Crete: Adventures on an island

View from the Fortezza

The first couple of days in Crete we spent exploring Rethymno. Our first port of call was the Venetian fort, the Fortezza, which looked over the town as well as out to sea and provided some fantastic views. The Fortezza is a ruin with a few buildings remaining inside, including a small church, a mosque and residences for the rector and councillor, which looked as though they may still be in use. The Fortezza was impressive and must have been even more so in its heyday, largely due to its size and prominent positision where Rethymno meets the sea.

Church in the Fortezza

Looking along the Fortezza wall

 In the afternoon, we decided to follow a suggested walk in a guide book I had picked up in a charity shop (Thomas Cook, 2007, Travellers Crete). This led us through the streets of the old town, out into the main town where we finished the walk by wandering around the Municipal Garden; a park consisting of many avenues of trees around a central point. In wandering through the old town, we saw a bakery with the door slightly ajar. We glanced through the door and were seen by one of the staff, who called us in. Inside were two wisened Greeks, a man and a woman, making filo pastry. The younger man who had called us in explained the process to us then offered us some homemade baklava to buy. The bakers stretched the filo dough over a table, cut off the rough edges, covered it in hessian cloth then started again on top of the previous sheet.

Air causes the filo pastry to puff up before it is stretched over the table

One morning we decided to find the local market, or Laki. We arrived to find a market very much geared up to local needs, rather than nosy tourists. We strolled through tables littered wth disorganised piles of t-shirts and a few fruit and veg stalls before heading back into the Old Town.

On Friday we got the local bus to a larger town, Chania. In essence, Chania was like a bigger version of Rethymno, with a bustling old town and larger Venetian harbour. As expected with larger towns, Chania was busier and had more eager salesmen trying to drag us into their restaurants (although some restaurants had clearly realised this annoys people and had put signs out with phrases like 'No hassle' and 'We won't pressure you'). The highlight of Chania for us was the Archaeological Museum, which was located in an old friary and contained local finds, including pottery, jewellery and mosaics. We also took a trip on a glass bottomed boat; a pleasant ride but not much to see through the glass bottom. Fortunately the captain was quite a character, letting us steer the boat and catching an octopus and starfish for us to look at.

A bee orchid found at Biotopoi

Other adventures included finding our way to Biotopoi Nature Park, which was in the countryside just out of the town. This was an area of land, partially showcasing typical plants in beach, lowland and highland habitats of Crete and partially land left to grow wild. The park is run by volunteers, typically passing through on their travels, with dreadlocks and baggy trousers, and felt a bit ameteur in its set up but was actually really interesting - I'd say it was worth the 5 euro entry fee. After our guided tour of the typical plants, the volunteers were happy for us to roam around the rest of the site at our leisure. One guy showed us some orchids he had found (including one I've been desperate to see in the wild, the beautiful bee orchid) and to a Minoan wine press and a cave. There was also a collection of rabbits, guinea pigs and chickens, as well as other critters such as Cretan hares, a tortoise, turtles, geckos and chameleons, which were random but entertaining for an animal lover like myself.

Another highlight of the trip was a bike tour that we booked before travelling. We were driven into the mountains of central Crete and cycled (or mainly freewheeled!) back to the coastal town of Georgioupolis. The bike ride passed through mountain villages, famous for a small church with a high success rate in miracle-performing, a village famed for its production of avocados and a small but charming series of waterfalls respectively. The guide was charismatic and knowledgable, taking us into many little chapels, including one built into the rock at the waterfalls.

The main attraction of the tour was a visit to Lake Kournas; a huge freshwater lake nestled in a mountain valley. The website had suggested we could swim in the lake, which seemed like a very attractive option in the hot weather and our extra heat generated from cycling up a hill to get there. When we arrived swimming didn't appear to be the done thing. We walked around the edge of the lake looking for a grassy bank to eat our lunch but the perimeter was covered in either scrub or tavernas (local restaurants). We finally found a small cleared area that looked like it was for launching boats in summer and dipped our toes in, which was very pleasant, but I was sure I had seen aerial pictures that looked like the lake had a beach. A quick look on Google maps proved me right, which means the scrub and tavernas must be a relatively recent addition to the lake, which seems a shame. The final stop of the tour was a visit to the most picturesque chapel I have seen. It was out at sea, only reached by a stony causeway and although simple, shone like a white jewel in the ocean. The chapel was dedicated to St Peter, patron saint of fishermen, so that they could pray at the chapel before heading out to sea.

The chapel of St Peter at Georgioupolis