Dear You,
NO - it wasn't us - if you scrutinise the graffito you will see that someone did it in 2013, so: "Proved to be innocent".
Yesterday I went to a lovely party and came back this morning at 2 o'clock, so I'm still a bit tired, but as fresh as a daisy, having followed Queen Mum's example - sticking to G&T.
So I hope you will be sympathetic about me doing my school work in a somewhat slack way...
Showing you pictures of my stay in Crete.
Look, Mise: see my pink little rucksack on my bed? A torch of luxury in a rural though wonderful surrounding.
The little cottages my Italian friend bought are under preservation of sites of historic interest - I felt a bit like a damsel (but not in distress - not even in the last week, when I lived there all on my own, I had no fear. Somewhere were neighbours... :-) - and the one green snake I met on a walk was quicker moving away than I.
But no WiFi, but beautiful nature - this whole part, Aspros Potamos, is proud of staying as much as Walden Pond as possible. (Of course Walden Pond is my interpretation).
But you might know me by now (a bit): even in the deepest wilderness this woman - The Lady of the house speaking - is Keepingup Appearances (hint: look at the tea bag):
One has to walk 1 km through olive olive groves to come to the village of Makrygialos, and the sea.
I had a special place in a wonderful Gelateria, with homemade icecreams - but as I confounded the strict regulations about the permissible maximum weight for the flight luggage and mine, most of the times I took only a cappuccino. On the other side of the sea is Africa.
And the people were so very, very friendly! Even though I confessed being German...(the only grumpy person was a manager in a bank, but we laughed about him and enjoyed the cherries a man had brought with him and shared with all of us).
Weather: end of May/ start of June: utterly marvelous! Lots of sun, and in the second week the water was warm too.
In that (solitary) week I met a lovely couple from Herfordshire, a Godsend, and we did and laughed a lot together, They even walked me back at night half of the way through the olive groves.
Though I already had started to become a courageous woman anyhow:
here you see me after a ride to the monastry of Kapsas, where a Flamish translator took me (you saw the lovely stone pattern in my last blogpost).
Imagine: the last time I sat on a motorcycle behind my Dad I was five years old! Now I felt like Albertine from the film "Zazie dans le Metro" (and I told you, my Dad's name is Albert)
To drive the long winded road along the coast on a scooter was an adventurous treat!!
And yes, I will be back in Crete - maybe in September (but then my friends are waiting for me to join another narrowboat trip, different route), so maybe I will be back next year in early summer.
How lovely, Britta, exactly the sort of place I like to stay, and the airport security staff laugh at me for my teabags. It revives the spirit to live awhile surrounded by sun-warmed stone.
ReplyDeleteDear Mise, the tea bags and three pink clothes pegs are always in my suitcase. Coming back to Germany was a temperature shock - hope that summer starts soon...
DeleteCrete is lovely. I am envious. Anyway, they are used to Germans but you may have to convert to Drachma the next time you visit...
ReplyDeleteDear Tom, it was the first time for me in Greece. Where I went most tourists were British - and if it is necessary, I can always pretend to be Scottish :-)
DeleteWalden Pond is an apt description. What a lovely adventure. And, don't let Tom alarm you. There will always be a Greece.
ReplyDeleteDear Joanne, after living alone in the wildernis it will take a bit more than Tom to alarm me :-)
DeleteI would ride off to the monastery with the guide on the scooter. I like you Britta. I would do just that. I would have had an ice-cream though. I like the cottage and the picture with the walls and flowers and narrowness especially. My kind of place.
ReplyDeleteDear Rachel, thank you! And of course I had icecreams - but not every day, though even on these the kind proprietor brought me homemade-cake (she owned a "Green Bakery" too). Yes, I can see you in this place - the cottages are lovely, and I think it gives peace of mind not to drown in too many things.
DeleteThere is still a lot do do (especially creating a garden, with vegetables), but that is fun too: plants swoosh up like rockets in that climate. .
What a lovely place! Very reminiscent of the Milia Mountain Retreat where we stayed on our visit to Crete, though in our case the road to the retreat, at least at that time, was harrowing (narrow, unpaved, winding up the edge of a hillside with no kerb and a shear drop.
ReplyDeleteDear Susan, it really is a place to 'come to one's senses'.
DeleteThe road to that place in nature is rough, sometimes broken concrete (which I felt especially on that scooter). The road along the coast was lovely and smooth, and there were only few cars (I was glad about that - have a look at my impossible shoes for motor-biking...)
What an idyllic time you have spent Britta far from the hustle and bustle of the busy world, but pleased you didn't go too native and took time to enjoy a cup of Harrods tea.
ReplyDeleteDear Rosemary, yes, it was lovely - and the monastry even had above it a mountain cave where in the 15th century a hermit had lived (they founded the monastry after his death). If I hadn't known it before - which I did - by no later then there I would have found out that I can not live either as a hermit nor as a recluse - and yes: Harrod's tea characterises the luxury in life I enjoy too.
DeleteEnjoyable glimpse into a lovely adventure. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteDear Geo, it was, though husband (he is 1,98m tall) said after a glimpse at the photos that the ceilings might be too low for him - so when his term is over, our voyage together will probably go to Italy.
DeleteWhat a charming place. It must have been difficult to leave.
ReplyDeleteDear Emma, you hit the nail on the head: it was difficult to leave - even in a practical sense, which I will recount in the next post.
DeleteBritta...a beautiful place ...with friends or alone!!
ReplyDeleteDear Susan, thank you: it is!
DeleteSounds like my kind of holiday - peace and quiet - a minimalist kind of place. I would have loved to sit behind you on that scooter speeding down the coast road with wonderful views of the sea - idyllic.
ReplyDeleteDear Elaine, you would have liked it: warm wind, very clear turquoise sea, ochre-coloured rocks - a bit as in Scotland, the landscape and colours - though in a warmer climate :-)
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