Chania

It's amazing - the two weeks here fly by and every few days there's a new connection or activity. While working in the hostel, I meet Theo, who takes me into the mountains and gives me an insight into Cretan cuisine. We share dishes of eggplants, mushrooms and bread and everything tastes so delicious. 🥰
Sated, we drive through the mountains in his silver-grey speedster and I enjoy the view without having to work for it on my bike. 😊 Shortly before sunset, we have a coffee with a view over Souda Bay.

I meet up again with Tim and Jonas, the two German cycle travellers, for a coffee party on the beach. There is coffee, cake and some nice trash music about having coffee and cake with friends.
And we scrabble. 🤓

A few days later, I'm sitting at a snack bar in the pedestrian zone and squint at a huge poster of a ship hanging in the foyer of the building across the street. It's the municipal art gallery. My interest draws me to the entrance area of the building. There, Anthony and his colleague tell me that there is no exhibition on at the moment, so they can only show me a short slideshow of the most important works rather than actual paintings.

We quickly deepen the conversation over a coffee and shortly afterwards I'm sitting with Anthony in a local restaurant having a lesson in Greek - covering the culture, the alphabet and pronunciation. I finally pass the final test when I toast the mayor of Chania, who had bought us a lemonade shortly beforehand. What a day!

Today, 18th March, is "Kathara Deftera" in Greece, the "pure Monday", which corresponds to the German Rosenmontag. Now the fasting period begins, which is supposed to cleanse the body and soul. People everywhere are enjoying the good weather and time with their families and friends and flying kites 🪁. My programme starts earlier this morning because I want to run the first few kilometres of the day along the beach and harbour promenade with the local jogging group (I don't miss out on the unique invitation to the event).
In the afternoon, I organise a 'small' excursion with my flatmates to a festival 'a few beaches away'. We hike and hike and hike and ... the festival seems like a mirage on the horizon and always one bay away. 😜 My hunger comes and goes, but the pleasant conversations with the other travellers make the time pass quickly. We finally arrive and have to watch as the last remnants of the traditional lentil soup are scraped out of the pots and distributed right before our eyes. With a sad look on her face, the nice lady behind the counter explains that unfortunately there is nothing left for us. 🤷‍♀️
I briefly peer into one of the pots and if I had my silicone scraper with me, I could easily scoop three more meals out of the large pots. 😋
We find another beautiful rocky bay and jump into the water. It's pleasant as long as I keep moving and yet - my whole body is shaking as I try to get back to land ten minutes later. I never thought I would be so sensitive to the cold. A sunbath warms me up again and then we hike back through the countryside, past wild thyme and a few other plants that I can't identify.
As the sun sets, you can still see some of the hexagonal kites in the sky.
The memory is still vivid the next day because I can feel every muscle. 😇Read more