Topalia Gorge - first lunch

Topalia Gorge - first lunch
Today we walked the Topalia Gorge. This was the impressive looking gorge we looked down into from the road yesterday. 
We stopped at the Topalia bakers once again, bought some bread, and asked about the gorge. "Drive down to the church, park, and follow the path down". Hmm... sounds easy enough.
The concrete-covered "road" down to the church was an adventure in itself. The path leading downward was tractor size and there was very little shade. Down and down and down we walked, getting hotter and hotter as we went. We were wondering how it would be walking back up this furnace at the end of the day. Jan talked about it, I thought I'd worry about it when the time came. That's our relative way of dealing with such things.
At the bottom we were relieved to see the path followed the shady side of the gorge.
It was a beautiful walk. A herd of goats passed by on the other side, popping in and out of caves (extra), grabbing shadow where they could. The bottom of the gorge was a dry stream bed but about half way along we heard the sound of water and a short time later the   path crossed over the stream. Definitely a place for lunch 1. Off with the sweaty clothes and shoes and feet into the water that had the icy feel of water recently  underground.
Hot sun, cool shade, feet in running water, birdsong, Jan, - another day in Paradise!
The second half of the walk was on the sunny side with pale limestone reflecting the heat back at us (extra), so we were very happy when the gorge flattened out, and the path ran under trees for a while. We were even happier when it came to an end at a taverna with a huge garden, lots of shade, and very few customers.(See HarlingDarling's Blip)
After we'd had a cold beer and some bread and olives I left Jan in place while I ran back down the gorge and climbed up the path back to where the walk had started. I have always loved the heat and even now feel my body works so well when the weather is really hot!
We drove back to the coast, found a sandy(ish) spot with a fresh water shower and swam in the delightfully cool sea. Then we ate lunch 2!
Back home for a real shower and a change of clothes and then into Chania and a lovely meal at AM