We awoke the day after the Samaria Gorge hike in good spirits but a little weak of flesh. While Lisa was just a bit sore in the legs, Christos was quite sore! After a quick breakfast of coffee, egg in a cup and toast, it was off to visit a local monastery "Agia Triada" or "Holy Trinity". The drive was not difficult and made even easier by a local taxi driver who overheard Christos buying water and asking directions in Greek at a local service station; as we left the station, he followed and gave us hand directions on the roads until we reached the final one to the monastery! Agia Triada was founded in the 1600s and is still an active monestary. The chapel was lovely (albeit no Caravaggios adorned its walls) and the museum had some beautiful religious items as well as coins (one of Christos' interests) from as far back as the Arabic occupation (850 AD). We bought some monk made olive oil and decided to make a lazy day of the rest of it, getting back to Kindelis around 3pm and spending the rest of the day by the pool watching the swallows drink and clean themselves in it! Christos finished his book on the Spartacus War and left it for a future guest. Finally it was off to the local taverna again where this time we had chicken grilled over charcoal and lamb stewed in wine. We made it back to Kindelis again around midnight and watched a little more of "The Wire" before sleep took us.
Our last day in the west of Crete began with scrambled eggs, fresh OJ and some yoghurt with honey and fruit. With our room having a washing machine and there being plenty of sun, we had the luxury of doing laundry before hopping in the car and heading off to the Nostos winery some 20 minutes away. The winery was built by a local Greek made good. He was born in the place when it was just a farm, went to the US with his three sisters as a kid in the 50s, made a big enough pile to retire and then returned to the village to buy the ruined family farmhouse and over a 20 year period converted it into one of Crete's top wineries! We had the white, the rose and two reds. All in all decent wine but the French and Italian wines still come out on top for us. We enjoyed a lunch of local Cretan mezes (snack like food; think Greek tapas) and then it was back to Kindelis for some relaxation before dinner. Before we left, Christos noted the small art gallery including some lovely local purses for sale. Lisa liked the look of them and the guide told us that the maker, Georgina Skalidi, had a store in Old Town Chania.
One of the things we have come to love at Kindelis is what we call "The Swallow Dance" which occurs in the mid-afternoon and involves the local swallows cleaning themselves and drinking from the pool in our garden. Quite fun to watch!
That evening we decided to head into Chania as we really had not been since Sunday. We found Georgina's shop and of course, Lisa could not resist a new purse! A lovely blue leather clutch was quickly acquired. Then it was off to a restaurant called "The Well of the Turk" near an abandoned minaret tower in old Chania that still had a crescent on top. Dinner was yummy (although nothing like the fish from Monday) and we enjoyed a stroll through Old Chania which was so different from Sunday in that it was thick with people, tourists and Greeks alike. Finally it as back to Kindelis for a little TV, this time some of Season 2 of "Homeland" before bed. The next day our Central Crete trip would begin!
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