(Back to photos from our vacation, though we’re back 2 weeks now!)
After a day of great food, we were ready to walk some of it off, so we had arranged a hike this time with local hiker George, from the village of Chania to the village of Portaria. Pronunciations are tricky – that’s really like Khan-YA to Port-are-YA.
One of the surprising things about Greece is how green and lush it has been. I (John) always imagined it being a little more barren, but we were really able to enjoy green pine trees and the colors of fall changing. The trail itself is very old, designed to allow two donkeys to walk side by side to avoid any traffic jams! And it was all downhill allowing us lovely views of Makrinitsa!
This next photo shows a great spot of the village we stayed in, Makrinitsa, from another part of the mountain.
It had been quite rainy the nght before, so we were also able to see evidence of where wild boars had created mud baths for themselves, along with a water trough for the donkeys!
After that hike we drove a little down the coast to explore an old train line that only runs in summer, but it was amazing to see a narrow gauge railroad line running through such rugged scenery, requiring some huge bridges over some deep gorges! This bridge was designed by a man named de Chiciro, the father of the famous painter. The bridge is called the Bridge de Chiciro.
The train station itself was quiet delightful, with a train depot, train shed and train turntable, if young Liam or young Rory had been with us, it would have been quite the hit!
Oh yes very cute train shed! Looks like a lovely walk!
Such gorgeous scenery and a fascinating, somewhat paved trail that had been used with donkeys!