Thalori pics

The village is 4000 years old , new houses attached to ancient ones. A nearby spring provides water for the inhabitants, I would guess 75 people live here, they are mostly sheep herders. We are staying in the area's only hotel, a wonderful blend of old and new. We climbed the nearby towering peak, a most holy sight for the Minoans, a pre-Grecian culture that thrived for 1500 years before vanishing 3000 years ago. The once forested hillsides were cut off long ago with overpasturing by sheeps and goats keeping the countryside barren till this day, a stark but beautiful land. 

Thalori Crete

We left Loutra on a ferry and traveled an hour down the coast where we were picked up and driven 3 hours east to Thalori, a small village where they have blended the old with the new. Our stone cottage is huge, with a crib for Asher or Char. We are once again looking out over the Libyan Sea. Tomorrow we tour the Minoan ruins and a holy site with a private guide. Mutton for dinner tonite. They cooked it in the fire place, it was like chewing on an old boot. 

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.