Chania, Crete Monday 10th March

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This morning, after we used the washing machine and caught up on some emails, Greg and Anne kindly lent us their brand new deluxe bicycles for an outing. We rode along country roads with almost no traffic.

The best things for me were the excellent brakes (I hate to go fast) and the gears that allowed us to ride up most of the hills. Keith only got off to keep me company when I couldn’t keep going up the mountainous bit at the end. He would have been able to ride it all. It was like riding through the Crete of my dreams – a gently winding road between stone fences and olive groves, wild flowers gleaming in the grass and trailing on the walls, the mellow sound of sheep bells ringing, a perfectly even blue sky against the heath land of the lower slopes and the rockiness of the mountains, and now and then a tiny chapel, dedicated to a particular saint by local families or individuals.

We arrived at the Monastery, Agh Triados. This monastery had a notice up stating that ‘Monastery Agia Triada (Holly Trinity) of Jagarolou has been following a course, which has been written down in history with gold letters, since 1632. With high sense of responsibility and respect to the traditional economy, the ecology and people’s health, the extra virgin olive oil “Agia Triada” is devoutly produced in the olive groves of the Monastery.’. The monastery was a pinky-apricot colour and very well maintained. In the centre stood the most decorated church I have ever seen; lots of ornate metal work, gilt wood carvings and paintings on every surface. It had plain wooden seats around the walls and two larger seats, like ornate thrones, close to the middle. Jesus looked down from the central dome, while golden stars shone in the blue sky of the other domes. Six ornate candelabras still held candles and lamps and numerous icons of the saints. Outside, the gardens were carefully tended and included roses, lemon trees, irises, and spring seedlings. The perfume of hyacinths wafted on the breeze. Everything spoke of a life of order and labour, but also of dedication and beauty.

We saw several monks going about their daily business, one carrying a delectable looking plate of olives with what seemed like reverence.

It made me think about how we often regard our daily tasks as something to get through rather than as something worthy of attention, care and pride; of how no day could be considered wasted if each act, no matter how simple, has been undertaken with a reverence for being alive. I am sure that the monks would look at each of their daily tasks as being dedicated to God, as their lives are.

The next part of the ride led us into the mountains and past many family and friendship groups enjoying picnics and flying kites. The strings stretched for hundreds of metres into the sky.

Some people were collecting herbs and snails.

We stopped for our own picnic under one of the few trees and then continued on to the Monastery Agh Ioannou Gouvernetou.

Set at the top of the mountain, the holy precinct includes park lands, the buildings and all the land down to the sea. Visitors are asked to be respectful in their dress and not to take photos anywhere in the area. The monastery, similar on the outside to Agh Triados, was closed. The wall created spectacular echoes for the voices of some young men enjoying their kite flying. Beyond the monastery, a rocky path continues down the mountain side to the site of the ruins of a church. Further down, nestled into the mountain at a curve in the gorge, the Monastery Katholikou was partially built as free standing buildings and partially cut into the rock. We were able to enter the rock chapel, which gave us a sense of what the buildings at Petra would have been like at the time they were in use. This spot was remote and, in the days before roads, difficult to reach, but it was very beautiful, with the sea below and the wild mountain above. On the way down the gorge to the sea, we were observed by a family of goats who, no doubt, felt we were intruders on their domain. The Cretan goat is famous and a symbol for Crete. We made it to the small cliff above the sea but there was no beach as such, just a drop into the rock edged water.

Concern about making it back in day light meant that we didn’t stay to savour the spot, but set off on the much more arduous trek up the gorge and the mountain.

When we returned, Greg and Anne had a surprise for us – they had phoned their friends to ask about gorges and had told them of my interest in flowers. Their friends had offered to show us some other areas of western Crete if we would like to visit them. We were thrilled to be offered the opportunity and amazed that people, not in couch surfing, were so generous and open to sharing with total strangers.

We enjoyed another delightful meal with Anne and Greg; learning about each other, and each other’s countries, is fascinating and we touched many other interesting topics as well. We extended a warm invitation to Greg and Anne to stay with us in Australia.