Chania

The bus from Souda to Chania takes roughly twenty-three minutes one way and costs around €3 for a return ticket.

The taxi driver mentioned the temperature before we had cleared the airport road. He suggested it might be cooler, around

The morning before you leave tends to happen slowly. There is usually time for breakfast at the accommodation or at

November in Chania. The sun is still doing something it has no right to do at this time of year.

The name gives you something before you arrive. The Lefka Ori, or White Mountains, take their name from Greek, meaning

The ship docks and someone nearby says Souda as if it requires apology. You were expecting Chania. The harbour with

The road west out of Chania does not announce itself. No dramatic gateway, no sign promising the view to come.

The lighthouse remains. The Venetian harbour walls, the minarets, the low-slung buildings in faded ochre and terracotta – they persist

You turn left without thinking and find the alley narrowing around you. Light drops, walls close in, and suddenly you

The road in curves through scrub and loose gravel, narrow enough to demand attention. Goats watch from the edges, unconcerned,