A nice adventure to Tzanaki(a)
We followed the road past the end of the beach at Livadi. It was a course without a map, one of those when the eager traveller is just seeking new experiences and excitement!
I admit I did not tell you the whole truth from the start. We got off at the stop Livadi, following a group of French people, two girls and a boy with whom we exchanged a few words as we were earlier crammed in the stairs at the front door of the minibus, which runs the regular service during the summer time.
I saw them skipping the bustling, lively beach of Livadi, continuing uphill making the round – circular path to the gravel road that leads to the south-western side of the island. They only had a few items with them, such as a T-shirt, summer shorts, a pair of glasses and their rapid pace! All three of them were charming – beautiful, yet simple and freed of unnecessary weights, enjoying the Greek summer.
I immediately brought back in my mind old stories that I used to hear as a kid about the red-hot north-Europeans, the Swedish girls that were discovering unspoiled Crete over the summers, the magical Aegean Sea with its beaches, some of which still remain undiscovered! In the search of romantic adventures and total liberation…
My mind travelled to a beautiful beach that deserves to be discovered! A “secret beach” that deserves our attention! They stopped after some time – maybe after about 15 minutes of walk – to a certain point on the road and then started a downhill course. At the steep parts of the road, we could see them grabbing the barbed wire that existed along the course and was placed there in order to determine the boundaries of the properties and the pastures, as I learnt later on. The goats that are regularly left there enjoy the low – sparse vegetation of the pastures…
We followed the downhill watching them slowly disappear, until we could not see them anymore. On the left, we could see an abandoned building of distinct archaeological interest (I was not able to find any further information concerning the name and use of this space). Reaching the end of the trail, we found ourselves at the only spot from where we could enjoy a great view of the beach with its big pebbles∙ a view of the beach that had already surrendered to the midday sun of August!
Many people, mostly tourists without the moral constraints of Greek uprightness, enjoyed swimming without any unnecessary dependencies … Naked bodies lying on the big pebbles… dozens of books accompanying the bathers… a foreign family with their children playing on the beach… under the hot summer sun… The whole scenery offered a sense of absolute tranquillity as we were enjoying the view to the town of Chora in the distance, which seemed like it was perched on the rock.
I noticed that the big Tzanaki was joined to smaller ones. In order to approach the latter, we had to climb the high rocks which separate the small cavities of the beach! This is where we saw the company of the French again!
Unique pictures, a little adventure over the course of the day and our way back to our accommodation by the local bus… At the end of the day what remained in my mind was the joy of discovery!
A destination worthy of your attention! However, be careful not to disturb the special character of the area!
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