CRETE AND THE TWO OF US

Today when we arrived in Heraklion, Crete we were met by our driver who took us directly to the hotel. We were here about noon and shortly after our arrival, we walked up into the market area. There are lots of really nice walks to do around the area. We stopped for lunch in a little outdoor café and had calamari, tzatziki and beer. It was very good and the calamari had just the right chewy texture. We continued to walk around the market streets until we were home about 3:00 and then both of us had a nap.

At the beginning of the evening we walked a different route. This time our walk took us down along the sea wall. That walk ends at the Museum of Natural History. We must see that before we leave Heraklion. On the way back from our walk we stopped at a restaurant with outdoor seating. The waiter asked if we wanted to sit downstairs (outside) or upstairs (inside). We chose outside and Tina enjoyed a pork chop while I had a “boat” of steamed mussels. They were good. We find that Greeks use a lot of salt in their cooking but they give you half a lemon with your meal and when you squeeze it on your food, it drastically cuts the salty taste.

When we asked for the bill, our waiter brought us a little glass bottle with ouzo and 2 shot glasses, a plate of cut apple and pear and another plate with some sort of desert on it – kind of a pudding/cake with cinnamon and honey. So he poured us a shot of ouzo each … well we didn’t want to be rude …… so we downed that. Then he came back a few minutes later and brought a third glass and refilled ours. So once again we thought we should show our appreciation. They we quickly paid our bill and continued our walk.

Our next stop was a tourist /fast ferry place and thought we would go in and ask about a sightseeing trip. He said we would be better to go on the public busses on our own if we had the time. So he wrote out a list of the things we should do and see and how to go about that. The biggest part of the list he gave us was the different foods to try and the local drink. Since we had already tried ouzo, he said they we must try raki. At which point his manager came out with 3 shot glasses and a bottle of raki and there we were again not wanting to seem impolite….So as I write this to you now, I have had 2 shots of ouzo and 3shots of raki and other than the letters being blurry – I hope I am managing to write an engaging blog.

So back to the hotel and tomorrow we will try the local buses and see where we get to. I have a feeling that ouzo and raki will not be on the menu tomorrow.

I’ll echat with you soon