A hobbit hole

Access to internet has been difficult for a couple of days, but we are now in a beautiful hotel in the old town of Rethymnon, Crete, and I can catch up a couple of days.

We arrived in Heraklion later than the time posted on our itinerary; there must have been a mistake as it was posted as 20:20 arrival, when the time was actually 21:20.  So, for an hour and a half on the ferry I was anticipating imminent arrival!  However, we were met at the port by a representative of our travel agent and delivered to our hotel in Heraklion. It was a brief stop as we rented a car in the morning and left right after breakfast.  I had thought walking around crazy drivers was a challenge - well driving through a town you are completely unfamiliar with, with road signs in Greek (albeit with English lettering as well), in a standard transmission car (which I haven't driven in over 10 years) with drivers who don't really follow lane markings or speed limits driving all around you - let's just say it is interesting.

Agia Galini - 34 years later...

Pithoi at Phaestos

Phaistos

We found our way down to the south coast of Crete, to visit the archaeological site of Phaistos, which is another Minoan site, like Knossos.  The site is quite large and many of the rooms are still quite apparent, as well as a magnificent staircase.  There are a few pithoi (clay jars) around, but most of the finds have been transferred to the museum in Heraklion or Athens.  After our visit, we drove another 25 minutes or so to the small town of Agia Galini, on the south coast, which I visited in 1978.  At that time, there were perhaps 2 or 3 small hotels in the village, very rustic and very cheap.  There was a small coffee shop/bar on the harbour, with perhaps 10 tables.  It is now quite a tourist stop, with many many hotels, and the harbour front houses a large parking lot and several upscale restaurants.  The hotel we stayed in was simply charming - hosts Stella and Niktarios run a small seven room hotel in the summer months only.  Stella is a teacher and Nikarios is a civil engineer, so they can't keep it open all year.  Stella has done the decorating herself; our room had a glass fronted door and Stella has painted the door with green leaves and yellow background so that the door is opaque.  The room has a small balcony and the main door leads in from an inner courtyard, so there were plenty of outdoor spots to sit.

This morning we got up and headed towards Prevelli, where there is a lovely beach down a cliff.  Again, navigating through Crete where road signs are limited and roads are not marked proved a challenge, but we eventually located the cliff top, and then decided the hike was too much on an incredibly windy day!  We took some photos coming through the Gorge and then made our way to Rethymnon.  Again, it was a real challenge to locate our hotel; with Stewart navigating, we started down some streets and got ourselves into a road/alley way that was clearly not for cars - so narrow it was barely  wide enough for the car - and we couldn't get out!  Luckily a very kind pair of brothers helped us out and sent us to a parking lot, whence we walked to our hotel.  Whew!  What an adventure!

Yes, I drove down this street

Yes, I  got stuck trying to make this corner

So!  The hobbit hole!  The hotel we are in is a renovated nobleman's house dating from the Venetian period (1211-1669).  Our room is his old wine cellar.  The door to the room is very wide with a round top.  Stewart fell in love with this hobbit hole!  There is also an ultra-modern massaging shower with shower jets coming from all directions.  Stewart, who I have had to order to take showers, suddenly wanted to try out this cool shower.  He really likes this room!!!

The hobbit hole

Cool shower!