Sfakia to Hania

Wednesday, May 7, 2014, Kissamos
Finally, we have a decent internet connection in our room. We just arrived in Kissamos today, but more about that later. First to catch up a bit, we spent last week in and around Chora Sfakion on the south coast.

 Chora Sfakion is a quiet little town hemmed in against the sea by the White Mountains. Most of the people who come here are hikers. There is a ferry that brings people back here from the base of the Samaria Gorge, a national park. A bus from here takes them back to Hania. Since we had done the 8 km Imbros Gorge hike, we didn't feel the need to do the similar 16 km Samaria Gorge hike, even though it's more famous. It's also more crowded with as many as 1,000 people per day hiking it in the summer. Right now, all of Crete is reasonably quiet.

 There is a new harbour just around the point from Chora Sfakion. Many of these ports in Crete are similar. They need a good breakwater to shield the boats from the wind and rough seas. Most of the ports are small since the indentations in the coastline are small too. Chora Sfakion is famous as the port from which 16,000 Allied troops, mostly Aussies, Kiwis and Brits, were evacuated as the Nazis advanced on them in 1941.
We finally left the south coast on Monday, taking the bus to Hania. As we passed through Vryses again, we saw the same guy that we'd taken a picture of the week earlier still sitting at the same table in the little diner/bar/bus stop. Life is slow here.
When we got to Hania, it took us only about 15 minutes to find our hotel in the old town.

 We have a nice big room with 4 poster bed, overlooking a little pedestrian street.

 Across the street is an open air restaurant situated in the ruins of an old building. This is the view from our tiny balcony. Hania is noted for roofless restaurants in old Venetian ruins.

 Just a few meters away is the square in front of the cathedral. More pictures of it tomorrow.

 We went out for dinner at a restaurant called Portes, recommended in Lonely Planet. The food was great. We spent 25 euros ($37.50) which seems to be about the normal price we're paying for dinner in Greece. That's not exorbitant but it seems like enough to us, since we were spoiled with many very good meals in southeast Asia for around $10-$12 for both of us. Greece is definitely more expensive than that. although not outrageous.
The old town here shows a lot of Venetian influence. Hania has been inhabited for thousands of years. It looks like any time they dig a hole, they encounter Minoan ruins from about 5,000 years ago. As usual on these islands, after the Minoans came the Hellenic, Roman and Byzantine regimes. Then in the early 13th century, the Venetians arrived. Over time they constructed massive fortifications and breakwaters. They were replaced by the Ottoman Turks in the 1600's who seemed to have overstayed their welcome until 1898. The Greeks still haven't forgiven them. The most recent invaders were the Nazis. Certainly a different history from our own at home although in my working career when I talked to some of the Elders in First Nations communities that I've visited in Canada, I sometimes got the sense that they were just waiting for white people to screw up enough to just disappear someday. Maybe they're right.

We actually managed to stay up until dusk. The building in the foreground is a former Turkish mosque that is now an arts and crafts shop. Interesting architecture.
More of Hania tomorrow.