Chania - the city.

Chania is pronounced like "Shoun-yuh" or maybe "Chan-yuh" with a slight accent on the first syllable. It is spelled Hania, Xania, Nania, Chania and several other ways. No matter. It has become a place for tourists to wander in joy, for photographers to fill up their SD cards or exhaust their film supply, for artists to frown and smile and to be happy because they have found a wonderful new home and also to be miserable because it took them so long, and for writers to wonder why the builders went into so much tiny detail. It makes art seem too much like writing.
Every building you see and every turn in the alleyway trails shows an almost needlessly exquisite decoration or thoughtfully artistic swirl that seems to reek of some final trimuph. Much of this beauty appears to have been the work of someone's lifetime.
This is the old part of town of course. Some people refer to it by the name of Kasteli. The newer the construction becomes the more "normal" the small city becomes. That's fine because working people have to live and work, and Chania is really home to some 70,000 inhabitants. But the tourists hang out in Kasteli.




I am a tourist. Yea. I tried to hide that obvious fact for many years, but Old Chania has convinced me that tourists have a real purpose in life. So, if any tourists should happen to read these words, they should immediately plan to come to Chania.


If this seems to speak to you, just remember Chania needs you and you need it. It has been my great pleasure and privilege to introduce you to each other.


2006.1018

© John Womack, 2006. All rights reserved.
All photos with Canon Elura 70 on SD card.