still in Samos

haven't time or energy right now to write much of anything. been doing lots and lots of walking and gawking, taking lots of photos and maybe next week in Kusadasi, Turkey will take a day to catch up on travel journal. for now, here's a couple of photos from the ruins of the Temple of Hera and one from the Archeological Museum of spinning whorls.

Awesome is an over-used word, but i was totally awed to be standing in the Temple of Hera and to look at the huge size of the area and try to imagine what it might have been like......

Samos

today we arrived on the Greek island of Samos for a 3 day stay. I don't claim any expertise in foreign policy, but i can see Turkey from my balcony! you betcha!! actually, i'd have to go to the top of the hill to see Turkey, but how important are facts anyway? highly over-rated!

yesterday we had a wonderful adventure for our last day in Crete... saw many many interesting things, walked miles... all of it uphill... took lots of photos... and i'm still exhausted. it didn't help that we spent the day today traveling. i'm hoping for a low-key day tomorrow and will upload a bunch of pictures and try to figure out where i was. ttfn and see you on the flip side!

edited: here's Turkey from the top of the hill....

One afternoon we met Marina at Liakoto, had an ouzo together and she and i were able to piece together a conversation. she has some english words and i have a few greek words, so we shared what’s been happenin’ in our respective worlds. she left for a few minutes and came back with 2 liters of wine and one of olive oil, all products of Alekos’ vineyard and olive trees, so very special to us! she also brought a small photo album and we got to see her new “friend”, Adoni, who is from her home island of Syros. from the looks of it, they are smitten with each other... Bravo!!

the weather has been warm and wonderful with only one day of clouds and a night of rain. the rain brings out all the snails and relatives, large and small. they hung around for a few days before disappearing again. they are awfully crunchy underfoot! eeewwww

we went for a walk around the neighborhood with Greg and Linda... and they all did some unauthorized lemon harvesting while i got the evidence! actually, lemon trees are abundant and most are heavy with lemons begging to be picked!

the roses are blooming... also hibiscus and bougainvilla and poppies and many more!

we enjoyed some refreshments on their front porch!

each of the rental houses has a plaque with its name. their porch is featured on a postcard which advertises the place.

i’ve become a slacker on keeping up with my travel journal/blog. will try for a bit of catch up. it’s sunday, sunny lovely day going on, lots of bird singing and i’ve got Andrea Bocelli playing on my computer..... life is good. Greg and Linda arrived on Friday afternoon from Athens and after they took their bags to their house, we all sat at Bloumosifi at an outside table and sipped cold Mythos while we caught up on their travels (and travails) so far... and made plans for the next few days. they got an upgrade on their house because the one they reserved needed some work on it after the winter... and are staying at Xanthippi’s rental which is really really nice... and has wireless, a beautiful view of the White Mountains, all kinds of niceties plus a washing machine! yesterday we took the bus to Hania and i was happy that it went the long way so we went thru Gavalohori, Almirida, Kalives and a few other small villages, which was like a tour of the countryside! Hania was bustling busy and it looks like all the merchants are geared up for tourist season. we walked thru one of the narrow street/alley ways where it’s like an open market of tourist wares and trinkets, also lots of vendors with really nice Italian leather goods (i bought a really nice fanny pack with lots and lots of pockets!!), then went thru the big market... it has fresh fish and meat in one section, an area of cheeses and baked goods, some fresh fruit and vegetable vendors, and of course many vendors selling the Greek olive oil, soaps, raki, ouzo, candy (i bought some of my fave - Halvah- to take home), and of course lots of teeshirts and hats and key chains stuff. we walked down to the Old Harbor and after walking and looking for awhile, we let ourselves be hustled into one of the harbor-side tavernas for lunch. many of these places have a “hustler” standing out in the walkway who quite pleasantly starts talking to you in english... or german, and invites you to come and look at their menu. most of them have some sort of gimmick to get you talking to them and can be quite charming! anyway, we looked, we sat, and we have a nice lunch and Mythos, followed of course by raki and dessert which they just bring to you when they start clearing your dishes away automatically.

after lunch we wandered a bit more, stopped at our favorite art gallery/shop, Jim bought a little statue of "the happy warrior". by the time we got back to that horrid scary bus station we were hot and sweaty and totally ready to get on the bus and come back home!

Almirida

Almirida - several days ago we took a taxi to Giorgios’ taverna (Aeraki which mean small breeze). we walked around Almirida for awhile, gawking and taking photos. it is a nice little beach town which becomes overrun with tourists during the season, which will start pretty soon. it is suffering a bit of a delay due to the volcanic ash which is drifting over Europe and causing cancellation of air traffic. i sure do hope it’s better by May 3 so we can get home!! anyway, had a nice dinner in the outdoor part of the taverna, were able to have a little time with Giorgios before the place started getting busy. was a good evening!

cats of Crete

in Crete there are cats and kittens everywhere! sadly, it seems

that none (or maybe very few) have had the benefit of seeing a

Veterinarian so the most common sight is scruffy cats great with

kitten and scruffy scrawny toms in stand-off with equally scruffy

toms. also, there’s a LOT of yowling going on. many of these are

totally feral and frightened, but depend on handouts wherever they

can find them.

when we were here last fall a very small pitifully young and

undernourished kitten wandered into our courtyard. we poured

milk for him, put out cheese and meat scraps. i named “him”

Hercules because he really needed a big strong name... he needed

all the help his pitiful self could get. it took a couple of weeks before

we could get near without him scurrying away. slowly, gradually

we could get closer and closer. by the time i left, the little kitten had

begun to put on weight and his spine and ribs were no longer visible

thru the fur, i was able to get close enough to determine that “he”

was a “she”, and the name changed to Herculina, and she would let

me pet her. i was so sad to leave her and hoped that she’d gotten

enough of a start that she’d make it in the cruel world of cats in

Crete. I’ve been on the look-out for her since we’ve been here and

have been disappointed to not see her.... until last night. there she

was INSIDE at Bloumosifi - not really common inside the taverna.

there was a little girl who really wanted to play with her so i gave

her a piece of yarn, she tied a cork onto it and they had a great game

going on.... with Herculina participating wholeheartedly. what a

delight! when the girl left, the cat made the rounds looking for hand-

outs and of course, i contributed. ended up she crawled up into my

lap for cuddles and was quite well-behaved. glad i had my camera

with me!!

ETA - tonight (4/15) i found out that Herculina is now living the good life! the family of the child who was playing with her at the taverna have adopted her for at least the 2 weeks of their vacation in Crete and just

might take her back to England with them! bravo for her good life!!

today's walk around Vamos

i found flowers! i found sheep! the wool on these sheep look worth spinning as opposed to most of the wool on the hoof that i've seen here! i wonder what kind of reaction i'd get if i found the owner and asked for some of their wool.... and, alas, i did not bring a drop spindle this time. and, in fact, i've hardly done any knitting, so very little fiber stuff to talk about.

this coming friday, Linda and Greg will arrive and i'm really looking forward to showing them our little piece of Cretan paradise!

news from home

well... the bad news and the good news... our dogs are staying with Chris and Kate while we're gone.... these dogs are known for being opportunists when it comes to finding a way to get out and run!... the opportunity presented itself and they scooted out the front door. from the moment they'd arrived at Casa Sitzman North, they'd been focused on the sound of the chickens. so... when they managed an escape, they headed directly for the house of chickens... the hens fled to the woods and Sunshine-the-rooster assumed his "i am a force to be dealt with and i've chased off coyote and bobcat and i can deal with 2 damn huskies". sad to say, said huskies did not know about Sunshine's might and force, and unfortunately, they were too much for him. and the huskies won the tussle. and the good news is that Sunshines's days were limited because he had taken to attacking his humans and anyone who went outside when Sunshine was out and about needed to have a broom with them to fight him off. the humans had put out an offer of $20 to anyone who would take him. it was a bad thing that the dogs did, but at least Chris did not have to deal with ending Sunshine's rule!

around Vamos

the White Mountains (Lefka Ori) in the distance as we walked home.

the olive trees are in bloom with the promise of being laden with olives in a few months.

a very old and small home we passed.

a day in Kalives

waiting for the bus in comfort!

how i do love the flowers of Crete!

ripe lemons on a tree in the courtyard of a house on the main street, which is a bit more than one lane... it's one and one-half. and sidewalks only here and there, so i feel like i risk life and limb walking there... keeps me very alert to my surroundings and to the buses and big construction trucks that i'm sharing the road with!

as we wandered and looked in shop windows, we saw a home-for-sale ad in one of the many real estate offices. it looked particularly interesting! the photos don't show up well, but the text was interesting on its own!

we stopped for late lunch/early dinner at a taverna there that we like... good meal and excellent dessert. it's hard to beat chocolate cake with chocolate icing and chocolate sauce poured over it! especially when it comes with moscato!!

i'm having a hell of a time getting the photos and text arranged the way i want them, so rather than cause myself any further frustration, i'll just stop and have some more beer!

more easter party

later in the day we went to the new home of Tatiana and Stravros way way up in the foothills of the mountains.... Lefka Ori... above a small village called Melonia. 2 of the guests played the bouseki, so we had music throughout. we loved reconnecting with these friends and meeting some new folks. the view from there was splendid... olive trees everywhere, also Souda Bay and specks of villages way below.

this was quite an international group.. Dutch, Brits, French, Bulgarian, Greeks and Cretans (of course)