We have been busy with heaps of happenings in the past week here in summery Crete. We had been preparing to meet the in-laws of our daughter Kate (all currently living in New Zealand). Marty and Pauline had embarked on a trip of a lifetime to take their long awaited overseas experience and the chance to see as much of Europe as possible. They chose a cruise which came to Crete so they could see for themselves where New Zealanders who fought in the WWII Battle of Crete would have been. They both had relatives and family friends who had served in Crete during the war so this was a very special time for them.
People from abroad always ask for our
address – well you would, wouldn't you? But in our village, there
are no street names or house numbers so we decided to wait in the Square opposite the school.
We had proposed lunch at our place not
having any idea of their schedule. Pauline had said “Don't go to
any trouble”, but in truth, we needed to smarten ourselves up a
bit. All our porch walls were looking horrid after the new roof works,
the muddy woodpile and winter rains. Embarrassingly, the bathroom
ceiling had suspicious evidence of a few spots of mould and we didn't
want to look too shabby. So lots of painting and cleaning went on
over the weekend and cooking for an ad hoc instantly available meal.
Our bathroom and kitchen positively sparkled while all the mops and
buckets sagged against the garden wall looking weary and beaten after
the full frontal attack.
The weekend weather was a lot better
than the previous few days and on Monday all the clouds and mists
cleared up to produce a fabulous Spring Day for them. We waited in
the village square as prearranged and the taxi turned up about half
an hour late giving us a bare 35 minutes or so to walk back to the
house, catch up on their news, eat the quickest chicken salad in
history and guzzle a cup of tea and walk back to the square again to
meet up with the taxi. There had been a muddle at the port
office, the taxi driver had been waiting in the wrong place and
had wasted two valuable hours of their precious day. Anyway, they
loved what they saw, got to Souda and Marty even started asking about
real estate prices in Crete just before they left! We heard later
that they arrived back at the ship just as the gang planks were being
raised … Phew! It was lovely to see them even for such a short time!
Tuesday was an Art School day, but our
numbers are a bit depleted and we wondered about a drive to find some new students. Anyway, I had a
delicious morning out in the sunshine under my hat painting one of my
favourite corners outside and trying to get acrylics right before the
sun dried them quickly on my palette.
On Wednesday, a group of us had planned
a walk down the Imbros Gorge before the weather became too hot and
dry. There are usually a few weeks at the beginning and end of the
season when the rains have ceased and before the sun does not roast
you too much. We all took sensible precautions and set off as early
as possible. Hats, Water bottles, stout shoes, walking poles and back packs on
board, we set off looking very chipper. Gorge walking seems to be
quite a big tourist industry and there are places where you can call
for a taxi at the bottom of the gorges (or catch a boat in the case
of the Samaria which ends where there is no road access) so having
left most cars at the bottom, driven all the drivers to the top and
leaving one car at the top, we were at last ready to set off. The
approach is down a set of steps with a rather wobbly hand rail and I
wondered if it would get any easier once we were down at the bottom
of these. As Gorges go, Imbros is supposed to be one of the easier
to tackle – especially compared with the Samaria. It is about 8 km long, has lots of interesting mini climates and habitats on the
way through. The whole walk is downhill, which seems easy but after
a long winding hike over largish boulders and slippery rocks and
scree, my hips and knees were creaking a bit. At one shady spot, we
sat for a rest under some trees and I ventured to ask “Are we
nearly there yet?”. We were, apparently after a couple of hours at our slow pace, only half way. (Inward groan!). However, the plant life, trees and
birds were magical and overhanging cave-like arches, whole streams of ancient lava-type rock under foot and parts where you did feel as if you were climbing
down waterfalls (which I suspect is the case in the winter wet
months) made it an ambitious outing for someone who has been at home
and not doing very much other than housework and painting for a
longish time. My feet survived well, aching all over at the finish
(but no blisters) and the narrow gorge opened out just a short drive
from Hora Sfakion where we sat down to a very late lunch and chose a
taverna which had the best shelter from the wind. It was a beautiful day; I was glad to have experienced the atmosphere of the gorge but it is anything but a stroll in the country!
On Thursday, I could hardly get around
the house as my legs were so stiff and took a quiet day to rest a
bit. The daily round since the Imbros walk has been a bit more
domesticated but --- the eternity ring which I thought
I had lost in the icy cold sea at Matala, turned up magically in such an unexpected spot, tucked behind a down pipe by the stone stairs outside and I am rejoicing. Yippee!
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