Planning

It is not so easy to conquer the island of Crete. Many others have learnt about this. The cultural epochs last more than 5000 years back in the past and all of these eras had to overcome disputes and wars, occupations and natural desasters. Some cultures perished and have left only some relicts to the posterity. So to be read in every book or guide about Crete.

The last two occupations have occurred recently. The Battle of Crete (Schlacht um Kreta) at 1941 to the "glory" of the German Army is well known. Large bulks of paratroopers were offered to gain a four years long occupation. Many older inhabitants of Crete will remember those times. But the German period at Crete only lasted less than five years.

Some time later the next - until now the last - occupation took place. This was the violent torrent of the touristic activities. This occupation was peaceful but it has changed the island more than all occupations before. The rest has been done by the increase in motorization and the accompanying road constructions. Today all of the former extremely remote regions are easily accessible by comfortable roads.

Bay of Plakias

So if you today want to conquer Crete you must be a tourist. We had a first attempt in the year 1997 but were only able then to occupy some eastern parts of the island. So there is an open account and we will keep more to the west and look forward to the central part of Crete. The north coast with its wide beaches and high-density areas turns to be the Greek "Ballermann". Supported by internet-researches we find out that the village of Plakias at the south coast could be a nice location for our spring-holidays. I even find a panorama-view of the Plakias bay in the internet, so it is a little bit possible to imagine the landscape around. (Origin: http://www.peter-thomson.co.uk/crete/Where_to_start_walking_or_cycling_Plakias.html

Easter Sunday: Arrival

The airplane will start at Hannover at 5.45 am and to get there in time we must prepare the alarm clock for 2 am. We better trust in two of them. They are radio-controlled, so they both start to blow or whistle unisonous. And one of them cannot be stopped except by extracting the batteries. Later at the Autobahn a slight snowfall starts. But we arrive at the airport without problems. Check-in and board-in and as we enter the plane I realize that I have forgotten my driver license in the glove box of our car. So we must find out alternative options to move around than by a hired car.

As we hear, that the outer skin of the plane must be de-iced before the start, we know why we have this desire for the south. I have a window seat (you will later learn why not Heidi) and can see a little bit of the Alps and from a cloudless sky the Mediterranian Sea. As at our first flight to Crete the view to the islands of Santorin is very impressive again. The approach to Heraklion is somewhat unstable and we bang down, may be this was caused by the strong winds. Some clap their sweating hands.

Soon we sit in our bus and wait - and wait - to depart. We wait for a service maid of Neckermann who finally appears, and after she has checked the guests and their destinations we can start. After we have left Heraklion the bus stops for the first time near a big factory or power station with mighty chimneys. The chimneys are painted in red and white colors as well as some big oil tanks nearby. Some guests get off to an apartment site, may be this is the right spot for breath recreation. The most guests eventually leave the bus at the north coast before we reach Rethymnon. As usual we are nearly the last persons remaining in the bus. We turn to the south now and more and more flowers are to be seen. The Oleander starts its blossom just now.

Yellow balls of Flowers above Plakias

There are funny yellow balls of flowers, may be a kind of onions or dill. We cross the island just between the big highlands, there is still snow up there. We then pass the Kourtaliotis gorge which certainly did not got more beauty after they have built this road in it.

The driver uses his horn to scare away the slow rent-a-car-driver with their clicking cameras. I look from the window into the gorge and Heidi perefers to sit at the other side and to look against the walls. At some places there are ancient stalactites for the gorge once was an underground river with large caves. As we leave the gorge we see the Plakias bay in front. And soon we recognize the characteristic rock wall at the eastern end of the bay. We leave the bus at a dusty parking site, just aside is our Hotel Alianthos Garden with a swimming pool like a presentation table. A strong wind blows and we remember the well known booklet "Winds on Crete". We carry our baggage into the entrance hall which is just not very luxury. We get the keys for our room and this is - didn't we guess that - out to the dusty parking site, some garbage cans, a supermarket and some booths.

Kotsifos-River at Plakias

So we have a depresseive start as usual. This is caused by the fact, that everything is unknown and unknown things tend to look ugly. I can ensure, that things usually normalize soon. We unpack in silence and then start for the first look around. Plakias is a small village some hundred meters long with taverns and shops. The "harbour" is built by a mole, but this is deserted due to the wind. We find a refuge in a tavern surrounded by glass walls. We have a cappuccino and watch a herd of cackling geese at the beach. We will observe, that the geese are the mighty rulers of their imperium. We walk back on the second of two roads. At some apartements one can read "ROOMS TOLET". May be there is a missing "I" in the second word?

We take advantage of the nearby supermarket and buy a bottle of vine for the evening. We have the dinner as a four course menu, no buffet, and this is fine. Fortunately the rooms are heatable by a chipcard and remote control. A TV exists too but the most channels are local programs. We can use the ARD, RTL II or SAT to watch the news and the weather forcast. But Mr. Kachelmann (a German meteorologic hero) does not tell anything of Crete. And we have the problem that we don't know what to do within two long weeks.