Heaven on earth
It was in the late eighties when Belinda Carlise sang the words ” True heaven is a place on earth”
I can only surmise that she had swum in deep, clear, blue waters of the Cretan Sea, and then had a gyros for lunch, because that’s what I did today and it truly was heaven on earth.
After a leisurely, and large, breakfast at our hotel, we ambled from our room, through the streets of Rethmyno before reaching the sea front and following it along in the direction of the old fort, stopping occasionally to admire the clarity of the water, look across the bay to snow capped mountains in the distance, whilst applying sun tan cream to protect against the warm fire of its rays. I was on simultaneously on the lookout for a good place to swim, whilst also telling myself the water did look a bit chilly and perhaps it was still to soon to swim when we spied some heads bobbing in the water. Being a Sunday, many locals were out and about enjoying their day off, and we had stumbled upon their favoured bathing spot, off some rocks. It wasn’t long before I joined them in the water, although that first plunge was breathtakingly “fresh”. But a minute or two of vigorous and energetic breaststroke and I became acclimatised to the water temperature, and enjoyed bobbing about in the deep blue. The water was deep, clear and wonderful, a perfect swimming spot and, when I’d had enough, I climbed out of the water and, like an iguana, baked dry on the rocks.
And whilst sat soaking up the sun, not more than 10 metres from our spot, a beautiful white egret flew in, landed, poked around in some rock pools, before flying off again. A wonderful sight.
Perhaps inspired by the hungry bird, we, too, then set off to seek out our lunch, taking a long, slow amble around the headland at the base of the ancient fortress, enjoying the sight of flowers in bloom – one of the pleasures of heading south at this time of year is that everything is a month or two on from the UK, Spring has truly sprung, everywhere is green and flowers punctuate the landscape with their vibrant colours. We found a street grill and ordered a couple of gyros – the perfect lunchtime snack.
After lunch we walked along the seafront in the other direction, and this is where the town’s big hotels front the sea, and the sun beds and umbrellas were spouting up all along the long expanse of beach, getting ready for the season to come, and the visit of many, many tourists making Crete their summer holiday destination.
Today, Rethymno delivered, a day of heaven on earth. Pretty streets, delicious food and a swimming spot to rival any other. That ancient Geek medicine is working its magic and all my woes and cares, aches and pains are being washed away in the deep blue sea and bleached dry in the warm Mediterranean sunshine. I’ve always believed in Belinda, true heaven is a place on earth, and today I glimpsed it.
