Going with the Floe: Arctic Expedition Cruise July 10, 2023

[AquaDame]

~PSA: If you want to skip to the actual ABD, it begins on post 22 and ends at post 85~

Unfortunately for now Disney will not just go with the flow. At the moment I no longer find any reference to this adventure on their site, which is a shame though understandable given that both our departure and the June one prior to ours both sailed about about half total passenger capacity. I believe they had 114 or so adventurers in June and we had 136, 13 of which were under 17. It is a shame because... spoiler alert... we really enjoyed this adventure! I am not sure how many things were tweaked between the two departures, but our Guides did comment that after even the first trip they already felt like they had a great camaraderie with the Ponant crew, and coming back on board was like seeing old friends. We even got the captain to risk his perfect hair and jump in the pool during the Arctiki party this time (his idea, honest!). It's a bit sad to know it won't be happening again for the foreseeable future.


The vast majority of folks sailing with us were couples with a few sisters, a few friends, and a few families also in there to round us out. There were a lot of birthdays, anniversaries, retirements, and graduations to celebrate along the way as well! For my husband and I, there was no special reason at all. We knew we eventually wanted to travel to the Arctic, though the how hadn't been discussed much. We currently have a bucket list going, and this was... somewhere... on there, but when it was announced Joe Rhode was going to be on, I immediately asked my husband if he'd want to bump it up on the priority. Thankfully he said yes. <3 We always knew that as Joe Rhode parted ways with the company he may not ultimately sail with us, and we were OK with the risk; we'd still want to go regardless if that happened, so the nonrefundable deposit wasn't a deal breaker.


For the curious, we are both in our early 40s, both work full time (no, not here, I'm a volunteer mod), and do not have children. My husband merely adopted Disney; I was born in it, moulded by it. As a kid the best part of my summer was a week at Disneyland the last week of break, and the pull of nostalgia and love for the parks will likely last until I take my final breath. I've spent our 16 years together figuring out ways to get my Disney fix without overdoing it, and finding that balance between Disney Trips and Other Trips. Often that means this style works best for us; a Disney veneer on a otherwise not Disney trip, or splitting park time with something else like visiting the Everglades, taking a road trip down the 101 for a couple days in DL, visiting an international park and seeing everything else around it, or going on a cruise. For this trip he was ALL IN, and dare I say even more excited than I was? This man REALLY wanted to see a Polar Bear y'all. He has been working on his skills photographing wildlife and was ready to stay up all night a week straight if needed. The sun certainly cooperated with that idea.


So that all is the good news... we decided to go, we went, we had a great time. Joe Rhode even went with us all. The bad news (for my husband) is that I get more vacation time than him. I mean a LOT more time than him... which meant I had spare time that I could and probably should spend in Europe. Normally this is when sane people look at the climate of where they are going (Arctic) and choose a complimentary country (for sanity's sake). Well this is... not what I did. Did I mention a bucket list...? Did I mention I'm already in my 40s? I chose... Greece.


....Yeah.


In July.


Heh.


My brother lives in the Netherlands, was free the first week of July, and was willing to keep me company, which was awesome. We did discuss how hot Greece would be at length, but we've both been to many of the "cooler" countries in western Europe and didn't particularly fancy a repeat. I made the argument that the heat wouldn't be as bad in a country used to dealing with it if there were a heat wave compared to, say, an old canal house with no airflow. (Let's just say I'm glad we did not choose Italy and go a week or two later...) I also didn't want to go somewhere I would want MORE than a week or so. Eventually as we hemmed and hawed his partner signed aboard as well, and since she preferred Greece over the other options we were spitballing we were finally committed. I know I'll probably be back in Greece some day as my husband will want to go, so I didn't mind doing an extremely condensed version. And now if I don't make it back, oh well, that is life, I saw the main things I wanted to see. Win/win! I'll summarize that week briefly first to get to the good stuff quickly since it does set up events when my husband and I meet up in Oslo.

The Box arrived a bit early, which it sounds like commonly happens with the expedition cruises. As cool as the pins are (get it?) I am sad that there isn't as much of a "point" to getting them when they come early. I love the punny day themes and it really does work well when they are handed out as you go. Frankly, I completely forgot the theme of each day. I hope the whole idea isn't scrapped... though we don't get much use out of pins, I still enjoy having them hanging on their lanyards in the bedroom, and get more use out of that simple act than I do ANOTHER water bottle, bag, or hats that aren't as high quality as ones we have purchased on our own. If we lived somewhere we did not already have winter gear already though I am certain it would have been very appreciated! A few folk did bring their hats to use.





Time then passed as it must until finally "our" adventure started with parting ways...

 

[sayhello]

Ooo, cool! Looking forward to more of your report!!

Sayhello

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

I'm looking forward to more of the report, too. I'm very sad about the Arctic trips. That is actually one ABD that I still wanted to do. Due to other plans we couldn't jump on the first trips, and now it looks like we won't have another opportunity. We did Greece in June/July and it was HOT. I remember thinking about the AC, too, but what I didn't realize was that they might have AC but it definitely isn't what we were used to. Some of them never got below the low 70s and the rooms were hot to sleep in. Definitely more climate friendly, but I was missing our US AC LOL.

 

[AquaDame]

I'm looking forward to more of the report, too. I'm very sad about the Arctic trips. That is actually one ABD that I still wanted to do. Due to other plans we couldn't jump on the first trips, and now it looks like we won't have another opportunity. We did Greece in June/July and it was HOT. I remember thinking about the AC, too, but what I didn't realize was that they might have AC but it definitely isn't what we were used to. Some of them never got below the low 70s and the rooms were hot to sleep in. Definitely more climate friendly, but I was missing our US AC LOL.

Oh man, I hear you! Thankfully the A/C worked well enough for me - had I tried to set it any lower I would have paid for it. Hotel A/C always seems to be pointed at the bed and just dries me out horribly. I woke up the first morning in Athens with a sore throat from it, so I built a fort of pillows to block it the next couple of nights and did better. We try not to use it too recklessly at home, keeping it at 74-76 in the day for the most part. I do drop it during my runs to 70 or 72 so I have a nice cool breeze on the treadmill, and we sleep downstairs in a daylight basement room which stays cooler. I know it sounds weird but it is a mini-suite down there compared to normal bedrooms up. Not sure what the flippers were thinking...


July 1st-July 2nd: My Big Fat Greece Meetup

After departing from my husband (and Corgi, who was not amused)...



(Oh who am I kidding, as long as the kibble comes on time she is happy) I was on my way to AMS!

As I mentioned we nailed down the trip from there later on, and finally settled on thee nights in Athens followed by four on Crete. They had already been to Athens and Santorini before - my brother actually was mugged in Santorini and as such is hesitent to go back at any rate - but said they didn't mind heading back to the major tourist sites in Athens again for one day of it. Flights dictated our time on Crete, so our schedule ended up looking like this:

July 1st redeye landing on the 2nd in AMS. Meet up w/ brother & partner, and continue on to Athens.
July 3rd: Athens - Parthenon and close by sites.
July 4th: Full Day Tour to Delphi w/ private driver
July 5th: Fly to Heraklion
July 6th: Palace at Knossos, Cave of Diktaion Andron (Cave of Zeus)
July 7th: Drive to Chania, maybe stop at an Olive Farm or anywhere we like on the way, see the Venitian Port area
July 8th: Elefonisi, Topolina Gorge
July 9th: Fly to Oslo to meet up with my husband, pre-night at Grand Hotel Oslo
July 10th: Start of the ABD.

This mostly worked out great. I boarded my almost on time plane to AMS to meet up with my brother and had lovely weather for the flight which was mostly smooth. I also lucked out with my seating partner who was also not a talker... I know many folk like to chat on flights but that is not me. I am not a good flier; I am stress incarnate and try to just bunker down and get through it.



Side note: I really like PDX. It is a smallish airport, easy to navigate and no trams or long walkways to different terminals yet. Nike and Intel keep us happy with a handful of nonstop international flights, and food and drink are price controlled to an extent. You pay the same for a meal inside the airport as you would downtown or at their other locations. We have some fast food options but the majority are local places that have setup at the airport in addition to their locations around town. You're gonna get a good meal.

Not me though, I had opted to upgrade to Delta's new "Premium Select" offering which meant I waited until I was onboard to eat. Technically I had upgraded food to look forward to, but it was normal as far as I could tell. Roasted chicken with potatoes and braised onions, with a side salad that was mostly cheese, and a packaged blondie dessert. They also gave us snacks (like the box of cheese biscuits in the top left I hadn't really needed and still had when linner was served here), offered a couple of times throughout the flight. Not shown here was a roll they came by with a few minutes later.



I mostly booked this class for the foot rest and further recline - it was not much more in price over Comfort+ on my dates for some reason, so I didn't really mind the fatty chicken. It's been far too long for me to remember much else about the flight, though I do remember some bumps around a storm which led us on a merry diversion earlier in the flight from this pic:



Despite the leg room and recline I was not able to sleep much on this flight... which in this case was A-OK as I had a hotel of sorts waiting for me. Another problem of not knowing where I was going from AMS was having to book any onward flight on its own ticket. I could have taken an earlier flight to Athens but I did not want to risk a 2.5 hour turn around when traveling with others. I would PROBABLY be fine, but I wanted more time in case the plane was late, and security lines were long. I wavered between checking and not checking a bag as well as mine was just over the size limit which would have necessitated exiting the airport and coming back in, which I did not want to do. In an abundance of caution I'd gone ahead and paid for a checked bag for the Greece flights as well, just in case, but needn't have worried. They never gave my bag a second glance.

Gambling is not my forte though so ultimately I went for the later flight, which gave me a whopping 5.5 hours of layover, and chose to just take my bag with me to the gate and play dumb if they took it away, so I didn't need to worry about coming back through security either. To pass the time I booked the minimum 4 hour stay at a capsule hotel inside Schiphol called Yotelair. True to their word, Yotelair is absolutely behind the main security, but it soon became apparent there was a long line to get through the passport check for onward flights before I could reach my gate. I'd purchased an eSim before I left that was good in all the countries I'd be visiting, so I turned it on and realized I didn't get a phone number with it (whoops). So I hopped on wifi and chatted with my brother real quick to let him know I was on time, and ask if he had any tidbits of wisdom on how much time I should leave for the check but he had no clue. Leaving immediately from his home airport from an international flight isn't normal for him I guess. I decided to go to the hotel early (it was ~10am at this point) and ask if I would be able to check in now instead of waiting until 11am. They could do 10:30 so I ran and grabbed a drink and walked around until it was time. I ended up asking a staff person how long they would allow for security and he also said he didn't know. Maybe 45 minutes? I was going to have to guess on my own....

The rooms are indeed VERY small, which I was expecting, and did the trick. I had enough time to shower and take a bit of a nap here which beats a long aimless stay in an airport any day. They do have slightly bigger rooms that can accommodate two or a small family if needed.




On the other side of the glass is the shower head; you can see there is barely any lip between the bathroom floor and the floor, so I made sure to get everything up on higher ground while I showered. In the end it really didn't make a mess though; I guess they knew what they were doing! The pink light is the hallway; I imagine the color is purposeful to help jetlagged patrons. I decided 1:30pm would work well enough for a 3pm flight, so I only ended up with about 90 minutes of sleep before heading out again. Luckily there was NO line, so I had oodles of time to find a sandwich which was pretty much the only option past passport control. Mental note when I come this way again not to rely on food further along...!

After a little while my brother and partner rolled up and we boarded the plane to Athens. Once again, it was a totally uneventful flight. Once we got to Athens she pinged our driver to let him know we had arrived and after a wee bit of drama where it took much longer than it should have we arrived at our hotel. Our first choice had been fully booked, so we chose another similar place called Acro Urban Suites Athens. It is walking distance to the Parthenon and the price seemed reasonable. I booked the King Studio and honestly aside from a couple quirks I'd happily stay here again. I had the very first room as you go up the stairs so I thought it would be loud (it wasn't) and outside the window was a street which made my danger sensor go off that first night too. In the days following through the vibe I got running around solo and seeing many many other women including the elderly doing the same was that the city is reasonably safe. Many apartments and hotels had similar windows due to the topography of the place so it wasn't weird at all in the end.



I pulled the shutter down, closed the curtain, and pretended it wasn't there.

The room was downright spacious for one person, but it was the smallest option.





Given the run around with the taxi it was already 9pm at night, so we decided to go out quickly for dinner and settled on a highly reviewed thai place nearby called Tuk Tuk. There was no A/C here, but as it was so late it wasn't TOO boiling and the food was good. After that it was bedtime, and man I needed it!

 

[AquaDame]

July 3rd: Athens, sweat, and bruises

The sky's awake so I'm awake, so we need to play! Or at least that is what I'd have been telling my husband around 5:30 when I woke up. I remember waking up even earlier and trying to go back to sleep, and was making a good show of trying until I woke up with a jolt when I realized I could probably see the sunrise from the patio on the top of the hotel! That was another reason we had chosen this place. The fact that it was 8pm at home and I could facetime with my husband was another bonus. Sadly I missed the sunrise by the time I'd thought of it, but still had a great view and chat. It had not cooled below 75 so it was already feeling warm out there.


I briefly thought about trying to go back to bed, as my brother and his partner are late risers, but decided I was too awake for that to happen. I slowly got ready, checked google maps for a place that had matcha (my breakfast drink of choice) and set off into the streets! This ended up being more and more impossible as time went on, but for today I was successful at the second spot. The first didn't even know what matcha was, though reviews mentioned it. Oh well!

Much as I disliked having a later start when it was already so warm, my brothers partner needs 9 or more hours of sleep so knocking the Acropolis out earlier in the morning was not going to happen. Had we been able to get through dinner in less than two hours we might have pulled it off, but since we got back to the hotel around 11:30pm that meant a 9am start. My brother had a rotten time trying to sleep as they couldn't get their room cool enough, and he tends to have insomnia from time to time including now, so he was a little tired. We had to get breakfast first, so we hit up a little bakery close by and then began the walk up the hill.

We had done our due diligence in purchasing tickets ahead of time, but that did not save us since we got there right during the rush. The ticket line was actually quite short and the chorus of folk asking if this was REALLY the line for folks who already tickets got old, fast. Did I mention it was already pretty hot? ^^;

After 20 minutes or so we were scanned in and began our wandering around the Acropolis making our way with everyone else to the Parthenon. I'm pretty sure I've heard the phrase "Live at the Acropolis" somewhere, and we saw them setting the stage for the show that night:



Soon our movement was slowed mightily by other happy tourists. For a bit we did not move at all, until we made it through the pinch point into the slow waddle up. There was a woman on the ground with blood on her knees being attended to by workers and I felt so badly for her! That may have added to the slowness, but it felt worse than Disneyworld for a bit there.



I had packed my little palm sized handheld fan with water squirter for just such an occasion, and made good use of it in that crowd. I've got a website open with historical temps so I can somewhat confidently say it was 88 or 90 degrees at this point. My brother and his partner were dragging, and he asked how the heck I was doing so well, especially considering I should be the one jetlagged. Over the course of the week it came up a fair number of times and did make me feel increasingly bad. While I'm not overweight, they aren't either, and I don't consider myself fit by any stretch of the imagination. I do force myself to jog 3x a week but that is really all I do.... and its only for 20 or 30 minutes. I told him I thought I was just way more excited to be there since it was my first time there, and running on adrenaline.

I was running on SO MUCH adrenaline in fact that when we finally got to the Parthenon and my brother said it was time for a selfie I skittered over the dusty marble in my Keens and...

SPLAT.

Just like that, I was the girl on the stairs. Y'all... I came down HARD, right on my right hip. My shoes just slid right out from under me on that marble. I vaguely heard a couple people asking if I was alright and I said Yes... WHERE ARE MY SUNGLASSES? I asked repeatedly in a rush where they were until my brother pointed out they were on my head. I swear my reaction in a crisis is never what I would expect.... having hurt myself all I could think of was it is just day 1 of a super sunny almost three week trip and I need my glasses. I bounced up, dusting myself off, and my brother asked again if I was OK. It hurt, of course, but I had full mobility and everything. My husband and I have often chorused travel while you're young and this is another example of that. I am certain if I were older I would have broken something. My hip, a wrist trying to catch myself, something. I have a beautiful close up of the rich tapestry of blues and purples the next day if anyone wants to see it. By far the largest bruise of my life, though not the most painful surprisingly. Aside from sleeping it didn't really bug me at all the rest of the trip... much to their chagrin. I think they secretly hoped it might slow me down a little.

Embarrased as I was, we still did due diligence taking way too many pictures in front, with all the scaffolding. Pics of me holding my hip for posterity, pics of all of us together, triumphant pics, a recreation of me doing a thumbs down as I did at the Roman coliseum back in '05; it was surprisingly not crowded up there given the tight line of folks trickling in. Most were all gathered in the shade under a tree near the bathrooms - folk would come out for pics and then retreat again to cool off as best they could. There is also a water fountain where we refilled all our water bottles. It was not particularly cold, but it was free and welcome. My brothers partner stayed under the same tree while we wandered a bit further afield, onto an outcropping with a view and then back down again. I have many more pics but that pesky 10 pic limit has me moving on.



From there we headed back down in search of lunch.



One of the other things we all enjoyed about Athens is the cats everywhere. Many of us have been places where the cats are not well cared for, but it seems Athenians have a soft spot for these critters. We found lots of places put out bowls of food and water for the strays, and they seem happy enough. I made sure to take at least one pic of a cat every day, as there was inevitably one that was especially friendly or posing.



We went to a bistro the concierge at our hotel had ensured us had A/C and I had a more traditionally Greek plate of Gyros which were good and surprisingly affordable. I am sure Athenians would insist it was highway robbery but the same meal at home would have been another $10 AND I'd tip on it in addition, so I was happy. From there we went back to the hotel to relax and shower off. I had expected that we would take a long afternoon break, but after just a short time they were ready to go out again and we wandered towards the Panathenaic Stadium. As we approached Hadrians Arch the sky opened up and dumped rain on us for 5-10 minutes so we hid in the doorway of a bank until it passed. We then chose to test our luck and headed towards the arch and Temple of Olympian Zeus. None of us felt like paying entry when we could see it from there, so we skipped the admission and headed down to the Stadium where we also chose not to pay admission, but instead got frosty drinks from the stand outside it.



From here there was simply more aimless wandering. I had wanted to go to a museum but the day was getting late, and my companions weren't interested in the observatory either. They wanted to recreate a lovely walk they had around Plaka, so that is where we headed. As the sun slowly sank the heat became less oppresive and spirits started to rise, so it was a good choice.



One of many residences falling into disrepair. I enjoyed how much greenery just busted through them when left to their own devices for a length of time.



There was an adorable family having portraits taken in these little alleyways. I can imagine how well they turned out! From here we wandered towards Areopagus Hill where many watch the sunset. It was still a ways off when we got there, and the clouds were unlikely to make for good viewing, so we wandered around a bit, but left for dinner before the main event.



The commitee tonight ruled in favor of a light dinner given how hot it had been, so we found a place that had Poke bowls and followed it up with gelato before turning in for the night. I snuck up to the roof and found my brother already there, listening to the concert we'd seen being set up earlier that day. We sat there awhile talking about the heat, and the next day which would have an early start - our driver was arriving at 8am for the long drive to Delphi.

 

[sayhello]

Boy, that capsule hotel inside Schiphol sounds like a cool option for a long layover! What a great idea! A nap and a shower mid-trip sounds wonderful! I did that on my way to New Zealand (but not in the airport), and it was really fabulous. I was glad I had the time to do it that way.

Yikes! That fall could have been bad! So glad it was not. It really sounds like something I'd've done! I'm glad you ended up having a nice day despite the heat and the fall.

Sayhello

 

[AquaDame]

Boy, that capsule hotel inside Schiphol sounds like a cool option for a long layover! What a great idea! A nap and a shower mid-trip sounds wonderful! I did that on my way to New Zealand (but not in the airport), and it was really fabulous. I was glad I had the time to do it that way.

Sayhello

It really is a game changer...! We experienced it once at a lounge that happened to have showers and have tried to allow ourselves that luxury now whenever it makes sense. There are places where you can pay just to shower also at Schiphol depending on which terminal you are in, but I wanted to nap as well. I've absolutely been spoiled at this point but hey, it is a LOT cheaper than business or first class seats for lounge access, and I get better results.

 

[Mathmagicland]

I cannot wait for your pics of Captain Florian in the pool! He seemed reluctant to put on the Hawaiian shirt the guides had for our June tiki party, so I’m guessing he saw all of that AbD fun. The captain on our Antarctica adventure did get it the pool with the guides.

 

[aggiedog]

Maybe because I’m scrolling on my phone, but I’m confused. Is this about Greece or the Arctic?

And yes, so many cats in Greece!

 

[AquaDame]

Maybe because I’m scrolling on my phone, but I’m confused. Is this about Greece or the Arctic?

And yes, so many cats in Greece!

It will be both - my predays were in Greece and then I met my husband in Oslo for the Arctic ABD on the 9th.

 

[AquaDame]

July 4th: Full Day Tour at Delphi

The next morning began the same... I should have hit a wall but once again I was up by 6am, made my Facetime call to my husband on the roof and high tailed it back down to Flat White for a matcha latte before meeting up with my brother and partner for our Full Day Delphi Tour with Private Greece Tours (PGT). Our tour guide was very... enthusiastic. I don't think I have ever had such an energetic tour guide before, and even after my brother explained he did not sleep (again) he kept talking at a thousand miles a minute. Which would be fine, but he made it his personal agenda to get my brother similarly pumped up for the day. It did not work, but hey I learned a lot while he tried!

We first stopped at the monestery of Hosios Loukas after a brief bathroom and coffee break at a highway stop, which was an optional add on. We did have to wear skirts that covered our knees for this part, though you supposedly could also rent them if you needed to. I didn't see where the skirts were, but that might be an option for anyone who doesn't want to bring them for just the hour or so.



Just a terrible view, isn't it?



One of the chapels; there were very few other folk here, so it was very peaceful. Our guide did not come into the sites with us as we did not pay extra for the privilege. It is all tightly controlled and my brother doesn't like being shuffled around at any rate; they both preferred to walk at their own pace and I did not mind as the ABD would be less OYO so I could do a bit of both.



Crypt where travelers could also stay overnight while they waited for their miracles.

There was also a small giftshop with honey and nut treats, soaps, and of course olive oil, some of which was made right there or close by. They also had old stables and an olive oil press, so we actually ran out of time exploring before our time was up and we needed to continue on to Delphi. We then made a quick stop at an overlook for Arachova with a #ARACHOVA sign (I believe this is where we came back for lunch) before hitting the main goal of our day. The guide went past the museum first to show us where he would pick us up and then backtracked to the start of the ascent.



Once again it was very hot by this point, so we took our time wandering up the complex.



Athens had the nicest/most complete restoration of the Treasuries.



Temple of Apollo, where Pythia spoke with oracles. We found another shady spot at the top before the further climb up to the stadium to refill our water. From there, my brother and I made the short 1/2 mile or so walk up to the stadium. You can only stand a ways away, so I was unable to get the whole thing in one shot, but you get the point.



We then made our way back down and to the museum, which had a little A/C, thank goodness. It was 93 with a real feel of 97, but the gentle A/C did take 10-15 minutes to start actually catching up with our overly hot bodies. Here we ran into a huge tour group of high schoolers and a lot of coughing folk, plus we were running out of time again, so we did not get to spend a ton of time enjoying it all.



Navel marking Delphi as the center of the world.

At this point it was quite late... I wish the guide would have told us from the start lunch wouldn't be until 3pm! He drove us back down the road to a taverna where he went in first and had them get a table ready for us.



Usually guides join us in the meal (which we pay for) but he did not. We had a great lunch, though it took a long time... all our meals in Greece tended to take longer than you'd expect. By the end we relished it, but here we were just worried about the time as the whole tour was supposed to be 10 hours and it was looking like we wouldn't make it. I needn't have worried though, we still backtracked again to the Athena Temple Complex for one final walk.



While we were down there we found a group of women dressed in ancient greek robes with sandals and plastic sashes moulded as if they were fluttering in the wind. We did not see them posing for pictures or meditating or anything the entire time we were there; they were also just wandering around listening to a guide as we were. We asked our guide if he knew who they were, but he seemed to think we imagined the whole thing. Over the course of the day he had grown quieter and quieter and the ride back to Athens ended up a bit tense as he suddenly did not want to talk, which was a polar opposite from that morning. I chalked it up to him being tired, and hope I did not somehow offend him without realizing. I do wish I had brushed up on my Greek history and mythology as he did ask many questions on the way out that we did not know the answers to, but nothing I could do about that now. We also didn't end up getting back until an hour or more after we were supposed to, so that may have been it as well. We made sure to tip well, and said our goodbyes after which we headed back out to dinner.

We had walked by a place called Tarantino Burger the day prior and my brother wanted to go back, so we did. I was still pretty full from lunch, and did not enjoy what I got, but they liked it. I made sure to get another gelato on the way back to the hotel to make up for it. The next day we were off to Crete!

 

[AquaDame]

July 5th: onward to Crete

We did make it to Crete, but we did not really find cooler weather... when we planned the trip I guesstimated we'd be in the 90s in Athens/Delphi and 80s on Crete. Technically that was true, but in reality dropping from low 90s to high 80s didn't really make a lick of difference. Hot is hot!

Our flight wasn't until 1pm as anything earlier would be too early for my companions so I had a leisurely morning to try a coffee somewhere else and pack back up... or would have if the cafes that I wanted to try opened before 9am. I found one that opened at 8:30 and was there ready to go about 8:25 but they asked me to wait. At 8:30 sharp people started sitting down so I asked about takeaway, but they said they would not be ready for that until 9. Cest la vie... I wandered until I found a shop with decaf coffee and a sweet roll and had that instead.

The taxi ride to the airport was MUCH quicker than the one to the hotel, and the driver turned out to be quite the cat person. She regaled us with tales of her cats, both indoor and the strays she cared for, and tried to convince me to adopt three as soon as I got home as our last one passed away earlier this year. I put in a good word for two, but she said that is no good in case they don't get along. With three someone is always willing to play. I guess I can't argue with that logic?

The Athens airport was packed, but we were able to find a spot to sit down and have a mediocre lunch. Our options were sandwiches or hand pies. We flew on Aegean Air this time, and I enjoyed the little drop down screens that showed the plane flying around all the islands. I apparently only took videos of that though, so all I have to offer is a shot from when we were landing in Heraklion. For some reason it took time for us to leave after boarding. We had to take a bus to the plane, and even after everyone was boarded we sat for awhile with no info at all, and the plane slowly got hotter and hotter. It got so hot my brother's partner had to make a break for the bathroom to try and cool down - even I was starting to feel the effects after awhile. Eventually with no announcement or info the A/C kicked on and the plane finally moved.



During the flight my brother admitted he had no intention of driving the rental car we'd gotten. His partner was willing, but did not want to drive much either, so I agreed to do most of it. In truth, I was really nervous about this. I had envisioned tight impossible alley ways as we saw in Athens which there is NO WAY I would have survived without scrapes. Even our driver had a hard time getting back to the hotel on a couple of them. He had to pull his mirrors in at one point and was muttering in Greek. But, what can you do? We needed a car to get to the sites we wanted to see, and there was not a nonstop from Heraklion to Oslo in any case. I needed to fly out of Chania for that. I had offered to just stay in Heraklion and take a bus the night of the 8th before my flight but we'd all agreed a car would be easier. They also preferred a later flight out of Chania than the flight out of Heraklion, so I thought we were all willing to pitch in.... eek.

The lady at the checkin counter for Rental SA was very helpful and had ice cold bottles of water to greet us with. It probably helped that I was willing to pour all the money into having as much insurance on the car as possible, but still. She had to redo the pricing I'd gotten from booking online to include it and added on my brother's partner in case I needed backup. I get migraines so I definitely needed someone willing to help in case something happened. All told it ended up much cheaper than I was quoted online, so I was happy we took the time to work it all out! She also told us the group in front of us tried to get her to give them our car as it was bigger and they had a lot of luggage but she refused... it would have been win/win if she had but how was she to know that? Oh well!

With great trepidation I set out to our hotel - and she waved at me to stop as I neglected to close the back of the car. Whoops. OK TRY 2... we were off to the Artree Suites Crete! Thankfully getting there from a highway was very straightforward and aside from a few small alleys most streets were pretty normal. I started to calm down about the next few days though I was still a little nervous. Checkin once again was touchless, back in Athens we also entered the building with a code and used a separate code on our room doors to get in. Once again the room was very big for a single person, and downright cavernous compared to what I am used to in Europe. My room was the sauna and my brothers' was nice and cool - I was on the side with afternoon sun so it was to be expected I suppose! The next day I made sure to keep the curtain closed when I left and that kept it perfectly cool for an afternoon break. The layout here was kind of weird.. BEHIND the bed on the left hand side was the shower, and on the left side of the room near the bed was the toilet and sink room. The bed was comfy though and I enjoyed my stay here very much!



Once we were settled we set out on foot to take a look at the area and waste the afternoon. Part of the planning process was trying not to schedule too much every day in case it was just too much and we needed to retreat so I had no agenda here. The Rocca a Mare Fortress was close enough to walk to, so we just kind of wandered towards it.



Morosini Fountain



Church of Agios Titos - we were not allowed to take pictures inside, and honestly it was not much cooler in there than outside so we did not stay long! It was 86 with a real feel of 88.



The fortress was intermixed with modern sights as well, so it was a bit of a hodgepodge down there. We ended up finding a nice seafood tavern on the water and had dinner with an ocean view this night, which was really pleasant. The owner made a big show of bending over backwards, even holding traffic back when we needed to cross the street to use the restroom in their main restaurant. He also brought us dessert on top of our dessert along with the required forcing of Raki. We first encountered this the day prior at the taverna at Arakova, but it turns out this is commonly done. We never got used to it, and kept making the mistake of ordering our own liquor and dessert before it showed up. Declining never worked. Whoops!

We then slowly meandered more... there was no indication what this was on the site, they were just open air ruins:



But apparently it is Ναός Αγίας Αικατερίνης (Μπεντενάκι) - Church of Agia Ekaterini (Betenaki). Now you know as much as I do..! We did a little shopping here; my brother bought a very nice white linen shirt that he wishes he'd bought two of to help with the heat, and his partner searched for a folding fan and eventually found one she liked. We also stopped at a grocery store for breakfast supplies. I got some more yogurt (my breakfasts had been sweet buns and/or yogurt for a little protein) and they got milk and cereal. We had a busy day the next day, so we went to bed without anything more.

On days like this the value of doing an organized tour starts to make sense, as I know this would be considered a wasted day. If I had been traveling with my husband, we would have flown in earlier and done more, for sure, but sometimes folks and go-go-go tours don't mesh too well. Even at this leisurely pace my companions were full of apologies for not keeping up, not that I minded. So far I'd gone to and seen everything I'd needed to, so I was happy. The next day was another biggie I was really looking forward to - Knossos!

 

[Eastridge]

Even if ABD didn't renew the Arctic trips, I'm looking forward to hearing your experiences on that trip. And your pre-trip in Greece!

 

[sayhello]

Ah, the joys of traveling with family! But it sounds like you managed to work it out, and compromise, and still have a good time. Boy, am I glad I went to Greece in May. It was hot, but not unbearable!

Sayhello

 

[AquaDame]

Ah, the joys of traveling with family! But it sounds like you managed to work it out, and compromise, and still have a good time. Boy, am I glad I went to Greece in May. It was hot, but not unbearable!

Sayhello

We certainly did - and are traveling again in December with my husband and my parents as well, so there will be yet more family fun to be had.

I do believe unbearable may be right... know thyself is the lesson I think! I have no plans to drag them to the med in July again, that is for sure, but would still go again happily myself. It's so much easier to be uncomfortable than watch people you care about be uncomfortable!

 

[AquaDame]

July 6th: Minotaurs and caves are deep...

I gotta admit, the main thing that comes to Crete has always been Minotaurs. Now it is closely followed with beautiful landscapes, friendly people, delicious food, donkeys, and crazy... EFFECTIVE- driving!

Once again I was up before my companions so I wandered down to a coffee shop. I did not find a single trace of a place with matcha, so I just went with a closeby shop called Steam Single Origin with good reviews. This was an in and out operation; the streets of Heraklion were meant for cars and businesses more than cute houses and apartments, so it was not as welcoming to wandering. Once they were ready to go I backed out the car from our parking spot at the hotel so they could get in - it was THAT tight - and we were off!

One of the things I fell in love with on Crete was their highway driving. It is entirely normal and expected to drive straddling the while line on the right on two lane highways to allow cars to pass you. Folk drive miles and miles and miles like this, so cars can easily pass when and if they want to. You do need to watch oncoming traffic to make way for them as well, but people are cautious and wait until both sides are moved over to make a third lane down the middle. I know it sounds crazy, and dangerous, but I actually felt very safe this way. I never felt like my slow tourist self was holding anyone back, saw no crazy weaving or road rage, and hardly a honk the whole time I was there. It was so efficient. People also drive fast, but again, if I didn't feel safe at any given time I could just slow down and no one cared. They just went around. All panic about tight alleys had dissipated and all was well in the world.

Until we hit the parking lot of Knossos.

Chaos does not begin to describe it. Lot was totally full and still people were parking. People were parking where there was no parking. People were parking other parkers in. People were parking in the bus section. People were blocking the lanes to get in to the parking by parking. Absolute madness. I think I asked aloud to no one in particular several times if they weren't worried about getting towed, and what we were going to do if we ended up blocked in... but of course we had no idea. All we could do was park. So I did what other people were doing, and parked in what I would never normally consider a spot, but hey, we fit. AND I wasn't blocking anyone. Score! We were still a little worried about being towed, or the car getting scraped or dinged, but we had paid extra for the latter and they would have to tow a LOT of cars if they tried to come enforce silly rules now. I was so NOT proud of myself I took a picture, but it doesn't do the situ justice and I only have 10 pics so I'll skip it. Imagine a car sticking further than a car length out from the other cars because it nosed up to a tree and called it good. Aw yeah.

We then waited in a 20 minute line to use the restroom, but at least it was in the shade...though it did cost money to use. We got our tickets to enter at the booth out front while being called out to by tour guides that they speak English and can get us in faster. It seemed like a bad idea but many did take them up on it, and it did raise some folks hackles when one of them pushed to the front of the line to buy tickets ahead of the rest of us. There was nothing that seemed official about them, but I guess that is just one way it is done here! I also did enjoy hearing snippets from them as we wandered on our own, especially when one poured water over a stone where I had not even noticed the carvings so we could see it.

Much as with the sites in Delphi I do think I would have preferred a guide here. There is so much I know we missed by just reading the signs, and we know from reading online that many of them have outdated information besides, but we still spend a pleasant time wandering around the ruins. I was somehow simultaneously impressed that there was so much AND so little left, which was a feeling I had many times on this trip. It does make sense there is so little, given how very much time has passed, but when you hear of these places you envision something so grandiose, especially considering the pyramids and Egyptian ruins, the Roman, etc. Honestly a little more shade wouldn't have hurt either. Almost the entire complex is out in the open.



There was another 15 minute or so line to get in to see the throne room; the real draw may have been getting a few brief minutes of inside time. The room is low on the ground floor here, no long stairway or anything to get to it.



I admit that we kind of glossed over the final 1/5 or so of the palace after you turn and head back towards the entrance as it was hot and we'd seen enough. It was another high 80s day, and we were far from the ocean and any possible breeze. As it was already lunchtime we made another blunder and just decided to eat at the cafe there rather than have any options, which honestly worked out fine. The only complaint was eating al fresco and paying a few more bucks maybe (though at least in the shade) but it hit the spot and refreshed us. On the way out we crossed the street between the parking lot and some shops to find me a minotaur statue. I took waaaaaay too long to make a selection and was being too picky, but finally found one that works with some other little bibs and bobs I've brought home.

Since I was driving my companions let me choose what was next, so I checked on google maps for a couple smaller things to see and break up the drive to Zeus' Cave which was about an hour away.



First up was "modern art" which barely warranted a pic, followed by the way more appreciated ancient windmills of seli ambelou:



I suppose I should have seen this coming since you remember they are from the Netherlands now. They REALLY enjoyed taking pics of them and said they would share them with folk at home. Windmills and the Dutch. Who knew? The drive was really pretty and I enjoyed it. We winded up up up and saw many goats, fields, and wildflowers, trees... the time really did fly by.

The parking lot for Cave of Diktaion Andron, Psichro (Zeus' Cave) is a short uphill hike away from the actual cave. You also pass some little touristy shops and boutique stores with honey, oil, nuts, and such. There was a little cafe whose proprietor called out to us with directions to the cave, and ended up giving my brother's partner the code to the bathroom even though we hadn't purchased anything yet. We did tell her as we left that we would be back for ice cream on the way down.

As we got to the trail there were a couple of donkeys with handlers who offered to take us up, but we declined as it was not that much of a hike. We had gained enough elevation that were were just hot, and not overly hot. This pic is looking back down from the top of the trail or very close to it towards the parking lot:



At the top we paid admission for the cave and I hadn't expected much to be honest, thinking of it as more a fun weird thing than impressive thing to do, but we were all actually wowed by it.



Stairs leading down down down... the dampness made the stairs slippery as well, so we made sure to be careful and go slow.



Pictures don't do this place justice for just how massive it was, and quiet as there were only a couple other people in there with us. It was also delightfully COLD. Actual COLD. Of course then we had to climb back up and out of there, but it was a lovely half hour of not being sweaty! I counted the stairs but I have forgotten now how many it was. 120 or 140? Maybe? It was a lot, but it was manageable.

It was still not dinner time quite yet, so we moseyed back down the way we came to a monumental plane tree that is a few centuries old:



It was really pretty and unique with all its bumps and branches! There was also an old washhouse under the aquaduct across the way that was fairly intact. The village still gets their water from here - there is a drinking fountain on the side, and the water in the basins are used for crops and such.

I had planned on heading back to town for dinner, but we decided at the last minute to go ahead and eat in a small taverna here rather than go back to something more touristy in town. We were worried if we didn't take the chance now, we may not get to as we were running out of evenings after all! This village was cute, so we read reviews on google maps again and decided to pick this one as it said it had wood fired meats which we had smelled earlier and been drooling over.



As we ordered though they apologized and said they only do wood fired on the weekends. D'oh! But we were settled, and happy, and went with his other recommendations instead. We ate al fresco again, but it was much more pleasant than earlier given the sun was setting. Soon we weren't even hot, and gave in to the long leisurely meal. When it was beyond time to go, they also broke out the raki and had us linger longer and longer... we really did stay too late.

The drive back was as scary as the drive out had not been. Googlemaps led us down little streets and alleys towards the highway, and at one point I drove through what appeared to be a town square, with shops and tables out in the road. I am not sure even now if driving there was OK, but there was nothing to block the road, and nothing was actually IN the road itself... I am so sorry if I was not supposed to! Picture credit to my brother - Im not THAT bad a driver I take pics while behind the wheel.



The lighting was not the best, and suddenly the speed limit felt entirely too fast when I could not see as well. The worst though was when I hit a stretch of highway where the lines just entirely disappeared for a white knuckling minute. There was not much traffic, so I honestly could not tell if I was even on my side of the road! I was so grateful and ready to be done driving for the night..! Once we got closer to the city the lights were back, and everything was fine... we said goodnight and went to bed. Tomorrow we would move hotels again to Chania.

 

[sayhello]

OMG, I so would not have survived that driving!! I try never to drive outside the United States!! You were WAY braver than I'd ever be! Glad it all turned out all right!

I really feel like Delphi *is* a place that requires a guide. I didn't know 90% of the stuff Elena told us, and so much of it was fascinating! I'm sad ABD removed it from their itinerary. It seems like folks complain about places that take a lot of bus time to get to, but I felt Delphi was worth it.

Knossos parking sounds like a nightmare! But there is a point at which you have to say "EVERYONE else is doing it, what other option do I have??"

That cave was a wonderful idea! Most caves do tend to be wonderfully cool year round. It looks very cool (pun intended!)

Sayhello

 

[AquaDame]

July 7th: Heat or Beat?

Today did not go according to plan at all, but it still ended up a lovely day in the end!

My brother received a work call early in the morning which caused an argument with his partner, so I immediately tossed out all intentions for the drive to Chania. I won't of course get into particulars since it doesn't honestly matter, but it did delay our departure a bit. In the interest of some kind of brevity here (hah) I've skipped a lot of small incidents over the past week, like how they forgot to put their milk in the fridge the day before, bad sleep, or some of the more tense moments with heat and navigation, and suffice it to say a little tiff of some kind was bound to happen. Not sure if it was the heat or they were just beat. Yay, travel!

Frankly it became a mission to just get us to Chania ASAP and get everyone out of the car. For the moment though I was blissfully unaware of what was going down during my morning walk and breakfast:


The roll on the right was so good... it was cinnamony and drizzled with honey. As I was munching my brother came over and we had a long chat about what was needed, what our timeline could be, and we then finished packing up and got in the car. We agreed skipping viewpoint and beach stops, and not visiting an olive farm would be for the best today.

This was also a GORGEOUS drive and I will die sad they were too mad to enjoy it! I kept being wowed by the coast line, but since no one would appreciate a try hard, kept my mouth shut most of the way. We tried to find some Greek music to listen to but the radio stations would only last 5-10 minutes at a time. We pulled over at some point for a coffee, and stopped at yet another (but this time better) burger joint around lunch time. There was a fun graffiti mural I was going to snap a pic of as we left, but at the last minute a couple used the table. I took it anyway and I'm glad I did or I would have forgotten the name of it to mark on Googlemaps for posterity!



One of my thoughts when I picked Crete was trying to pick a place I didn't mind if I never came back to, but it was honestly such a pretty island and the drives were so enjoyable, and now I missed a few things I wanted to do... well... we shall see what happens. Maybe I'll drag my husband back after all.

Without more drama we arrived at our hotel - the first and only resort-y one of the trip, Hotel Kedrissos. My room was in the front area of the hotel and my companions were in the back, where they had a larger apartment so they could spread out and get better sleep. Even the "basic" room was once again cavernous! I thought it was pretty strange that I only had a thin sheet for covers, but honestly it was all I needed.







My room overlooked the front of the hotel on one side and had a loooong double balcony on the other. The windows here had the same security shutters I'd had in Athens though I admit I did not notice until the second night. They worked very well to darken the room as needed. There was also a very nice pool area with a cafe where they served breakfast as well.

After not too long my brother messaged me that they were ready to go out again. I wanted to go take a dip in the Aegean sea, so we wandered down that way. We ended up going the wrong way, but ended up in a fairly low key area where we swam a little bit.


Beyond the sand line it was very rocky so it was a little hard on our feet.... we ended up not staying too long, but at least I got my toes wet! From here we wandered up the beach to a shack that had drinks. The mood was still a little tense but it was time to worry about dinner, so we headed back to our rooms to freshen up and figure out where we wanted to go. The hotel clerk had shown us on a map where we could park for free, and recommended we go to one of the restaurants by the water, so we decided to just head down there and see which looked the best.

Here was where I made the first true blunder of my driving on Crete... at a left turn the light turned green, so I followed the car in front of me into the intersection as it took a left, when my brother screamed at me to stop, so of course I did. Looking up I saw the light turn red, and I was then stuck. He swore it already was, I swear it was yellow at best, but what can you do? The honking started, but the intersection was a very large 5 point one, so we didn't really keep anyone from moving, we were just painfully sitting ducks and in the wrong. The light also went two full revolutions until I got a green for my left turn again. I just let my spirit leave my body until it turned green and then continued on my way, trying to not be too distracted and worked up about it. Thankfully the blunder allowed my brother and his partner to have a united front in the face of our near death experience, so things began improving again. We perused extremely touristy menus as we walked along, and settled on one that was horribly overpriced with small portions but gosh it was good..! They also had these setup across the walkway at the beach... I am not sure if this was supposed to entice diners or warn the octopi..



But it somehow did not deter us from ordering some for one of our plates.



We ate the ceviche and pasta far too quickly for photos... sorry!

The scenery was once again magical, and the dinner took long enough for us to enjoy the entire sunset.



On the walk back to the car we ran into a litter of kittens begging fish scraps from patrons, and found a shop selling tiny little gelato popsicles which hit the spot. By this point all stress had melted away from all of us, and we were ready to make up for the day as best we could tomorrow. It would already be our last full day together!

 

[sayhello]

OMG, that sunset from the restaurant is *gorgeous*!! I'm glad you were able to end the day de-stressed. As you said, "Yay, travel!"

Sayhello

 

[AquaDame]

July 8th: Oh ye of little faith...

Suddenly it was our last day on Crete, and there was much still to be done. My original fuzzy timeline had us visiting a pink sand beach, and hiking along a gorge on the way there to break up the drive. With so little accomplished the day prior though, and given the weather that just would not cool down (88 the day prior and 84 this day) we decided hiking would be foolhardy so we stayed closer to home. I walked nearby to get an iced coffee and was surprised to learn my brother was also already out and about. Now that they had separate bedrooms in the apartment, he could get up without disturbing her.



We drove back down towards the Venetian harbor and I was able to assess the intersection where I'd made my mistake again. It was a very fast light, and I saw a car enter the intersection on the yellow as I had done, and finish passing through on red. I still don't know for certain, but I am satisfied that my error wasn't totally out of left field at least. We eneded up parking a few blocks away and had to hike a little to the waterfront, and it was already a sweaty undertaking!



My companions wanted to go to a couple bookstores but found what they were looking for immediately at the first one, so that was that! We wandered around through the much shadier and pleasant alleys off the waterfront.



There were so many cute unique shops here selling all kinds of things~! We just window shopped while we walked as we aren't big shoppers generally, though I do wish I had bought the carving I saw and liked. I assumed we would be back this way, but it was not to be as the heat caught up with us and we would take the shortest possible route back to the car. Ah well.

One activity I had suggested was an all too silly and kitschy 9D (that is so many Ds!) experience called Minoan's World. It was cheesy which for us is a plus, close, and most importantly was something we could do with A/C. The "museum" was much smaller than I expected, just a few props as photo ops really, with the main event being short films. We ended up being the only folks in there for our showing, which was good, as there was no one to bother with our silliness. https://minoansworld.com/ The two films are a nature overview and then history lesson of sorts without any effects, the third takes you through the story of the minotaur with ALL the effects! Then, randomly, they have a "canyon coaster" ride through. All I can think of is they needed some hook for kids too young to care about the first three? Maybe? The cart defies gravity, defies common sense, defies death. It also goes on quite awhile..!

Once our culture cup was overflowing we set out again to find a coffee shop we'd passed on the way in. My brother wanted to grab some beans, so we went to Stenaki Micro Roastry which is indeed very small! The owner was there, and spoke with my brother about all the different roasts. I listened in a little and overheard when he recommended one that he said was his ONLY roast for years and years until he branched out. Supposedly it was still his most popular by a mile. When I heard that I had to grab some for my husband as well as he tends to get some everywhere we go - he'd told me not to bother, but ended up really liking them so I am glad I grabbed them.

From there it was lunch time, so we grabbed a kebab from a store close by that had good reviews called Thraka. It was really delicious, and very cheap. I hadn't planned on taking a picture but after one bite I did, despite it looking very plain.


From here my companions wanted to go drive down a pretty gorge with goats, since we opted against the gorge hike. To get there we did have to pass some very narrow streets where thankfully I lucked out and no cars were oncoming. The road itself was also very narrow, but it did indeed have hundreds of goats! We tried counting but quickly it became impossible. We pulled over at one point and were practically deafened by the loud cicadas singing. Apparently they have a little open air traincar of sorts that you can ride down the road as well, which seemed popular. All too soon the road ended at a village with nothing to really do, so we took a break in a church yard to plan out the rest of the day.

I once again returned to wanting to go to an Olive Farm, but I got the feeling they weren't quite keen on it, though they couldn't think of anything to counter with. I also reminded them nothing was itself an option.... we could just go back to the hotel and relax, go to the beach, or swim at the pool or nap if they were tired, but they weren't keen on that either so I wandered away so they could discuss without me and maybe come to a decision.
Ultimately we did decide to go to the Olive Farm, and not only that, my brothers partner said she wanted to drive. After a little back and forth I was a passenger..! Yay goats!


I only ended up with this one picture and some short videos but you can see here how narrow the road is; there is not even a yellow line down the middle, and there were a lot of falling rocks, but we were spared. There were a few different places we could have gone, but I chose Biolea Astrikas Estate, and it ended up being a very good choice! We got the right as a tour was starting, so we hurried inside - here is the view from their parking lot. It was enjoyable driving through the groves to get there!



I honestly wasn't expecting too much from the tour; it was kind of just a when in Greece kind of activity, but it began in their very pretty garden and became apparent very quickly we were in a treat as the tour guide was an absolute thespian.



Seriously. Her way of talking, and dry joking, was oh so very entertaining! She projected beautifully and was just nailing her pacing as she led us around the shop floor... I'm sure she has done this hundreds of time. At the end they do a tasting of their olive oils, and then of course set you free to shop. We all brought home various things as it really was quite good oil. FWIW my brother did apologize for doubting it would be worth a stop... I'm just glad they enjoyed the random places I dragged them in the end. I know it could go either way. Picking things for a group is always hard! We chatted with the guide a little longer and she recommended a couple of trees in the vacinity that were estimated to be thousands of years old..! Move over, Plane tree of yesterday! The oldest was in the opposite direction of where we wanted to go, so we did go to the slightly younger one of 2,000 years compared to one that was estimated to be between 3,000 & 5,000!



Ta-da!

And just like that... it was basically dinner time again. We were stuck in the spot of, do we eat now which was a little early, up in the hills of Crete, or head back to tourist town and eat much later? Door #1 please! We ended up heading to a well reviewed place at random, and were very glad we did! Sure it still wasn't a locals hangout I'm sure, but gosh once again it was beautiful and we were able to just linger on and on...



Inside was very large and nicely appointed, but we chose to be outside with this instead:



Even as slow as our meal was we were still able to head home before dark, which made me very happy. We were back on the main highway before night fell, and it was at any rate a much shorter drive from here than last time we were out at night. The menu had been expansive, and had a lot of traditionally Cretian dishes. I made a note to look up and make a dish called Chestnut Stifaldo when I got home, and made good on that promise to myself. It was delicious too... maybe someday I'll make my way back and try theirs.