Fortezza Rethymnon

... and we had about one hour before the ship was scheduled to sail at 8 pm. Sandra was nursing a cold (blame the bus air conditioning), so she headed back to the ship with David and Holly while the rest of us strolled the shops that were still open. I found a couple of reasonable souvenirs among the stores offering traditional Cretan artwork, copies of pieces from different archaeological museums, jewelry and embroidery. And Yahoo! I found an ATM ...

... were looking up!

We found a decent looking place to stay in (Kastro Hotel) on hostelbookers.com and opted to wander around there to see if we could get it a bit cheaper than on the net. Unfortunately, the map on the net wasn't correct and we ended up doing bog laps around Heraklion for AGES in the rain with our backpacks looking for the damn place. Every time we asked someone where it was they pointed us in another direction. I mean, if you don't know ...

... lashings of olive oil (hand pressed by an old lady in Argyroupoli).

On the Beach

On Wednesday we decided to visit the ancient sites of Phaestos and Gortys south east of Rethymno, with a brief stop at Matala to check out the beach. Matala is on the south coast of Crete and not as popular with the mass tourist markets, although it was popular with hippies in the 60s - Bob Dylan and Cat Stevens holidayed there. It proved ...

... not. We were parked there for nearly three hours and no one bothered us except for a Scandinavian drunk, who looked like he did not know where he was – all he seemed to want was somewhere to lean before he flew away (or was denied travel). Their plane was late but we left the airport around 11.30pm and the drive back to Platanes went quickly, and without a hitch or a detour. Chris and Milly went to check out the nightlife and we went to bed.

... necessary as well, as the sun gets brutally hot in the gorge as the day gets later. Along the way, there were some cool curiousities such as abandoned settlements and ruined stone buildings. Apparently the Samaria Gorge was also a key place for refugees to escape to during the battle of Crete. We caught sight of a couple mountain goats, this breed being one that apparently only lives in Samaria Gorge. Another fixture of the hike was the donkey station ...

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 ...

... a while but I am really ready and looking forward to it! Flying into Vancouver next wednesday then somehow getting over to Victoria where will meet dad, Lena and Karen then on friday mom is arriving! oh man it is going to be so much fun! then on sunday we are all flying home together! Which I think is really nice!

So thats about it have to get out in that sunshine to keep up my dark tan ;-)) Life is so hard!!!

... me thinking WIERDOOOOO- oh and yes he invited me to come to the beach with him- yeah thanks NOPE!

SO I fake going back to bed fake is me trying to fake myself back into sleeping I was pretending to sleep in order for my body to think I was and actually FALL asleep but nope just daydreamed about my terrible new book where this murderer is being called the new jesus and is trying to donate his heart to the daughter of the family he murdered- messed yes! so get ...

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 ...

... now living in Greece for 7 years or so. In between working he'd come and sit at my table and chat with me and even ordered some food for himself in between jumping up and down to wait tables. I actually had 2 dates that night, one of the many stray cats sat in his chair and stared at the food on the table, probably my fault for sneaking him bits of chicken under the table. Bedtime was early that night because I had to be up at 6:45 to ...