Sunderland, England

Malta

I searched for somewhere with a) cheap flights from Crete and b) cheap flights to Newcastle. Malta leapt out at me and so here I am. Nice place, lovely weather, a bit crowded, etc. Over the years I've spent a lot of time in hostels full of younger people, but here, I really think I'm the youngest guest in my hotel. They have bingo in the afternoons.

Anyway, in the absence of anything interesting to report from Malta, it's time for a brief summary of my trip in retrospect...

MOST FAVOURED PLACE
I'm going to make this a tie between Kosovo and Tirana. From now on I count myself a particular friend of the Albanian people and I will applaud Liverpool winger Xherdan Shaqiri every time he makes that eagle gesture.

LEAST FAVOURED PLACE
Again a tie, and with all due respect to both places and their residents...Dubrovnik (polluted, touristy) and Belgrade (grim, sinister). Not going back.

BEST MEAL
Falafels and sundries at The Chickpea in Crete (see previous blog)

MOST INCOMPREHENSIBLE LANGUAGE
A crowded field, with many strong contenders, but Maltese wins by a nose. I didn't manage to pick up a single word.

TOE UPDATE
Three weeks after I banged it, it's gone back to its normal colour, but not its normal shape. Hmm. Possibly I may go to the doctor when I'm home.

NEXT TRIP
Hard to say. If the pound sinks any lower then it might have to be Whitley Bay. And what happens if a hard Brexit means I'd get interned at Calais anyway? I'm afraid I shall have to just keep you all in suspense for another year. Though it may be a bit less than that.

Happy Xmas everybody.

Fort St Angelo, seen from Valletta 

Msida Yacht Marina 

The east end of Republic St, Valletta.
They like their colourful balconies in Malta.

Sliema
This is where I'm staying.
It's nice, but I wish that cat would stop staring at me.

Marsaskala

St Paul's Cathedral, Mdina
Clearly Mdina is a place where they like a prayer, ha ha.

Crete

From Athens to Heraklion is about as short a flight as you can take from a major airport. The interval between the seatbelt light turning off post-takeoff, and turning back on again pre-landing, is barely sufficient for a quick trip to the toilet - one necessitated in this case by a surprisingly drinkable pint of Corfu Red Ale in the departure lounge at Athens.

Unfortuately it's piddled down with rain for almost the whole of my time in Crete. Such are the hazards of travelling at this time of year. And indeed without any waterproof gear or sturdy shoes. Sigh. But during brief intervals of sunshine I've visited the ancient palace of Knossos, source of many myths including Theseus and the Minotaur. It tops even the archaeological sites of mainland Greece for sheer antiquity - the palace dates from 1900BC, and the surrounding area bears traces of inhabitation going back to 7000BC. Also the wifi in my unheated apartment appears to be late Bronze Age in origin.

I had a quick one-day drive around the central part of Crete, in a rented Toyota so old & battered that I probably could have taken it stock-car racing and still not lost my deposit. The car gave me the opportunity to head out into the sticks and check out the memorial to one of World War Two's most famous acts of daring: the abduction of the occupying German commander General Kreipe by a team of Greek partisans, led by an English writer, explorer, war hero and general all-round they-don't-make-'em-like-that-anymore chap called Patrick Leigh Fermor. I am unable to resist quoting the following from his Wikipedia biography:

'As a child Leigh Fermor had problems with academic structure and limitations, and was sent to a school for "difficult" children. He was later expelled from The King's School, Canterbury after he was caught holding hands with a greengrocer's daughter. His last report from The King's School noted that the young Leigh Fermor was "a dangerous mixture of sophistication and recklessness".'

Undoubtedly the fame of the Kreipe exploit is due not just to its sheer audacity - they got the General clean off the island and into an Allied submarine - but also to the romance of it all, with Fermor and the subdued General exchanging Latin quotations over the remnants of a mountainside campfire, while the dawn sunbeams spread out across the valleys, etc etc; and also to a vaguely heartwarming televised postwar reunion between the two men, in 1972.

But beyond its propaganda value, the operation had little effect other than to redouble the savagery of Nazi reprisals against the civilian population. And Kreipe's non-commissioned driver, who was also kidnapped and did not have the benefit of a classical education, sustained an injury during the raid which meant he had to be left behind. The partisans couldn't afford for him to talk, and so they killed him quietly, with a knife. We don't put up monuments to that kind of thing.

Christmas looms and my thoughts begin to turn homeward. At this time of year, direct flights home are rather prohibitively expensive. But it's fun to be creative with Skyscanner when you've got an open mind and time to spare. There'll be one more blog for your delectation yet and I can say with confidence that you probably won't guess where from.

In the meantime I shall say goodbye to Greece with some very fond memories. I can't make head nor tail of the language (it's all Greek to me, ha ha) but the food is delicious and that's what really matters.

Knossos
Where you see bright colours & sharp angles, that generally reflects modern restoration work.
Mostly rather regrettable I think.

Abducting a general (see above)

According to Greek myth, Europa was abducted by Zeus in the form of a bull and brought to Crete.
And that, kids, is why Europe is called Europe!
Hence this utterly ghastly statue.

I can't remember where this was exactly.
Somewhere on the north coast.

Edd vs Food #73
Best meal of this trip so far.
Beef, salsa, tabbouleh, honey-tinged yoghurt, beetroot, hummus and pita.
Simple food, but fresh as a daisy and done to absolute perfection in every part.
At The Chickpea, Heraklion

Edd vs Food #74
As above, but falafel instead of beef, and rocket instead of beetroot.

Ancient Greece

One of the most regrettable aspects of present-day travelling is the fact that, due to the spread of global prosperity and cheap air travel, most things on your to-do list will also be on the to-do lists of several thousand other people on any given day.

Athens is a case in point. Had I been born an aristocrat in the 19th century, then perhaps I could have sauntered up to the Acropolis, having rented a mule from Hertz, and contemplated the Parthenon in blissful solitude and silence. As it is, even on a midweek day in November, the place is permanently jam-packed. I shudder to think what it's like on a summer weekend.

Of course, the answer is simply to use a bit of initiative and imagination. So when my time in Athens was up, I went back to the airport and picked up a BMW for a few leisurely days of driving around the archaeological sites and museums of southern Greece. On more than one occasion I did indeed find perfect solitude and silence (and sunshine) at some of the most significant monuments of the ancient world. See pictures below, and click the picture captions for more info if required.

PS Fury was robbed.

Delphi

View from the Delphi hotel

Olympia
This was the very first Olympic track, like off of ever. 776BC.

Bassae (5th century BC)
Preserved temple high up in the mountains, now protected under canvas.
Wind buffets the canvas and the mist creeps in under it; spooky in the extreme.

Ancient Theatre of Sparta

Argos

Mycenae
The Trojan Wars were planned here.

"Agamemnon's tomb"
Bronze Age - circa 1250BC

Corinth

Eleusis

Edd vs Food #72
Chicken souvlaki at Gemelos, Corinth