Doge Chania

... irresistible to leave and we spent all day on the beach, or in the water, lunching at a hill top café looking out over the small cove surrounded by cliffs that forms Matala. The cliffs have natural caves which people climb up to and leap from into the water. Matala beach has plenty of cafes and shops to rehydrate on beer, wine, water or gelati. It was another hot day, and did not cool down till late afternoon as we were leaving. There ...

... are lots of shops calling themselves supermarkets, but they are really souvenir shops. The supermarket was part of a chain called Lidl with all the usual things, but mostly in large volumes. We stocked up on breakfast supplies, water coffee and milk (our less than perfect Greek made understanding this carton difficult but the picture of a cow was a fair indication, and when we got it out later it had "Semi-Skimmed Milk" written on the ...

... donkeys wait to take any unlucky hiker who couldn't finish and had to be taken back.

At the end of the hike, we only had to walk 2 km more to get to the Libyan Sea, the perfect place to jump in after a long, sweaty hike. This end of the island was super remote and we ended up in one of the tiniest villages I've ever seen. There wasn't an ATM either, so luckily Brenden had cash, otherwise we would've missed the last boat to the last bus in Chania.

We ended up taking a bus to a town called Rethmynos to see this big old fortress with a mosque and a church within it, overlooking the water. It was interesting enough, but then we headed to the main part of town, which our "trusty" Lonely Planet had referred to as the second most charming city in Crete. I can only come to the conclusion that Crete is full of some **** cities. It was a weird ghost town full of ...

With salt in our hair and sitting on damp swimsuits, we went back to the same taverna on the waterfront to reclaim our discount for dinner. This time, I had a savory crepe filled with grilled vegetables and cheese (I shared the second veggie crepe with a few of the students around the table). Then we got a dessert crepe filled with vanilla, chocolate, and pistachio ice cream. Pistachios are the specialty of the Greek islands. It took five of us to demolish that crepe.

To my little sister

- And jealous? :p Oh we really should have brought Ollie with us - so many cats to play with! What do you think mum & Babe would think if I brought one (Cesar) home? *g* Lots of love from sunny Crete

Sis & Eve

~*~

To Tini

-As promised a card from our next destination. Still on crete but 2,5 hours further on ...

A mix of chocolate, cherry and banana as I taste my icecream. We arrived at Kissamos today and we treated ourselves on a well deserved treat. We are sitting on the main square shaded from the sun by big palm leaved parasols while the crickets make as much noise as possible so we don't forget them either. Now and then a car passes or a woman walking her dog. It's ...