Chania pronounced: Haan-ya
I forgot to mention that our tour guide, Kostas gave us each a gift. The blue or “evil eye” shown here is a traditional Greek amulet that protects against bad luck brought about by jealousy or admiration. (Like bullying or jinxes)
Really fun day today: Girl Power on Crete! Not sure what gave Kostas this idea, just because there are 5 men on the tour and all the rest women...but we toured a Women’s Cooperative. One of the women went to a state seminar, got with 9 other women and formed a cooperative to produce foods and products as they do in their homes and sell them. The cooperative is 10 years old, with the same women involved. We were delighted to spend some money there on jams, fruits, cookies, olive oil and more. They had some lovely samples ready for us to try.
We spent a little time in the town of Archanes. And Deb found this!
We thought the Greek men sitting outside the coffee shop was too perfect to miss. I pretended to take a photo of Jen and then cropped her out (sorry Jen!
Then Kostas bought us all Greek coffee to try. I hate coffee but this is finely ground and brewed with sugar. If you have a good imagination it almost tastes like a bitter dark chocolate. Then here are just a couple pics of this cute town.
From there we visited an Organic winery, the first in Greece. Second generation winery run now by 2 sisters. Beautiful vineyards and buildings. The father was a civil engineer and designed the building and process the wine. One sister was in technology and the other a chemical engineer. The parents are still involved but the daughters run the winery. Their logo is a bee that symbolizes fertility. We had a wine tasting and amazing lunch that the mother prepared and served.
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| The sisters running the winery |
This is the mother serving the lunch. They were insulted if anyone skipped the bread. She said, "Greeks eat bread with bread”.
The full group with Niki (owner) and Kostas in front (the Dad took the photo!)
...and the Goddesses. We’re getting better at lining up!
Then back on the bus to Chania. Checked into the hotel, then a walking tour of the town. Church, church, ex-church, whatever. Whole lot of religious upheaval as battles determine who’s in charge - I don’t mean to minimize it but I couldn’t really tell you why these were important; please take my word for it. Over the centuries they were churches, mosques, synagogues, bathhouses and one somewhere was a movie theatre.
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| Then this happened |
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| Sorry, this is for my husband Dave |
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| Beautiful waterfront |
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Dinner at Boeheme
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Lori and Deb
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| With Sheila and Cindy |
Stores open til 10 or 11, so a little shopping, then Calle Nichte!
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