[2022]
[Sunday 22 May
2022]
Mediterraneo Hotel, Λιμένας Χερσόνησος, Crete
Janet noted in her journal: “I was up at 7.30am.” As usual, after she vacated the bathroom, I went in, and shaved and showered. “We went for breakfast, then tried to arrange late check-out on Wednesday. Couldn’t: fully booked. Bugger! Hey ho! We ordered our prescriptions, then returned to our room to sort stuff out.”
Janet had enquired about late check-out just after we arrived, and had been advised to enquire again a day or so before we would leave: with this negative result. She wanted to request medications, so because I only had access to her account by using her logon on the
Asus computer, and because I’d only paid for internet access in the room for one device,
i.e. the Samsung, I took the Asus down to the lobby and logged on to the free “public areas” internet
there (09:16). Logged on to Janet’s account (09:17) and requested all her medications.…
Janet’s journal continued: “At ca.10.30am we went out. Another hot day. I wanted an easy day — and also [to find] a new leather belt and watch battery for [John].” I’d been finding that sometimes my
Sekonda watch had gone slow. “There was a leather shop [John] had seen last week, but it was not open until 12 noon. I asked at a jeweller’s about batteries, and no joy [there], either. We headed down to the beach to see if we could find that church [Agios Nikolaos] we’d spotted on a promontory when we were at Lychnostatis on Friday. First, we found a bar for drinks. I had two delicious fruit smoothies (mmmm!) and [John] had a beer. We chatted to the waiter. [John] also had a complimentary rakí. I nearly got locked in the lavatory. It freaked me out!”
The leather shop was likely “Sissi Leather” on the main street El.
Venizelou.[ii] We revisited it when it was open, and bought two leather belts from a rotating rack (labelled, almost as one would expect, “δέρμα”), one black, one brown. I had no idea where “that church” would be found. When we were at the Lychnostatis Museum, I had the impression that it was a long way off; so from “Sissi Leather” (if that’s where we were) I led us a further 480 yards before turning right along a street [Μπουμπουλίνας (Bouboulinas)] to the beach. I expected to find the church nearby, but saw no sign of it. (That was because I’d overshot it by a distance of not much less than the distance between it and Lychnostatis!) Anyway, not far to the right from there was a “café-bar restaurant” called
Karavi,[iii] where we enjoyed refreshments.
- [ii] Named after the same Eleftherios Venizelos whose statue we saw in Heraklion on
Friday 20 May 2022 (15:24:24) and on Saturday 21 May 2022 (15:18:16).
[iii] Καράβι means “boat” or “ship”, according to Google Translate. It was on a long road, “25ης Μαρτίου”, running parallel to the beach and other coastal features (sometimes not a vehicular road but a footpath). At the time, we didn’t realise that there was this continuous way from near the Lychnostatis Museum to this point.
Screen-capture from Google Maps, with my additions
Monday 23 May 2022 11:15:40
Souvenir shop selling phalli on Ελ. Βενιζέλου, Λιμένας Χερσονήσου
Monday 23 May 2022 11:21:42
Ελ. Βενιζέλου, Λιμένας Χερσονήσου
Monday 23 May 2022 11:37:46
Karavi Café-Bar Restaurant, 25ης Μαρτίου, Λιμένας Χερσονήσου
Monday 23 May 2022 12:15:44
Karavi Café-Bar Restaurant, 25ης Μαρτίου, Λιμένας Χερσονήσου
Monday 23 May 2022 12:16:22
Looking back along Μπουμπουλίνας (Bouboulinas), Λιμένας Χερσονήσου
“At ca.12 we headed back to the hotel for lunch. After that, we set off to find that church. It was
ca.2pm. We walked around the coast and finally found it. It wasn’t that far away. Unfortunately it was closed, and all locked up. Never mind. [John] took photos, then we headed to the bar we’d been to this morning. Earlier, we’d sat on a bar stool, but this time we sat on a comfy sofa. We both had a smoothies. I had another, and [John] had a beer then another complimentary rakí!”
We walked from the hotel to the junction where the road going past Lychnostatis forks off from the main road, crossed over that, and continued down to the nearby beach, from where we could at least see the church. We didn’t know whether there would be a continuous path from there to it, but we set out walking anyway; and discovered that there was indeed a way, sometimes just a path, sometimes a road that cars could use. We continued on it around one small promontory, and then another, which was an eastwards projection of the larger promontory on which the church stands. The site that the church occupies is quite a lot roomier than the impression of it from Lychnostatis suggested.
Monday 23 May 2022 14:07:32
Distant view of Agios Nikolaos Church from Golden Sand Beach, Λιμένας Χερσονήσου
Monday 23 May 2022 14:14:10
Golden Sand Beach, Λιμένας Χερσονήσου
Monday 23 May 2022 14:14:10 (detail)
Golden Sand Beach, Λιμένας Χερσονήσου
Monday 23 May 2022 14:27:50
Agios Nikolaos Church, Λιμένας Χερσονήσου
Monday 23 May 2022 14:32:08
Agios Nikolaos Church, Λιμένας Χερσονήσου
Monday 23 May 2022 15:04:12
Back at Karavi Café-Bar Restaurant, 25ης Μαρτίου, Λιμένας Χερσονήσου
Monday 23 May 2022 15:07:50
Karavi Café-Bar Restaurant, 25ης Μαρτίου, Λιμένας Χερσονήσου
Monday 23 May 2022 15:08:40
“Pirate ship” Black Rose, passing the Karavi Café-Bar Restaurant, 25ης Μαρτίου, Λιμένας Χερσονήσου
I realised that the church could, in fact, be seen from that location, or from very near it.
Monday 23 May 2022 16:01:08
View east-southeast, including of Agios Nikolaos Church, Λιμένας Χερσονήσου
“At 4pm we returned to the hotel,” Janet wrote. “It was very hot: there had been a cool breeze near the water. First, we checked out the security lockers. Huge enough for our needs but, as there are only nine, I’ll have to get up early on Wednesday morning to secure one. Check-out is 12 noon so, if we get one, we’ll manage. Back in our room we sorted out stuff and [John] had a
shower. At ca.6pm we went for drinks in the bar then to dinner. Afterwards, I had a shower. We were in bed before 9pm.”
[Tuesday 24 May
2022]
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