Bike of Paradise

On our last morning it was sunny so we decided to have a walk to revisit the early Christian mosaic floor about a kilometre from the village, out past the old salt pans. On the road that connects Elounda with Kolokitha peninsula, on the site of the ancient city Olous, are the Venetian salt pans that functioned until 1972. There are dozens of cisterns separated by walls in the shallow sea, where water from the lagoon of Elounda was trapped in early spring, around April. The water was then evaporated throughout the summer and in September the harvest of salt started, which was then stored in large wawarehouses, traces of which are still around the lake.
Elounda flourished particularly in Roman and Byzantine times, and two basilicas were discovered between Elounda and the Kolokytha Peninsula. One of these, a building of the 5th c. AD, was an episcopal seat, but now only the mosaic floor remains. It was necessary to hang over the wire fence to try to get a photo!
On my way back I passed the taverna with the attractive bike!
We decided to go back to Plaka for lunch, the tiny one street village we visited earlier in the week, then back to the hotel to pack and do a bit of last minute shopping. While we waited for our transfer back to the airport we were privileged to see a Greek village funeral in the church next to the hotel. Elounda is a small village and I think most of the inhabitants were present.
After a two hour trip to the airport we were told on arrival that our flight was delayed due to the French Air Traffic Controllers strike. So I arrived home at 4am. I enjoyed my trip, despite the poor weather making painting outdoors difficult. Its always nice to see new places and have new experiences.
The extras show the salt pans and and the mosaic.