Apartment in Agios Nikolaus

Today we leave Chania early in the morning and board the bus to head eastwards to Heraklion (Iraklio as they call it) and then have to buy a ticket to Agios Nikolaus which is further west from the capital. We take the more direct route along the waterfront, trailing our suitcases, and then up the street, the advantage we have is that it is a cool morning and not as many pedestrians, but we have to contend with more vehicular traffic, vans, cars and motor bikes, ferrying supplies to the various restaurants, stocking up for the day. Of course we are very hot and sweaty when we arrive at the bus station.
We sit close to the front and enjoy the coastal views as we travel out

of Chania. In front of us is a Greek woman married to a British man. They are chatting to a British couple opposite who say they visit Greece every year for summer holidays. The Greek woman says at some stage: "Oh, I love to agree. We talk to one another here." Which is true - the Greeks are very amiable and friendly. Then she proceeds to talk to the coach driver for at least a half hour. He gets a word in every now and then. No such rule as "Don't talk to the driver!"
On the way to Agios Nikolaus we get front seats which is great. We also get ringside views of the near misses happening all around the coach, motorcycles weaving in and out and little cars moving up and down and our bus driver just seeming to miss pedestrians and cars and trucks by inches. Our driver also sighs at times when confronted with the behaviour of others. Again, one vehicle is parked right in the middle of the street, hazard lights on and the driver nowhere to be seen. Our driver beeps his horn and waits but nothing happens. Eventually the traffic on the other side pulls back and allows our big coach to pass.
It is 70 kilometres to our next destination but it takes a long time as we often leave the main highway and skirt in and out of little coastal townships picking up passengers and dropping them, some even by the roadside with just a little bus shelter to show that this is a stop. As usual our bus conductors are hopping on and off and we have to continue showing our tickets. No one can get away with anything. They're onto it!
We arrive in Agios Nikolaus about half past three in the afternoon and we ask directions and proceed to walk to our hotel. On the way we see a taxi waiting to take two women with shopping trolleys full of groceries. I'm hoping he can message another taxi for us. There are too many hills in this area, although we know our hotel is not far. The taxi driver is arguing with the women, then he waves them away and we present ourselves. He excuses himself regarding the other two, saying he cannot take them, no doubt because of all the grocery items, many not in bags.
He packs our suitcases in and after some weaving in and out of hilly streets we finally arrive at the esplanade and he stopps in this little one-way street by the water and we are there! Some cars pile up behind us and there is a motorcyclist rearing to go. We grab our luggage and throw it up on the wooden deck of the hotel , pay the driver with an extra tip because we are so happy to be there. The young manager comes out to help us with our luggage. He puts us in the tiny creaky lift and says he'll bring our suitcases up next. There is no room for luggage with us. We get to the next floor but the gated door doesn't open for us, so we wait. Then we end up back on the ground floor with an astonished manager looking at us. Didn't know we had to manually open the gate to get out!
He shows us our room - very simple but pleasant and then he opens

the white French doors to the large balcony. We are blown away. What a view! The blue shimmering water so near and an island not far off. Mountains to the left and right. Our balcony has a table setting, a bench for sitting on, and a small clothes line.
We discover that the Nine Muses is not actually a hotel but apartments which are serviced every day. We are almost the last customers for the season so our outside door is the only one open in this photo.
Our manager, Michaelis mentions that there is a special food festival happening tonight down the esplanade and we might be interested in going. They do serve meals at the apartments and breakfast can be served in our room on the balcony if we prefer. The dinner menu is visible on the footpath across the road for passers-by, especially from the cruise ships as the terminal is just nearby.
We walk down to see the food and wine market being set up on white linen tables. There are people selling tags and stickers and we aren't

sure of the system so we decide to eat at Pharaoh's Restaurant which later we discover is one of the best in town.
There are several cats living in the area and they saunter around the outside tables where we are. Some customers are a little bit alarmed to see this. Others just take it in their stride like us. We order the swordfish and a salad and stuffed vine leaves. We receive two large nicely grilled potatoes as extras and there is potato, cucumber and tomato presented with the fish.
The next evening we decide to have a drink at the bar downstairs and then we order a meal at their restaurant. We are the only takers for tonight. It is so nice to sit in this classic style Greek bar and the elderly gentleman (Michaelis' father we learn later) places a dish of peanuts before us as we drink some red wine. Later at the outside tables I order a mushroom risotto with truffle oil and Tony orders a cheese pasta dish which is really rich. We share a salad. The risotto

is delicious.
We spend our days meandering the city streets and if not walking the esplanade again and again, just taking in the views of water and mountains and clouds and sky. There is one restaurant where a roadway divides the shop from the alfresco tables under cover on the other side. So of course the waiters and waitresses seem to perform amazing feats by carrying a tray of drinks across a busy street undaunted by the cars trying to get past.
The sky is threatening rain one morning but we set out to look for the cruise boat for the island of Spinalonga, where we can view some ancient archaelogical ruins, the Venetian fortress and the old Leper Colony. Clouds are gathering but there is blue sky too.
We buy our tickets from a friendly Greek fellow who knows we are Aussies and chats us up with a few of our expressions like "Cheers mate". We discover later that he is Belgian and he tells me that, contrary to the film Monty Python, most Belgians are quite intelligent! We didn't doubt it. He himself seems to be speaking about a half dozen different languages to the people who come to enquire about the cruise. The cost is only sixteen euros for adults which is very reasonable.
The trip takes four hours and leaves at twelve thirty. They say we can board the boat earlier as there are two bars and a restaurant on board. We find seats on top deck. Beautiful views all around of the harbour and shops and houses and apartments above. The clouds gather but no rain. Everyone is in a happy holiday mood, laughing and chatting. The first stop is for a swim in the cool blue water at Kolokitha Bay and about a dozen or so people leap off the back of the boat in their bikinis or swimmers. The weather is balmy enough but the water looks cold. A young Norwegian looking guy gets out early and says it is freezing. We are happy not to be paddling, besides it is deep water so only for swimmers. We go down to the restaurant area and people are lining up to buy pizza, hotdogs, salad

rolls and drinks. I queue up to buy two cappuccinos and they are good and hot.
We see a very large ship moored across from our apartment and hear that it belongs to the Russian multi-millionaire who owns the British Chelsea Football team. We see a British flag atop and that confuses us at first. We hear some details from Michaelis as his brother-in-law has been supplying the ship with some food stocks during this time. Apparently, the wealthy Russian is negotiating the construction of some luxury units on the hillside opposite the ship and therefore has been in the vicinity for several months. We view some similar luxury units on other Greek hillsides as we head for Spinalonga. One helicopter and two smaller craft are positioned on the ship and in the late afternoon we often see a boat speeding to shore and then returning later to the boat. The small craft board the ship at the back and then arrive in a kind of "parking lot" up the side of the ship. We hear that the staff regularly eat locally at the restaurants. On our Spinalonga trip, we are able to view this ship at closer range. It looks amazing.
At Spinalonga Island we pay our admission into the archaeological site at a small kiosk erected on the beach. The island is surrounded by an old Venetian fortress built in the 16th century - quite amazing and impressive in its size and detail. In the same place is the

remains of the leper colony. We hear from our English-speaking Greek guide that the government decided to make this a place for lepers over a hundred years ago. One of the main reasons was to extricate the Turkish residences from the area. They had set up their own little township there but as soon as it was declared a leper colony the Turks left and went back to Turkey leaving the island to the Greeks. The government was very happy about this, so our very enlightened and passionate guide tells us. She impresses us with her knowledge about the history of the island and her strong views about what has happened there in the past. She mentions a book written by a Greek author about the island which omits some of the truths. Firstly, the island was not a place where they came for the day. In fact, the people loved living there as they were able to work and make a good income, even as good as people on the mainland. About 1957 the government decided to close the colony and the people were being forced off the island. Many were not happy to leave. There was a hospital there for the worst affected and many of the later employees had to come and go each day to the island. They were not allowed to stay at night.
She says it is such a shame that many of the leper colony's stone buildings were destroyed. Even an archaeologist decided that this was not the history that Greek wanted to show to future generations. On the contrary, she believes that this is a part of Greek history which should be remembered and not discounted.
I take some photos of the cemetery - amazing views of the ocean all around. It seems an eerie place when we cast our eyes over the grave stones despite the sunny day.
On the way back it rains a little so we at the back of the boat have to find shelter under the covered area. We buy some salami and cheese and chips, wine and beer. We decide that this will be our tea for tonight and we sit on the deck and enjoy the lovely vista of boats and island. It is good.

Next morning, it is raining again. We have breakfast as usual down below in the restaurant, sitting on the chairs out on the deck. It is strange to us that this decking ends on the street. There is no footpath for pedestrians - they must use the other side. So we sit and watch some traffic, including many motorcycles, buzzing past.
We love this breakfast. It is the only one they offer for B&B and it never seems to lose its appeal - orange juice, cups of tea or coffee, two cut up fruits (usually peach included), yummy Greek yoghurt (loads of it in a dish), a delicious omelette with bacon inside, slices of cheese and ham, fresh bread with honey and jam.
For several mornings we are not the only customers. We strike up a conversation with the other couple who like to eat their breakfast on the front deck. Others have theirs delivered on trays to their rooms. This couple is from Sweden. Their English is very good and they tell us that Greece is now closed to Europe. We ask what they mean by

that. They say that all the direct flights from the European cities are finished now because the summer season is over. We know that flights were arriving and departing every ten minutes when we stayed in Heraklion - we hear now from places such as Russia, Germany, England, Scotland, France and Spain.
They tell us that for a time the tourist industry was waning here on some of the Greek islands because of the refugee crisis. Europeans were cancelling their holidays here and going to Spain instead. But the Spanish population is becoming increasingly unhappy with the huge numbers of tourists in their country, and wanting restrictions put in place. This information about Spain is new to us.
One morning Tony and I walk down to what they call The Lake, a small pool as an inlet from the harbour and surrounded by shops, cafes and restaurants. A good number of tourist coaches are delivering people from different places. We hear many languages, but perhaps some are Greek. We are searching for the place where there is a plaque to show this was the cafe talked about in the book The Lotus Eaters. It was called the Shepherds' Cafe. We couldn't find it but we had a good walk around the lake. We did find a well-constructed hideout in the cliff face, a cave where there were old lamps which could have been placed in the stone inserts in the wall, to signal in boats at night long ago. Today there are small fishing boats moored here with fellows working on the nets.
We climb up the steep steps of the cliff to see the views from the top. Then we come back down on the other side to find a nice little cafe where we order cappuccinos with fresh cream on top and a lovely almond cake and ice cream. Tony walks home and I meander around the shops just enjoying myself. I try on a few white Greek day dresses. Many female tourists and locals here are wearing all white clothes - pantsuits or flowing dresses or skirts. Seems still to be the summer fashion in Greece.