We continue towards west on Crete, to Rethymnon and Chania

Rethymnon

I have been to Rethymnon before, on my studytrip in 2003, but unfortunately I don`t remember much of it. But it is a nice place to stop on the way to Chania.

We knew that it is hard to get into the marina, because you need a special tecnic to catch the bouy to go stern to. We tried but it was windy so it was not easy. Some marineros came to the dock (we tried to call them at VHF, but no answer) and they sent us to the concrete quay. I guess it was because we said we wanted to stay only a couple of days.

It was okay for the boat to stay there, but it was so many people around, stopping for their lunch, or sunset or just talking. One night two German guys were talking loud for hours….

There is a beautiful view from the harbour, with all the snowy mountains behind the city.

It was a really nice temperature and I could wear a dress for the first time since… I don`t know.. months ago!

Here is the marina seen from shore. You can see Felizia to the left.

We had a walk around town. This is on the way to the castle.

Venetian Fortezza Castle was build by the Venetians in the 15th century. On google maps they say it was closed, but we just walked inside, it was open and no tickets.

The fortress was captured by the Ottomans in 1646. 

From the walls there is ia nice view of the city.

And to the other side of the city.

And in behind you can see the snowy mountains.

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By the early 20th century, many houses were built within the citadel. These were demolished after World War II, leaving only a few historic buildings within the Fortezza

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And of course we found some cats.

And they were following us for a while.

Titt titt!

It was a beautiful day for walking around in the castle.

On the other side of the castle. At this point we met an American guy, living in Portugal, and we had a lot to discuss about travelling!

Back in the city center we walked through old town. I remember this as a busy part of the town, with shops, restaurants and people, but today it was quiet, and almost everything was closed.

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We waited for a lot of rain the next days and we checked the weather forcast many times.

We found many statues all around the city center.

A video from Rethymnon:

We had a plan to stay some days in Rethymnon but the next morning we realized that that day was the chance to get to Chania. Because the next days it would be heavy rain.

Chania

We anchored in Souda Bay on the east side of Chania. When it is wind from north it is not possible to go inside Chania Marina. We waited for the rain but instead of 100 mm it was like 5… So no cleaning the boat this day either. After a couple of days we rented a car and had to go to the airport to pick it up. We took the bus from Souda to Chania (once pr hour), then had a stroll around the town and we also check out the marina, and it was a lot of waves coming in to the harbour.

We couldn`t go near the water, you could get wet! Chania is nice, also in the winter, many shops and restaurants are still open.

Maleme

Through a Facebook group I met Aud, who is a Norwegian living on Crete for many years. She invites us to come to Maleme to visit her and have a walk together in the area.

It is spring now and the almond trees are so beautiful!

We walked 12 km but no steep hills, and we had a lot to talk about so the time was running.

Her two dogs were af course together with us.

And they could run around when we were away from the main road.

We walked through many small villages and many olive groves.

We stopped by a church where we had a short break.

If it wasn`t for the clouds we could have seen the white mountains.

We also had a little bit of rain but it was at the last part of the walk so we didn`t bother.

After running for a couple of hours they finally had time for me!!

Aud invited us inside where we met her husband Jorgos. Aud and I also changed some Norwegian books, it is always nice with some new books! We also got a bite of the magic Norwegian brown cheese. Thanks again Aud!

The dogs were tired after all the running. We said goodbye to Aud and hoped we could met another day!

Aud is also writing a blog, so you can read about this hike also in her blog here.

Aud gave us so many good advise what to do and what to see in the area, so we were ready to explore more of the western part of Crete the following days! Thanks so much for meeting us Aud!