Crete Holiday - June 28 to August 2, 2008

Hi there. We are back in Cyprus after a little adventure to Crete - the largest of the Greek Islands. The travel agent had an unbelievable package deal that ended up costing less than regular airfare, and included a weeks hotel. We also rented a little car (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.htmWe 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.htmWe drove back the scenic route (read - the long way) but it was beautiful.
Dinner was one of those language things. I ordered pickerel and got a plate full of tiny fried sardines! At least they were fresh - I would have gone hungry if they were canned.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!
http://www.matala-apartments.com/matala_gortys_gortyna.asphttp://www.travel-to-crete.com/place.php?place_id=22
Thursday was a bit of a change from ruins. We headed out to hike the gorge at Sarakinas Canyon. Stunning views and great fun climbing over monstrous boulders. 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.
http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Europe/Greece/photo725837.htmOn 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.
Friday we headed up to the town of Agios Nikolaus with its beautiful harbour and lovely views. After following more winding mountain roads we made it to the caves at Milatos. They are huge and extensive, and have a very sad history which is why they have also built a shrine there.
http://www2.forthnet.gr/internetcity/miss/miss-milatos.htm
Our next stop was the ruins in Malia. Another very large Minoan settlement.
http://www.uk.digiserve.com/mentor/minoan/malia.htm
Afterwards, we drove to Hersonissou to meet our friend Lefteris who is working in Crete temporarily. After a lovely visit and lunch, we returned to our hotel via Elounda to see an underwater Roman settlement. It wasn't as promising as expected and being as late as it was, Dale decided not to bother getting wet. http://gogreece.about.com/library/weekly/aa032002a.htm
Saturday we checked out of our hotel and headed west, since we didn't have to backtrack. On our way we did a quick stop at the Venetian Fortress in Ierapetra, then stopped in at the Monastery of St. Georges at Sellinaris. Give this link a minute to download - unfortunately it doesn't show the tower.
http://www.dgloader.dsl.pipex.com/selinari.htm
The Medidoni Caves were well worth trying to find. Again, a sad history in a spectacular setting.
http://www.ellada.net/crete-info/sightseeing/rethymno.php?pid=6
The Moni Arkadiou monastery was our next stop.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moni_Arkadiou
On the way we passed through a cute little village with at least a dozen ceramic shops/workshops. Not much time to shop, but managed to squeeze one in.
We now had to negotiate all the winding roads to get back to the airport at Iraklion. On our way we did a quick visit to the Venetian Fortress in the harbour and a walk along the sea wall.
http://lloydi.com/travel-writing/crete/day_04_iraklio.htm
Back to Cyprus.