DUST STORMS AND DAWN RAIDS

With a week of fine, dry weather, K and I have been preoccupied with things we CAN do outside, as opposed to the times of torrential downpour when we can't. We have also had a trip away, which by most people would seem a little unexciting, but which we enjoyed immensely.

GI-normous Cactus in the Courtyard!

As it was my birthday last weekend, we had planned an excursion and opted to take the bus. We wanted to stay in the harbour at Chania and finding places to park there is not easy at the best of times, so we parked up at Panormo and left the car there on Friday morning to catch the 10.30 bus. We were lucky really, because despite the weather forecast, it was bright and sunny and the bus made only a very short stop at Rethymno, but we did not need to unload our case because it filled up with new passengers and set off for Chania quite briskly. I had forgotten how restful it is to let someone else do the driving and had the chance to enjoy the scenery. We stopped just by the turnoff to Georgopolis, meandered around Vrysses bowling up at the Bus Station in Chania getting near to lunch time. A quick taxi ride dropped us off just a short walk from the Hotel.

This was a treat; one of the new boutique hotels ranged around a central courtyard which had been lovingly converted from a large Venetian merchants house and it had lots of quirky palisades, sheltered balconies and a spa on the ground floor. Our room was sumptuous, and had it been anyone but us, we would have been over the moon with the lovely suite just off the central courtyard on the ground floor, but we soon discovered that the en suite bathroom (although absolutely gorgeous) was down a full flight of marble stairs from the bedroom making it really awkward for K. Such is life. I made the most of the Jakuzi bath, lotions and potions and gleaming shower. K made the most of the ironwork table and chairs outside to sit and watch the people passing by and enjoy the fresh air. The bed with a tempura mattress was to die for (or are we the most boring people on earth?) We stumbled down to the harbour – only a few steps away – and encountered the American navy out and about from wherever they were stationed. They were obviously and noisily enjoying a few hours off.

Help!  Stairs and no bannisters!

Chania is wonderful for walking and I immediately set off several times a day to get my bearings, quickly finding the old minaret, the old customs building which is currently being completely renovated, a second hand shop (these are rare in Crete), the ancient synagogue and the arts and crafts centre, tucked away in the back streets. I found the hotel round the corner from the large church with clanging bells that we stayed in before. It was magic to be out and about; so lovely and warm with the sun lighting up the waves and not too many people about. Most of the harbour-side cafés were closed and drills, hammering and scaffolding everywhere showed that this was the time of year for refurbishment. On Sunday morning, I set off for a long walk only to find that the air was full of dust and decided to return because experience tells us that the dust storms from Africa can often bring unwelcome microbes with them. We learned later that all the flights had been cancelled and lots of tourists were enjoying a very welcome extra night away at someone else's expense!

Unexpected music on Saturday night!

A long weekend away had been great, and after a busy week making up for lost time, we embarked on our annual 'IKA books at Dawn Raid'. The IKA book (it has been called three different things since we have been here) is the health insurance cover for retired people and needs to be renewed every year at the IKA Office. Why they have put the office in a place which is so hard to access is beyond me, but the intrepid ladies in our circle synchronised watches and met on the main road to Rethymnon at 7.30 on Friday morning. We jumped in Margaret's car, found a rare place to park and queued outside the door with many others who were there early too. At 8.00 a.m., the door was opened and, like rats out of a trap, all the people surged through the door and up the stairs to a room with three lines of chairs, three windows with grills and a ticket machine. After years of practice, we took tickets for us and others who were due to arrive soon and then took the forms in Greek to try and fill in with our names, our parents names, our address, our ID information (which meant juggling bags, passports, paper, and notebooks to look things up and copying a phrase in our best Greek at the bottom to say that we did not get a pension in Greece but we did get a pension from England. Then do the whole thing all over again for our spouses. Lots of loud English voices, swapping of information and giggling went on until our numbers came up. “And we have only been here an hour, aren't we doing well phrases peppered our chit-chat”. I feel sure the Cretans are glad when this noisy gang take their leave each year! Anyway, we are legal and can go to the Doctor if we need to. Desperate for a shot of caffeine, after dealing with bureaucracy and a very early start, we chorused our sighs of relief by finding a nice Bakers Shop which served lovely coffees and stopped for some catch up time. The town was dotted with all the large brightly coloured clowns, statues and works of art from previous years because Carnivali is imminent.

Our friends Anthony and Gianna have been flown back to the UK. We are not certain how it all worked, but a flight was organised and a bed was found for him in Intensive Care in Southampton Hospital; Gianna could not go on the same flight because of space, but we are just relieved that they can at least get treatment and understand what is going on. The aftercare in the UK will be so much more sympathetic, as we know. So we are continuing to hope and pray for better news after such a harrowing time.