Crete – 8 April 2024 – Fred’n’Sue’s Peregrinations

Some time ago when the weather was warm and sunny – balmy (not barmy) we stopped at Heraklion. The sea was angry and our first stop was bitterly cold.

***So windy that the tugs had to do just that as came alongside the wharf***

On to a bus again – these bus drivers are amazing – and off to the hills – to the Arkadi Monastery. We wonder what sustains these places, apart from faith. Only 7 monks still inhabit it.

***Cloisters with monks’ cells on the right – very “spartan”***

***Very austere interior of the church***

***All that remains of the gunpowder store to which the (Christian) inhabitants retreated in the face of sustained attack from Ottoman forces (ca. 1866). They chose to die rather than be taken captive***

More winding roads and fitting through impossibly narrow streets and on to the port town of Rethymno. More stories/history of the once glorious and powerful cities that once were, especially when Venice was at the zenith of its power and influence. Its decline came as the Ottoman influence spread into the south of Europe.