Hotel Ariadne Beach Platania Platanias

Sunday was a rest day to recover from the very late night and the pressures of driving with the Cretans – a competitive sport with few rules. We wandered along the beach and poked round the shops, finding new treats, such as baklava, a honey and pastry dessert that Chris is addicted to. Like Elton John and cocaine, Chris can not go to sleep if he knows there are the remnants of any baklava left in the room. He was devastated to find ...

... 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.

... Greek buses-my neck actually kept whipping up as I slept on a later bus to Heraklion. Needless to say, I will not miss Greek public transportation). Once we got to the top of the mountain, we got out of the bus only to be assailed by a lot of unpleasant wind. Some ***** who we dubbed the Last of the Samarians kept making us move to the back of the line because Courtney hadn't put her sneakers on yet. Then we were finally off on the part of the Greece trip ...

... stores with an underwhelming waterfront. We were glad in a way that we had gone though, if only to affirm that Chania was the best city to stay in. We got back to Chania for another late dinner -people eat so freaking late in Europe...I even saw a woman in sequinned booty shorts pushing a baby carriage around 11pm. Anyway, we went to bed early, but still dead tired, to get up for the 7:30am bus to Samaria Gorge.

August 18

The ferry ride to Crete was 8 hours, almost as long as my flight from the US to Athens. My still terrible jetlag caused me to attempt to sleep in the corner of a hallway for half the trip, and upn arrival, I went to sleep almost immediately. Although I'm a bit cross that that means one day of my already short stay has been frittered away, I can already tell that Chania is worth it. I woke up far too early and went to ...

Eventually left Rhodes at 5am, and luckily found a nice spot on the top floor, to lay our sleeping bags and get a fine uninterrupted sleep.

Slow slow journey, stopping at Karpathos, Kassos and in Crete at Sitia, before landing at Heraklion just after 6pm. A swift walk to the bus station, we caught a ...

... drinkers they were! We must mention cats. The Greek people seem to be very fond of cats, but don't really own them. Most are feral cats which are semi-wild and live in the streets. People will put out food and water for them, but nobody is totally responsible for the cats. Of course, they have not been neutered, so reproduce and cause more strays to wander around. Now, in beach communities, the cats have it made, because they have the biggest litter box you can imagine ...

... was still visible, but the spectacular, blue sky, 360 degree view made the hike worthwhile. Look at this to see the view from the acropolis From Kissamos, we went to ancient Phalasarna on the west coast. Here, we saw examples of ancient Roman baths, but most of the ruins were still being excavated. This is an area where tomatoes and zucchini are grown on the flats in hundreds of greenhouses. No ...

... are sitting on a terrace sipping fresh orange juice, enjoying baklava and listening to Grecian radio. Nex t week we will try to take a ferr to Italy so whish us good luck! I hope you are well and not becoming too jealous *g*

~*~

SMS from mum

- Liesel are you wlaking through the (Samarian) Gorge now? At the end you can take a boat. Love mama

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 ...