Greece Day 13: The Road to Chania

To get from Heraklion to the next largest city in Crete, Chania, takes about two and a half hours if you drive it straight through.  Our trip took about 7 hours, but we saw all kinds of cool stuff on the way.

The road we followed stayed close to the coast line for most of the day, so we had marvelous views of the beautiful Aegean Sea.  We were lucky to have beautiful sunshine, with a few dramatic clouds for contrast.  The view of the huge bay of Heraklion was particularly lovely.

We visited the town of Rethymno, known for its large Venetian fort and its charming old town.  We walked around the old town, seeing artifacts of different occupying forces over the years: charming narrow streets and alleys, an Arab lighthouse in the harbor, Venetian walls and fortress, mosques from the Ottoman period, and restorations in the current era.

Before leaving the area, we visited Lake Kouros - one of the largest lakes on the island of Crete.  It was small and deep, but quite pretty - no crocodiles!  A fire watcher up in the mountains had reported seeing a crocodile in a reservoir further up the mountain.  His colleagues laughed at him - but it turned out to be real.  An escaped pet had been living in the reservoir until it died when it got too cold for him in 2015.

We made our way to another fortress guarding the mouth of Souda Bay.  The Koules fort was closed for the season, but the view was extraordinary.  We could see two other forts from the same era from our perch, as well as the US Naval base at Souda Bay.

Half a mile from the fort was the Aptera Archaeological site - this site was famous for its 5the century BC classical Greek ampitheater,  2nd century AD Roman cisterns and baths AND a 14th century AD Monastery.  We focused on the theater, which had been restored about 10 years before - creating almost perfect acoustics.

Roman era cistern

Sanctuary of Classic Hellenistic period Temple of Athena 6-4th century BC

Byzantine Monastery,15th Century 

Greek amphitheater  - Cheryl declaiming in the center spot from which she could be heard at the top seats. When you stood there and spoke, you could hear and feel your voice resonate.

After lunch in Souda, Panos dropped us at our hotel in Chania around 4:30.  We have a nice room with a beautiful view of the harbor.

Above: Views from our balcony.

Because we have just an overnight in Chania, we went out right away to explore the sea wall and the iconic lighthouse. The late afternoon light was beautiful - and with the waves crashing, we had a fun and slightly exciting walk. 

The sea wall had two levels, and a building in the middle.

Our hotel  (center) and the port area from the sea wall

We got back before sunset, so we decided to walk around the harbor and see what the Old Town had to offer.

We watched the sunset, enjoyed some delicious gelato, and walked back to our hotel along the Byzantine walls.