAnte Bets PS.found and got a border terrier pup like Jessica's......Tip loves him, little Tuck.

[Claren]

Oh believe me, I'm working on photos. I have tons, but the computer doesn't seem to communicate well with Travelblog about them...We'll see. I may just put them on Facebook. Yeah, I've been tripping about the critters th whole time, but there are a lot more here on Crete, so maybe it's an island size thing? The islands here are really mostly prickly scrub brush and rock. It's wild. Glad Emmy made it! I loved her last Facebook post about what she does for work. Man, wouldn't that be sweet! Hope all is well adn happy in Alberta. It looks like the weather there is a little crumby...

[Claren]

Oh yay! I can't wait to meet him! The sea here is quite incredible, and no, I can't imagine going 30 knots, let alone having that happen in fleets of thousands. The weather out here is so unpredictable that I am amazed that they even got out of the harbour! The little islands are really quite empty. I found out that many families are being paid by the government NOT to run sheep or till the land and such, so I think that accounts for the dearth of animals around. I was really looking forward to tripping over donkeys everywhere, but alas, that is not to be anymore. The majority of the sherds are so worn that I can't make out anything, however, many of the are wavy on one side, so I think they may be tiles. I'm going to get some great pics of ceramics at the museum in Heraklion, if I'm allowed. It should be outstanding.

[Claren]

I haven't seen any preserved lemons, actually. Preserved oranges yes, once. My tongue went numb! But they weren't used in cooking, though I'm not sure why. The lamb I had today was the first that wasn't simply barbecued. It was stewed in wine and rosemary, quite simple and absolutely divine. What I really love about the food here is how simple most of it is.