Rethymno

After an early breakfast one morning we caught the local bus into the nearby city of Rethymno so that we could look around before the heat of the day. 

While the others sat for a drink in a café at the Venetian harbour I had a wander around.

Another beautiful day promised and nothing much was stirring.

We walked the rather precarious path to the mouth of the harbour and gazed out to sea.

Then we strolled round the headland and made our way up to the Fortezza fortress,

situated in defensive position on a hill overlooking the city and the coast. It was built in the 16th century by the Venetians to protect its citizens from Ottoman invasions. This is the main entrance, the eastern gate, facing the town and not visible from the sea. Above the entrance there is a niche which was there to hold the lion of St Mark, the Venetian symbol.

The coast road can just be seen far below.

Looking up towards the gunpowder warehouse and Sultan Ibrahim Khan Mosque.

The western auxiliary gate

The warehouse complex.

The  'mihrab', the prayer niche inside the mosque, pointing to Mecca.

It was lovely to walk around the perimeter of the fortress to enjoy a light breeze and the far-reaching views out to sea.

A hot day. Time to wander through the town to catch a bus back to the hotel.

A rather strange decoration - do the legs light up at night?

White Palace

Last week we were in Crete with friends for a blast of sunshine before winter sets in. We were a little further along the coast from the hotel where we stayed in the spring, this time with a far better beach  and a shallow sea that made swimming safe and pleasurable. We had booked a sea view room and arrived late in the evening. "How lovely," I said when we opened our French windows and heard the waves on the shore. "I don't think that we've ever had a room so close to the sea before."
At 3am I was saying, "shut the door, those waves are driving me mad!" Inconsistent? Moi!

The weather was glorious and part way through the holiday things got even better when we were upgraded to a suite. (We were on holiday to celebrate my birthday.)

The suite gave us plenty of private space,

with plenty of outdoor space for our friends to join us.

A great place to watch the sun go down.

Aah, it was good!

Visible Monday

This week Patti, who hosts Visible Monday, asks if we are in a city or country mood. She is currently in Manhattan and loving it. I'm more of a country person. I like to visit cities but not to stay. After an exciting time I'm more than ready to  return to the quiet of the countryside. Last night we went to the city of Wells where Himself was participating in an event at the Literary Festival. 

The cathedral city of Wells is small, of a scale that I'm comfortable with, I could quite happily imagine myself living there.

It's autumn in England, with drizzling rain. It's damp and cold, so it's rap-up-well weather; woollen jumper, coat and trousers, and leather ankle boots - with socks!

Linking up with Patti to see who's wearing what.