-
The Hotel PalazzoOur balcony is the one on the near side of the big ΠΑΛΑΤΣΟ sign. -
Our roomThe feeling was pleasantly Mediterranean. -
Theotokopoúlou streetLooking up the street toward the waterfront. The first place where you can see the sun lighting up the street is where the taxi let us off when we arrived. -
Balcony view #2Looking down the street from our balcony. -
The mouth of the harborBrisk winds and choppy seas at the harbor entrance, guarded by an old fortress—first Venetian and later Turkish—called the Firkas. -
LighthouseChaniá's lighthouse was rebuilt on its original Venetian base by the Egyptians who controlled Crete from 1824 to 1846. The wind was driving the waves straight into the outer harbor. -
The outer harborThe promenade runs all the way around the small harbor, surrounded by hotels, restaurants, bars, and shops. But the Mosque of the Janissaries, at the left, is the most conspicuous building on the quayside. -
On the quaySightseers had to watch their footing -
KastélliThe hill of Kastélli, on the opposite side of the Outer Harbor, was the center of the Minoan, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Venetian, and Turkish cities that preceded modern Chaniá. Its old buildings were pretty much leveled by bombing in 1941, but you can see part of the wall that once protected it (and kept it separate from less exalted neighborhoods). -
StrollerNot all the back streets of the Old Town were choked with traffic. Late September is good that way. -
PórtesWandering around, we found the Pórtes restaurant just inside the old city wall. As its name implies, there must have been a gate nearby, though we didn't see one. We came back the same evening to have dinner. -
Zambéliou streetObviously, it wasn't built for cars. -
Ascending ZambéliouYes, that's me lumbering upward. -
Shops at the top of the streetArt and nature combined make this a happy and colorful spot. -
The Renieri archThis arch was once at the entrance to the mansion of an important Venetian family. The mansion is gone, but the arch is still here. Nowadays it opens out to a road that communicates with the newer part of town and is large enough to accommodate trash pickup trucks, which stop just outside. That's why Chaniá's stray cats like to hang out there. -
CretianaJust inside the Renieri arch, this shop specializes in Cretan products. The board painting shows the traditional outfit of Cretan males. Instead of the pleated white kilt called the foustanélla, they wore baggy trousers called vráka, and high boots rather than the pompom shoes (tsaroúchia) that go with the foustanélla. (Foustanélla and tsaroúchia were a northwestern Greek style adopted in the 1800s as the “official” national costume.) In place of a hat, Cretan men usually wore a black kerchief called a saríki, woven net-fashion and ornamented with little round knots, like the one draped over the top of the painting in the picture. As you might imagine, this costume is are no longer everyday wear, though it was well into the the 20th century. The saríki was tied about the temples, leaving the top of the wearer's head bare, and no doubt as cool as possible for someone working hard under a hot sun. -
In the Old Town (1)I took this picture in Theotokopoúlou street not far down from our hotel. Dorothea took all of the next 12 while wandering around the Old Town's extremely photogenic little streets. -
In the Old Town (2)One of a series. -
In the Old Town (3)One of a series. -
In the Old Town (4)One of a series. -
In the Old Town (5)One of a series. -
In the Old Town (6)One of a series. -
In the Old Town (7)One of a series. -
In the Old Town (8)One of a series. -
In the Old Town (9)One of a series. -
In the Old Town (10)One of a series. -
In the Old Town (11)One of a series. -
In the Old Town (12)One of a series. -
In the Old Town (13)The last of a series. -
Postprandial group pictureAfter dinner at Pórtes with Dave and Carol. Taking this picture was an athletic feat