Hi all,
Just when you think there is nothing to write about, things happen. Dale is back at work, so I am holding down the fort with all the usual activities, plus a few extra. Thursday evening I was invited on a boat trip up in Latchi. It was a beautiful day, around 33C, with not much wind, which made the water a very lovely place to be. Tim and Susie were the hosts to about 40 people from a variety of backgrounds, so it was all very enjoyable. Many people went for a swim when we reached the Blue Lagoon, but I found the light breeze refreshing enough. We cruised back under the moonlight after a lovely traditional Cypriot
dinner.Saturday evening was another of the famous Kouklia Village celebrations (Assumption Day as it turns out). There were more than a thousand people in and around the village square. For 10 Euros you had a much as you wanted to eat and drink, including beer, wine and pop. I don't know how they cater for such events, as they would have no idea how many people are coming. You buy your ticket when you get there, then line-up for the buffet. More food keeps coming out as more people come in. The entertainment was the usual traditional Greek dancing (a group of school children from the village followed by a professional group) as well as some wonderful singers who sang Greek songs as well as English popular tunes (read 60's and 70's music). Then one of our Cypriot friends Agyrula got us all up dancing to more traditional Greek music - lots of arms in the air. When I left at midnight it was still going strong.
It has definitely been a wonderful experience living in such a lovely village.The rest of the week should go by quite quickly, as I have been filling in my calendar over the weekend. Looking forward to seeing everyone soon.
Take care and bye for now.
Love,
Laurel
http://cyprus.angloinfo.com/information/10/pub_hols.asp
(read - matchbox) for the week for less than it would cost in Canada for a day or two. Almost too good to be true - it did leave and return in the middle of the night, but at least it was into Paphos. We did drag a bit on Sunday, but still managed to find a good snorkeling spot for Dale at the edge of a lovely beach where we also enjoyed a late lunch. Monday had us accompanying several guests from our hotel on an excursion. The bus was full, so we followed and also gave a ride to a lovely French couple from Brussels. Was that ever a challenge. I was switching from French to Greek to English, and usually ending up in the wrong language! Our destination was a lovely beach on the north side followed by a stop at Moni Toplou, a famous monastery. http://www.travelpage.gr/greece/Sitia/info/126.htm
We had lunch in Sitia with a little time to shop as well - always a dangerous thing.Tuesday we started early and had breakfast in Ierapetra on our way to the Archaeological site in Knossis, near Iraklion. We had a guided tour from a lovely lady who was very interesting and informative. We had heard about multi-storied buildings from our visits in Cyprus, and this time we got to see for ourselves that this was so, 
as the ruins were much 
more intact. http://www.dilos.com/region/crete/minoan_pictures.htmlhttp://www.in2greece.com/english/places/historical/islands/knossos.htm
We drove back the scenic route (read - the long way) but it was beautiful.
Wednesday we truly found out about the map of Crete and distances. There is a small stretch of dual carriageway (read - two lane highway) on the north side of the island, but since we were headed to Frangokastello in the southwest, we followed what we thought would be a more direct route. Wrong! Two and a half hours later we were only half way there, so changed our destination. Our friends from Brussels accompanied us and they also agreed to the change in plans. Two Archaeological sites, Kommos and Agia Triada were fenced in so we couldn't walk through them. Gortyna and Phaistos were excellent Minoan settlements, and Matala was a huge necropolis. We were very lucky to even find a couple of these, as they weren't on the road indicated on the map - we just happened to take a different road on the way back and voila!
We couldn't finish the entire gorge without mountain gear, but were quite content with what we did manage to do. Back to Mirtos for lunch at the beach and for Dale to try out a couple more snorkeling spots.
On our way back we decided to see where the road up above our hotel went. Half an hour later the road had wound around as usual and we found ourselves in a very tiny mountain village. It is amazing that the pavement even goes that far, and for such a small village.
On our way we did a quick visit to the Venetian Fortress in the harbour and a walk along the sea wall.
