Early June

Trip Start May 01, 2008
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Trip End Ongoing


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Thursday, June 12, 2008

We've just had a great holiday at Elsdon and Joan Franks' Cretan home in the olive grove above Tavronitis on the NW coast .Our host introduced us to several friends and Taverna owners( the men mostly being called Manoli!) and showed us the local sights including the oldest olive tree in Crete , the newly found Roman mosaics in Kissamos,the birds at Lake Agia(the small Bittern being a first for me),and the still part traditional indoor market in Hania .We dined on Cretes greatest foods including wild herb fed rabbit and goat, with lemon and olive oil drenched salads and local caught fish, washed down with Raki and for me, "being dry", some tasty mountain tea.I very much enjoyed a modern Gyros(zakziki kebab) too.Their balcony is in sun from sunrise, when you can hear Reveille being sounded at the nearby army camp at Maleme to sunset over the promontory to the left; altogether a stunning  200+ degree view of the Med.We walked down the impressive Imbros Gorge in 30+ heat, with plenty of water in my trusty ConocoPhillps shoulder bag, and were amazed by the numbers of walkers coming up! We swam several times in mask and snorkel and I encountered several fish which would have been a home in a tropical? fish tank back in Grimsby.Being an early riser I explored the area by foot and bike and when John and Lesley Raisen (ex-award winning grocer /newsagents in Melton Mowbray) arrived to spend a couple of nights  I had a companion and we toured further, sampling oranges and peaches where we could.They were having a short and very cheap break in Hersonissos and had hired a car. This proved to be very useful in that we got a lift back with them to their place and spent the rest of the day in the pool.Later they dropped us off at Heraklion Airport and we spent the night in the spacious waiting/sleeping area with all the facilities we needed apart from a comfy bed. The flight to Humberside in the morning went well and we then caught the bus for the 35 minute journey home for £2.70 each!
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