Crete vs Germany

There are still signs of the fighting during WW2 when German troops invaded Crete, the subsequent occupation lasted 3 years with German troops brutally punishing locals for infractions. When I asked our hotel owner about an old German machine gun mounted on his wall, he told me his father was a Freedom fighter fighting the Germans. When Germans seized the local fishing boats, a battle ensued with the killing of German troops. The enraged Germans executed 25 men and boys and sent 35 local men to concentration camps, none returned. I found a piece of bomb shrapnel on a hill side above our hotel. 

The irony is all the German tourists here now.

Loutro photos

We had lunch by the water, fresh bread dipped in olive oil, sheeps cheese, olives and a beer. Once again, tourists are are almost all German. The weather is like Nantucket in July, 80 during the day, 65 at nite. There was no power, wifi today all over town, no one seemed to care. 

Loutro

We once again treked down an ancient trail to the

old seaside trading town of Loutro. There are no cars here, you either walk in or come by boat. It took

three  hours to hike down the escarpment where we were reunited with our suitcases ( they arrived by ferry ). The bay is lined with waterfront tavernas and small hotels, ours is the one on the far left with our private terrace overlooking  the Med. This is the most beautiful place we've seen, I feel like staying for a month

Aradaina plateau

A few shots of the plateau, we had lunch here and walked a few miles to the village where we were picked up and transported to a hotel for 2 days . Our stone cottage is  a 2 bedroom suite, one room sits empty, too bad two of you aren't

with us. We had lunch in a tiny taverna where I managed to step on the dog under our table causing it to howl and bark which got the owner yelling at dog, total chaos in Greek. 

Trek up the escarpment

We left Agia Roumeli at sunrise, hiking along the empty beach for 90 minutes. We had our back packs with minimal supplies but lots of bottled water. We then entered an ancient trail which switch backed up the escarpment rising 2000 ft. This trail dates back over 3000 years, used to connect the mountain villages to the coast. In places are steps built by people of the late Bronze Age . It was another strenuous hike with awsome views at the summit. I was proud of Karen, she's in great shape!  We traversed the plateau amongst ancient stonewalled fields ending up at the tiny village of Aradaina. We are again high in the mountains. 

More Agias Roumeli

We really like the slow pace of this town. I like the feel of the isolation. There are lots of nice little restaurants overlooking the sea, they all serve similar Dishes of Crete,  I never tire of the salads and veggie cheese dishes, all cooked with the local olive oil. The local wines are cheap and good too. That's the ferry boat .

Agia Roumeli

We are here for 2 nites in this tiny seaside village, there are as many ( or more ) chickens and goats in town as people. This remote spot can only be reached by footpath or boat. There are only a handful 

of cars with no roads in or out.  The Germans are fond  of this town, most tourists are from there. Although it is a destination for many wanting some beach time, most just pass thru leaving the gorge and getting on a ferry to Chania. The clear blue Libyan Sea is nice and warm, wonderful swimming. The weather is noticeabley warmer than previous places. Our apartment has a sleeping balcony and private terrace with roosters crowing outside. 

warmer on this southern shore of Crete. 

Old Village

A few pics of the old village which is located a mile from the sea at the bottom of the gorge. Can you see the rows of beehives high up the hill side? Check out the ancient stonewall corral, pre wire fencing, The anandoned looking buildings were all used, mostly for animals. 

Hiking down the Gorge

The Samaria Gorge is the deepest in Europe. We started high in the mountains and hiked to the sea, from 5000 feet to sea level. It was 16 miles of constant downhill hiking through the spectacular scenery, with fresh water springs every few kilometers to refill our water bottles , We brought gyros ( sandwiches ) made from tomatoe, feta cheese, basil  and local flat bread, and had lunch in a pine grove halfway down, the ground was covered with fragrant wild thyme.

 

The hike took 8 hours and wasn't easy. We walked thru an ancient village at the bottem that looked abandoned , but wasn't , roosters were crowing , and goats and sheep were fenced in corrals. Everybody had gardens but we saw few people. Life looked simple and slow.