Crete, Greece
October 26, 2022
We pulled into the Port of Souda earlier than the published 11 am time. It was 7 am and I was already getting cellular service from Greece. The captain said that he was going to try to get us to port early and had a good chance of doing so because of calm seas and good weather. I did notice that the ship appeared to be moving faster than normal at dinner last night. 25 mph on a ship this size can seem fast.
We had no tours planned today. The HAL tours focused mainly on visiting the Roman and or Greek ruins. We have seen a lot more than the average person and realize now how large the Roman Empire was. I think people from the ”New World” find this so fascinating because nothing like this exists there. Most of Europe and Northern Africa contains remnants of past civilizations that used stone to construct things and that has lasted for centuries. We decided that we have seen enough ruins and we were going to wing it today.
The Port town is Souda. A shuttle bus took us into neighboring Chania.
The city was very modern and had many of the stores we had back home. It was vibrant and full of working people and tourists. We decided to head to the older section of the city. The Venetian lighthouse, originally constructed in 1570 and the latest version in 1830, looked like a nice place to walk to. We walked along the wall of the harbor and looked back at the older section of the city and snapped some photos. It was getting very hot and we back tracked and went to get lost in some of the narrow streets in this section.
We decided to eat lunch at a place that was recommend in an article we had read about the city. Tajam was the restaurant. We sat outside in the narrowest of streets in this area.
Delicious lunch while ship passengers from a HAL tour walked by. We can usually spot ship people quite easily. The hats they choose to wear is a giveaway. No one in the country has a mask on but ship people. They also have little stickers on their shirts that identify which bus they are on. Some stopped by to say hi. Some joined us at another table. Lunch was followed by complimentary dessert. Halva, made from walnuts and something sweet. The shots. Ouzo? Not Ouzo but something similar made only on Crete. Ouzo has the definite anise taste. This tasted more like rubbing alcohol. Johnson and Johnson I think.
We wondered through the streets after lunch and browsed the many shops. Nothing we needed. We made it back to the bus pickup point and took the 20 minute ride back.
Dinner in the dining room as we watched the sunset. We finished the evening on our balcony. Nice view of Souda and nice breeze. We watched as busses dropped weary tour folks off all evening. The last few passengers came up the ramp with 8 mins to spare. By 9:30 the crew was wrapping things up and we were off. A tug was on hand in the harbor as it was crowded. 2 large car ferries were in port as well as cargo ships.
1 more sea day in the Mediterranean and then down the Suez canal on our way to Egypt.…