On to Crete

It's been a few days since we've been able to post. We're in Crete now, about to meet Sean and Jacky Coleman, some missionaries here in Rethymno, Crete, for church.

On Thursday, our last day in Erfurt, we had an hour to kill after breakfast, and before we had to get to the train station. When we first arrive in a new town, everything is so confusing. By the time we leave we're confident enough to go visit a new sight on our way out of town. This is the Peter's Citadel which, I believe, is a Napoleonic era fortress. It looks almost exactly like the similar fortress in Koblenz.

It was raining, so we had a quick walk around and then went to the train. It was neat seeing all of the trees changing colors. A lot of them would be half colored and half green. This is the view back to Erfurt Cathedral from the top of the Citadel.

The train ride to Berlin was relaxing (as always). When we got in we bought a one-day transit pass and then rode to our hotel. It was still early so we headed out to pick up some English books to read (since I'd read all we brought), and to visit a part of Berlin we hadn't seen yet: Kreuzberg. According to Lonely Planet this is where all of the artistic types moved once Prenzlauer Berg was gentrified.

That may be true; it was certainly "edgier" (read scarier); enough so that we decided to take a different route home. We had come to eat at a restaurant named Spatzle & Knodel. When we finally found it, though, it wasn't yet open (before 5:00) and it didn't look like it would be open soon. So, we went looking for another restaurant in the area, Lemongrass, for some Laotian food. It was pretty good, but nothing beats spatzle.

We were back early to bed, and got up early for the plane to Berlin. We called a cab (instead of taking the Metro and then a bus) because we wanted to make sure that we were there two hours early. There was a long line to check in, so we were glad we did.

The plane took off on time (this is the view over Berlin), and made good time. We ended up landing in Crete ten minutes early because of a tail wind. Getting from the airport to our hotel in Rethymno (a town about 50 miles away) was an adventure. We found the city bus and got a ticket to the main bus station. When we got let off in the town of Heraklion, though, we didn't see the main bus station anywhere.

Kathy asked some people walking by and although they didn't speak English, they signed for us to go around the block. Along with a young German couple, also looking for the bus station, we started walking. Finally, we did see some large buses.

As we walked up to the bus station a rather gruff Greek man asked us where we wanted to go. We told him Rethymno and he started excitedly gesticulating and telling us to jump on the bus that was just leaving. We threw our bags in the luggage area that the attendant was attempting to close, and then couldn't figure out how to get onto the bus. Both of us, along with the couple behind us, kept trying the door, until the driver honked the horn at us and let us know we should get on at the stairway in the middle of the bus. Once we got on the bus, I went to buy tickets from the driver, and he told me, again rather sternly, "Go, sit down!".

Kathy and I sat down in the back and traded glances that asked "What have we gotten into?" The bus headed down the coastal highway, and, after about a half hour, a ticket taker appeared and sold us a ticket. It was definitely different than what we were used to in Germany.

We got into Rethymno a little before 5:00 PM; we lost an hour because of the time change. I had a map to follow to the hotel, but since it was in the old town, most of the streets are really narrow lanes that make the alleys on Venice look spacious. (In fact, this town was a colony of Venice during their heyday). Finally, though, we deciphered the map well enough to find our hotel. The Hotel Veneto is from the Venetian era, with each of the rooms having a specific story. Our room, 101, used to be a monk's cell (at least according to Lonely Planet).

After we dropped off our luggage, there wasn't much of the day left, so we headed down to the Venetian Harbor for dinner. We ate at the Taverna Knossos, a small family-run place that has been in the Stavroulaki family for fifty years. Unlike almost all of the high-pressure restaurants we passed on the way, the Knossos supplies really good food and good value.

However, the specialty in this area of Crete is "seafood" of the sort that was featured in Mr. Bean Goes to Europe. It doesn't really look like anything you'd find at Red Lobster, and neither of us were that adventurous. Kathy had chicken and I had pork. I think that the proprietress was disappointed that we didn't want the seafood. I felt a little bad about that, but not too bad.

After dinner, we went for a walk around the harbor and then tried to find our way back to the hotel. Because we got into town after 2:00 PM on Saturday, no cell-phone stores were open and so we couldn't buy a Greek data SIM. That meant we weren't able to use Google maps to navigate, so it took us a little longer, and a few false starts to find our way home. Eventually, though, we made it.

Sunday - Church in Crete

After a good night's sleep, we awoke Sunday morning to a little rain and a really strong wind. We had breakfast at the hotel and then walked down to the bus stop where Sean Coleman picked us up for Church. Sean is a Calvary Chapel pastor, along with his wife Jacky and their three children, here in Rethymno. It was wonderful to be among other believers, to spend time in worship, to listen to Sean teach through the Gospel of Luke, and to meet other Christians who were on vacation here in Crete.

Interestingly, one lady that I talked to, Jean from Sheffield, England, was telling me about friends of hers who had spent years in Papua, New Guinea with Wycliffe Bible Translators. When I told her that my folks had also been there for several years, she asked for their names, because she was sure that her friends had met them.

After service, the entire Coleman clan showed us where to get the most authentic Cretan food. In the entire large restaurant, I'm sure we were the only non-Greeks. Afterwards, we went over to their house for coffee and more conversation. We were truly blessed and we encourage you to pray for Sean and Jacky, serving the Lord here in Crete.