My 42nd Birthday

Spent in the company of my two lovely friends, Koula and Luella. Luella's birthday was on the 12th, so we combined celebrations and made a day traipsing around the Akrotiri peninsula. We started at the Agia Triada monastery, which structurally reminded me very much of the Arkadi monastery, I guess because they were both built during the Venetian occupation (I think...my readers know I'm not exactly a history buff so please forgive any inaccuracies). I wanted to buy some of their wine, which comes highly recommended by Koula, but it would require leaving it in the hot car for the remainder of our day, and I didn't want to risk spoiling it. I hope to go back before I leave to buy some so that I can serve it at our next AOC gathering.

After we left the monastery, we headed to the beach at Stavros, which is where "Zorba the Greek" was filmed. The day was overcast with cloud cover and dust from Africa, and although it was still hot and humid, none of us felt like swimming so we just had a small lunch at one of the outdoor tables and watched a large group of tourists try to catch some rays and a swim before their tour bus loaded them up and carried them off. After Stavros we took a short detour to a couple of other beaches on the peninsula, just to have a look, and then went to Koukouvayou for coffee and dessert. This cafe claims one of the best views of Chania town from above, but the strange dark tint to the day wasn't optimal for taking in this fantastic view.

After Koukouvayou we went back to Luella's place where she poured us some nice red wine from Miden Agan, and cut up an incredibly flavorful melon to serve alongside sliced cucumbers and cheese. We sat on her balcony with a nice view of the water and chatted while we killed time until our dinner reservation at 8pm. The picture here is of the sun, which looked somewhat post-apocalyptic in the gray sky. Normally a sky like this would make me feel depressed and want to stay inside, but fortunately I was in good company.

We had dinner at Kariatis, a chic yet comfortable Italian restaurant located on one of the back streets of the old harbor. It was great to get a break from the usual taverna food, sharing a large crepe dish for a starter and then each ordering our own pasta dish. The wine, Semeli Mantinia Nasiakos, was a delightful moschofilero with a subtle but definite grapefruit aroma and flavor. This is another I'd like to seek out and bring back to the US with me! One of my favorite parts to the meal was the surprise birthday raspberry cheesecake that Koula ordered and had delivered to the restaurant for after our meal. It was one of the best I've tasted, and my mouth is watering right now thinking about it. I was so full that I insisted Luella and Koula split the leftover cake and take it home, but at this moment I'm wishing I hadn't!

The three of us at dinner, looking quite fabulous if I do say so. Thanks ladies, for a perfect day. I'm so happy to have spent my 42nd with you both!!