I’m on Greek time now, which means I’m ok with waiting an hour for a bus that runs every 15 minutes. The wait became story time when I met a man from Newcastle, England. He was in the SAS (The Special Air Service or SAS is a regiment of the British Army. It is part of the United Kingdom Special Forces (UKSF) and Special forces, or special operations forces, are military units highly trained to perform unconventional, often high-risk missions.) He fought in the Falklands, and in Iraq, now lives in Crete, after living almost everywhere else while working for Arab American oil companies. He gave me tons of ideas on where to go around here. Best idea was the sunken city near Elounda, an hour away by car and probably a half day by bus! It’s also where the rich and famous have their villas. …maybe next time. Anyway he was quite a character, and the hour passed quickly.
On the bus, I met a Dutch woman who is a tour guide in Crete. It was her day off, so she helped me plan my day and gave me a quick walk through of Heraklion. She married a Greek taxi driver who is taking me back to the airport tomorrow morning. I spent a good part of the day at the archeological museum, and loved every minute. It is huge, one of the best museums in Greece, and the best collection of Minoan art anywhere.
It took another hour to catch a bus back to my hotel. I spent the time trying to communicate with a woman from Moscow. We laughed a lot, as we did not share one word in common.
Food wise, I tried the spiral spanakopita, but it did not come close to the ones in Ios on Santorini. I tried to find the cookies we bought on a little island near Kos (the island we returned to as our port in the storm) three years ago when Elan captained our catamaran.
Something about “You Can’t Go Home Again” – great advice and one of Gary’s favorite books.
For dinner I found a local treat called Dakos, a hard brown rusk disc, topped with diced tomatoes, feta, basil, parsley and drizzled with olive oil. I’m at my little hotel patio restaurant now, having that for dinner with a glass of wine and listening to Greek music.
