I've been in Chania five days now and I am starting to get the hang of sitting in cafes and taking life a little slower. For the first four days I walked furiously, anxious to see as much as I could of the town and the nearby countryside, but today, at last, I started to realise that life is not always about doing.
Chania is quite a lovely town sited on a harbour, with Venetian walls and a Turkish mosque. There are cafes everywhere: snazzy ones with comfy seats on the waterfront - good for rest with a book but the coffee is expensive; and back street ones with wooden chairs where the food is great and afterwards they give you raki and sweet pastries for free. Away from the souvenir shops and Easter holidaymakers there are quiet, old streets.
Around Chania was the main battleground for the invasion of Crete in 1941, which left so many New Zealanders stranded in the mountains, some for up to two years. I haven't wanted to go to Souda where the war cemetery is - being the professional mourner that I am, I would spend at least a day sobbing over the graves. But I did go to Galatas, as that was a victory of sorts and New Zealanders are well remembered there, with the flag in the local cafe. Getting off the bus straight in front of me was a street name:
It means roughly "street of the New Zealand warriors". I'm trying not to be nationalistic and pro war here, but it is still good to see this and to know that the Cretan people have something positive to associate with New Zealand during all the other horrors of the German invasion. The NZ government of course didn't think it important enough to pay the full cost of some of the remaining veterans attending the latest 70th anniversary ceremonies at Galatas last year. Here's a link if you want to know more about Galatas: http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/war/the-battle-for-crete/the-battle-day-4-6
The highlight of my time in this area was the walk to Polyrrhenia, near Kastelli. This is an old fortress and the major settlement here from early Minoan to Roman times. There are remnants of the temples and cemeteries on the hillside, and at the top of the hill is an acropolis, or hill fort. It has an amazing setting on a rocky hill with a small steep gorge alongside. And, best of all when it is cold and raining as it was the day I went there, the village nearby has a cafe run by an English woman where you can warm back up again. Walking back down again was definitely easier after tea and biscuits! On the way back I passed a classic Greek village name sign with an impressive array of bullet marks:
Tomorrow I'm heading south at last to Paleochora for a day and then to Sougia for Greek Easter. I'm hoping the ferry boats are going, otherwise I have to walk 5 hours to Sougia and my bag is still a little too heavy.
Chania is quite a lovely town sited on a harbour, with Venetian walls and a Turkish mosque. There are cafes everywhere: snazzy ones with comfy seats on the waterfront - good for rest with a book but the coffee is expensive; and back street ones with wooden chairs where the food is great and afterwards they give you raki and sweet pastries for free. Away from the souvenir shops and Easter holidaymakers there are quiet, old streets.
Around Chania was the main battleground for the invasion of Crete in 1941, which left so many New Zealanders stranded in the mountains, some for up to two years. I haven't wanted to go to Souda where the war cemetery is - being the professional mourner that I am, I would spend at least a day sobbing over the graves. But I did go to Galatas, as that was a victory of sorts and New Zealanders are well remembered there, with the flag in the local cafe. Getting off the bus straight in front of me was a street name:
It means roughly "street of the New Zealand warriors". I'm trying not to be nationalistic and pro war here, but it is still good to see this and to know that the Cretan people have something positive to associate with New Zealand during all the other horrors of the German invasion. The NZ government of course didn't think it important enough to pay the full cost of some of the remaining veterans attending the latest 70th anniversary ceremonies at Galatas last year. Here's a link if you want to know more about Galatas: http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/war/the-battle-for-crete/the-battle-day-4-6
The highlight of my time in this area was the walk to Polyrrhenia, near Kastelli. This is an old fortress and the major settlement here from early Minoan to Roman times. There are remnants of the temples and cemeteries on the hillside, and at the top of the hill is an acropolis, or hill fort. It has an amazing setting on a rocky hill with a small steep gorge alongside. And, best of all when it is cold and raining as it was the day I went there, the village nearby has a cafe run by an English woman where you can warm back up again. Walking back down again was definitely easier after tea and biscuits! On the way back I passed a classic Greek village name sign with an impressive array of bullet marks:
Tomorrow I'm heading south at last to Paleochora for a day and then to Sougia for Greek Easter. I'm hoping the ferry boats are going, otherwise I have to walk 5 hours to Sougia and my bag is still a little too heavy.
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