Copyright © Tanya Piejus, 1999

Tuesday 12th

Arrived with no hassles at Chania (variously Xania and, commonly, Hania) at 5 pm. Met the Simply Crete courier and picked up the car. Weather perfect - clear skies, a few fluffy clouds and just the right amount of heat. Winding, narrow roads through a rocky and quite barren landscape of low herbs, heather and olives took us to no. 13 Alianthos Villas near Tarsanas on the Akrotiri Peninsula. The villa is simply furnished and comfortable with food in the fridge and in sight of the bar and pool.

Took a stroll up the hill to Tarsanas which consists of one taverna, three shops and not much else. Lots of half-finished houses everywhere with solar panels on the roof. Sheep, goats, cats - thin, angular, small like in Egypt. Lovely views across the bay to nearby beaches and the outskirts of Hania.

Had dinner in Irene's Taverna. She's a small, round, black-clad Greek lady who took us into the kitchen and opened up pots, pans, hot cabinet and oven to show us the selection of the day. All traditional local dishes - moussaka (of course), stuffed tomatoes, aubergines, potatoes cooked in chicken juices, herbs and garlic in the oven and fresh Greek salad. Chunky bread, chips and a carafe of the local fortified wine finished off the main course. After we'd eaten, one of the servers brought a water bottle full of a clear liquid which she poured into tiny glasses. Thought it was water but one sniff and it was obviously something much stronger. It's now the season for making raki and apparently it's common practice to bring it out for dinner guests.

After dark, jet fighters started tearing over from the NATO bases nearby and we watched them from the villas' bit of seashore, flashing across the bay, past the winking lighthouse beyond.

Wednesday 13th

Greek yoghurt, fresh oranges and honey on toast for breakfast, plus our own Tetley tea. How British.

Wound our way off the peninsula to Hania doing the best we could with the scant roadsigns. Found the harbour without too much bother and parked near a weird 'hand' statue. The harbour area if gorgeous and forms the edge of the old town. We'd driven through 'centre centre' Hania on the way which is bustling, modern and unremarkable. The old town is a jumble of small, cobbled streets, huge, flaking doorways, shuttered windows and little craft shops. Overpriced baklava and coffee on the harbour front and a wander through the pastel-patterned streets taking photos and eyeing up potential purchases. All very tasteful. Had lunch a couple of beaches along from ours. Greek salad and chips. More cats and some v. cute puppies. There's an island that looks good for snorkelling just off the beach.

Spent the rest of the afternoon on 'our' beach and by the pool after a talk by the rep. Sparrows roosting in the trees by the balcony. Racket while they say goodnight - the avian equivalent of 'The Waltons' perhaps.

Dinner at the Sun Rise above Kalathas beach, al fresco looking out over the bay despite temperature being pretty darn chilly. Watched bats zipping in and out of streetlight. Had dolmades followed by swordfish - both local specialities. More free raki set us up nicely for bed.

Thursday 14th

Got lost on the way to Agia Triada and Gouverneto monasteries - road signing is atrocious - but had bonus view of monastery from above on a road that winds up the stark rocky outcrops that run in a ridge behind us. Agia Triada is run as a commercial venture to raise money for an orphanage but they only charge 300 dr entry fee. There's a small museum of religious artefacts including some twelfth-century manuscripts and you can walk freely around the monastery. An old monk with an out-of-place cordless phone took the money. Men and women are supposed to dress modestly but the hordes of tourists took no notice of the request.

The monks also sell olive oil grown and pressed on-site and I bought a lovely bottle containing 200 ml oil in a presentation box for 700 dr (œ1.40). The monastery isn't very old but it has an impressive chapel with much polished brass and relief pictures in silver/brass with painted faces. It's all painted in a soft orange and is quite beautiful.

Drove on a windy, rough road to Gouverneto monastery but decided not to go in even though the monks had decided to open today. A path runs down to the sea and some caves but due to walking the Samaria Gorge tomorrow, decided not to take it.

Went to Thanassis taverna and beach near Stavros for lunch. Clean, friendly taverna with a lovely small semi-manmade beach in its own little cove. Sunbathed and snorkelled the afternoon away. Saw some nice fish including a tartan one, quite unafraid. It was quiet, relaxing and lovely and hot. Dinner at Christiana taverna in Stavros harbour. Had pork stifado which was yummy with Greek salad. We got free raki again and were presented, with some ceremony, with bubble gum on leaving.

Friday 15th

Up at the crack of dawn (well, before really, we left at dawn) to walk the Samaria Gorge. A taxi picked us up at 7 am and drove us up winding, death-defying roads to the 4000 ft-high start to the gorge. A worrying number of roadside shrines show where hapless Greeks have spun off the wall-less roads and died. The start of the gorge is a 3000 ft drop down wooden and rocky stairs into the cleft in sheer, red-walled cliffs covered in odoriferous fur trees and herbs, especially thyme. We'd been warned that it would be tough physically and under foot but people were there in woefully inadequate footwear, clothing and baggage. We left many of them behind early on.

The gorge is spectacular. Towering sides which come as close at 14 ft at the 'Iron Gates', bleached rocks, a strange forest of cairns built by previous walkers, clear rivers of bitingly cold water, drinkable springs at regular intervals, marauding giant wasps, French-style toilets, narrow cliff-edge paths, fantastically-folded rock strata, nimble goats, army wardens, impossible trees, polished rocks by thousands of feet, an abandoned settlement, blue blue sky, dry heat and, at the end, turquoise sea with a rash of tavernas.

Took the boat - the only way out - to Chora Sfakion. There's nothing on that coast except for barren brown rock falling straight into the sea and an isolated resort for sun-worshippers. The taxi driver met us at the port and it was another nail-biting ride up hairy mountain roads back to the Akrotiri peninsula. A long but worthwhile day topped off with lamb in paper and Greek salad at the nearby Sunset taverna. No raki but the physical exhaustion of 18 km rough hiking was enough to ensure a great night's sleep.

Saturday 16th

Hania food market is allegedly one of the best in Greece so we decided to go and see if it lived up to its reputation. I also needed money but the machine wouldn't accept the PIN. The market is cross-shaped but was rather disappointing. It had a lot of tourist shops selling the standard foody wares - nuts in honey, baskets of herbs and spices, bags of nuts, bottles of olive oil and local alcohols, etc. We were expecting spectacular veg and fish stalls and there were a few selling such delectables as raw sheep's heads but it was mostly a bit disappointing. After drinks in the town square, we wandered back to the car in the harbour car park, via a shop selling snorkelling gear for Graham, and stopped off at Kalathas beach again to have lunch. This time we stayed for the afternoon to swim out to the island and snorkel. It's only about 1/3 mile but it's against the waves so quite tiring. We gout out OK and swam along the beachward edge of the island looking at the fish. There weren't many to start with but then we saw a big shoal of pale grey ones and the ones with black spots near their tails swam along with us. We found some bottom-feeding ones too, and a strange-looking albino fish which was flat and ugly.

When we swam back to the shore, the sun had gone in so we went back to the apartment then out again to the Allied war cemetery at Souda Bay. It's in a beautiful spot overlooking the bay and modern warships and contains the graves of over 1000 servicemen who died mostly during the Battle of Crete in late May / early June 1941. As ever in Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries, the graves were beautifully kept with plants and the cross of remembrance in the middle. There were also some WW1 graves and a handful of civilian pre-1900 stones, mostly naval. It was just as moving as those in France and Belgium and a fitting tribute to a hard-fought but ultimately failed battle.

We ate in the Riding Stables Restaurant not far along the road. I had an excellent plate of fresh kalimari and pork in a feta cheese and green pepper sauce. Raki was poured out of a Johnnie Walker Red Label bottle to finish.

Gecko on the balcony. 'Sea stuff'. Women in black. Moaning cats. Low energy lightbulbs. Ouzo and pistachio nuts at 10.30. Cicadas. Free raki. Screaming jet engines. Holes in the road.

That last paragraph was all I managed to write for the last three days of the holiday. We went to Knossos which you can't really go to Crete and not do. It's vast and interesting but odd because of the turn-of-the-century 'restorations' that were done and the fact that a lot of the murals have been removed and repainted. Our last whole day was spent back in Hania shopping and on the local beach where we did some more snorkelling. I always thought I'd like Greece and indeed I do. Definitely one for a revisit.

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