Guest: Kate Forsyth - Discovering Crete
I have spent the last few years researching and writing a novel set in Crete during the Second World War, which meant I was lucky enough to be able to justify the long journey from the very big island of Australia to this much smaller island in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea. We fly into Chania from Athens, and pick up a hire car at the airport. It only takes us 20 minutes to drive to the city, and twice as long to find a car park near the old Venetian harbour. It’s worth the hassle. We buy gelato and walk along the stone harbour front. On one side is the dome of an old Turkish mosque and the arched shipyards where the Venetians once repaired their galleys, on the other side a square battlemented fortress and a pretty little lighthouse. Behind is a maze of crooked, cobbled streets, leading into an old walled town. Many of the houses are painted the same colours as our gelatos. We eat at a waterfront café and then, while my family relaxes with another gelato, I go to the Maritime M
