Chania - Omalos

Omalos

Hotel Omalos

Weather - sunny, warm with a cooler evening

At 9am the group meeting was held and we met the rest of the walking group.  We are ten in total with seven men and three women ranging in ages from 50 to 70.  They look a fit lot and all are very amiable.

After the briefing we followed our Athenian (with Dutch heritage) guide around the town of Chania.  It was very busy as we wound our way through the little alleys passed restaurants, shops and florists to the Venetian fort sitting alongside the entrance to the  safe harbour.   The famous lighthouse we walked to yesterday could be seen from the other side and in older times a chain was strung between these two points to stop the entry of enemy ships.

Standing outside the fort....our group.

This is what I love about walking through these delightful villages....little pockets of beauty pop up and captivate the photographer

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The Church of Agios Nikolaos was built in the Venetian years (circa 1320)  however during the Turkish rule it became a mosque and a minaret was erected. In 1928 it became an Orthodox Church and is now well known for its church bells and a minaret featuring on the same rood,  The interior is heavily ornate with many icons.

The restaurants are all so pretty with wonderful welcoming interiors.

As we walked along the marina we passed the Venetian dockyards constructed in the 16th century.  The impressive large stone arched buildings now house a variety of purposes including art galleries.

The Etz Hayyim Synagogue is the only surviving remnant of the Jewish community on Crete.  It has become a very famous tourist destination.

After a lovely group lunch we headed to the town of Omalos up into the mountains.  After arrival we walked the plateau for about 5kms and t ok in the scenery of the goats with the magnificent rural background.  Tomorrow we start down hill into Samaria Gorge for 155kms.