Lars Story 4

I hope that you enjoy these stories from the keyboard of Lars Magnusson as much as I. They were originally published on the Interkriti and Explore Crete websites and have proved to be tremendously popular there, so I am delighted to be able to reproduce them here. At the end of each story you may continue on to the next by clicking on the icon at the bottom of each page.

Good morning Interkriti family!!

Soon it is time to return to Crete. Just to give a little taste for now, here is a short story that took place the second time we went to Crete.

 It was early May and we were ready to leave our hotel and the sea behind and drive to the mountains and explore them a little closer. A new, black, shining Samurai jeep is loaded with cameras, binoculars, jackets, a few bottles of water, some fresh bread from the bakery and of course my wife!

Away we go and we will try to drive from Chania up to Omalos and on to Kallergi, back again across the Omalos Plateau, down through Prasés, Nea Romata, Derés, Maleme and finally Chania.

My wife is very eager and has already two maps in her hands. "Just comparing the roads, but they look the same on both maps". She is a very clever co-driver my wife and I feel completely safe.

We are passing the famous jail in Agia and now on both sides of the road there are orangetrees all over and they give a very nice scent to the air.

We reach the village of Fournés and my co-driver is telling me to turn right and then follow the road straight ahead. She is correct again; the roadsign says Omalos, bravo koukla mou (my doll).

The landscape is now slowly changing and it is time for the Samurai to show a little of its muscles. We are climbing and the road is getting narrower. I have not yet told my wife about the coaches returning back from Omalos and the entrance of the Samaria Gorge. We will for sure meet them before we reach the plateau.

On our left side the view is nice, we can see the village of Mesklá down in the valley and a little higher up the village of Zóurva. After 10 minutes of easy driving we are coming to a small and picturesque village called Lakki. I propose a metrio at the kafenion and the co-driver is accepting with a big a smile and a wink. She is in a good mood.

We are the only tourists around and the old men are inspecting us from head to foot. All of them playing with their komboloi (worry beads), round and round or just letting the marbles drop one by one.

Ok boys, I have one of my own and I know how to use so here we go. Smiles and laughter…………..and then the first tsikodiá of today. Viva Crete!

On the road again, my co-driver is not so comfortable anymore  because of the steep mountain slopes, now on both sides. The road leads up, up and soon we are driving inside the mountains and in a covered hairpin bend we meet the first coach.

The scream from my right must have scared the life out of all goats and kri-kri´s (a mountain ibex indigenous to Crete, though very rare on the mainland) in the neighbourhood. Meeting a coach on a bend is the best place to do it and the Samurai is easy to handle, in other words there are no problems whatsoever. I can see my wife moving her lips but I cannot hear what she is saying……..yet.

Over the last ridge and in front of us we have the Omalos Plateau, large and very flat. We pass a couple of tavernas and continue straight ahead on the left side of the plateau. On the fields we can see some people digging and collecting something but we don't know what.

A quick stop and an old man show's us what he is doing. He is collecting "horta" (mountain greens), which is used for salads (very nice. Actually we have plenty of it in Sweden and now we pick it every Spring). He is also showing us where to find the road to Kallergi. It is a dirtroad leading up up and up to the snow and my co-driver is screaming: "Are you going to kill us both" The poor hearing on my right ear is back again...unfortunately.

From Kallergi we have a wonderful and overwhelming view over the White Mountains and Samaria Gorge below. Up here it is a lot colder and my wife is shivering from the cold or...

There is a toilet at Kallergi. My wife went inside and came out again very quickly saying; "It's impossible, there is no bottom to this toilet" It is really an adventure in itself to enter this toilet because the view from the "hole" is fantastic. Next time you go there try for yourself.

On our way down again we have the most spectacular view of the Omalos Plateau and we also notice a road across and decide to choose that one.

Almost at the bottom we stop for a pause. There are flowers all over and especially the anemones in deep deep blue, violet and red are just fabulous. Strong colours like the one from flowers in the Alps. The sounds of singing birds are mixed with the bells from goats and sheep.  Life is very beautiful.

Across the plateau we find a small taverna, which we enter. It is time for some food. A young boy, Michalis 6 years old, his grandmother, dressed in black and his grandfather, dressed in grey trousers, black shirt, black boots and a sariki on his head, are welcoming us.

Kreas (meat) patates (potatoes), horta (salad special) beers and bread. The old lady is whispering something in Michalis ear and away he runs. There are some houses 200-300 metres away and he is fast.

I jump into the Samurai to fetch him back as he is coming out of one the houses with some loaves of bread which he is testing with a bite of each. He is a little shy and will not join me in the jeep but halfway back we meet with his grandmother and they both jump inside.

The food is very nice and Michalis is very curious standing close to our table all the time. After the meal is over he, together with his grandmother, show us the small kitchen behind. Before we leave, we share a glass of tsikoudia with his grandfather.

In the jeep I have a new blue Riley sports cap, which I hand over to Michalis and he is jumping for joy. He is lucky to have two ears to stop the cap from hiding his face completely. Anyway he is happy and so are we.

Nice boy Michalis!...  

...continued in story 5

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