TamaMum

My daughter is taking part in a Creative Writing Workshop at school. I was interested in last week's brief so I thought I would give it a go myself.
I can't decide if it's finished or not. I'm trying to resist the temptation to keep "tweaking" at it
Learning is something we should do at all stages in our lives; I just have the luxury to pick and choose what "homework" I do :p

Descriptive Writing Brief:
Write a description of a real place you have visited. Try to include your feelings about it and a sense of why you feel as you do about it.
Your main objective is to keep the reader interested in the place and what it means to you.

The ruined city is not far from the apartment in the gulf of Mirabello. If you can tear yourself away from the mesmerising glint of the deep blue water of the bay, it's a short walk back towards ancient Greece, worth taking at least once.

Your book and a long cool drink will be quite safe on the balcony overlooking the bay and be waiting patiently, unchanged for you on your return to the present day.

Walk a little way along the dusty track that snakes up behind the apartments and onward up the steep hill above the bay. Look for the neon green lizards basking motionless on loose rocks in the dry stone wall, enjoying the hot, bright sun. There are plenty of them around but no matter how often you spot one, you'll still feel a start of pleasure and achievement that leads you on to the next section of wall where you always hope you'll see another, larger, finer specimen!

Just as the track becomes steeper and you become convinced that you cannot climb any further in the heat, you'll reach a kind of junction with a small, typically Cretan rural cottage on the corner. There's an old green bench set out in the partial shade thrown by the porch near the front door. The paint is peeling from years baking in the sun. If you're feeling bold enough you might walk into the shade and sit a moment to catch your breath and take long, deep pulls on your bottle of water to quench your thirst.

There's a dog living in a makeshift kennel on the other side of the hill and if he notices you he will set to barking incessantly in a misguided attempt to protect his territory. He is harmless but will not stop until you move on and out of his line of sight.

Turn left onto the track behind the house and you will begin to walk around the top of the hill onto the other side of the small bay. It's difficult to describe the soothing happiness that creeps over you at the sight of the water below, but the impulse is always to breathe in deeply and take a moment to appreciate the glint of sunlight off the waves, the occasional rowing boat moored near the rocks and the sound of goat bells clanking faintly in the distance.

After a few minutes you will catch your first glimpse of the jumble of rocks and stones that mark the boundary of the ancient ruined city, scattered across the hill side like so many dice thrown by two gaming giants.

The best time of the day to walk across to the city is late afternoon. The sun has lost some of it's fierce, unrelenting heat, but the rocks are warm and you can still see the waves of heat shimmering above them. The dust is beginning to settle and doesn't irritate your nose as much. Like the goats, the insects are returning to their homes for the evening; they're not interested in investigating you any more and it is still too early for mosquitoes. Quite unexpectedly you may come across a family of pine martens scampering about in and out of the undergrowth, heading for the few trees that line the dusty, yellow track.

You can feel a light breeze as you round the side of the hill, following the path as it winds down amongst the bushes of wild thyme and clumps of basil. When you brush against their leaves you release the pungent scent of spicy, fresh herbs into the air.

The ground becomes more uneven and scrubby here and it is well to take great care walking down. The hill is steep and the stones are loose and liable to slide underfoot. Sometimes you have to pause and stretch your leg down for the next firm foothold, sometimes you have to make a little jump downwards over an abandoned rabbit hole. Sometimes a rock will shift suddenly and unexpectedly, sending you skidding, helter skelter downwards, arms wheeling in the air as you fight to keep upright.

A wrong footing here and you could be stumbling past the entrance gate to the city at speed, down towards the coast road at the foot of the hill. A wrong footing here and you could find yourself at the shores of the Styx apprehensively watching Charon approaching in his rowing boat.

But not today. Today, the gods are smiling and why should they not? Stretched out before you, with the glittering deep blue sea as it's back drop, lies a city glowing warm and pink in the late afternoon sun, with a myriad of streets waiting to be explored, stones to turn and discover what lies beneath and countless ancient lives to imagine.

Life is good.