Piskopiano

Island dust blows over my tired skin,

the sun gently warms the frozen dreams.

Unfurling, uncurling, voice recalled,

words no longer are wintering here.

Smiles that ooze from every pore,

the sun comes with and through them.

Being in this moment with ease,

embraced by warmth from Earth and sky.

Kalimera or Good morning from a very beautiful and warm Crete, my first solo experience and so far so good. As my husband does not enjoy travelling as much as I do, I had two choices, give it up or go on my own, although there probably was a third option; find a friend or two to go with. The trouble is as I’ve got older I’ve got more accustomed to my own routines and so traveling alone seemed like the most satisfying option. So far it’s going okay, I am staying at the lovely, family run Matheos studios in Piskopiano, it’s tucked away on a little back street with a postage stamp pool and a warm welcome. So far; this is only day two, I’ve discovered that I’m quite self conscious around others, I tend to find the seats and places tucked away. I do indeed need to sit out of the sun though which takes me to the opposite side of the pool to the masses on most occasions, I’m not being stand offish I’m being practical, I like to be warm, but burn like crispy bacon and it’s not pretty. I’ve wandered to the local beach area, down the hill around 1.5km away and sat drinking mocktails by the sea watching the world go by, very relaxing. I have even managed to read a full book, this is rare for me with poor concentration skills on anything bigger than a magazine, but I thoroughly enjoyed “The love of my life” by Rosie Walsh, it was captivating in its sadness.

I’ve decided I’m not very good at sitting still for extended periods of time and so I’ve booked a four by four excursion so I can see a little bit of the Island and will check back in after I’ve been on that. I now feel like the pool is calling, a wake up dip is needed and in October this pool is very similar in temperature to the Scottish Lochs so I will feel right at home.

Well today has been fabulous, I felt nervous about heading off on a trip, but it turned into one of the best days. Crete is so beautiful and the tour guide at Safari experts was so knowledgeable and interesting but lots of fun too.new we’re heading into the mountains in a land rover, just perfect, some of the tracks were really rough but it made for lots of laughs. We stopped first at a little farm, they milked goats, made cheese, a cheese that we got to try; it tasted so delicate and beautiful. We visited a gorge and toured the mountainess region that stand proud behind the turquoise coast line. We visited the cave of Zeus, the cave itself was not very exciting but the stories that our guide shared with us brought it all to life. We had a stop off for a traditional lunch at a small taverna in a village tucked into the hillside. Cats dominated the scene again and we got talking about why the cats live like this in Crete. I’ve read differing views, in ancient times cats were venerated and even considered to be divine beings, but now many householders see them as vermin and a pest. Whatever your view is, you can’t get away from them and their plight relying on the kindness of locals; asa pet owner it’s hard to comprehend the different mentality towards these animals.

We walked through a small local market and was taken to only of the oldest trees, that apparently Nikos Kazantzakis, an author and poet sat there to put pen to paper to create masterpieces…..I touched the tree in hopes that some, luck, inspiration or ar least a little literary good fortune may come my way.

We then drove some of the most beautiful roads displaying and showing off the amazing  island that Crete is. A final stop at a small Greek Orthodox Church, brought the excursion to a very peaceful and reflective day. All I was left thinking was that I wish I was brave enough to drive here, as I’d love to see more if this little gem, but gir now it’s enough that I’ve done this….on my own.

During this exciting day out I shared time with some amazing people, with such interesting cultures and heritage’s to share, I want to do more of this! More talking to people, tasting different foods, hopefully this is just the start of my solo adventures.