Isn’t it strange how a holiday trickles along until half way and then gushes away in a flood as the last day approaches? But we appear to have done most things in Chania now, except for a carriage ride [which hardly seems worth the money and the horses are bad tempered] or a boat trip. We’ve looked at the boat excursions, but most look to involve going out- leaping into unknown waters and returning, rather than visiting anything. I’ve written about my lack of enthusiasm for swimming before…
There is, of course, a ‘glass-bottomed’ boat, also a small submarine, nether of which appeals to us.
There is, though, something we haven’t done. From our car park view balcony we’d watched as a double decker bus became marooned before the road junction, hemmed in by parked cars. Frantic passengers leaped out to make suggestions and give directions; Americans anxious that their cruise ship- moored by the quay and threatening to leave, would abandon them. Strictly speaking, it wasn’t an open-top bus because it had a roof, although the windows are glassless.
I spotted the stop where the bus starts on an earlier walk. An open-top bus trip would be a great way to spend some of our last afternoon and we may get to see things we’ve missed. There’s no timetable for the bus- which makes things tricky- so it’s a case of wandering along to the stop and taking pot luck. And we do get lucky, because as we approach the stop we see the bus there waiting. There’s about half an hour until it’s due to begin, which is fine since it’s cool and shady on the upper deck. Husband goes off in search of an ice cream but returns empty handed.
Then we’re underway, the first few streets uninspiring- past building sites we’ve seen previously. Instead I become fascinated by the Chinese couple in front of us as she has a habit of tweaking his ear when he is cheeky to her. She is also wearing some very flamboyant footwear- yellow Crocs adorned with bunches of flowers.
After a few minutes the bus leaves the shopping streets and travels beyond the town and up into the hills, which affords us brilliant views as it ascends. The higher we climb, the cooler it becomes and there are some expensive looking properties up towards the top, nestling in shady undergrowth.
The bus zig-zags down the other side towards a bay housing a cruise terminal then enters it. A smallish ship is moored there and most of the bus passengers [including the Chinese couple] disembark and make for their ship. We head back towards town, past a commercial area with, of all things, an IKEA!
Soon we’re back in familiar territory- the park, the redundant market hall and returning to our stop.
For a last evening, we go to the harbour and settle outside a lovely looking restaurant to have Greek salad followed by kebabs- all far too much, of course, then it’s back to the hotel for a last drink.
Goodbye to Chania and Crete. It was all lovely except, perhaps for the hotel…
Novels by Jane Deans [Grace]: The Year of Familiar Strangers and The Conways at Earthsend. Visit my website: janedeans.com
Anecdotage 