blauboy’s posthaven

Although it's not an insiders' tip anymore, a trip to Loutro on the southern side of Crete is still a captivating experience. Only accessible by ferry, 30 minutes (or 6,10 Euro fee) west of Chora Sfakion, the cosy little village in the hidden bay welcomes its visitors with white house facades, turquoise sea and two small pebble beaches. Slow life here, perfect for relaxation! It was the fourth time within the last twelve years that we took a daytrip there and for sure we will come back another time one day! (13 pictures)

I found Atlantis!
I saw its vagabonded foundations, touched its old columns and I wandered its lost streets. The magic place is located on the peninsula Akrotiri, not too far away from the airport of Chania, between Chorafakia and Stavros. The huge areal spreads in the burning mediterrean sun over dozens of acres: abandonded, rotten, dirty, overgrown. But one can still see the structures of the bold idea, that was behind this compound: to build another waterpark like Limnoupolis on Crete, barely 30 kilometers away from the original.
The guy, who planed this waterpark "Atlantis", son of the owners of a nearby hotel in Chorafakia, wasted lots of time, effort and money from the bank to make his vision come true, but still failed: His waterpark never ran. That was about ten years ago. The ruins of his dreams may not last as long as the historical mansion, I explored last autumn. But long enough to witness this guy's personal Greek dilemma. (28 pictures)

Near Astrikas, district of Kolymvari in western Crete, the Dimitriadis family renovated the old olive mill of their family and specialized on organic products under the name of Biolea. The mill, amidst a beautiful landscape, usually is open to the public. Visitors are given a free guided tour and learn about the production path for organic olive oil - starting from receiving the olives, washing, deleafing and weighing them up to the actually milling, malaxing, olive paste loading, cold pressing all the way to the natural separation of oily water and olive oil and the final olive oil receiving and bottling.
By the way: The olive pomace (German: "Trester") is dried and used for heating in the winter. Simply bio.

Our last city tour for this year led us - back to Chania on Crete again! We stayed in the heart of the city, met good old (and young) friends, enjoyed the new cosy restaurants in Chatzimichali Daliani Street, got sunburned in the warm November sun and collected shells and stones at the abandonded beaches of the "Gold Coast" between Chania's Nea Chora and Platanias.

An abandonded property near the heart of the city. A broken fence. Ruins, waste, dog shit. And the notion of how gorgious this decaying palace back then must have been - and how beautiful it could be again, with some effort, little time and a few million Euros...

The lost estate at Sotiriou Krokida 80 (see last pictures) in Chania once was built on top of a hill, with sea view and overlooking the entire city. That was presumably a long, long time ago; the structure of the walls shows, that they originally were made out of of stones, not bricks. Today the mansion it surrounded by newer and higher buildings. But still, though all the decay, it's beauteous architecture shines through. Look at the paintings at the ceilings, the impressive curved entrance staircase, the former pond in front of the house. You don't need lots of fantasy to see the old palace's beauty again!

Back on Crete, back in the village of Kokkino Chorio, where we already went last autumn to marvel at an old Peugeot 203, rusting in the courtyard of a glass manufacturer. This year, same location, we found another object of admire and desire: a lovely BMW motorbike. According to Google, it should be an old BMW R 12. With its sidecar, the R 12 was the standard combination of the Wehrmacht in World War II. Between 1935 and 1942, BMW built 36.000 units of that motorcycle (source). This one (serial number 284133) is one of it!

The best thing about this holiday was that we could sit outside actually every night in shorts and t-shirt. The best thing next to the turquoise sea, of course. And the hospitality of the Cretans. And all our friends. And the laughter, we shared. And the delicate scent of Jasmine. And the wine. And the sun. And being barefooted, all day long. And the panorama. And the pool. And the fresh fish on the plates. And the stifado. And the grilled lamb. And the garlic paste. And the lemon chicken. And the zucchini croquettes. And the stuffed wineleaves. And the octopus, cooked in red wine. And the raki. And the flowers. And the pine scent in the air. And the sandy beaches. And the shells. And the mountains. And the sunsets. And the sound of the ocean waves at night. And the relaxation. And the Mythos. And everything else.