Crete, Greece

We flew, April 25th from Stockholm, Sweden to Berlin, Germany, where we had a two hour layover,

and then we flew from Berlin to Chania, Greece (Crete) with no problems at all.

We caught the bus from the airport to downtown Chania, very nice bus and driver and about a 45 minute drive.
When we got off the bus, we still hadn’t paid, and when we finally found the bus driver, he wouldn’t take any money! We then took a local bus to the apartment we rented, where the couple we rented from were waiting for us to arrive and showed us around. We made a quick trip to the market for some basics and then walked down to the beach and had a small dinner (Greek salad for Cal and I and a Greek sandwich for Rorie) at a canteen on the beach.

April 26th, we meandered down the beach and into old town Chania. It is a lovely place.

April 27th, we walked the other way (opposite old town) with our destination being this cute church.
Saw a couple of beaches plus found you know what - a beach Volleyball Club!

April 28th, we rented a car. The drivers here are somewhat crazy. The roads are mainly single lane but the shoulders are pretty wide so everyone drives on the shoulder and the main road is for passing!

We drove, about 2.5 hours, to Matala Caves, where Greeks used to live, plus in the 1970s was a hippie town and they also lived in the caves until the government made it an historical site.

After a few hours, and a swim, we drove to Agia Galini, a quaint fishing town, for dinner.
After dinner we, Cal and I, were served Crete Water (aka Raki). All very interesting and beautiful.

April 29th, we drove, about 2 hours, to Elafonisi Beach which was stunning. We walked through the ocean to an island and then Rorie and I walked around the island while Cal suntanned and drank beer.

We stopped for lunch in the mountains where we had a good meal. Rorie had the best porkchops ever! and then continued onto Falassarna Beach. Unfortunately, by the time we got there, the wind was really blowing. We stopped but it was pretty quick! And no one was playing volleyball – which was good because the ‘towel test’ failed (if the towel stays on the net it may be too windy!).

April 30th, Still having the car, we drove to Kissamos Port and took a boat to Balos Beach, unfortunately, the wind is still blowing and the ride there was a bit crazy but we met some nice people.
When we got to the beach it was still pretty windy but really lovely: the water is so clear.

We also went to Gramvousa Beach, where there are ruins of a Viennese Palace (from the 1500s) are 137 metres above the beach.

May 1 we took it easy, walked to old town, where we a Greek coffee and then lunch, Cretan style appies and Rorie loved it . We also found out that we all speak a bit of Greek:

It also was flower day here and Rorie bought one of the flower headbands.

May 2, up early in the morning and took a bus from Chania to Heraklion. After depositing our bags at the place we rented for the night, a very cute little room, we got a coffee and then wandered around the old town, saw some old churches, fountains and the old town walls. We ended up having dinner doing appies again but maybe a few too many but awesome!

There are these miniature churches everywhere here; shrines to loved ones that have died. They are very cute.

May 3, up early again and off to Heraklion Port where we are catching a ferry to Santorini.