The journey and accommodation were a lot different from my previous trip to southern Crete 37 years ago. But the magic of swimming the purple-blue sea remains the same!
NOTE: Of course, Thor and I had to make another trip to Greece, as he’s fallen as much in love with the islands as I am. This time, in addition to other island-hopping, I wanted to return to Crete after 37 years. My first months-long trip was as a hippie backpacker, camping in the ruins and falling under the spell of the mysterious, vanished Minoan culture. This time, I got to introduce Thor to “glorious Kriti” and research more settings for my novel-in-progress, THE ARIADNE DISCONNECT. This new blog series started October 19, 2019, and will continue every Saturday.
You may recall that Thor and I left the ancient Minoan cemetery of Armeni (Nov. 2 post) to drive over the mountainous spine of the island and through one of the narrow gorges that guard the southwest coast. My first glimpse of the sea beyond the rocky passage sent me into a flashback of my first trip to these shores (Nov. 9 post), but sitting beside my hero-driver and most excellent husband Thor, I’m grateful for the new adventures we’re sharing. And for some comforts this time around.
As usual in the Greek islands, the steep roadways tend to be crammed at the edges with an array of shrines, chapels, cemeteries, and more, with little in the way of guard rails (exception in photo above). Here, solar panels and power lines update the situation:
Emerging from the Gorge of Kourtaliotiko, we crossed a narrow plateau sheltered by the cliffs, where the village of Plakias has become a low-key tourist destination due to its lovely cove and beach. Thankfully, no huge resorts as on the north coast, just modest inns and rooms for rent.
We checked into the Galini Beach suites, which had about ten small mini-apartments. Our room was clean and compact, complete with a tiny kitchenette and a balcony with table and chairs and a view across the road to the beach. Our host Manolis spoke very little English, but we managed with a lot of good will and gestures.
First order of business after stashing our bags: a quick swim in the clear blue! Thor and I prefer snorkeling rocky cove edges to the more featureless sandy beaches, since there are usually more interesting features and fish to see. Hold on for more seaside and underwater images coming up….
Walking back to our room, we admired some of the many “beach daffodils” growing from the sandy shore, with signs asking people not to pick them. We noticed that the flowers were being watered by drip hoses. Crete may look dry and barren, especially in this fall season, but there is plenty of water funneled from the mountain springs and streams, through aqueducts to the lower farm and grazing lands.
Time for dinner! Thor picked Claudio’s fish restaurant along the shoreline road, which was rated highly by other travelers. Claudio, a chef from Italy who had moved here for “the good life” that included morning swims, was quite a character who welcomed everyone as if they were long-lost pals. Thor and I shared a grilled, fresh-caught fish (probably sea bream, though I can’t remember), and a delicious salad, almost more than we could eat.
Appetizers, dinner, the recommended bottle of restina, after-dinner drinks, etc. proved to be a very leisurely production. We were ready to leave when “outraged” Claudio insisted we could not go without the traditional complimentary Cretan dessert of grapes (or sometimes a sweet) and the local raki, or “vitaminas.” Cretans are proud of their different local distillations of the very strong grape spirit they drink as a digestive. To me, the celebrated different versions all taste like rubbing alcohol (I am not a fan of hard liquor), but Thor enjoyed his nightly dose of “vitamins.”
The next morning, we took a short drive to a nearby cove, Skinnaria Beach, reported to have good snorkeling. The road down to the foot of the cliffs was one of those very steep, hair-pin turn affairs.
The rocky cove was just what we came for.
In the Greek islands, even the out-of-the-way beaches usually have a taverna that offers beach loungers and umbrellas for a modest fee, so Thor and I enjoyed the amenities. The attendant who collected our euros was named Hercules, so he and Thor high-fived as fellow heroes.
Snorkel gear assembled — check. And into that glorious blue sea! I love swimming among these schools of what we’ve named “forktails.” Their unusual schooling behavior amuses me, as they all drift along facing in different directions, unlike most schooling fish. They are true Greek individualists! (I’ve read that when two islanders gather to enjoy debating, there will be at least three political parties represented.) Most Greeks do seem to agree with my love of the sea.
As we swam along one rocky edge of the cove, the sea deepened into purple-blue, big boulders looming below like sleeping giants, and sun beams shimmering through cave openings along the cliff. Magic! We swam across the cove then toward the other side, and Thor spotted some pottery shards on the bottom, cemented with time to the bottom. We were glad he’d made an impulsive buy of a cheap underwater camera for the trip, as it really worked!
When we reached the opposite cliff, we spotted a smallish octopus crawling across the submerged boulders. We floated closer, trying not to alarm it, but it spotted us overhead. My usual experience diving with these marvelous, intelligent creatures, is that they will jet away from danger, sometimes releasing ink to conceal their flight path. This one changed color from a speckled pattern that matched the rocks, to pale whitish, and then raised up toward us, flaring its arms out to spread its webs and look larger and more threatening. (We didn’t get a photo, as we were too busy just admiring.) We backed off to give it space, hoping this smart critter will flee from local divers with spear guns. I have to cringe when I see all the octopus on the local menus….
And so back to the shallows, to float and drift, admiring the play of light over the polished marble pebbles.
Here are a few of the pebbles, polished marble in a lovely array of colors, that we brought home to admire and help us remember.
One more pass over the boulders and fish shimmering in the light:
And then the weather shifted, probably a good thing before we ended up crisped by the strong sun. Storm coming! Poseidon rumbling in the deeps and stirring up wind and waves back at Plakias as we dash for our room. But there will be more beach days to come….
Next week: Another flashback to earlier days on Crete, and inspiration for my Ariadne novel.
*****
You will find The Rambling Writer’s blog posts here every Saturday. Sara’s latest novel from Book View Cafe is available in print and ebook: The Ariadne Connection. It’s a near-future thriller set in the Greek islands. “Technology triggers a deadly new plague. Can a healer find the cure?” The novel has received the Chanticleer Global Thriller Grand Prize and the Cygnus Award for Speculative Fiction. Sara has recently returned from another research trip in Greece and is back at work on the sequel, The Ariadne Disconnect. Sign up for her quarterly email newsletter at www.sarastamey.com
1 thought on “The Rambling Writer Returns to Crete, Part 5: Plakias Pleasures”