"Crete" a Crete Island Travel Page by Lochlainn

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I love the island of Crete - more a country in its own right than just a Greek island. I especially like the western side and the shores south of the Lefka Ori Mountains. Many times I have visited this region I have used Chania - Crete's second largest city - as my starting point. The picture - from about 1985 - shows a rather eccentric catamaran (with a beautifully eccentric owner) which was berthed for some time in the Venetian Harbour. The photo was taken with a borrowed, but expensive, camera that I had the bad luck to get sand into when being rather careless on the beach there. It was imperative that it be fixed before I dared show my face at home again! A trip to a pharmacy and some rather halting Greek and English exchanges finally led me to a cousin of a cousin of the pharmacist who ran a car repair outfit in a back alley. There, the oil besmirched cousin who's black shirt showed even blacker where large sweat stains had accumulated through his hot and busy day's toil 'listened' to my tale - expressed mostly in sign language - took a brief look at the camera, and nonchalantly tossed it onto a shelf. "Avrio" (tomorrow) and "Endaxi" (ok) were all the words I understood. A sleepless night later I arrived back at the agreed time to find him just finishing airbrushing the sand from the mirror assembly with the finesse and skill of a brain surgeon. His delight at seeing me seemed to surpass mine at seeing the camera restored to its pristine condition. I dug deep into my pocket and produced wads of drachma. I would gladly have mortgaged my soul for the safe return of that infernal camera. The look of disdain I received was enough to realise the error of my gesture, a look that melted into a huge and genuine smile as he handed over the camera. "For a friend - free!" he exclaimed, turned on his heels, and re-entered the gloom of his workshop. I love this place!

For more traipsing around this lovely island check out my travelogue at

<a href="http://www.virtualtourist.com/m/.73965/article/163/3/">Impressions of Crete</a>