A SPRING IN OUR STEP

K could not believe how much stuff was loaded into the back of the car for just three days away, but what with walking poles, crutches, a picnic bag full of tea bags and kettle for our morning cuppa plus swimming stuff and clothes, we were full to capacity. This was for the CIC Archaeological trip to Agia Triada. We had decided to stay at the resort of Matala where the beach side caves had been homes for hippies in the 1960s.

For the past two years, it has been me doing all the driving, but with luck, we hope this will not be for ever. Anyway, we had been warned that the roads were a little risky down to the South on the Spilli road, so we left masses of time and took it slowly. Spilli is our traditional place for filling up water bottles and eating very expensive ice cream, so we did the latter! I only ever eat ice creams out of choice at Spilli! I left K at the cafe and bought some Cretan herbs from the natural products shop and was amused to find a herb mix called “Resuscitation” and another for “Energy” and bought these along with lavender scented oil, which is always good to have. I will let you know whether they work or not!

Then we pressed on and negotiated the rock falls, road closures/deviations and after that a road slippage which took up the entire one side of the road on a blind bend. Slowing down and copious use of the hooter ensured that we passed through it without too much bother. Soon we were bowling down the roads to the coast circuiting around Phaestos, where the large archaeological remains of a palace are and admiring all the different colours of wild flowers in the kerbsides and fields. The weather was bright and sunny but there was a biting northerly wind and we were glad to have remembered woolly jumpers.

Matala was just opening for the season. We were on the third floor of the hotel and it took several trips to unpack the car! The hotel was 2*, so not luxurious, but clean, functional and with extremely nice and helpful staff. We had an evening to familiarise ourselves with the small resort before most people arrived on Saturday. Our archaeological friend, Don gave us a good and informative talk about Agia Triada on Saturday night with maps and explanations about the artefacts which had come from the site and thoughtful answers to our questions. So much imagination and theorising goes on in terms of ancient times and no one can know for sure exactly what happened in these aeons of history. It's all good fun though.

The site at Agia Triada has been excavated by various teams of Italian archaeologists. The following morning, we split into two groups and toured the site identifying the open courtyard areas, the work areas, store rooms, channels which seemed to take water away from the building, mini throne like benches with frescoes behind. Leaning over one level to peep into a lower level, we could see enormous pithoi decorated pots and it took us a while to work out ways that these could have been potted, fired or moved in view of their enormous size! The logistics of all that we see, keep us guessing all the time! Finally Don explained how the large and well preserved kiln would have worked. I couldn't even imagine how the huge ali ba ba type pots could have been moved from the area of the kiln to where they were now. Perhaps they made individual kilns for them or constructed conveyances a bit like a sedan chair? Intriguing isn't it?

The party had Sunday lunch together in a very small village taverna and for the most part travelled home after that, but we opted to stay an extra day to be fresh for the journey home on Monday. Therefore, I returned to Matala and had my first swim of the season. It was ARCTIC and took all of 45 seconds, but we enjoyed ourselves and walked back to the hotel for a hot shower.

Next morning, we set off for home but opted for another route via the Amari Valley. Lots of people have told us how lovely it is, so we were determined to pay a visit before much more time passed. The road was surprisingly good and the scenery spectacular. Best of all, I think we only passed half a dozen cars all told on the whole journey home, until we met the main road on the North Coast again at Stavromenos.

Since then, we have been doing 'Spring has Sprung' jobs at home; cleaning the dust from the terrace and outside furniture, topping up the flower pots, filling in plaster holes and a bit of painting. We need to do much, much more to prepare for a very busy May and June. I am reminded that the “Energy” tea might be beneficial. We will be having visitors from cruise ships into Heraklion who will be making very short stops and family and friends over the summer months. After two lost summers, there is a great deal of sorting out to get on with. Bring it on!

K's MRI results scans were ready to collect on Wednesday and they seem to be encouragingly good. It has put an extra spring in our step and we are looking forward to this summer to get fit again!