• The eagle has landed

    by  • 6 June, 2004 • Uncategorized • 0 Comments

    With only 5 minutes delay, the plane from Brussels had landed on Kazantsakis Airport in Iraklio. In no time Lucien and Reinhilde collected their luggage and we were out in the parking. After cursing the official who had slipped a parking ticket behind my screenwipers, we set off and drove to Spiliá, some 8 kilometers south of Iraklio, past Knossos. There is a nice park with a little church in it and a very good restaurant nearby, with the colorful name of “the needed” (but in Greek of course, which I can’t write right now because something has messed up my settings and I don’t have the time just now to find out what. Sorry for that).

    Anyway, we decided not to go into the park, as there was a celebration going on in the church and we didn’t want to disturb. Instead we took a path which lead alongside a small stream and further into an olive grove. The walk took a bit longer than we planned as we kept running into dead ends, and by the time we arrived at the resatuarant, we were sweating, thursty and hungry as wolves. Hungry, that is, as wolves, since I don’t know if wolves are sweating or thursty. At second thought, thursty they probably can be, if they haven’t drunk for a long while. Anybody knows how long a wolf can do without water, before he feels thursty? Whatever. Forget it.

    The excellent meal took a good three hours in a splendid decor, right next to an ancient arched Roman aquaduct. Or at least I thought it was and that’s what I have told previous guests. According to a new source it was built during the Egyptian Occupation (1830-1804). From here, the waters of the spring called Fountana were transferred by a tube to the Morozinis Aquaduct in Iraklio. From here we also left for the Morozini plateia in the center of Iraklio for deserts. But we simply took the road. Greek restaurants typically don’t serve deserts. For that native people go to a zacharoplasteio, litterally a “place where sweet stuff is sold”. We went to Carola’s. Reinhilde opted for a giant ice cream, Yvonne of course for pancake with white chocolade and banana, Lucien and I settled for a frappé with a bit of vanilla ice cream in it. Another two hours of leisurely hanging in comfortable rotan chairs passed unnoticed.

    On our way back to the car we stopped in a car rental business that Carola had recommended. Lucien and Reinhilde got a brand new Hyundai Atos at €160 for one week. The advantage of getting a brand new car is that the radio still functions. In our apartment we took a little nap first, except Yvonne, who “had things to do”. She doesn’t respect local traditions if it doesn’t suit her. A small problem arose when later that night everybody got hungry again. I hadn’t counted on that. The shops were closed, even the fast food place that recently opened on the plateia. We made do with a tomato salad and bread and got to bed. The next day I had to get up before dawn to go to the Customs Services early in the morning…

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