We woke to sunny and clear skies that promised a beautiful day ahead. We ate amazing pastries from the local bakery across the street (my favorite was the chocolate filled phyllo dough and the custard filled croissant-like things . . . mmm) and then we headed out of town and up the hill to a nearby village.
It’s only about 5k away, and many people make a day of hiking up to the village and then returning either by the road or the gorge trail that leads down to the beach, but because we had Camille with us we opted to drive up and then hike around once we were up there.
It’s a beautiful tree lined road that tucks in and out of the sunshine as it weaves its way up the hillside.
We passed lots of hiker with their ski poles. I don’t get the pole thing. It seems like more work to carry two sticks than just to walk. Especially on a paved road. I guess it’s a German thing.
At the village — goats roaming the hillsides and running in the street
Even the drinking fountain has style
Yes Camille dressed herself. Ready for hiking and swimming.
Our lunch destination. An old schoolhouse that has been converted to a cafe. The proprietor of the place we stayed in Chania said that we must eat here. Since all of her other recommendations were spot-on, we were looking forward to lunch.
But first, we hike! We found the path that led behind the schoolhouse and down the hill toward the gorge and eventually the beach. We weren’t going to go all the way down (because that would bring us home), but our plan was to hike partway down and then back up.
The path led us by an old cemetery and church. Josh figured out (from googling the greek inscriptions) that it was the resting place of one particular family — the most recent burial was just last year of a woman who was in her 40s.
A beautiful view down the gorge
Checking out the inside of the church
I was amazed to see all these beautiful ornate frescos inside the tiny chapel.
Caleb pointed out that these were much nicer than the ones we saw in Turkey because they “didn’t have their faces all scratched out.” The things you notice when you spend a lot of time in a Muslim country.
Camille checking out St George. He is featured all over Crete.
After leaving the church and cemetery grounds, we found ourselves back on the path.
Olive trees everywhere. I love these tiny ones that look like capers or juniper berries.
It was October, but there were still beautiful fall flowers blooming.
Passing through the goat gate and into the gorge. It really was a goat gate with a hand lettered sign asking hikers to make sure it was put back in place so the goats couldn’t roam.
The two oldest boys easily outpaced us as we scrambled down the rocks toward the valley floor, but Caleb stuck close to help Camille and I when we needed a hand.
Seeing the way he helped his sister (without being asked) is one of my favorite memories from our trip.
Found the trail and they were off and running
I expected Camille to need more help than she did. I made a comment to Josh that I was going to have to “step up my game” if I wanted to keep up with her on future trips! She was a scrapper and scrambled over the rocks as if she were half goat herself.
We kept seeing stacks of rocks along the path as we walked down the trail and I wondered what the meaning was — maybe past trekkers marking the path? Some sort of secret hiker code? Nature’s version of Jenga? But when we finally caught up with Calvin and Carter it turned out they had seen one stack so they started creating them on all the big rocks that they passed. So much for my romantic ideas of
Later when I asked the kids to list some of their favorite memories from the trip, this hike made all of their lists. It was a small path that barely makes it into the guidebooks, but it’s exactly what they miss living in the Middle East. Trees, unknown paths, space to wander and explore, rocks to climb and freedom to run without knowing what is beyond the next bend.
We met up and decided it was time to turn around, hike back up the canyon, and have lunch.
The inside of the schoolhouse is the kitchen and all the seating is outdoors overlooking the gorge. We ordered fresh juice and cappuccinos and sipped and read books while we waited for them to take lunch orders at 1pm.
Calvin and Carter read the menu items off the chalkboard and we decided on dishes like baked fennel (inside a phyllo pastry crust), balsamic beet salad, cretan salad (of course!), baked pasta and some other things I’m forgetting. As promised, it was all divine and we added this place to our “must do this again” list.
The perfect lunch spot