On the Internet after sending e-mail, I checked the weather. It looks bad for the next four days. The bike is beginning to look like an idea I should have forgotten. Still, I had that wonderful day Tuesday, and I ‘m sure I’ll have some more. My dilemma now is that I’ve seen Iraklio. It’s fun hanging around here but I want to see new things. I can’t go by bus because of the bike. So I either head out in the rain or take a day trip on the bus. Right now we have a pretty fierce storm. Not much rain is falling but the wind intimidates. I went down by the waterfront where the waves crashed up on the jetty and against the fort. Amazingly on the other side of the jetty where the boats sit the water was calm. Those Venetians knew what they were doing 500 years ago.

6:38 p.m.

Oh what a cold, mean day. I decided to take a bus to Agios Nikolaos in Eastern Crete. First, I decided to get extra money out. On the first try it said something about unable to process now. Well, that’s what it said in Venezuela when what it meant was will never be able to process. So that raised my anxiety level a bit. So then I, for some reason, tried again and it worked fine. Maybe got had to make it just hard enough to make me worry. I then had some lunch to fill my stomach and break a 10,000 drachma note. I had spinach pie and a Greek salad.

Anyway after lunch I went by the visitor center to check on a few things about the bus: how much, what time does it go, do I pay on the bus, when do they come back? It was closed but a nice lady stopped and explained it was closed for Christmas eve and did I just want a map. I explained about the bus and she answered all my questions. I gave her my best smile and told her she had been very helpful. She didn’t have to do that and I appreciate people that go out of their way to help. I walked in a drizzle down to the bus station. I asked at a ticket booth about a bus to Agios Nickolaos, and the man pointed and said: "The bus is leaving now; pay on the bus." I hopped on and had the presence to sit on the left side so I’d have a view of the ocean. That reminds me of getting on the bus in Nicaragua and having a very wrinkled and poor looking woman tell to sit on the right side so I could see the water. I did so but wondered how that could be as we were headed up the west coast and the ocean would be to our left. It turns out that Nicaragua has a huge lake just where she said it would be. Rain and even some hail fell intermittently and the wind blew without respite, but it was nice in the bus. I got out my map and followed our progress along the coast. We had some great views of beaches with an impressive surf being created by the storm. Eventually we turned inland to cut across a peninsular. We climbed a great deal and even went through a tunnel. The road looked like a great place to ride bikes. We traveled on the "National Highway" but it was only a lightly traveled two-lane with a shoulder almost everywhere. Going through the tunnel would have been scary. Most of the time there was a secondary road that ran parallel and seemed to have no traffic. Though we climbed quite a lot the road wound a lot so that there was never a steep pitch to deal with.

It took an hour and a half to get there and I found the ride and scenery quite enjoyable. Once there I began to explore the village as the weather played games. It would rain and then the sun would come out. It would have been a delightful place to bike to and spent a night or to in warm, dry weather. I had a nice time walking around. The town sits on a bunch of steep hills next to the water with several harbors and a beach. Some streets are probably too steep to bike even with a mountain bike and in many places steps rather than road run between the homes. The town surrounds a most amazing lake. On two sides huge cliffs line this lake. The guide book says people once called this the bottomless lake. Well, it has a bottom but is 64 meters deep. That’s roughly 190 feet and amazing for such a small body of water. They once called it the smelly lake because it got rank in the summer. Then, in 1867, they built a canal and now its called Voulisemeni which means sunken, a good name. I took a picture of the lake, surrounded by boats and the harbor that the boats can enter via the canal. Lots of outdoor restaurants line the lake and harbor but most are closed in the winter and especially on a day like this. I then walked along the sea wall where the road ran on the edge and nice hotels overlooked the Gulf of Mirambelo. I stopped to take a picture of a bench and railing under some trees with the water behind. A lady stopped her car, and before she drove off asked if my picture was okay. Few people in the U. S. would do that and fewer still here. I like little statements about the good in people that come all the time if you look for them. Motorists here never give a pedestrian a break thought I don’t hold it against them: this is a tough place to drive. Rain and hail both fell on me and then some sun came out and a rainbow appeared over the bay. I hiked all over the place and eventually ended up on top of the cliff overlooking the lake. They had a lovely little park there with benches and a wooden railing. I got a great picture from up there. In the middle of the cliff on the left side I could see a shallow cave and a cat sleeping in it. Now that tabby didn’t have to worry about anybody bothering it. About now I wanted to buy some postcards to send to folks on my list. Would you believe I couldn’t find any? I’ll bet dozens of places sell them in the summer but not now.

I went to their main plaza also called Venizelou (I’ve got to find out what that means). At one corner sat a beautiful church. Out in front was an old Mercedes hearse (try to spell that word) piled high with flowers. A crowd of somberly dressed people blocked the street and sidewalk so I avoided the area. On a happier note I walked down a long flight of stairs that led to the town beach and near the bottom I passed a house with the front door open and a tray of cookies cooling on the stoop. No translation needed for that.! It made me think of something Paula would do for her boys or her boyfriend. Soon it was time to come back to my warm, dry room. I went to the bus station bought a ticket and went in the snack bar next door for a cup of coffee. I may have to give up trying. For 400 drachma I got a small cup of luke warm water with some hint of coffee flavor in it. In the U. S. I would never have accepted that but when you travel… The bus coming back was great accept that it had no heat. Damn! I’m trying to get over something and I get wet and ride home on a cold bus. My clothes, lots of synthetics, did a pretty good job and I didn’t get really cold but boy some heat would have been nice. On the way back I sat on the right and in many stretches the road ran right along the edge of the coast. From my window I could look down at surf pounding in spectacular displays 50 or a hundred feet below me. The ocean did not look inviting as darkness fell and the wind and rain continued. It’s hard to imagine how hot I was at this time last year in Venezuela and the year before in Costa Rica. Still, Greece has a lot more to see I think.

When we got back to Iraklio, the bus stopped at the ferry terminal and the ships appeared to be loading. Apparently this isn’t enough of a storm to stop them or its expected to stop. That’s a real concern of ferry travel as I’ve heard many stories of people being stuck on a boat for 50 hours or more likely being unable to lave because they weren’t running. I plan to leave no later than Sunday the last week to allow myself plenty of time.

December 25, 1998, 2:08

Hania, Crete, Greece

Hi. I’m sitting in a pizza restaurant on the waterfront here in the old city. I’m looking out at rough surf that’s spraying on the walkways. It’s a really cold, nasty day. The rows of sidewalk tables sit empty even with a roof and plastic walls to protect the area. I’m sharing the restaurant with a bunch of very young sailors from a base near here. They claim Washington, Philadelphia and California as home. The restaurant has lots to offer but not pizza or spaghetti! Such is life.  The restaurant sports green sign that says restaurant and a red one proclaiming pizza.  I got a couple from Hamburg, Germany to take a picture of me.  As I walked along the deserted quay a little black and white dog came up to me. I ignored it but it followed me. I stopped to take a picture of an old door in an old wall and the dog went up to the door and posed. I wanted to bring it home.

Despite the nasty weather I started my day with a great run. I continue to cough but I feel much better. I don’t feel so tired. I felt strong running, even going up hill, and hardly coughed at all. I had breakfast at a little sidewalk stand where I met four Germans from the Salzburg area. I also met a group of Americans two from Kansas and two from New York. Then I stopped by the Greek Youth Hostel and met a fellow named Fenando, a physical education teacher from Valencia, Spain. We chatted for quite a while and he about had me convinced that I ought to go to coastal Spain for my next vacation. He wanted to go to Knossos but it was closed I so invited him to come with me, but he decided to stay in town. He said he had a girlfriend but they broke up

After that I put on practically all my clothes and headed down to catch the bus. I mean I’m wearing polypropylene socks, long johns and top. Then I have one my red chamois shirt, the vest, the fleece jacked and my blue raincoat. Over my jeans I have the navy wind pants my sister gave me. I’m also wearing a wool ring around my head and gloves and my hood when the winds blows. Don’t laugh I never got to hot and stayed warm enough all day. The bus process confused me, but eventually I made it on the bus. They run infrequently today, Christmas, so missing it would have been a drag. The ride here was much like the one to Agios Nickolaos in that I enjoyed fantastic views of the coast often from high above it. Once again the road impressed me as a lovely place to ride a bike in good weather. We went past some steep hillsides with goats casually hunting among the rocks for vegetation. It doesn’t look like they could find anything to eat in such sparse landscape. Fortunately the bus had heat though I got stuck by a drafty door for the first two thirds of the trip. This is a neat town once again adorned with Venetian armaments. In this case the jetty runs almost all the way around the harbor and has a light house at the end. I would like to walk out there but not in this weather.

8:01 back in Iraklio

I called my mother in Maine and Paula in South Carolina and both places are considerably colder than here. I mean his place has orange trees growing everywhere so we’re not talking freezing. But I challenge any hard core Sugarloaf skier to come here for an outdoor vacation right now.

The phone calls proved more difficult than those back home. I had the Call AT&T info from an ad in the International Herald Tribune that I bought to try to sell my book. You call their number, then dial the number you want and then dial your credit card number and presto talk as long as you want. The only problem was that their number always rang busy. So I tried plan two ( I always have multiple plans when I travel). I put in my OTE card sold for calls by the Greek phone companies. Few pay phones take money; virtually all require one of these cards. I knew I could call the U.S. with it but wasn’t sure how long it would last. The one from Venezuela lasted about two minutes. When I tired to OTE card I got a busy signal to the U.S. I walked a few blocks and tried again and probably connected the 4^th try. It went so smoothly with Paula that I bought another card to call Ma. I went back to the same phone and it wouldn’t recognize the card. I put the old card in with nine units no problem, but when I put the new one in with 100 minutes it couldn’t read it. I took it back where I bought it and the lady said tough take it to the phone company on Monday. Actually all that took a long time with two translators. The clerk provided no help at all. One lady understood the phone company and explained it to another lady who had just come from Yugoslavia and had good English but not much knowledge of Greek phones. I tried unsuccessfully not to be frustrated. In the end I went to a different phone and it read the card fine. Go figure. Anyway it worked fine. I got a nice call to Maine in, and best of all there won’t be any charge on my credit card.

Well, let me finish about my trip to Hania. Since I developed the pictures at the restaurant, I was able to take eight more. I ate fairly quickly because I wanted to catch the 3:30 bus. Failure to do so would mean a wait until 6:30 for the next one. I had time to walk some of the narrow streets and enjoy the color of the doors. Three hours seems like a lot on a wet, cold day with most stuff closed. I took some good pictures including one of the restaurant I just left. I also was about to take a picture of a stairway and other stuff when I guy pedaled by on a bike. I had to get a shot of that guy. I saw the same German couple and got them to take my picture next to the blue door, in my blue coat. I quickly snapped the stairs and the church and headed for the bus station. As I briskly passed a cab driver he asked if I were going to Iraklio and offered me a ride for 5,000 drachma. Ordinarily I’d have passed right by but I knew I paid about 3,000 for the bus, and I think I still carried the memory of that boo boo I made in a similar situation in Baltimore. Perhaps, too, I remembered the bus with no heat yesterday. Anyway I took him up on it. It was just he and I though he looked for other person or two. He drove very carefully and the countless curves as the roads wound up and over and followed the coast. He told me that he had a fare from the Iraklio airport to Hania and was heading home empty. It cost 28,000 for that fare so my ride was quite a deal. He has two sons one in the military in Souda, next to Hania, and the other in college. It costs him a lot which explains his driving his cab on Christmas day. We chatted most of the two hours back. I taught him the word bridge and he taught me corpro meaning old man. He said it once when we passed a very slow car. I asked him what "diga me" meant. The bus conductor said it every time he got back on the bus. In Spanish it means "tell me" or talk to me." The cab driver said it was figa me (that feega may) and that it meant let’s go. I think Paula and I ought to alternate that with vamanos (let’s go in Spanish) on our bike rides. Later I got to use my few other Greek words. At one point I asked his name in Greek and said nice to meet you. He was impressed and complimentary. His name was Angelos (Ahn gay los). I told him I drove a cab in college but I don’t think he ever heard of Boston, Massachusetts. He told me what a hard job it was and how many hours he worked. Still he seemed like a cheerful, content man. At the end I had him let me off a few blocks away so that he wouldn’t get into traffic, and asked if I could take his picture. He seemed genuinely please so I took his picture shook his hand and said goodbye Angelos. I think the picture came out really well, though I wish I’d gotten the taxi light on the roof of the car.

So the last two days have probably been the two worst of the year in Crete and I’ve still have a good time and seen some great sights. It’s not the way I’d choose it, but you go with what you have. I’m having a great visit and life is good. And I don’t have to drink. At the restaurant the waiter brought me a shot of Ouzo or Ouzi or whatever it is "on the house." I didn’t want to offend him and when he wasn’t looking I gave it to one of the sailors. I hope he didn’t notice. NEXT CHAPTER  PREVIOUS CHAPTER