unblogged crete (10. 254)

A few bits of miscellaneous reflections on traveling in Crete that didn’t quite fit elsewhere: Like the German practise of erecting crosses at the roadside to memorialise a tragic death in an auto accident, in Greece, they use these miniature concrete churches, often with a small shrine inside to those lost and are mass-produced.

There are cats everywhere that belong to no one and will congregate around one at a restaurant, and generally have very good table manners and will not beg or harass but will sit quietly and mildly look at you.

Far more intense and immersive than a cat cafe, only once when we were the sole guests at a criminally under-partonized establishment did they bother us, until an older woman riding a motorbike arrived and with distinct Ernest Hemingway Martha Gellhorn energy produced a bag of cat food and proceeded to portion it out on the railing and announcing that she wanted to eat in peace and requested the waiter bring her “fish and white wine.”

There is also seemingly a preponderance of distressed and half-finished property developments, single-family homes ready for a second storey but with stairwells to nowhere, skeletal foundations, uncompleted resorts and obviously orphaned restaurants. Such commercial ruins make a strange landscape.

άπτερα (10. 253)

On the south shore looking back over Souda Bay, there is an ancient settlement that enjoyed strategic importance from Minoan through Hellenistic times and to the modern day given the nearby Greek and NATO military bases, called Aptera—without feathers—owing to the legend that Hera, Queen of the Gods, convinced the Muses and the Sirens to a song contest, with the former sister-act handily beating the latter, the Sirens being so upset by losing that they rent their feathers a wings, dusting the Λευκά Όρη (White Mountains) with them and plunged into the sea.

The archaeological remains of site mostly date to the Roman occupation and include a cistern and baths and an impressive amphitheater. Visiting on Oxi Day (Επέτειος του Όχι, the Anniversary of the ‘No’)—marking the date that Greece refused the ultimatum issued by Benito Mussolini and resistance to fascism during World War II, entry was free as well as the bit of history and the more contemporary couching. On same high plateau of Paliokastri, there was also the Kule (Castle) of Subashi with a view of the Ottoman Izzedin Fortress below.

In the area we also toured the monastery of St George (Μοναστήρι Άγιος Γεώργιος) outside of Βάμους (Vamos) with tranquil small church and old olive presses that highlight pre-industrial extraction with millstones and frails, the round bags used for squeezing the pulp.

We got to sample some of their bread and olives afterwards.

ακρωτήρι (10. 252)

Staying on the Akrotiri peninsula and not far from the Holy Trinity monastery we visited earlier, we embarked on a long trek down to the sea and back from the grounds of fourteen century Gouverneto Monastery (Our Lady of the Angels, Μονή Γουβερνέτου)—among the oldest and most extensive religious communities on the island.

A paved pilgrims’ path leads to a cave called Arkouditissa (cave of the She Bear, owing to the appearance of the stalagmite pulpit) that was once a place dedicated to the worship of Artemis but is now a retreat for the monks to pray in solitude.

Though not expecting the trail down the gorge to be this much of a challenge, we made it passed the ruins of a pre-Schism church and cloister called Katholiko and down the craggy cliffs to a cove with turquoise waters that channels out to the open sea.

stay tuned to 6-40 and 12-40 on your dial—now back to clutch cargo (10. 251)

Preceded by an episode of the multi-chapter 1939 serial The Phantom Creeps starring Bela Lugosi, the main feature getting the MST3K treatment, Rocket Attack U.S.A., aired for the first time on this day in 1990. The 1958 propaganda movie also marketed as Five Minutes to Zero by Barry Mahon—later of adult film fame—follows spy John Manston as he infiltrates the Soviet Union but is ultimately unsuccessful at preventing a nuclear attack (premised on telemetry gathered by Sputnik), with New York City destroyed. The dialogue throughout is hilarious arch and earned it cult-status even before being rediscovered by the mad scientists of Deep 13 and captors on the Satellite of Love. “This is my skull—stick around to see how that happened.”

vale and valley (10. 250)

Making an excuursion to points west, we went beyond Chania and toured the Monastery of our Lady of Gonia (Panagia Hodegetria, Μονή Γωνιάς), the host of a 2016 synod of the Greek Orthodox Church and a museum with a collection of vestments, papal seals and sigils and some of the most iconic icons to peruse. The blue of the sea blended in to sky on the battle-hardened balcony and further atop the promontory.

Our route followed the length of Topolia gorge from the port of Kissimos down to the beach at Elaphonisi, renowned for its pink sands and circular lagoon that one can wade across to a nearby rocky cliff.

The drive through the gorge and back was quite breathtaking—in reference to our last trip, I told H I’m calling this place „hot Scotland“ but with on coming traffic on this narrow lane with hairpin turns and serpentine bends, there was not many opportunities for picture taking (credit to the tourism board)—plus I didn’t want to distract the driver.

ρέθυμνο (10. 249)

We had intended to pay a visit to Rethymno (corresponding to the ancient cities of Rhithymnia and Arsinoe, chiefly known as a mint in antiquity with coins bearing a double dolphin insignia that’s the modern city’s symbol) along with Knossos but it was already too much to see and so made a return trip with a couple extra stops along the way. First we came to the resort village of Georgioupoli (Γεωργιούπολη)—originally a fishing community and identified with Amphimalla on ancient atlases with an islet connected to the mainland hosting the church of St Nicholas. 

Next we came to Rethymno, an ancient seat of the Minoan culture and dominated by a Venetian fortezza as a fortified commercial station between Chania and Heraklion—the main feature of the citadel dating from the Ottoman era with central Sultan Ibrahim mosque (formerly the Agia Nicholas). 

Afterwards, we explored a gorge (Mili / Μυλοι) just parallel to the city that was absolutely tropical amid mills, waterfalls and citrus orchards as well as groves if banana plants ornamenting a taverna hidden in the valley.