Chania and beyond

I've wanted to visit Crete for best partof 30 years or more. I recollect in the late 1970s watching a TV drama entitled "Who pays the Ferryman ?" which was set on the island and I was thrilled by the scenery especially the harbour views. Life has a way of delaying plans and as a result I reached Crete in late September 2012.

We're on a tour named "Discover the West", determined to avoid hiring a car we've booked three coach tours and plan to use public transport (buses) for any other journeys. The tour centres on the town of Chania. Once in the old town it offers the charm,bustle and harbour that I've been hoping to see. Obviously at this time of year tourists outnumber Cretans but the setting still retains its character.

We sat in a harbourside cafe to have lunch, to our left a Mosque built when the Turks invaded Crete has been converted into a craft market (no comment). I succumbed to a plate of grilled sardines (I've told myself that I will not eat a diet of fish this holiday), but the sardines are excellent washed down by a Mythos. We watch as horse and carts go by.

This is perhaps the first European holiday I've experienced where British tourists are obviously outnumbered. The dominant grouping obviously comes from Germany, with a fair number of Dutch as well. In the current economic climate the number of German tourists is significant, Greece could certainly use the Euros that they spend here. The local population work hard, the season will be over by November. As before my thoughts are drawn to the propaganda in some of the UK media, that the plight of Greece is the result of the Greek people shunning hard work. Yet again my experience is completely the opposite, those o working in the restaurants and hotels are working tirelessly often without a day off in a week.

Crete we are told has a million olive trees , our guide on the coach suggests that many of those working in Chania will return to the land when the tourist season ends. I'm not convinced.

Crete is the largest of the islands I've visited, in its current situation you might expect a Cretan separatist movement to develop, but we've seen no signs of that. Instead Cretans we've spoken to are proud to be Greek, they've been invaded many times perhaps that explains this pride and determination. We've been here only three days but I sense we have so much more to see and learn.