Tuesday, 8 October 2019

"Crete - A sketchbook journey " 1." Elounda to Kolokytha "






                                   It's early. There seems to be a bright light shining outside
                               the patio doors to my hotel room. I peek through the curtains
                                  to see that the the sun is rising above the sea, bathing the
                                              whole of the bay in a crimson glow.

                                                                 


To the West is the town of Elounda, from here I'll walk across to
the island of Kolokytha, linked to the mainland by a causeway.



Passing the salt pans the causeway reaches the
island proper and the landscape is dominated by two 
disused windmills.



Nearby, at a spot formerly known as Poros, are the sunken
remains of the ancient city of Olous. Inhabited since the 
Minoan period, it was one of the hundred most important cities
of Ancient Crete.


A little way on , beyond the fish taverna, are the 
remains of the Byzantine basilica and it's decorative
mosaic floor.



I stop for a drink at the art retreat "Elounda 
Island Villas" and meet the artist Leda Alexopoulou.
She showed me her work in her studio/gallery and told
me that she would return to Athens at the end of the summer.






After a swim in the warm sheltered waters, I
walk back to the outskirts of Elounda, stopping for 
lunch at the "Taverna Paradissos".







  

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