Mistral Hotel Agios Nikolaos

... to be more restricted than my previous visit 25 years earlier. Access is not allowed today in many of the rooms and areas I previously visited. The restored frescoes of dolphins, charging bulls and other scenes were still worth seeing again and one could not help but marvel at the ingenious and lavish nature of the ancient Minoan civilization. The most spectacular piece of palace architecture is the grand staircase, leading to domestic apartments. Here ...

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

... of a water flushing toilet.<br><br>Today we will wander around the old city with trips to the open air market and the archeological museum. <br><br>The ferry and airplane rides seem to affect my (Nancy's) inner ear in a way that on land, everything continues to move. It is annoying and made hiking up and down rocky hillsides a little extra challenging. Hopefully it will quiet down now that there are nop more ferry rides.

... was magic but the cocktails were dreadful. Kevin&#8217;s martini had ouzo in it but the barman refused to do another. Chris&#8217; margharita seemed to be alcohol free and Milly&#8217;s Manhattan didn&#8217;t taste very good. So we moved to Axos for more drinks &#8211; this time excellent, and then to our favourite eating place, Yannis, for dinner. The drinks and food there were superb too and they gave us free cheese pies and raki (as if we needed more booze). Nice.

... ago whemn it said it was still delayed! So we rushed towards our gate (of course first through security) and me making some impressive acrobatic moves trying not to fall with my slippery flipflops on the marble stones. But we made it and are now on our way to Crete! I think that's all for now. Oh I just spend £2,- on a cup of tea! How expensive can it be?!<br><br>Holly<br>

Yes so Dave arrived and it has been a ridiculous whirlwind! Everyone loves him which I obviously KNEW was going to happen! We have been having a great time and GREAT weather! <br><br>Yesterday was a total write off for me I ended up sitting with Dave and Odetta AKA Bob till 8:30 in the morning partying and slept till 3 and that was it went back to bed again at midnight! my body is so SOAR today from all that ...

Soo here is the question... the big CULTURAL differnce. NOW does that mean you can USE it against your advantage or you can use it against naivety ??<br><br>So a new guy comes into the hostel. I walk to the bathroom toothbrush in hand (now remember the "bathroom has 4 sinks and surrounding it is 4 rooms with toilets and 4 rooms (small) with showers) so I am about to brush my teeth SHAKING from the night before because Davey showed up and we partied till 4 am. more to ...

... give me a break it's FAR and I did walk BACK. blue water as blue as ever amazing too bad Crete is so WINDY!!!! AGHHH!!! had a bout witha woman in my room WHY they would put a loud ass liek me in with a tight ass woman who hates any noise after 11 in the same room god only knows. but it's ok Lisa Odetta and Evette moved into the same room as me and we "under the influence" got back at her by bein a tad bit noisy their first night!<br><br>ALSO got scolded after I ...

... I really REALLY needed it last year.<br><br>sooooo yes it took me 46 crazy hours to get here I slept in an airport I slept (actually maybe all of one hour) at the bus station last night! I got into the Athens airport after the night before checking things ont he computer and last minute said f it I am just going to fly to Athens (way faster a little more expansive mind you but I just needed OUT of Croatia! so spent the night in the airport with ...

... porches around the court so that people could watch from there. Also off the court was the king's throne room. The king acted as political leader, judge, and priest, so anyone who needed to visit with him could do it there. The throne and floor were both made of alabaster although the throne currently in the room is a reproduction. Guarding the king where reliefs of griffins which were part eagle, lion, and snake. This three part creature was thought to ...