Lefkoniko Beach/Bay Aparthotel 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 ...

... no supermarkets, no shops, nada! By this stage we were starving as well, so the kind man who ran the hotel took pity on us and loaned us his car to take into the "nearby" village.... which was pretty much deserted. Sigh. We bought a loaf of bread, a tomato, some cheese and some ham, which was to be our dinner, and then our breakfast and lunch for the next day.

We decided one night in solitude was more than enough for both of us so packed up our gear ...

... 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 ...

... seemed to be 60km/h, but the traffic flow was generally double that, so we moved as far right as possible and let everyone pass, whether in no-passing areas or on blind bends. After about an hour, as we drove beyond Rethymno we could see another road to seaward where we reckoned Platanes should be, but could not find a way to get to it. The instructions from RCI were from Iraklio and mentioned a village called Scalletta. We found that ...

... 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.

... 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 ...

... 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

I have the Bike for 6 days. There is no rest for the weary, so I am back on the road again. Stella makes another whopping breakfast. I have felt like Adrianos, the long lost son of George and Stella, for the past few days, as they have treated me like family. It is time get on the road again, 'like a band of Gypsies we go down the Highway' (well no band, no gypsies, but I knew Willie would get a mention eventually), from Rethymno to Hania, heading towards the ...