We prepared to checkout but couldn’t find the owner. His little gift shop (at the ground floor of Pension Eva) was not opened yet. We walked over to look for that uncle (his friend) who helped us on our arrival, but only to find his reading glasses on his reception desk. No one was around, but the door opened.
Not there were anything valuable to steal, but this place seems to work pretty much on trust system. We could have walk out with something and no one will know. But we didn’t abuse this trust. We are honest people. 
We decided to wait for him, as we wanted to hand him the 2 room keys. We settled for breakfast at this little lovely corner cafe just behind our pension, hoping that by the time we finished, he would have arrived. This corner cafe ran by a friendly lady. We ordered spinach pie, ham & cheese pie and a frappe each. The guys couldn’t stop praising the freshly baked spinach pie, maybe because they were starving.
(The alleys can only accommodate small vehicles like scooter.)
Just as we were enjoying our breakfast, there was this Hyundai car driving towards our direction, behind was a woman in her mid 30s chasing after it. The driver didn’t notice her till he was stuck at the corner street right in front of our table. The woman walked up and hit the car body and shouted at him in American accent,”Dave, I’m not in the car yet!” Huh? Wife not in the car also dunno? How possible?
This woman hopped into the car and the husband had to perform a 4-5 point to make a U turn and get out of this street. We even had to move our table to make way for this sotong husband. I hope we won’t be as sotong when we drive in Santorini 
After we returned the keys to the owner, we took a bus ride from the bus station to Iraklio (a.k.a Heraklion). The ride was 2hr 45mins – 149km ride, traveling from west to center of Crete. Half the time, Eric and I were sleeping. But I was aware of the bus conductor checking tickets and some passengers boarding and alighting the bus along the way. Bus fare 10,70 euro per pax.
The bus passed by a few towns. I got to see the real Cretans’ way of life. Many old folks were hanging out at their local coffee shops, playing cards and drinking Amstel or coffee. The houses were also not as pretty as those in the touristy Hania old harbor front. But they still maintain the Mediterranean style- relaxed living inspired by strong colors and natural materials.
Iraklio
Iraklio is the capital of Crete. It was not a sightseeing place. If not for the ferry service to Santorini, we would give this town a miss. After we checked into Hotel Mirabello and came out, it was only late afternoon and we were surprised by how quiet the 25th august street was. Many shops were closed. Let’s just say it would be easier to count how many were opened.
Everybody gone for his siesta?
Hotel Mirabello has this antique lift. Open the door, there was another shutter door. How cool is it? But hor, its extremely slow. From ground floor to 3rd floor, almost take forever. )
We were walking by the stalls and overheard a shopkeeper telling her customer,”I am sorry. We are closing. We are very tired.” And next thing, we saw was the customer leaving the stall in disbelief and the shopkeeper packing up, closing the stall, for her siesta I think.
It was 3:30pm in the afternoon. Many stalls were also closing. See the important of Siesta to them over a potential customer?
First encounter of this Greek culture. Interesting.
Streets were quiet and we were caught by a enthusiastic restaurant uncle. He sort of talked us into eating at their restaurant. We settled for it cos we were tired from the bus ride. This uncle even tried to impress us with a few words of Mandarin and his limited knowledge on Singapore. Anyway, ahem… it is nice to know they know a country called Singapore.
We went back hotel since there were not much action and too lazy to take another bus ride for sightseeing. It was a lazy afternoon. We bought beers and watched TV in the hotel room, waiting for the town to wake up from their siesta.
( Clarence: I was sad to leave Hania…I like the place a lot. But no choice, ‘cos we can only go to Santorini from Heraklion, which is in the central part of Crete. Hania is on the western part. Moreover, our ferry to Santorini was in the morning around 10 pm. Since the bus ride is about 3 hours from Hania, we decided not to risk it.
I don’t really like Heraklion. It’s more like a city. And there’s nothing much to see. Maybe I was comparing it with Hania, so I guess it’s subjective. So when we reached Heraklion, I wasn’t feeling excited about the place. Coupled with the fact that my hotel room is like a prison cell. No fan no aircon, super small room. One single bed and there’s a sink beside the bed, that’s all. Don’t have the inn or pension feeling…where you will feel more cozy and at home. Boh bian, cheap mah Heng stay one night nia. )
At 8pm, we went out for dinner. Indeed, the hair salon beside our hotel was reopened after siesta for evening business. How interesting. By the way, the streets were not as dead as we thought.
Dinner was at a restaurant recommended by LP. A friendly English lady in her late 40s walked over to our table, and took the liberty to introduce the dishes to us. She explained that what the cream was made from olive and it goes with the bread. She also told us that syrup cherries, some dessert and raki will be served at the end of the dinner. Oh, don’t mistaken her as the waitress! She was just a friendly tourist who wanna share those tips with us. Such a nice lady !
We wanna popped by their happening pubs but thought we might be under dressed in our slippers and bermudas. We ended our day and rest early for our SANTORINI!
