Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Crete: day 7





Goodbye, Loutro. It took ten years to get back here and I hope we'll see you again before another ten pass.


We took the ferry to Sfakia and had lunch there before heading back to Chania. When the taxi dropped us off at the edge of the pedestrian zone, it felt like home. A quick trip to the market around the corner produced cheese, beer, and several bottles of Cretan wine. Antonis took great care to instruct me on which wine should be drunk with the cheese and which wine needed only good conversation to bring out its best flavors. Then he asked me to bring my friends back for a glass of raki.


We had supper at The Well of the Turk, a tiny restaurant tucked into a very hard to find alley in the old city. An inviting spot, but an unusual evening. First, a bird literally fell from the sky onto our neighbor's table. They looked quite panicked, so Cayce (being Cayce) picked up the bird and she and I looked for a safe place for it to recuperate. (Remember the hungry cats I mentioned in earlier posts?)

Cayce picking up the bird from our neighbor's table.

Cayce has chickens back in San Jose, plus she's a big softie (like me). On our way back from placing the bird in a nook, hopefully out of reach of prowling felines, we came across a wounded chicken. I held the cats at bay and Cayce picked up the bird. Leaving our men back at the table, we wandered through the alleys, looking for the chicken's owner. The neighborhood yiayias thought we were crazy. The young guys were happy for a conversation. The waitress in a neighborhood bar showed us to a yard where she thought the people kept chickens. We left the bird there, and headed back to dinner.


After an excellent meal (albeit one fraught with avian omens), we headed back to the hotel to play Chicken Foot. The dominoes were too heavy to hike with, so we'd taken a break from our tournament while travelling on foot. But now...game on!

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3 Comments:

At October 28, 2010 at 9:40 AM , Anonymous Leda Meredith said...

Makes me wish I was there right now...though odd about the avian omens!

 
At January 2, 2011 at 12:14 PM , Blogger Peter M said...

Ellen, we were supposed to go to Loutro but my travel companion fell ill and days were running out (went to Prveli one day before it burnt down).

Enjoying your Cretan tour!

 
At January 2, 2011 at 12:34 PM , Blogger Ellen Zachos said...

I've never been to Preveli, but would love to see it. How lucky you got there before the fire. Maybe the palms will regrow before my next trip. Hope you make it to Loutro...definitely worth it!

 

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