"Reflections on Chania"

                      I'm looking out across the bay. The sun sparkling on the water and in the
                      distance the city of Chania appears in a blue mist in the afternoon sun. 

                                                                  

 

I'm staying just outside Chania at Agio Apostoli in North West Crete.

 

 

The local bus drops me in the square of the "Old Town" and I'm on a

short walk past the tourist shops and restaurants , heading towards the

picturesque Venetian harbour. I stop at a narrow alleyway set back from    

the road and enter a small courtyard leading to the Chania folk museum,

a peaceful haven away from the hustle and bustle of early evening Chania.

 

 

 

Entrance to the museum

 

 

 

Then,on to the harbour with the numerous restaurants and tavernas

busily trying to compete with each other for the tourist's custom.

The building though that captures my attention is the 17th. century

former mosque "Giali Tzamisi" or "mosque of the bay" which now houses

events and exhibitions.

 

"The Mosque at Chania"

 

 

At the entrance to the harbour stands the Chania lighthouse, over 500

years old and one of the oldest in the world.

 

 

 

A quiet spot away from the crowds!

 

 

 

 

A few days later I catch the quirky "roadtrain" that takes a

three hour trip towards the Therissos gorge. Wending our way

through the orange and olive groves and small villages, all the time

seeing, in the distance, the "White Mountains" so called because the

limestone gives an impression of snow-capped peaks.

 

"White Mountains"

 

Then on through the gorge with an abundance of grazing goats

until we reach the village of Therissos itself, stopping for a beer

and feta pastries.