Deb & Jim’s Adventures
Well we did it. We finally received our visas and are on our way. Greece here we come. 😊
First stop was Rome. We found a nice little AirBnb close to the airport. Stayed two days so Sophie (and us) could adjust a bit. 9 1/2 hour direct flight from Calgary. Evening flight and no sleep. We are beat. Lovely area. We fly to Athens next with another two day stop.
We arrived in Chania on Crete, September 27. Spent a couple days in an Airbnb before moving into the villa we rented in Stalos, just West of Chania. We have a wonderful view and huge deck to enjoy it from. Weather is hot and sunny.
We didn’t realize when we booked this place that we are in a very touristy area. We have a very lovely view from the top deck. We also have about 5 cats that come to visit every day and get a meal. The traffic is crazy busy. People are elbow to elbow on the sidewalks. I can’t imagine what it is like in the middle of summer. The main street is very close to the ocean and is a decent size, but not enough to accommodate two driving lanes and parking on each side. People park up on sidewalks and double park everywhere. Of course once you get off the main drag, the roads are pretty much all windy and narrow. A person has to be very careful going around corners here. Drivers pay very little attention to any road rules. They pass pretty well everywhere they want . At least most people will pull over to the far right to let others go past when on the main highway. Motorbikes are the worse. It’s like they have a death wish. They weave through traffic and up on sidewalks. When stopped at a red light they pass everyone and go to the front. Quite often they will even go through red lights. It is rare to see any police so people get away with things very easily. Greece is supposed to be one of the safest countries in the world so I presume that is why there is a very small police presence here.
There is a little town West of us called Maleme where we have found a great restaurant. Graham, the owner, is pictured here. He’s quite the character. Ex British marine. Now a professional chef. Great food, big portions and a lot of British expats dine here. They have a huge used book area. All books are donated and a person pays 1 euro for a book and proceeds are donated to a cancer foundation. Love seeing things like that. Also pictured is one of the many churches in the area. While this one is quite large most are very small. Majority are beautifully built. The architecture here is so beautiful. Norfolk Island pine in front of it. Bottom right is a cool looking car rental business.
Made a shopping trip into Chania today. Not very successful lol. Never could find the farmers market we were wanting to go to. Tried going to a hardware store and traffic was so busy we couldn’t find a parking spot anywhere near it. Then Google took us down a road that ended up being a pedestrian area and we had to try to get out of there. Oops. Good old Google. We received a lot of odd looks needless to say. Jim picked some lemons on the way back to the car. A person never has to buy oranges or lemons as there are so many trees full of fruit and people never use it. Finally we were fed up and went to Old Town, bottom right picture. It was definitely time for a glass of wine and supper. That at least went great.
All the pictures on the above page and this one are from Old Town in Chania. Beautiful harbour area. We wander around there fairly frequently. There is an area with block upon block of little shops, very touristy of course, and tons of great restaurants. There are a lot of day cruises available and horse and carriage rides. In the middle of summer it is extremly busy. Such an interesting area. Absolutely love it. It has such a lovely ambience.
The Chania lighthouse was built in 1839 and was originally a naval post occupied by the Venetians. A person can walk down the wall to get to it. During tourist season there are sometimes people selling different arts and crafts. When we were here for holidays a couple of year ago we bought a couple of paintings from an older man. You will also see men fishing along the wall. I’m not sure what the fish are but they are quite small. Looks like a lot of work for minimal gain in my opinion. :) The bottom two pictures are a church down the road from us. The bells ring at the top of the hour and the half hour. It’s funny as they are always 3 minutes late.
We met some neighbors today. We were sitting reading in the evening and heard something hit our window. A little bit later there was another. Jim opened the window and a guy below us (we are on a steep hill) started yelling at him in Greek. Jim said he didn’t speak Greek and the guy started yelling in English to turn our music down. Ended up the owner of the villa we are renting was in a small room below us and he had music blaring. Anyways, we started talking and found out he is from England and his wife is Canadian but of Greek descent. She spent her first 28 years in Canada and then moved here about 30 years ago. We agreed to get together for a glass of wine some evening. A couple days later they were working in their yard so we invited them up. Very funny start to a wonderful friendship. They are two of the nicest people you would ever hope to meet. They have also been extremely helpful and given us so much information. So grateful to have them as friends.
Jim hung our Canadian flag up today. We went into the city to start to look at cars. We would like to have something only a year or two old. Found out though before we can buy one we have to get a Tax ID number. Apparently we will have to have one to go onto a monthly plan for our cell phones also, so we went into the immigration office. We were under the understanding that we had to check in and basically have our visas from Canada approved or stamped to finalize. But nope. The Canadian visa just allows us to move here and apply for the residency visa here. More red tape. (:
We went driving around today. The island is covered in olive orchards. We believe they make the best olive oil, even better than Italian. So many people make it for their own consumption and will sell to individuals. Definitely a lot better price and every bit as good. There are also a lot of orchards that produce some very nice wines. Wine is very inexpensive. A person can buy a nice bottle for around $5-6 Canadian. The island is very hilly and has mountains. Most roads are very narrow and winding with some extremely sharp turns. Such a beautiful country.
We found a little gecko in the house today. Cute little guy.
We found a winery on our tours around today. Lovely little place. Sat and enjoyed a glass of wine and a lovely tapa plate. As with so many wineries they also produce their own olive oil. We bought a few bottles of wine and a large bottle of olive oil then found out the glass of wine and tapas were free. There is a lot of that here. People are very generous with free drinks, desserts, appetizers etc. They also never hover over your shoulder. If you want to sit for 3 hours talking and enjoying a glass they are totally fine with that. Time over a wine or coffee is supposed to be relaxing and laid back. Servers are also very polite and friendly. I enjoy the customer service here a lot more than back home.
Also got our dog fix while at the winery. Apparently someone had dumped the sweet guy. The winery adopted him and of course he gets tons of attention. We saw several beautiful churches while driving around. We decided to speak to a lawyer to look after our visa applications and the tax ID numbers. I tried to do it online myself but couldn’t get through it. It is in Greek and can’t be translated. I spent most of one day using Google translate on my phone trying to read it and was so frustrated thought to hell with it. Well worth paying a lawyer to look after that. Found a lovely lady and she has things started now. We were told 5 - 6 months for the visa and only a few days for the tax ID.
Another day trip. This one was to Vamos and Kalyves. Both are tiny villages East of us. Stopped for an early supper. We are finding that just about every restaurant serves raki at the end of every meal. They say it is to aid the digestion. When wine is made they take all the left over skins and such and make raki from it. It takes your breath away. I’m sure it would be similar to moonshine LOL. Yesterday I spent some time on the phone checking on car rentals as ours is due in a few days. Found one with a great winter rate. Works out to about $490.00 a month. Cars are very expensive here so we decided for now we would just rent. We had looked at a Nissan Juke that was 2 years old and it would have been about $30,000.00 Cdn. A person has to pay a tax on a vehicle here every year. The amount depends on the size of the vehicle and motor. Another plus to a rental, and no insurance cost.
We took a 4 night trip towards the east side of the island. Found a lovely Airbnb in Analipsi. The beach front is very touristy but the village is traditional and old. All the above pictures are from there. We really enjoyed our time here. We had supper the first night at a restaurant at the waterfront. Very nice meal but quite expensive. The next evening we went to an old traditional restaurant. Loved it so much we ate the rest of our suppers there. Wonderful laid back and mellow atmosphere. The second night the husband asked where we were from and gabbed a bit. The following night we were treated like family. The wife poured three rakis when she came to the table and had one with us. I just love the way just about everyone makes you feel so welcome. Totally enjoyed our time here.
We are now at the beginning of November. Basically locals only around now. Very few tourists. We left Analipsi and started heading back home. Olive harvesting is starting now. The 3 pictures in the top group show the traditional way of harvesting. We chatted with them for a bit. The tools they were using spin around and knock the olives out of the trees onto nets on the ground. We stopped in Iraklion for the afternoon. It is the largest city on the island. Population there is about 150,000.
The fishing boats down at the harbour are so colorful and well taken care of. We put on a lot of walking miles wherever we go. We tend to find a place to park and then walk around for hours. Everywhere you look around here there are ruins of buildings and walls mixed in with newer ones. For the most part even buildings that are not old historically, but are in bad shape, they don’t bother to demolish. The only exception seems to be when they are going to put up a brand new building.
When we left Canada we had expected to move here with two cats. Unfortunately our Finnegan’s cancer was too far advanced and we had to say goodby to him just before we left. Broke our hearts. So we moved with just Sophie. Our friends Sofia and Ben had rescued a one month old kitten off the street that the vet said was totally blind. They have been trying to find her a home for the last month and have been unable to due to her being blind plus she will need surgery to remove at least one of her eyes. The stray cat population here is extremely high. So sad to see. So meet Kalie :). I had thought if we ever did get another cat it would be an adult, mainly due to our age. But she was in need and that has always been our priority. She is a sweet, affectionate, fiesty little thing.
I think to date we have only seen 2 police cars and 4 policemen. And I think we have only heard a couple sirens so far. They are very few and far between. At the end of tourist season in Stalos, about 85 - 90% of the business and resorts shut down for the winter. They leave all their furniture and most of the inventory in plain sight. Some only have a heavy plastic panel they pull down to lock up. Nothing ever seems to get broken into. I find it so incredible. In Canada the majority would be stolen the first night. Such a different culture.
Went into the city to pick up our Tax IDs today. Walked around a different section of Old Town that we just found out about. Found another fabulous restaurant. Damn I wish we had the budget to eat out every day. Going out for a nice supper is definitely less than back home. Appetizer, meal, half liter of wine averages about $70 for two people. And as mentioned they always bring a small free dessert. I have found it very challenging to cook here. There are so many things we used on a daily basis that are not available here at all. Stir fry and other cooking sauces, taco seasoning, canned soup, we have only found 2 salad dressings, etc etc. The villa we are in hasn’t helped. The stove is very old and has bad lighting around it. We are very disappointed in the whole place actually. The pictures in the rental ad were very old and the place has not been maintained well at all. We also have a major problem with ants. If there is so much as a crumb there will be piles of ants. Internet has been very spotty. We go days without it. We were supposed to have Netflix and it has never worked. Microwave doesn’t work. Spoke to our lawyer and the realtor we went through and both said we could move out without any issues at all. So now we are searching for a long term place.
Went to look at a couple traditional houses today. Way too dark and not maintained. One was in the mountains and had a very narrow and winding road to it. Would not want to travel that on a regular basis. Amazing how good you can make things look in pictures. LOL. While in Kalyves we stopped for a snack and fed cats, I always carry cat food with me. I did not expect to feed ducks though haha. We have less than two weeks left as we gave our notice for November 30. So many places have changed over to Airbnbs the last few years that it is hard to find exactly what we want. We know we are going to have to give up something. Of course we have a budget and that won’t change, we have to find one with 2 bedrooms as we know we will get company once in awhile and a view with a good outdoor space is extremly important, a quiet place in a small village or even outskirts is a must also. So the only thing we can change is it being a stand alone house. The European countries we have travelled to we have found the majority of housing is apartments, anywhere from 3 or 4 units up to high rises.
We went for our walk today to get our exercise and feed cats. Most days we feed between 40 and 50 cats. There is a herd of sheep in our area that are moved around every few days. The babies are so darn cute. A lot of people have chickens and roosters. Our first few days here we stayed in an Airbnb and there was a lot across the street. Not my idea of fun being woke up at 5:00 and 6:00 to roosters crowing. Something to keep in mind when looking for a rental.
These are called kandylakias, which means little candles. They are small roadside shrines mainly put up where someone has died, but sometimes where someone has survived and the person is giving thanks and sometimes to mark that there is a church or monastery close by. Every one has an icon of a saint and a candle to light. They go from very simple to extremely elaborate. Family and loved ones will visit on the anniversary to pay their respects, pray and light a candle.
Went to look at a couple more places today. No luck. Apparently about 80% of Greece is hills or mountains. So a person either stays along the coast which is full of tourists in the summer or heads into the hills to live. Typical road with lots of blind corners and birds or animals to keep an eye out for.
We try to go for a walk every day. We also feed a lot of stray cats on the way. Most days it is between 40 and 50. Needless to say we are going through a ton of cat food. LOL. There are a lot of poinsettia trees growing here. This one is about 7’ tall. So beautiful.
The cat in the boat is in front of a pet supply shop called Coolookie. Super nice people. They do feed the cats around their place all the time which is so nice to see. We went into Old Town Chania and they have a huge Christmas tree up. Right beside it they have a little area with a few rides for little kids. Cute area.
These pictures are also from Old Town at night.
One of the outdoor restaurants. A good portion of them have lots of fairy lights and look so pretty. We finally lucked out and found a place to live. It is just outside a tiny traditional village called Kornaus. It is up into the mountains a bit and has a spectacular view. It is very quiet and peaceful. The only sounds we heard was a dog barking in the distance and sheep bleating and their bells tinkling. Probably silly to most people but I love the sound of the sheep and bells. I find it rather soothing. Sure beats listening to traffic, sirens and people partying :). Has a wonderful deck. I believe this place is going to work out very well. We aren’t able to move in until end of December as they are busy painting and doing some renovations. Our new friends Sofia and Ben have a two bedroom apartment we can rent for the month of December so we will move in there in a couple days.
We have made the move to Sofia and Ben’s. We found a great pottery shop in Old Town Chania (not as great as our friend Tarra’s back in Fallis as hers is the best we have ever seen). The bowl/platter was a gift to our friends for all the help they have given us. The salt and pepper shakers, mugs and spoon rest were for us. We both love pottery. I remember as a kid drying laundry like this haha. Or hang it outside and then it would freeze in the winter. Very few people have dryers here, which for the most part is fine. In nice weather it can dry outside quite quickly. When it’s raining it is a pain though. Just one more thing to get used to. Nice things about being retired we have all the time in the world.
A couple of pictures of Christmas lights from downtown Chania. Rainy night which is very typical of weather at this time of year.
Amazing how Kalie can sleep in a position like that :) We went out for supper to a place that has an actual beer menu. Very extensive. I thought the sign was hilarious.
The restaurant was called Bossa Nova. Great music and food. These pictures are of one of the 4 tables someone obviously spent hours on placing bottle caps of different beers. I can’t imagine the patience that took. Beyond me.
Great placemat. Sophie found herself a super comfy place to curl up. A prickly pear loaded with fruit. There are lots of these around here. I would love to have picked a couple but this was in someone’s yard. Thought I probably shouldn’t lol.
We have finally moved into our long term home. We moved in New Years Eve so it is nice to begin the new year with all the upheaval behind us. Opened a bottle of champagne to celebrate. The two pictures are of our tiny town square. It is a very small area with a few restaurants and a couple small businesses but that is all. We do have a good size grocery store in a little place called Paralia Kourna and it is only about ten minutes away.
Sophie has found a spot she loves to sit. The owner here has two cats and then there are about 8 to 10 others that come visiting all the time. We always feed them a lunch. Silly thing but I like the way they make their bottle caps here. All bottles have a hinged lid on them. The picture of the sheep is outside our living room window. We find it very relaxing to listen to them and their bells. Sorry not a good picture as I had the screen down plus the wire fence.
The above pictures are from our veranda. Such a gorgeous view. We will never tire of that. Really looking forward to March/April or so when the weather is nice to sit out and enjoy.
We are a few minutes walk from the edge of the village so go for walks most days. The above, this page and the one below are all from around the village. Very hilly of course being in the mountains. Such narrow roads. It isn’t unusual to have to back up in places to a wider space to let someone pass. Needless to say most vehicles are scratched up and dented around here :) Tons of churches in Greece, both old and newer. Beautiful architecture. Of course we have made a lot of 4 legged friends. We always find a group sitting and waiting patiently for a meal when we get up.
We spent another day just driving around our area. It seems like every 5 to 10 minutes you are in another village. It is so interesting up in the mountains as the villages are older and traditional. That is the thing we really love about Greece. We found a great restaurant, after a very long climb. The place was pretty packed. We asked our waitress if there was something special going on but she said it is a regular Sunday. That is a day that families and friends gather and go out for meals. Great atmosphere. The trees in this area were huge. Everything is so lush and green even in the middle of January.
