In Hania, Crete (Greece)

Last day on Rhodes we went to the archeological museum, and that was well worth it. Oddly enough, we met a Aussie named Dennis there whom we met in Selcuk, Turkey, a few days prior. He is a very pleasant fellow, but he always seems to be in a daze/half asleep... we expected to see him coming off the ferry since he was taking the same one but we didn't... odd.

So on Saturday we caught the ferry from Rhodes to Iraklion, Crete (the main port). The ferry was good and cheap and the berths comfortable (like a pretty good hostel) - they even had showers with hot water! The ferry was practically empty - Tim and I were in separate berths (sex segregated) but we were the only ones in each of our respective rooms. Weird. The ferry conductor and check in staff were grumpy (hmmm, perhaps many Greeks are grumpy, not just our 'friend' with the cheap eats in Rhodes). We met a very nice couple from the UK who had recently moved to Crete (living on the south coast) named Jackie and David, and we spent quite a bit of time talking to them - when we weren't sleeping, that is. We ended up taking motion sickness pills 'cause we felt a bit woozy, and that helped us sleep. Jackie and David say their neighbours are very friendly and they are happy they retired to Crete. We seem to keep meeting a lot of Brits finding warmer and cheaper places to retire to. Anyway, the ferry arrived around 5:30am, and we walked over to the nearby bus terminal (trying not to get run over by the departing vehicles as we went). Tim and I had decided to take the bus to Hania/Chania/Xania (your choice on how to spell the name of this place) to walk the gorge whose name sounds something like Samarian (as Jackie said it was open). Later we planned to go to a town near Gortys and Phaestos (sp?) to see the arch. sites.

Arriving in the town we had an interesting experience looking for a place to stay. Each place we checked out had cheaper and cheaper rates and people were touting for our business somewhat aggressively. We succumbed to the charms of what a appeared to be a sweet little old Greek lady - for 25 euro a night, it was a clean-enough, largish suite (with kitchen) in the old part of the city where Tim wanted to stay. Cheap!! After we paid her she became indifferent/slightly grumpy like many of the greeks we have met.

Greeks seem, so far to us, to be a bit depressed, grumpy and a bit impatient. They are more emotional - kinda like I imagine Italians to be. They do try to help us when we ask, but it is not the relaxed, gratious kind of help we received in Turkey. Also, (like in North America) they want payment for rooms up front, or they want to keep your passport to make sure you pay.

Hania has quite a beautiful harbour, but the town itself is a bit big for our liking. You can see the snow capped White mountains from the city, and we found a lovely park to stroll around in. Lots of bookshops for Tim. Unfortunately, arriving on a Sunday most things are closed and we had a hard time finding cheap eats. The visitor info centre is closed, so we will have to wait until tomorrow to see if the gorge is open. Since we still felt tired from the ferry crossing, we spent part of the day snoozing, so its just as well today is Sunday. Tomorrow we'll check out the Naval museum and see about the gorge. Wish I had the LP Trekking in Greece book with me!