Digital Wanderer

We live as long as we fly

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2008-10-06 Crete — 11, The Old Town of Rethymno

2008-10-06

We circled around the city for a long time looking for parking closer to the port. Space on Crete is scarce for obvious reasons, so we barely managed it. When we parked, I asked a dude at a cafe table where to buy tickets, and he clearly explained where to go. Very many Cretans speak English, at least on a conversational level, and in the service sector it's pretty much everyone.

Not far from Crete lies the Greek island of Santorini, and tourists flock there en masse, even though the price of visiting it is nothing to smile about. We dashed to the port just to buy a ferry ticket to the island. But we were informed that this was pointless, because to see anything on the island you need a vehicle in the form of a motorboat, and in general "just tickets" to Santorini aren't sold, only excursions for 140 euros a pop. To be fair, that's really quite a lot.  Generally, excursions on Crete are sold to many places, the selection is very similar, and prices are usually around 30, 40, 70 euros. Plus they pick you up from your hotel and sometimes drive you to the other end of the island. Basically, it makes sense and isn't too expensive, unlike Santorini — but it's far, plus it's a whole day of fun, and it all starts at 7 AM.

Facade of the "Russian Katyusha Mini-Market" store with a partially open wooden door and a display window. Through the glass, shelves with goods, a Ukrainian flag, and a person behind the counter are visible. An observant eye will notice the primordially Russian drink Borjomi gleaming green in the shadows on the bottom shelf

Instead of excursions, for now we just strolled along the promenade full of wonderful shops where leather belts cost 2-3 euros, and backpacks — 8-14. Here's some math for you: instead of one trip to the island, you could buy 40 belts and put on a sado-maso show. What you can do  with 15 backpacks, I leave up to you to figure out as part of an imagination development program.

A wall completely covered with densely placed obituaries in Greek. On the white, sometimes crumpled sheets, photos of the deceased and cross symbols are visible. I read somewhere that southerners really love obituaries. Looked at this here — and it's true

We also  bought a guidebook in Russian that we had long coveted. You could call it Russian only at a stretch: occasionally there were fascinating words, the meaning of which could only be understood by applying that very same imagination we were training earlier. I won't mention the punctuation marks, and rightfully so, because I suffer from a lack of them myself.

IMG_0208 The sign W.C. is duplicated as toilet — very sensible, one of the two will definitely be understood

Anyway, the guidebook informed us that it wouldn't be a bad idea to check out a certain majestic Venetian fountain in the old town. We looked for the fountain for so long that we walked all the way back to Fortezza itself, but luckily so, because we saw a lot of entertaining stuff along the way. The old town of Rethymno is very cute. It has narrow streets, knick-knack vendors, and all the other cliches you can easily glean from idiotic guidebooks.

An open counter of a fish shop with a blue boat filled with fresh fish and two men inside. In front of the entrance stands a large figure of a cartoon octopus, and a blue sign with Greek text hangs above the shop. A cute little octopus. And a boat-shaped counter

By the way, Sergey bought a micro-bag, and it didn't even have a price tag. But a similar one nearby did. When the saleswoman started ringing up more at the register than the price of the similar one, he protested. Then she simply asked: how much will you give for it, anyway? A relaxed way to do business, don't you think?

 

 

 

A sunny path, along which an oleander grows on the left, and on the right — a lush hibiscus bush with many white and pale pink flowers, separated by a metal fence. Some unknown blooming thingamajig

A date palm with large orange bunches of fruit grows near a metal fence against the background of a building and parked cars. Next to the tree stands a woman in a white dress and sunglasses. The king of pineapple palms has blossomed. Or what else is it doing here, tell me

A blonde woman in a white sundress is choosing pastries at the counter of a street bakery. In the twilight of the room behind the counter stand a bare-chested man and a woman in a white t-shirt. A bakery right on the street

The dude staring right at the camera wasn't particularly cheerful when he sold Tanya a bun. Cretans are generally quite friendly, but they don't really care much about tourists. Maybe because Cretans know our money will end up in their pockets anyway, or maybe it's just their laid-back vibe.

Entrance to the Irish bar "Punch Bowl" with dark green wooden frames, above which hang Greek flags and a large carved sign with the name. On the sides of the entrance and above it are shelves densely packed with various bottles and decorations. An amusing Irish bar. Globalization, damn it

In the Cretan shops aimed at tourists, there are a lot of spices in sets and individually, as well as olive oil and ceramics. So much that it's impossible to choose, which is why I didn't buy anything. However, in one of the shops there was a fountain in a tiny inner courtyard. We even started to wonder if this was the one we were looking for, since there was no other one around.

A man in a white hat, sunglasses, and a light patterned shirt sits on a high chair at a round table on a cafe veranda. By acquiring this hat, Andrey completed the look of a resort dandy

A young woman in a white dress crouched by an old stone fountain and touches the flowing water with her hand. The fountain is decorated with carved spout-masks and columns, and the woman smiles at the camera.The fountain Tanya was so eager to see turned out to be three pathetic trickles. Although together with Tanya it looks alright

A narrow city street built up with light-colored buildings with balconies and shops. Many wires and decorative garlands are stretched over it, and people stroll along it under a clear blue sky. The streets of Rethymno look like this

A narrow cobbled street surrounded by old buildings with awnings, with people walking on it on a sunny day. On the right along the street are tables of an outdoor cafe. Or like this

A female tourist in a straw hat stands on a narrow street lined with old light-colored houses. The street fades into the distance, creating the atmosphere of a Mediterranean village. Rambo's wife

A bronze monument of a man in traditional Greek clothing with a weapon behind his belt, towering on a pedestal surrounded by green trees.One of two things: either he has a rabbit carcass in his hands, or a bunch of pistols

Lastly, according to tradition, photos from Flickr.

A green succulent burro's tail with trailing stems and small pink flowers at the ends grows on the edge of a concrete balcony. The hanging gardens of Rethymno

A narrow cobbled street in Greece with souvenir shops and a tavern. In the foreground stands a chalkboard with a menu and traditional clay pottery. The menu is, understandably, in English. It has a lot of lamb, if anyone can't see

A picturesque harbor with a row of colorful old buildings, moored boats, and their reflections in calm blue water. In the distance, a minaret is visible above the roofs. Harbor

A picturesque harbor at dusk with brightly lit buildings along the promenade. Their warm lights reflect in the calm water where boats are moored. The same one at dusk

A narrow cobbled street with restaurant tables under white tablecloths arranged along the walls of the buildings. From above, a dense green canopy of climbing plants and tree branches stretches over the passage.

After visiting Rethymno, we were about to head to Heraklion, but suddenly ran into a horrifying problem that almost brought us to an extremely sad state of mind. Fortunately, it was resolved successfully. But you'll find out about that only in the next issue. 

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