The Livikon/Samaria restaurant has opened today, also gyro cafe next to the car rentals.
Yesterday was a murky, warm day. We walked over the headlands from the new harbour to Amoudi beach along the goat tracks. The land is a sea of yellow - gorse, asphodel, small fumana peaking out of thorny shrubs, crepsis (looking like tiny dandelions), and patches of the even tinier yellow rayless chamomile.
On a ledge in the cliff across from Amoudi beach, a sheep had just given birth to a lamb, and we watched it struggle to stand on shaky legs. We crossed the beach (none of us felt tempted to swim) and continued to Agios Haralambos church tucked into the rocks; we couldn’t get inside because the door was swollen shut from the water that drips down through the overhanging rocks. The sun came out a bit, and we could see the next beach (Filaki) to the east.
On the path coming back above the beach, lots of tiny iris (Glandriris monophylla, only a few centimetres tall) had opened up - like their bigger cousins in Anopoli, they only open in the afternoon. We also found many lovely white Ornithogalum exscapum, blue pimpernel (Lysimachia monelli), orange pheasant eye (Adonis microcarpa), bright pink Silene colorata, and a few delicate Anemone hortensis.
I was surprised to see new tourist bungalow accommodation next to the main Vritomartis buildings, obviously from last year, but like so many other developments over the past two years, new to me.
Yesterday evening the wind changed to north-westerly and cleared the air. The Lefka Ori restaurant opened and their outside tables were nearly full (including a Polish hiking group), even though we all had to wrap up warmly.
We enjoyed a star-filled night sky.