Botanical Crete

On Monday evening the people that we ended up sitting next to at dinner (Boboy and Nicholas) recommended that we go to the theatre after our meal to see a reputedly excellent pianist called Jason Lyle Black. James and I aren’t really bothered about going to shows on the ship, preferring to relax in one of the bars or on our cabin’s balcony, but we took their advice and trotted along. The theatre was completely full! The entertainments manager, the enthusiastic Lewis, first introduced the captain of the ship, Captain Costas, who I thought had a look of a young Christopher Plummer. He was very funny and said, “I know what you’re all thinking - who’s driving the ship?” After a bit of banter with Lewis the captain told us that we would be arriving at Crete the next day a bit earlier than expected and when the audience cheered he said, “Well if that’s what you want I had better get back to the bridge!” which was a slick exit line. Jason Lyle Black turned out to be very accomplished indeed and we both enjoyed his mix of classical music and musicals, supported by the ship’s small orchestra. It was one of those unplanned experiences which turn out to be really good. 

Our visit to Crete on Tuesday was great; we went on a trip to the Botanical Gardens of Crete which is in a hilly area in the west of the island, just about half an hour from where the ship docked at Souda. It’s full of exotic fruit trees and medicinal plants, and it was all very attractive, set on a steep hill side with views across the green and pleasant valley. But the word to remember here is steep; we started at the top of the hill and followed the sign-posted path as it zig-zagged down and down. Clearly we would have to climb back up again at some point and the weather was very warm, so I started feeling a bit worried. However the ascent wasn’t as difficult as I had feared, and soon we were back at the little café at the top of the hill having water and snacks. 

Then we spent a couple of hours in nearby Chania (pronounced “Hania”) where we wandered the streets and had a relaxing coffee sitting at a wee café right on the front at the beautiful Venetian harbour. The flagstones of the harbour were only just above sea level which meant that the water kept lapping over the edge like an overly full swimming pool, I loved it.