Friday in Chania

Bye bye Paleochora! I am in an Internet Cafe in Chania at the moment, (why do they always have such a noisy music?) thinking back on the last couple of days. Yesterday I had a little walk in town, and met a Canadian couple, Mary Jane and Jerry from Quebec. We were just outside a taverna that advertized with Cretan Evening, live music and dancing. At first it sounded a bit too much like a tourist trap to me, but Jerry had been in Paleochora almost every year for 30 years, and knew the owners. While we stood there talking, an elderly womn came up and hugged them warmly, like they were familiy. The owners wife she turned out to be. She dissappeared for a moment, and then returned with some fresh pastry, still warm and with a delicate taste of honey.

That was when I decided to book a table. I parted with Mary Jean and Jerry and went to Adrini Bech for the last time. It is such a quiet and peaceful place, and the walk out there is great. Water temp about 18-19 degrees Celsius. Refreshing! But eventually it was time to go back and shower.

"My" cat with the bad leg was not dead and gone as I feared, all of a sudden she was purring arroound my feet again, begging for food. So I found her something to eat, and was allowed to have her in my lap for a while. A great honour! (She normally comes by at night, but she must have sensed I was leaving, for this morning when I was packing, there she was again. And I was allowed to lift her up in my lap... hope she will find another catloving tourist after I leave.)

Then it was time for the Cretan evening. My reservation had been lost somewhere somehow, but Mary Jane and Jerry invited me to sit down with them. Teachers both, one of them retired. Very good company. The music was great, and the musicians seemed to have a good time. I ordered montaingoat cooked in the oven, so tasty and tender, absolutely the best I have had this time in Crete. Then there were dancing performed by a group from Chania, and of course we all had to participate. Reminded me of my own period of folkdancing. What a tempo and footwork they have here! But when almost everybody had left, the male dancers started to sing an almost endless song, the owner joined them, and it all culminated with the owner joining them in an extra dance, that ended on the table! Great fun for those of us who had stayed behind to savour the delicious melon dessert.

Tonight I will meet a French/Belgian couple living in Souda just outside Chania. We will meet outside the food marked in the old town. They have a Turkish CS staying with them, and we will all have dinner before we ladies find our "campsite" on the couch or on a matress on the floor in their home. Lucky me who joined Couchsurfing! This way of meeting people is just great. When I spoke to Greg on the phone it was like talking to an old friend. I really look forward to meeting them tonight.

But until then, I will walk around in the old Venetian Port in Chania. A labyrinth of streets, and of course, quite a tourist trap with a lot of shops selling tourist stuff. So I guess it will be the market for me. The sight and the smell of all the good foods of Crete is the perfect way to end my holiday here.