Kissamos

Friday, May 9th, 2014 Kissamos Crete
The day before yesterday, we walked about 1 1/2 km from the little bus station on the west side of Kissamos to our hotel on the east. We probably could have got off the bus at a closer stop but we didn't know exactly where we were going.
We're staying at the Galini Beach Hotel, owned by a local family who have been running it for about 25 years. It's quite nice, right on the waterfront. We have a "side sea view" room so we have a good view of the ocean plus, oddly enough, the local soccer stadium right next to the hotel. That's okay. It's fun to watch the games in the evening. We are right on the so-called beach but it's actually baseball size stones so it's even difficult to walk on. Further along on the west side of town there is a nice sand beach but right at our hotel it's not so good. There is a terrace with lounge chairs at the hotel beachfront but we haven't sat there yet. We have a good sized balcony with afternoon sun so it's nice to sit out there for happy hour.
Our first night here we didn't even go out for dinner. We had bought supplies at a little market about 10 minutes away on the main road so we just had a snack and relaxed for the evening. Yesterday morning we finally decided to see the town.
First we walked up along the main road into the old part of town. We found a better market and a travel agency and bus stop so we don't have to walk all the way back to the little town bus station. There are a couple of nice little town squares and little streets. Kissamos is not nearly as touristy as Hania and other places we have stayed. Naturally, pretty much the whole town is built on Minoan and other ruins but not much is visible.

 A couple of shots from our balcony.

 Anita is cooling her feet at the beach on the western side of town. The water is still cool although some people are swimming. Generally, the weather is sunny and about 20C. We've been wearing the same long sleeve shirts and hats plus lots of SPF 60 sunscreen for a lot of the trip because the UV index is often at 8 or 9. I did swim in a pool at one of our recent hotels because it was so hot in the sun but it's still a little early for us to swim at the beach.

 The beach at the western side of town. From there we walked back up into town to a different, bigger market to get some more supplies, since we're here for a total of 4 nights. Since we have a fridge and kettle in our room, we'll probably continue to eat breakfast and sometimes lunch on our balcony. We have local yogurt, bakery bread, cheese, some deli meat, local olives, bottled water, beer and wine. That way we can snack on our balcony or take a little lunch with us when we wander. We've been drinking bottled water since we left home. It's not that some places don't have clean water but there may be microbes that don't affect the locals but might affect us. Plus there are a lot of places where we don't trust the integrity of the water pipes of the town.
On our way back down the slope from the main road we were walking along the little sidewalk beside the small street. There was a mother with baby in a stroller right behind us. Three guys on motorcycles came toward us up the street. One veered up a little low curb onto the sidewalk, headed right for us, and then veered back onto the street down another little low curb right in front of us. He and his pals thought that was pretty funny but neither we nor the young mother behind us were impressed. We all yelled at him as he passed. It would have been easy to knock him off his bike as he went by but really there was no harm done. He wasn't wearing a helmet and I didn't want to go to prison for killing him. We have at least one notable asshole in Combermere who does similar things to walkers, although he's likely going to die of old age soon anyway.

 The breakwater at the center of town. Last night we ate in that little restaurant with the red roof at the far end of the waterfront promenade. Lonely Planet calls the restaurant, named "Papadakis", a "classic taverna on the central waterfront". That's true. If we had been any closer to the water, we would have been in it. We had a great meal of fresh calamari, stuffed eggplant, boureki, beer and wine. As usual, before dinner we got bread, tzaziki and some other dip and after dinner we got free desserts and a little bottle of raki with 2 "Havana Club", oddly enough, shot glasses. It all cost 28 euros ($42). The clientele was a mix of tourists and locals. The old white haired, white bearded owner all dressed in black, kept wandering around giving regulars extra house wine.
While we were at dinner, we did remember that there was one time that we felt ripped off at a restaurant in Greece. That was at a place not too far from the harbour in Mykonos where we got very small portions for an inflated price. However, this was completely the opposite, as usual.

The soccer field next to our hotel is well used. It's kind of nice to see community owned recreational areas available to people. In the morning, there are ladies walking the track and teams practising. The field is quite wide so they can play 2 games side by side. Often there are local kids out there just fooling around with a ball.
In less than a couple of hours, we're going to take a picnic lunch with us on the bus to Falassarna Beach, 16 km from here on the very west end of Crete. The bus is 7 euros each return. We'll leave here around noon and be back by 6 pm. Some people say it's the most beautiful beach in Crete. We'll see.