Crete, and Chania specifically had worked its magic on us. we were really charmedby the town, the alleyways and cobblestone pathways that wove around the Venetian structures really took you to a different time. Especially in the early evenings when the day-trippers had left and the partyiers were taking a little siesta before a hard night. The mornings were even more fun as the usually packed areas are devoid of activity other than restaurant workers setting up for the day. There's a peacefulness that overtakes you.
The Missus and I walked through just about every street close to the harbor, just soaking in the personality of the old town. It's hard ot imagine that this part of Chania was heavily bombed during World War II, or that much of the population of the city were either imprisoned or executed by the Germans, suspected of participating in the resistance. Almost the entire Jewish population of the town was shipped off to camps during that time as well, essentially destroying what was a very long history on Crete.
Yet, the beauty and charm of the town survived……
It was a nice time to try and figure out where we'd want to have our next meal….and perhaps where we wouldn't…..
I don't think that I mentioned that a pretty impressive wall was built by the Venetians around what is now Old Town. Unfortunately, the fortifications didn't stop the Ottomans from taking the town from the Venetians in 1645.
On this morning, we headed around the city walls and into Chania proper.
So what would lead us out of Old Town? Well you know it had to do with food right? When we headed out from Madonna Studio's in the morning, I stop and chatted with Thomais, who noted my interest in food. She told me that today was "market day" and the local one was just outside the city walls in front of the fishing harbor. You know I just can't resist these, right?
I believe it's fellow blogger Lynnea, who once mentioned that the classic mmm-yoso travel post will always include farmer's markets and dogs….well, here's the proud little fellow who followed us to the market…then found more interesting folks to follow….
In contrast to the sleepy Old Town, the market was pretty busy…….
The location overlooking the harbor is quite nice as well…….
While walking through the market admiring the super fresh offerings the Missus had an idea…..
Why don't we….which of course means me, make dinner tonight? Well, I hadn't really taken inventory of what was available in our room. I did note a two top burner set-up, so the Missus settled on having a big lunch and a very, very, simple mostly veg dinner. Which was a relief to me since as much as I was tempted to try stuff like this…..
I really didn't feel up to it. So we kept it very simple…….
We headed back to our room with our bounty, then the Missus settled back in to start reading one of the books in the cabinets….book exchanges are wonderful!
When lunch rolled around, the Missus had only one thing one Her mind…….Vasiliko again. Which was just fine for me……
This time around, I ordered the calamari, just to see how it would be. The Missus isn't a big fan of the usual tough squid, but this was very tender….very, very, tender.
Of course we had the octopus….we just had too.
As we had our cheese pie and raki, one of the gentleman working here came over to chat. He had remembered us from the day before. Along with the infamous "how can you live without olive oil", we now got the "why sea salt is healthy for you" presentation…….
Opening the little container of sea salt on the table, "you know, sea salt is very healthy for you….more healthy than almost anything! I will tell you why!" I look at the Missus with an amused look, we're both just waiting for the shoe to drop. "I can take all this sea salt, pour it in water, then mix….it will dissolve, be all gone. The same thing must happen in your body….so it can do you no harm!" We look at each other, trying not to laugh. He looks at us and add the disclaimer, "of course, if any of you is a doctor or medical person, I take this all back!" You gotta love it!!!
After lunch we returned to our room, the Missus settled in,but I was wide awake. I decided to head out for provisions I needed for dinner. Along the way out I got some directions from Thomais to the local market….
I also decided to stop by the Agora, the old central market which is fairly close by……..
The building that houses the market is quite impressive; built in the shape of a cross it was inaugurated back in 1913, when Crete was officially unified with Greece as part of the Treaty of London. On this day, when I arrived, the Agora was almost totally empty. It was late in the day and all the seafood vendors had cleaned up and were long gone.
Though most of the other shops were open, the place had a "ghost town" feel to it.
It was nice to walk around a bit, but I ended up going to the market to purchase, well. just a couple of bottles of wine really.
You see, when I asked Thomais about finding a market nearby, she asked me why. I mentioned needing some salt and perhaps a little olive oil. Did I mention how generous and accommodating Thomais is? Well, I was told not to worry about salt…..and Thomais also brought us olive oil pressed from her very own trees!
Does service get any better than that? Really? We popped open the bottle of red I got from the market…the Missus had a seat on the little porch under the late afternoon sun in Chania.
It was a very humble dinner……..quite simple. But this was Crete and the pure and simple are savored. Of course here, the tomatoes are sold when they are truly ripe.
So what better than a simple salad dressed with fresh pressed olive oil………
We really took our time with dinner.
Soon we finished that bottle of red and I opened the bottle of white we bought in Iraklios. It refreshed us……
We started in on the bread and cheese we bought earlier in the day. Such substance filled us up.
Our main course may seem perhaps too simple, but we truly enjoyed it. The flavors of potatoes picked the day before, zucchini, fresh, ripe, and sweet. Just simmered in water and dressed with sea salt and olive oil……something this simple would actually cost you much more here if bought from the grower here in the U.S……this actually cost us 3 Euros, farm fresh.
After dinner, we took a walk….we had hit that mellow evening time, before much of the dinner crowd had come out.
I'd always thought the lighting at twilight and dusk to be the same, but it is surely not true…..
It's easy enough to be taken by the charm of Chania to forget the history. And you can be easily overwhelmed by the history of Chania as well. Our after dinner walk took us to a street just off the waterfront and up a hill. Here we found a archaeological site right in the middle of a group of buildings and apartments. Apparently, this is the location of one of the city's original settlements on the Hill of Kastelli, where the Minoan's settled in 3000 BC.
This was a nice post-dinner walk. But of course, according to Cretan tradition, we never finished dinner! We never had raki…….luckily, I had also bought a little bottle of raki at the market. This turned out to be good stuff! And it was a nice aperitif….especially for me. The next morning we were to hike the Samarian Gorge!