Plaka.

Today here in Borth while it hasn't been exactly sunny it was still warm. The sea was a tasteful shade of duck egg blue and the sky a light greyish blue.

The last bit of holiday washing (handwashing my large silk shirt) has been done and my bags completely unpacked. I've done some gardening, stewed apples for breakfast porridge and gone through the rest of my holiday photos. All this was after a much needed long sleep, a leisurely breakfast and two episodes of The Archers Omnibus. (We did listen to Radio 4 a lot on our Kindles but didn't bother with The Archers.)

Today's post is a general introduction to the village of Plaka where we stayed. We like it so much we hope to go back for longer next year.

The hillside behind Plaka is covered with more holiday complexes many still a work in progress. For the first two weeks there was the sound of heavy machinery carving through the rocks to make an access road for yet more housing higher up. Though constant it was far enough away not to be too intrusive. Plus there was a steady stream of enormous trucks transporting the resulting boulders to .... somewhere else. Again it was just part of daily life and preferable to nightclubs and party goers that you would get in the very popular resorts.

This was our 'home' with our apartment on the left with the open shutters. Next time we will be in the right hand apartment. A mirror image of the one we were in but with a much larger wrap around terrace with enough room for our sun loungers, that catches the afternoon sun. This year we had a small terrace at the front and a second one from the bedroom. That one catches the sun but a tree in the garden was covered with pungent blossom that attracted flies and other insects. 

It was cloudier at the start of the holiday but there were plenty of blue skies later. From our front terrace we watched everything going on up and down the road and even had a tiny view of the sea.

The road - looking towards the mountain and the beach at the far end, just five minutes walk away.

There was a big change at the beach this year, no sun beds for hire. Because most beaches in Crete had their natural beauty spoiled by rows and rows of sun beds and umbrellas on the prime spaces leaving nowhere for people to bring their own towels and/or chairs/beds a law has been passed restricting the sun beds for hire to 30% of the beach. Also they had to be 4m away from the water's edge. That obviously made it unprofitable for the old chap who hired out the beds sitting at his table with radio and three packets of cigarettes. At one end of the beach is an expensive bistro which has beds etc for customers and at the other end there are fancy sun beds for the guests of a complex on the hillside. They had some of the basic sun beds for hire there but E25 for two was a massive hike from last year's E10. 

The beach looked much better but it wasn't so good for us as with his bad knees Peter can't get up from the ground. Through a tip on line I found a shop near Lidl that sold garden furniture and bought two sun beds (with carrying handles) for E70. They were E40 each but when I asked the man if he would do a deal he knocked off E10. Manolis, our host is happy to keep them for us for next year so it was a worthwhile investment and we can use them on the terrace as well. 

Between us and the sea was an area of expensive craft/gift shops, boutiques and restaurants. Everything was open until very late so that people could enjoy the warm evenings and the Cretan custom of eating at 9.00 or later. 

Almost every evening we would have a stroll around and then sit on the bench (below) to watch the Spinalonga lights turning on. We would also watch the lights of the fishing boats sailing around the bay. Sometime there would be yachts moored in the bay and occasionally a cruise boat out at sea. On a couple of evenings there were live musicians playing traditional music at one of the restaurants and one time a group of dancers in traditional costume.

When the Spinalonga lights turn on they are an eerie green gradually turning orange as they warm up. 

What A Journey.

I've allocated the weekend to unpacking and getting all the washing done plus the most urgent jobs. It's taking me a while to get things done as I've been so very tired after the long journey. So far everything has been washed and dried and the bags are slowly emptying of all those extra items needed for daily life. At least we've had lovely warm weather today.

Out in the garden I've sowed some mixed lettuce seeds from a new packet since the ones I sowed before we went away failed to materialise, tied in the happily waving clematis strands, cut back the aquilegia seed heads and put supports in to hold back the hardy geraniums and knautia. 

And now for the trails and tribulations of our journey to Crete.

You might think that having six months to get organised would have meant a smooth journey with little stress. But it was not to be so. A number of things went wrong some of which were due to our unfamiliarity with air travel (each airport and airline seems to have their own system for travelling and this was only the second time we've flown in 40 years,) and one was entirely down to my inattention. 

This is how the journey should have gone -  a leisurely mid-morning walk to the train station where we would catch a train straight to the airport. A short flight to Schiphol, Amsterdam followed by an overnight wait in the airport and a longer flight to Heraklion, Crete. There we would pick up our hire car and after an hour and a half's drive arrive in Plaka in the late afternoon.

Part of the quiet transit area at Schiphol airport. 

 

The clever design of this clock had a workman inside the clock constantly cleaning off the minute hand and painting it in in the new position. It was very convincing.

While Peter dozed in the semi-comfortable chairs (the special recliners were all occupied and I expect had to be paid for.) I watched a little mouse scuttling around the chairs looking for crumbs.

But what, I hear you ask went so wrong with my carefully planned schedule?

To begin with, as we were making our final preparations I double checked our train tickets and saw they were for an earlier train than I had planned for. There followed a speedy sandwich making and a worried rush to the train station which is about 15 minutes walk away, all the time keeping an ear out for the train. We got to the train station where I was greeted by some fellow travellers who informed me that the trains were cancelled. All the trains, due to a derailment. That's not an uncommon occurrence and sure enough there was a coach waiting on the High St. I rushed up and yes it was our replacement bus. We all piled on and off we drove to Mach. There we were just too late for one train but at least that gave me time to walk to the local garage shop and buy a coffee. The next train arrived but it was only to Shrewsbury. From there another bus was waiting to take us to Wolverhampton from where were were directed to a second train and then had to change trains at Birmingham Central. And all the time I was worrying because somehow I only had three of the four ticket printouts. (I had the emails on my phone but how I would find them was another matter.) In the end at no time on that journey nor on the return journey were we asked for our tickets apart from once waving a page at the man at the main barrier who then opened the gate for us.

At Birmingham the check-in process including the new E security checks was relatively easy. A case of queue here, shuffle along, wait and repeat.

There were only 28 passengers on the half-full plane and in an hour we were in Schiphol airport. A huge international airport but at that time of night almost empty and very quiet. We looked for seats without armrests where we could spend the night but all the seats had armrests. Then I realised I had left my small handbag on the plane!!!! The lost and found office was closed but a member of the airport staff went and checked if anything had been handed in but unfortunately not. I had our passports in my pocket but in the bag were - our international driving licences and my UK one (so I would not be able to drive the hire car though Peter possibly could with his UK licence.), my phone, my bank card, a notebook with information about places to visit and a large amount of cash to pay for all the riding I hoped to do. There wasn't much I could do until the airline and the lost and found offices opened in the morning. Eventually after a number of visits to different offices they had a search of the airplane which happened to still be at the airport and hooray! my bag turned up. Minus the cash of course but with everything else which was such a relief. Losing the money wasn't nice but the cleaning staff only get paid a pittance so maybe somebody needed the money more than I did. I was just thankful that I didn't have to start making phone calls to block my card and that there would be no problems re driving. 

But was that the end of our troubles? Not quite. Having spent the night waiting for our onward flight we duly waited for the flight to be called and were then faced with yet another set of security checks with the longest line ever even though we were travelling from one EU country to another. No surprise then that boarding was closed when we got to the gate. The unhelpful KLM staff simply said we should have known what to do and that we would have to find (and pay for) another flight. We were doing our best to do so when Peter spotted a more senior member of the KLM staff and explained what had happened (this was just before I got my bag back) and she got us onto a later flight at no charge. Phew.

By the time we arrived in Heraklion it was dark. There were no problems collecting the car but driving on the other side of the road (for us), tired and in the dark was not easy for Peter. Most of the way was along the new highway which is still under construction and there were quite a few sections with temporary concrete walls right on the edge of the road. It was very stressful having to keep reminding Peter that he was too far over and we were both relieved when we finally arrived in Plaka.

Some lessons learnt and the most important thing was that there was a solution to everything. But what a start to our holiday.

We had a much easier journey back home. I drove us to the airport in plenty of time to check in etc. Only annoying that unlike other airports there was nowhere to refill our water bottles once we had gone through security in Heraklion and I had to pay E3.50 for a small bottle of water. We have decided that neck cushions are not worth the nuisance of carrying them even clipped to our bags so they'll be going to the charity shop soon.

Crete was full of flowers which of course I had to photograph.

Home Again.

We arrived home yesterday night after 16 hours of travelling from our Cretan holiday. Quite an exhausting day but not as eventful as our trip out (details in another post.). Here are just a few photos (from the hundreds I took) to give a hint of what is to come. 

The cooler seas and cloudier skies of the first two weeks were more than made up for by the carpets of wild flowers growing everywhere. Even the roadsides were a riot of colourful blooms on the trees and bushes.

 

My riding adventures took me to a high plateau right up in the mountains where the scenery was absolutely spectacular.

Of course I went riding this morning. I didn't have Tex as it's half-term and he was needed for a number of half hour lessons/ lead rein rides. Instead I rode Betsi, a pretty grey Arab mare. She used to belong to a friend of Iola's who became ill and sadly passed away. Betsi is 18, well schooled and reliable with a typically arab floaty trot which made today's lesson working on bending, corners and some leg yielding relatively easy.

After riding I did the usual shopping and booked an appointment at the dentist. I was due a check up and unfortunately I broke a tooth (my one chewing tooth) on holiday. That's going to be more expense. 

Can't type any more as half the time it's coming out a gobbledegook. Back tomorrow.

Cool.

I was fortunate enough this morning to bask in the sunshine coming through a break in the clouds while drinking my morning cuppa. Sadly the sun didn't last for long and for the rest of the day it has been cloudy and somewhat chilly.

I still spent a lot of the day outside giving the back garden a thorough going over and sowing lettuce and spring onions before heading off on our hols.

 

This morning the gannets turned up plunge diving dramatically right at the end of the garden. As soon as it turned cloudy the fish must have left as the sea birds were nowhere to be seen.

I asked about the beaver and sadly it didn't survive possibly due to drinking too much salt water. I'm wondering if the fact that there was the other (dead) beaver might point to disease or even poisoning.

Another 10 minutes and I'll be off to the Hall for kettlebells. Not my favourite though I get great satisfaction at having survived the session. Wish me luck.

Last night's sunset.

Ta ra for a while.

Bright.

There have been moments of sun today but generally it has not been very warm. I've seen a few terns plunge diving in the distance and in the morning a seal was fishing very close to the beach. (My photo of its head is quite boring.)

After breakfast Peter went down to the boat park to meet up with members of the local council to discuss the removal of the derelict boats, trolleys & kayaks there. This has been an issue for some years but at last something is being done. People will be given 30 days to move their rubbish stuff after which it will go to the dump. Then people who have seaworthy craft will be able to use the space.

While Peter was out one of the rowing club carnival committee came up to the house and we discussed ideas for the carnival and set up a WhatsApp group so that we can keep in touch. Neither of us could work out how to get me back on Spond which is the usual way the club members communicate.

For the rest of the day I've either gardened or did more  research for our holiday. The nearer stables got back to me and they only do 'walk' treks so it will have to be Odysseia stables. As it's an hour's drive into the mountains I used Google street view to familiarise myself with the route. (Love being able to do that.) Not all of it but going through the villages and then up the rough mountain road. I know I'll have a Satnav but being ever cautious I've written down a full set of instructions just in case. The last section reads like something from 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt.' - past houses, over a bridge, ignore brown sign on the left, past chapel on the left, keep on going up, up, up.

Last night's sunset.

Panic.

Cloudy and cooler in the morning but eventually the sun came out for the afternoon. Pretty good for a Bank Holiday weekend.

This morning's RNLI crew training included towing a jet ski, something that's needed with the increasing numbers of  jet skis taken out on the water by inexperienced owners.

Not only did last night's heavy rain give the plants a welcome drink and make it easy to pull out any weeds but it left leaves and petals bedecked with water droplets that glistened like crystals in the morning sun.

I have spent my day working on our holiday itinerary (got to have things written down in a notebook which never loses signal or runs out of power) interspersed with some light gardening and more serious sitting in the sun and viewing the world.

I had one moment of panic when I decided to do a preliminary weighing of my cases and found that one alone weighed nearly 12 kilos! Then I realised I was looking at the pounds not the kilos on the dial. Panic over when I realised it was only 5 kilos. I may even be able to shove my riding boots in my case rather than have to stomp around the airport in them.

Tired.

Although it hasn't rained today (yet) we've gone from a hint of warmth to a touch of chill as the sea mist creeps in.

I'm feeling really tired today. I bought a large bag of potting compost yesterday and I think lifting it in and out of the shopping trolley, twice so the bar code was at the top, and then in and out of the car boot has strained the thigh muscles in my right leg. The pain stopped me from sleeping properly last night despite extra painkillers, Voltarol and an ice pack and it's still sore today. At least I know I'm lifting with my legs and not my back.

This morning I re-potted the trailing geranium cuttings into large pots for the summer and I still have the original plants so there should be a good display on the terrace.

I allocated the weekend to a relaxed gathering and packing of all the things we need to take on our upcoming hols. We only take the basics but by the time you add in toiletries, medication and technology the weight begins to add up. I'm not looking forward to seeing how much it all weighs. Last time there was a limit to the weight of the carry-on case (which didn't get weighed anyway) but not on the under seat back-packs so everything heavy went in those. This time with KLM there's a combined weight limit. Last time we took stuff we found we didn't need but there are also some things it would have been useful to have.

Then came more stress (I struggle with executive function at times) as I tried to Street View the road to the stables that I want to ride from. It looked to be an awful lot of mountain dirt roads which I find a bit worrying to do on my own for the first time. Yes, the hire car has Satnav but I never take that for granted. I prefer to do a virtual drive first and will have the road map of Crete by my side. My suggestion that Peter came with me the first time on the route did not go down too well.

Wondering if the journey was going to be too long I even looked at a couple of other 'horse riding' places nearer to where we are staying but they seem to cater for tourists who have never been on a horse before. Not quite what I'm after. I'll look at it again with fresh eyes tomorrow.

Out in the garden these aquilegias must have got the dress code memo for the 'blue' bed. (Blue iris, bluebells, a deep blue hydrangea and almost blue hardy geraniums.) Elsewhere in the garden the aquilegias are deep purple, very pale blue and soft pink.

People have come down for the Bank Holiday weekend se they're going in the sea despite the lack of sun. Children never seem to mind the cold.

Another beaver was spotted on the beach this morning at the far end of the village. There were concerns as it looked exhausted from running into the sea to avoid people on the beach. It may also have not been well as I read now that it has been captured to be checked over. Sadly yesterday there was a dead beaver on a beach down towards Clarach. Will update if I find out more.

Rain.

I was up early enough to see the sunrise. And true to the old saying the red sky was a herald of rain.

It began raining just as we were about to lead our horses into the school and then to add insult to injury the overhead sprinklers in the school carried on for much longer then usual. 

But the rain was much needed as for the past three nights wildfires have been burning in the Elan Valley (photo from the web) and at Teifi Pools and yesterday there was another wildfire. The Hafod estate has been closed to the public as a precaution and people were being asked not to drive on certain roads.

 

But here all was peaceful as I sat gazing at the view. Everything was quiet as the seabirds, bar the odd one or two, had left the area. The farmers are muckspreading at the moment which generally yields a good bounty of worms and other invertebrates.

With few birds to watch I began to notice more subtle details around me such as the ever changing cloud formations. There's so much to see once you start looking.

Down at the stables I had my lovely Tex again. I was there early and gave his mane a good brushing. He has a thick mane which usually flops on both sides but today by the time I brushed out the hidden tangles I was able to get it all over to one side. 

There were only four of us in the lesson and after doing lots of work on 10m circles we ended the lesson with some a lot of cantering. I didn't ask Tex to canter from walk but was satisfied with him cantering from trot every time I asked. Earlier in the trot work he came nicely onto the bit too. I couldn't help laughing (as  did Chloe who was teaching us) when on being asked to lengthen his stride down the long sides his little legs went ping, ping, ping all the way.

After the usual supermarket shopping I went into town where I donated a bag of clothes to a charity shop. And came out with this party dress form Next for £4. (£42 on eBay.) It's too snug on the hips to simply shorten it for a disco top. I'm thinking slits up the sides after shortening as well as a bit of alteration to the top. The green sequins look blue from different angles, mermaid/ peacock?

Before coming home I drove to Tal Y Bont to pick up four more small pallets from the car park behind the hall. The printing company there often leaves out pallets for people to help themselves. I have plans to use the pallets to make a two level compost bin in the back garden. That should save some trips to the dump especially as our neighbour takes the hedge trimmings to burn on his farm.

PS. Tonight's sunset.