Itisallgreek2me

Paterakis Family - Yanni, Anna, Chrissoula, Kiki, Vassiles, Stratis (Costas the wee boy in front)

Yesterday morning, following a good second night’s sleep in Chora Sfakion and a relatively easy walk, I boarded the 1100 hours bus bound for Hania.  A journey of only some 74 kilometres, however, of 1 1/2 hours duration – the winding road taking us up and through the mountains with breathtaking views back over the Libyan Sea. 

Walked from the bus station to Antonia’s house, took me a little longer than usual, however, my knees and legs I am pleased to say are slowly but surely recovering from their Samaria experience.  Arrived at the house only moments before Antonia returned from the beach, Yemista for lunch then our siesta, followed by a quiet evening at home. 

This morning I walked here to the Internet Cafe via Zara, a clothing store, where I have found some very reasonably priced cool tops for the hot summer weather.  Had planned to meet Antonia after at the beach but she has already telephoned to say she is homeward bound – apparently very hot which I can believe.  Not to worry, once I make it to Karpathos, I plan to do very little else other than rest, sunbathe and swim for the few days I am there.  I am quietly confident that my body will be up to moving on tomorrow, 0930 hours bus to Iraklion which will allow me plenty of time to catch the 1350 hours ferry boat to Karpathos, arriving 2125 hours.  I had wanted to make an online hotel reservation today but unfortunately, have come down to the Internet Cafe without my Credit Card, the details of which I need.  If I cannot make it back here later I will just have to trust my luck on arrival.  There are usually a number of hotel and room owners awaiting the arrival of the ferries and hawking for business, especially during evening hours, so I should not have any problem. 

Karpathos is an island which fortunately does not attract a large number of tourists due to it’s geographical situation.  This will be my first time there and I am looking forward very much to my stay with lots of rest and relaxation.  The weather forecast for the next few days looks promising, lows of around 21 degrees C, highs of 26-27 degrees C – just perfect! 

ADDITION TO BLOG – Sunday 13 June 2010.  During my stay in Hania, I had very much wanted to visit Costas’ sister Chrissoula who lives there, however, had not been able to do so.  As luck would have it, on Friday evening Antonia’s daughter Mary was visiting us and the opportunity arose for her to take me to Chrissoula’s home and Antonia would collect me later.  We did not have a great deal of time together, however, it was very rewarding.  Chrissoula had a photograph of Anna, her husband Vassiles and their 5 children which I had never seen before.  Took a photo of it – quite blew me away!  We were talking about the loss of so many of the men folk in the family and Chrissoula said she is particularly sad about Costas because he was so young, he had not had time to leave them any kind of legacy – only I, which shows the depth of feeling the family have for me.  Her husband Michaelis passed away within the same 40 day period as Costas’ 2 elder brothers Stratis and Yanni in 2001.  

Chrissoula’s son Vassilis is to marry in Iraklion on 21 August – I would love to be there.  My thoughts had been to return to Crete sometime in September, however, perhaps I will make it earlier.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 11th, 2010 at 10:29 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.