Greece 2008
Journey Day: 1
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18
Day 09 - September 19 - Crete
Endless hairpin turn day around
Southwest Crete. Retraced yesterday's drive and continued further
along the coast.
First stop was the Venetian castle Frangokastello. Only a shell now;
however, the Venetian lion and two heralds
were embedded in the rear exit. Should be an impressive sight at night
since it is surrounded by large floodlights,
which were on during the daytime.
Next stop was Hora Sfakion. A small fishing village with transport
connections - both main bus system to the
North island and water transport to various coastal beaches and towns.
This is also the main return point for
the well known Samaria Gorge. (Next year's adventure). A vine covered
roof ran the full length of main shops
and restaurants on the harbor front. Picked up sandwiches and
continued the drive.
Just West of the town was new road construction - wasn't sure if the road
was open; however, we could see
a tour bus coming down from the 1,000 meter sized mountain. So,
between gravel areas, new pavement,
and large earth moving equipment, we continued over the mountain and to the
end of the highway.
Quite the surprise came around a corner - a one lane wooden floor bridge
over a rather deep gorge. Many
a hiker had come to visit Anethena Gorge. At the entrance was a small
abandoned village - appearing to be
remains of the WW II Cretan War with no roofs and riddled with bullet
holes. A 4.5 KM hike will lead to the
Libyan Sea - would assume water transport is available.
Came across other old villages and house ruins. Amazing part of
Crete's history is the first major war time
parachute assault was here by the Germans. And now, 60 years later,
the assault continues with German
tour and independent travel groups instead.
Return route was via the main road to Hania; however, it was under some
large scale construction with new
tunnels, side walls, and expanded pavement. Located an alternate route
back to Plakias; however, the narrow
gauge road with the World's record of hairpin turns did take some
time. West to East roads don't tend to
exist - seems most are South to North following a gorge or mountain divide.
Dinner was back to Medousa cafe with the house special spicy pork and shrimp
salad. Stopped at a
local bakery for 'Milk Cake' (Greek version of tres leches). Know it
will be good since the single Plakias
police car was parked in front. Guess 'donut shops' are
universal. Walked back to the hotel under the
clear starry night.
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Updated: September, 2008