March 26, 2007 till next entry A short drive to see, if sunset can be seen close to Kalami turned out to be a more than marvellous adventure. There is a tiny cemetery just some hundreds of meters before Kalami (coming from Kalyves). We swung the car right onto a broader area, and parked to walk to the cemetery where we enjoyed that solemn place and the looks of the sky with the sun setting behind the hilltop. When trying to turn back to Kalyves, we got our car stuck on a rock. Yes, really stuck. Feeling helpless, we were happy to make a young man stop his car to help us. Because we were in a bad jam, he called his friend to help. But before that lad arrived, he noticed another friend driving by, and stopped him to our rescue. And that was so marvellous. The young man lifted the back of the car off the rock in a jiffy! Imagine! After a while the friend, who had been phoned, arrived, too. He was the man we've nicknamed "Operates All Major Machines". Would have been great to be pulled off the rock with his big machine, but it was no longer necessary. We tried to offer a drink in gratitude, or something, in Kalyves, but those young Cretans said "it's nothing", and that they were going up to Kalami. We also headed to Kalami, and found their cars parked in front of a very nice, scenic taverna. When we entered, again eager to offer drinks, they said that we are their guests, and they will pay! There we were with an unbreakable wall of hospitality that could not be broken even by asking the personnel to bring us the check. "All has been paid for!" During the stay, over the drinks, in the taverna, we found that our weight-lifting, car-rescueing young man is wearing a T-shirt with the words "LOCAL HERO" on the front. (That was most effectively proven!) Upon commenting those words, we learned (in response) that we are in a taverna with a multitude of tales about heroes. - One is sitting live behind us. The grandfather who is a veteran, a hero, of the partisan movement against the Germans in the 40's. (The walls of the taverna show photos of people who lived and fought then.) And next to him, sitting to our right, is his wife who gave birth to the lady and the man now running this taverna. We must admit that this experience surpassed by far any other problems we've had with a car! [ If you see only this frame, click here to see the complete diary ]