Yassas
September 25, 2007
 As I suspected, the cloud has all gone and the temperature is heading back into the 30's. We're packed and out by 10:00 for breakfast and the last 4 hours of free time, before the taxi, in the sun. As we amble back with the home made ice lollies, I insist on stopping for at the bakers for, the cab is waiting for us.
Left: View from our room
This man is in a hurry. I'm sure he must be trying to shave off a few minutes from his personal best as we hurtle back towards the airport with a soundtrack of 80's hits mixed [poorly] for accompaniment. The plane leaves early, for some reason and I'm back in my jeans in readiness for the shock of arriving back in Gatwick. Still, it's been the most Greek feeling island I've visited so far despite the few cloudy days. Nikos and Rousa were lovely hosts and the Moussaka didn't touch the sides! Must come back and do the South of the island.Categories: Food & Drink, Travel
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Back To Rethymnon
September 24, 2007
 Despite the sunshine to the South yesterday it's still cloudy in Platanes. When we wake up we walk down to Marino's for breakfast while we ponder how to spend our last day. It looks sunny over Rethymnon so we jump on a bus and head over there and wander through some parts of the Old Town that we missed the other day. Have couple of beers and take a look around the Venetian Fort overlooking the harbour. Architecturally, Rethymnon is a nice combination of Venetian and Turkish influences.
Heading back to the bus station we follow the coast road and spot a nice taverna, called Sunset, with, unsurprisingly, sunset views. We sit there for a couple of hours but sunset isn't for at least two more... So we head back and eat at a taverna that we have visited before in Platanes and have more Giovetsi. Alas, this has been a holiday with no sunsets but the tan was topped up nicely and I managed to get through two books. I would have managed the other two as well if we had had more time on the beach as we had planned.
Still, it's nice to be sat outside eating at 11:00. I ask the waiter for a few Giovetsi cooking tips in case I fancy knocking one up when we get back and cinnamon appears to be the secret ingredient.
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Gorgeous Gorge And Elafonisi
September 23, 2007
 We are heading West again to the Topolia Gorge, past pomegranate, mulberry, eucalyptus, walnut and some of the 40 million olive trees that grow in Crete. Griffin Vultures circle way above the 290 steps up to the cave of Agia Sofia but somehow we get to the top without dropping.
On the way we pass through the beautiful tiny village of Eras [I think!] where there has just been a service given 40 days after the death of one of the villagers and it seems the whole village is descending on this one taverna. September is when the grape harvest starts, followed by the Raki making and then the olive picking from November to March. Coincidentally the tourist season seems to run from April to October. Convenient or what?
Beyond the Gorge lies Elafonisi, one of the most beautiful beaches you are ever likely to see. Bordering on the Libyan and scattered with tamarisk trees the sun is gloriously hot and we completely forget about the clouds we'd passed winding through the mountains earlier. On the way down to the coast we stop off at the Monastery of Hrissoskalitissa which has the smallest museum I have ever been in, housing some beautiful icons dating back as far as the 16th Century.
On the way home, back through the Limestone mountains, we pass terrace after terrace of olive groves designed to limit the run off of rain. We also pass, once more, through the incredibly narrow mountain tunnel, barely wide enough for the bus and with an incredibly sharp turn for a long vehicle to negotiate. We really want to come back and explore the South of the island more.
Categories: Art
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Turtle Power
September 22, 2007
 It's still cloudy when we wake up so we lounge about a bit waiting for a break in the clouds to appear. It does, but by the time we reach the beach it clouds over again and even rains for 5 or 10 minutes. The nerve of it! We walk, for an hour or so East, chasing the blue skies and come across these odd blue and yellow tripod things [left] along the beach. As well as collections of rafia apparently washed up here and there.
After a while we spot a metal tag on one of these tripods stating that it is the property of the local Marine Conservationists. Whitewashed stones are marked with dates that eggs have been laid and another date in red when they hatched. We had just missed the tail ending of the baby turtles heading seawards by about a week, the rafia fences being set up to stop them straying on the way.It gets windier and the clouds break up a bit, just in time for us to stop for lunch at a little taverna called Poppy's, but we're not sure where we are up the coast. The Stuffed Tomatoes and Pastichio is very welcome after all that fresh air. Unfortunately for us the cloud appears to be heading West, which is where we are off to tomorrow. We buy a plastic bottle of cheap local wine, make a Greek salad and have an early night as the bus leaves at 7:55 in the morning. While we're watching the bats and eating our salad a firework display breaks out, which we assume is connected to the mad wedding party that passed us twice earlier driving in a convoy all horns blazing.
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West To Chania
September 21, 2007
 We awake hoping the cloud has blown away over night... but walking to the bakery to get breakfast I can see there's no break in it anywhere. So we decide to brave the bus and head into Chania. The local bus into Rethymnon and then it's another hour west to Chania via little village called Vrisses and around Souda Bay. Annoyingly the sky looks more blue back the way we came but I get a good shot of an old Greek guy as we leave the bus station [left] so it's worth the trip as far as I'm concerned.
We find our way down the harbour quite easily with our pop-up map. It would have looked stunning with a backdrop of blue sky and the harbourside taverna's reflecting in a placid Med. Instead the sky is grey and the sea is chucking up some serious waves around the harbour lighthouse. We stop for a Greek salad and Gyros before setting off for a walk around the wonderful lanes. There are surprises around every corner. Flaking paintwork covers shutters, doors and walls and more tavernas than you can imagine.
We don't stay long though as the buses are only hourly and the one there was pretty busy. First we have to find out whereabouts in the bus station it is leaving from. This involves listening over the noise for an announcement stating the number of the bus and its final destination. No bus route numbers for these folk. When we get back to Platanes at 7:00 we find that we've missed the big downpour [remember what that chap said on the first night. It hasn't rained since May!]. The mountains were lost in the clouds on the journey back and more seemed to be rolling in from the sea. Still 27 degrees today though, although it had been 32 the previous day. A lot warmer than London!
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Hot Walk To Rethymnon
September 20, 2007
 We decided to walk along the coast to Rethymnon, approximately three miles, assuming we would be toes in the sand, cooling them in the surf. Unfortunately the beach soon gave way to pebbles. Which were a nightmare to walk over in slides and about 40 minutes later we were dripping with sweat and heading inland for the promenade; where we spotted a supermarket and went in to stand by the frozen goods!
We wandered around the harbour, fending off offers of lunch at the many restaurants there, before heading to the old town for some photos, like the Rimondi Fountain [above] and then a bus back to Platanes. In the afternoon it clouded over while we were lounging around the garden getting over the morning's trek. Out of the blue a small dog came in and hid under our sun loungers for about 20 minutes before heading off again. Odd! perhaps he was being followed.
We went back to Marino's hoping a sunset might creep through the cloud but it just got worse so we headed back to the apartment and read while listening to the Underworld Electraglide 2005 tracks I downloaded before we left.
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To The Beach
September 19, 2007
 Swishing back the curtains we are greeted by blue sky and head for a sunbed each behind Marino's... I finish Alex James' excellent tale of rock'n'roll debauchery, Bit Of A Blur, which I started on the flight yesterday and start on Irvine Welsh's Bedroom Secrets Of The Master Chefs.
Picture, left is of Marino's pool [and bin!]...
When can take no more sun, sea and sand we head back, via the bar, to the supermarket and get some ingredients in to make a Greek salad.
Venturing out again after dark we try some of Rousa and Nikos wine [which we later realise is supermarket bought and about 60p/litre] which came in a plastic bottle. Then we head for Finikas for Meatballs, Giouvetsi [me this time, Sam had it yesterday] Raki and Greek coffee before strolling home watching the bats.
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All Cretans Great And Small
September 18, 2007
 We arrived in Crete at approximately 18:00 local time and in our quest for a bit of end of summer sun. A one hour hairy cab ride from Heraklion and we were in Platanes.
We threw our, hand luggage only, packing into our room and went out to find the sea. Which was pretty easy. On our way we encountered this poor horse [pictured] having a "bad mane day". We had a few drinks at the Garden Taverna, where the owner told us it hadn't rained since May. Remember this little meterological factoid! Later on we picked Vergina, from the many taverna's on the main drag, for dinner... having Dolmades, butter beans, Souvlaki and Giouvetsi. Busy day lounging on the beach tomorrow so better get rested up to get an early start. Luckily it's not stifling hot at night and there's no need for the air con. Categories: Food & Drink, Travel
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Maritime Gossip
September 15, 2007
 We saw the Gossip last night.. who renewed my faith in rock'n'roll! They opened with a new tune after sauntering on to Fleetwood Mac's The Chain. Standing In The Way Of Control is now obviously a crowd pleasing singalong but Are U That Somebody was a surprise inclusion and excellent too. There was a Marine Girls cover that I forget the name of as well... Hell it was all good! If only they had played a bit longer.
I liked Panther a lot too. I didn't expect to be seeing any support acts but just caught the end of No Bra as we arrived.
No Bra, is a German known as Susanne, who bears an uncanny resemblance to the Val Denton character [played by Mark Gatiss] from League Of Gentlemen! She looked like someone miming to Throbbing Gristle in front of their bedroom mirror who has unexpectedly been transported to the Forum! The No Bra element is taken as far as performing topless. Shock horror! Vocally, she sings in a Dietrich-esque drone. It was all very amateur and lacked any personality but the "I caught syphilis once in Top Shop" line in Munchausen made us laugh.
Don't know much about Panther. Other than they are a guy called Charlie, with some Jaggeresque moves and some loops accompanied by a drummer called Joe. They're from Portland, Oregon and you can buy their stuff via the Panther/MySpace page.
Also made it to the Alvin Curran performance of Maritime Rites on the Thames beforehand. Sam had the bright idea that we could easily make it to the Tate and mosey over the Millennium Bridge to Blackfriars to get a train to Kentish Town for the Gossip gig. I'm glad we did. With the members of the LSO outside the Tate and Curran [at the piano I assume] and a few others on the barge on the Thames; a piece comprising of many passages veered from classical to improvisational jazz via scratching and a few big, metallic, crashing guitar chords. All augmented by passing river traffic, St. Pauls bells and the volunteers on the Millennium Bridge, who we wandered through at the end, playing drones on a variety of instruments and voices [see pic]. Maritime Rites has, apparently, toured the world already and though this might not be site specific London needs more of this sort of thing.
Catching up with Heroes tonight. I've only just noticed that the original music for the series is by Wendy & Lisa.
Categories: Music, Art, London
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Brought To Justice... And The Ritzy
September 11, 2007
 I've been trying to find time to wax lyrical about Justice at Koko, last Friday, but it's been all go since then. However, they were awesome. Sonically at least. There were a few criticisms I could bring up with the way parts were dropped and bits were cued, but overall the evening was one big bouncy bass fest!
It's a shame that Koko insist on charging £3.90 for a 330ml can of Kronenberg and have the smallest toilets I have ever had the misfortune to piss in but the place looks great, even if they are money grabbing bastards. Highly efficient bar staff mind!
Shame that we are going to miss Alvin Curran's Maritime Rites on Bankside this Friday [the 14th] but we already have tickets to see The Gossip that night. Alvin Curran is a maverick composer and Maritime Rites is a sculptural sound piece that will be staged on a barge on the Thames and on the banks of Tate Modern. At this, the UK premiere, the LSO, lead improvisers and volunteers will join in with the bells of St Paul’s and Curran to present a rich collage of harbour sounds, foghorns and music associated with the river.
There was a great hullabaloo at the Ritzy on Sunday, when we ambled down to see Two Days In Paris. Julie Delpy's one woman show... with, erm, a full cast! She wrote directed, produced, composed songs for and acted in it. It also includes her parents, as her parents! When we came out from the film, the cinema was in the throes of preparing for the arrival of Quentin Tarrantino and the British premiere of Death Proof. An unusually small venue for it I'd have thought, but, hopefully appropriate. We left them to it. Practicing runs from doors to stairs with burly security guards etc.
Popped into a couple of previously unvisited bars in Balham this evening. both handily placed for Waitrose! The first was the BBC [Balham Bowling Club] Restaurant. Strangely decorated in that "has this place been done up to look like this or have they just not been arsed to do a thing" sort of way. And then, next door but one [or was it two?] "2 Be 1" - For happy hour! Which was quiet on a Tuesday but I suspect might be a riot at the weekend.
I've just acquired a copy of the Underworld - Electraglide - Tokyo 2005 triple CD set [bringing my Underworld collection in iTunes up to 17 .3 hours!] and been leering at these Marshall DAB radio's. See image above.
Categories: Music, Art, London, Food & Drink, Movies
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