Well, owing to illness, this post is a bit later than intended, but here's the next part of our adventure...
Having had a wonderful time at the convent, we all clambered back into the car with Bjorn at the wheel, and started the descent down onto the valley floor and into Mochos. None of us had been before (and Thanks to Devon the tour rep for the tip) and what a surprise we got!
Entering through a typical narrow lane, we came to the main square. The vista before us was stunning! A cobbled, area, surrounded on all sides by bright, inviting Cafe/Restaurants and wonderful trees!
The girl at Odysseus restaurant pointed us to the little parking spaces beside their place, and we pulled in and parked up safely.
We decided that although it was only 11.45 we would get a mezi and a drink to gear us up for the Plateau. As you can see, it was a glorious day with blue skies and a slight breeze, so we ordered our food and watched the world go by for a while...the food was marvellous and not overly expensive, so we all got a good taster of things we shared - Bjorn with omelette, Cheese Saganaki, lovely bread, chips,a plethora of dishes!
Having eaten our fill, we decided to wander around the village and headed across the square towards a butchers shop where we had been told we could get the superb local yoghurt (another tip from Devon!).
The woman spoke no English, but Aase has some Greek (better than mine) and between us all we managed to make our purchases...cheese and yoghurt for Aase, yoghurt and local honey for me.
Meandering back out, we found the boys across the street, deep in conversation and waiting for us to join them, so we wandered on around the corner on the Lassithi Plateau road...
As we walked, chatting amicably and sharing laughter, we spotted a small Kafeneon up ahead - literally metres from the square. As we got level with the doorway and windows, we looked inside - and it blew us away!!
The whole place was decorated with small plaques of all the Cretan/Greek heroes! From the uprisings against the Ottoman Empire, through all the Freedom and Death struggles, to the modern days - politicians and famous figures who fought by word and deed for Crete!
The place was amazing! Owner Yorgus and his wife are in their Eighties, and we sat to have a Greek coffee with him. Bjorn speaks quite good Greek, so he could translate a lot of what Yorgus told us, and we picked up pieces ourselves. He had a peculiar kind of patois, using German and Italian numbers alongside his native tongue, but he told us, he had no English. He did seem to understand us though!
some of the photos on the walls were of his family and himself (in full Cretan costume) and he told us that his twin daughters now live in Thessaloniki where one is a doctor. Immensely proud of them, he has their images among the heroes. He also told us that not many tourists actually come in for a drink with him - they take pictures and walk out! A criminal shame to my mind! He was pleased as punch to pose for a photo...
Notice the gramophone? There were things like this in cabinets and on display all around the cafe - including a 1950's jukebox (minus records). As they talked and joked together, I wandered around, and it was then that I realised that all the chairs had mythical scenes on them too!
Yorgus told us that a friend had painted many of the pieces for him, and that newspapers had written articles about the place, but it wasn't helping his trade - the visitors stayed on the square...I hope this changes as the place was magical - even the working phone was a piece of Bakelite history!
After I had been told to serve another round of Raki, and we had eaten his grapes and cheese, we sadly bid Adios, with promises to return again to see him and his wife. Walking back through some of the narrow lanes of the village, we made our way to the car to continue onwards and upwards!
As we began to climb out of the valley floor, we got some inkling of what was to come...
And the next instalment - Homo Sapien Trickery, Statues,Windmills, Views and Mythology.
Stay tuned :)
Having had a wonderful time at the convent, we all clambered back into the car with Bjorn at the wheel, and started the descent down onto the valley floor and into Mochos. None of us had been before (and Thanks to Devon the tour rep for the tip) and what a surprise we got!
Entering through a typical narrow lane, we came to the main square. The vista before us was stunning! A cobbled, area, surrounded on all sides by bright, inviting Cafe/Restaurants and wonderful trees!
The girl at Odysseus restaurant pointed us to the little parking spaces beside their place, and we pulled in and parked up safely.
Having eaten our fill, we decided to wander around the village and headed across the square towards a butchers shop where we had been told we could get the superb local yoghurt (another tip from Devon!).
The woman spoke no English, but Aase has some Greek (better than mine) and between us all we managed to make our purchases...cheese and yoghurt for Aase, yoghurt and local honey for me.
Meandering back out, we found the boys across the street, deep in conversation and waiting for us to join them, so we wandered on around the corner on the Lassithi Plateau road...
The whole place was decorated with small plaques of all the Cretan/Greek heroes! From the uprisings against the Ottoman Empire, through all the Freedom and Death struggles, to the modern days - politicians and famous figures who fought by word and deed for Crete!
some of the photos on the walls were of his family and himself (in full Cretan costume) and he told us that his twin daughters now live in Thessaloniki where one is a doctor. Immensely proud of them, he has their images among the heroes. He also told us that not many tourists actually come in for a drink with him - they take pictures and walk out! A criminal shame to my mind! He was pleased as punch to pose for a photo...
aStay tuned :)
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