What is chania?

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You will drink raki (a usual treat) in Mournies, Maleme and Alikianos or, again, you may prefer margarita, burbon or "Bloody Mary" in modern city clubs. You will dance pentozali to the sounds of lira and laouto or hip hop with Eminem shouting loudly on stereo. In Kolimbari, Falasarna, Elafonisi, Kissamos, Akrotiri and Kalathas you will swim in waters so clear and so cool that your body will be born again and your soul, baptized again. When passing the Samaria Ravine you will feel how small the human is and when you ascend the Omalos Mountain, perhaps you'll be able to talk to God.
At every step you will meet some hero! Heroes from all times, fearless warriors who for centuries have poured their blood for their love to this land and to freedom. In Frangokastello you will see them early in the morning  re-unioned - even if they once used to slaughter one another - enjoying their eternity, having now the knowledge of the vanity and the transient things.

Your every walk in Chania will be a travel in time - but without any certain time order - because here all the historical periods are present, alive and booming, in each stone, each wall, each tree or peble.
Here is the garden created by Reouf Pasas, over there the Venetian Shipyards, on the other side there is Topanas with Venetian mansions, Firkas Fortress and the Faros (Lighthouse) (so close and yet so far away!), the Dominican monastery turned into mosque by the Ottomans. There are Byzantine churches and ancient ruins, revolutionaries' hideouts and pirates' bases...Everything has a story to tell you or a song to sing to you...hear!
Hear...the smell of the sea...or maybe it is a plain with lemon trees? Maybe it's skaltsounia (traditional tastfull pies) baked by kyra - Lengko or a new barrel of red wine opened by kyr - Themis. This may be frankincense from the church or gunpowder from the gunshots at some celebration. In Chania you will "hear" as many smells as there are stories.
Still, nothing of these is Chania! Nothing that you'll see, hear or touch is Chania. It is not feelings but...illusions! It is something you've been always looking for but never found. It is what you believed. It is something that exists, you know that for sure, it always follows you but once you turn your head, it's gone. It guides your steps but you can never catch it. Your fairytale and your truth. Once you said that there is no such thing. It is your friend who always tells you the truth even if it hurts, but in hard times he'll sing to you. Your unfulfilled love. If you want to come here just for "holidays", or "to relax", or "to have fun", it is not a good idea. Go somewhere else. Here is the place for piligrims only. Because Chania is not what you will live. It is what you would like to live...

("Hear" the smell: local expression that means "feel the smell").