Our Trip - Day Eleven

Fade in Day Eleven and our last full day on the isle of Crete.

 

We wake and make our way downstairs for some breakfast.  It was decided that today was going to be beach day.  But first we needed to start packing up and getting things organized to head to our next destination tomorrow.  Gathering of gadgets, cables and shoes would be required. I also spent a good chunk of the morning writing in the journal.  Next we went to the next town over to check it out and scope some beaches for the afternoon.  The 4 of us piled into the Audi Convertible and made our way to town.

 

 

We stopped in at a street side cafe only to learn it was only cookies and other baked goods that they served.  Yummy I'm sure, but it didn't quite meet our requirements.  We walked out to the beach area and found a lovely beachfront restaurant. 

 

 

 

Burgers, Kebobs and Tigania were ordered and enjoyed.  Katie also spent some time with one of the locals. 

 

 

 

We quickly went back to the villa so the rest of the group could change up and get into their beach gear.

 

Beaches aren't my thing, I grow bored and fidgety quickly.  So the crew went off to the beach for there own mini adventures with sand and wind.  I stayed back and packed up my stuff, listened to some tunes and took a nap.

 

 

 

Over the week we had built up some leftovers and the rest of the groceries needed to be eaten.  A meal was put together and most of the leftovers were used up.  A delicious meal was had and enjoyed by all.  Lorne fired up the Ipad and we were able to watch the Jays game as we ate.

 

 

 

We then played a few games of Euchre and from what I remember the guy team lost all the games.

 

The four of us broke off early as the games were over and some finishing touches were needed on the packing.

 

The two couples said there goodbyes and we all wished each other well on the next stages of our trip.

 

It was going to be an a rough sleep in excitement for returning to Athens for more days full of site seeing.

 

Fade out Day Eleven.

Our Trip - Day Ten

Day ten didn't fade in, it started with a flash of the bedroom lights being flicked on in a hurry and with Katie saying, "Ant, get up, we gotta go."  I respond with the only thing I could, "No baby, the ship isn't here yet." I'd been awake for 2 seconds and that's all I had.  Very confused I start to get out of bed and start to get dressed.  During this time, Katie explains to me that Caro and Al's cab isn't here yet and she's going to drive them to the Airport at 4:30 in the morning.  Shorts and a tshirt later, I'm ready to go.  Sidenote, after not wearing pants of any kind for almost three weeks, that was one of the worst things about going back to work.  F#@% Pants I say.  Moving on.  I'm sitting on the front porch and there is a lot happening around me.  Just as we're about to unlock the Katie Kab, the hill lights up and here comes their cab, just 45 minutes late.  Safe travels, I gotta go back to bed.

So now.  Fade in Day Ten.

Some lovely coffee and a couple of digestive cookies to start up the second part of this day.  We quickly eat some breakfast and decide that another visit back to Chanai is in order.  Off we go.  We've got this travel thing down now.  Straight to the parking garage.  We take a different route into the shopping district where we pass some men looking into a large hole.  What's in the hole? Who's in the hole? Who's got the baby? What?

Love this picture of a car parking right in front of the no parking sign.  Ant the Bylaw Guy in Action.

A short walk and we're at the water.  A lovely site first thing in the morning.  A walk around the harbour and you see the vendors setting up their nut stands.  The cafes setting out the chairs and cushions.  They call out to you and ask you to sit for a coffee.  We walk around the harbour and I see a nice cafe with a great view of the entire bay. 

The rest of the group decide to go and walk out to a lighthouse.  It's here that I sit enjoying a lovely coffee, watching the people and I think about life.  Give me a tablet and a keyboard dock and I can sit here all day and type my thoughts away.  Browse the Internet and share my findings.  If someone could pay me to do that, that'd be perfect.  So calm, so much fun and such great coffee. 

The group returns and apparently I've been sitting there longer than I thought because we're talking about lunch.  We start making our way back and stop off at one of the harbour side cafes whose name escapes me right now.  More Greek dishes are ordered and it's here where I'm introduced to Tigania which is the greatest thing ever.  I'm not sure it's the bread bowl, or the tender meats or the amazing flavours.  But I'd fly back to Crete just to eat again.  I must mention that i just love drinking coke out of the glass bottles. 

Another great lunch wraps up with some more Raki and off we go to another museum. 

Today it's the Archaeological Museum of Chania.  A smally but a goody, it was fascinating to see the evolution in the tools and techniques of the things they were building and how quickly those advancements where made.

We take yet another way out of the shopping routes and slowly make our way back to the parking garage.  During the hours that we've been gone, there has been some serious moves being made with this hole.  A lot more men are at the top, men in dress shirts.  They've had to call in the bosses to look down the hole!

A quick drive back to the villa for a little chill out time, some kick up the feet time.  After some resting and some much needed showers, it was time to head back up the hill and get some more great food and some great live music.  It's Friday night so it's a special menu, it was determined that we needed to try everything.  So it was finally said.  "I'll have everything off the menu!"  The food came in and as hard as we tried, it once again didn't last long.  The music started and another fantastic night was had.

 

More goodbyes were said as we were losing two more early tomorrow morning, Sherry and Jenn were heading back home.  The first running of the Birthday Games was down to four and the arena was getting smaller.

Fade out day ten.

Our Trip - Day Nine

We woke up that Thursday and it was actually a bit cloudy, windy and a bit cool.  Thursday already, the days are just flying by.

 

We had some breakfast and people broke off a bit.  Some people did reading, some people listened to music.  I spent a good chunk of the morning writing in my journal.  In the afternoon I introduced a few people to the game The Resistance.  You're A Spy!!

  

 

 

The day went by quite quickly actually for a lazy day and there were a few naps that we had as well.

 

It was decided during the day that we should head up the hill and visit the local restaurant for dinner.  Let's see what the town of Kalami had to offer. We all slowly showered and began to get ready for our evening out.

 

 

  We were all ready so we made our way up the hill and walked into the restaurant.  It was a family restaurant, the husband Antonios who was christened in Scarborough at his Uncle's church.  Then Antonio's wife and mother cooked all the delicious food we'd be eating.  Pitchers of home made wine were brought to the table.  I can be a funny eater at times so I was quite nervous about what I'd be eating.  It was decided that we'd eat family style and just ordered a bunch of dishes to share.  The dishes arrived and they arrived quickly and they seemed to arrive non-stop.  It was dish after dish of deliciousness and everything we had was amazing and so fresh.  The food was so good and we ate like hungry animals and it was over before we knew it.  To end the meal we were brought homemade cake and homemade ice cream.  You've never had ice cream as smooth as this.  With such large pieces of chocolate crackling.  Like other places and what is tradition, Raki is served to wrap up your meal.  Many of us continued to smell and sip as most Raki we found had a strong odour and an even stronger taste.  We were speaking with Antonios and he told us that he had live music tomorrow night, so we said we'd back again tomorrow.  A tomorrow we promised ourselves that we would eat slower and try and enjoy the food that much more. 

 

 Antonios

 

 The view from the villa to the restaurant, you can barely see the red arrows.

 

The view from the restaurant back to the villa, you can just see the

Katie Kab in the centre of the picture.

 

We slowly went back down the hill and down the driveway of death.  Luckily one in our crew brought a head lamp and that made it easier to get down the hill.  We sat around on the patio for a bit, but then one by one we went to bed with smiles on our faces after a great meal.

 

Caro and Al were heading out very early that next morning so we said our goodbyes and wished them well on their next leg of travels as they were heading to Italy for a few days.

 

Fade out Day Nine.

Our Trip - Day Eight

Another great start to the day with more great coffee and digestive cookies.  We were off to the city of Chania before I knew it.

 

Armed with the GPS app, we were off to see the market in town.  A quick drive and we were there and we ended up in an underground parking with some seriously tight turns.  "Get your head back in the car!" I was told at one point.  Of course I had to drop, Katie I've been asked to leave the parking lot.

 

We walk down a main street and I pop in what is like a Greek Best Buy, in fact it looks so similar, Best Buy really must own a portion.  We then proceeded to the narrow pedestrian streets full with stops along each side before it opened to the large market. 

 

 

 

 

Fresh goods of every variety waited for us inside.  Baked goods, fresh fish, spices, meats, herbs and electronics.  Yes, fresh electronics.  The fish so fresh that even the cats were waiting.

 

 

 

We made our way to the water where we stopped for something cold. 

 

 

I tried to order a large lime refresher, the Starbucks worker replied with a strange "nope"  Only Berry was available this scorcher of a day, I said sure walked away with a medium Berry drink somehow instead of that large lime that I originally had ordered.  It's Greece, who cares, moving on.  The best and I mean the best was it was the same price in Euros that it was in Canadian dollars.

 

Caro was told by one of her friends that we must eat at this restaurant if we're in Crete because it is amazing.  So off we went, we made our way into Stalos.  Jumped into a Supermarket and asked about the restaurant, 200 meters up the street and confirmed that the restaurant was one of the best in town.  We go the 200 meters up the street and we got nothing, some bad directions it appears.  So we keep driving, up and up and up.  The smell of olive trees in the air. 

 

 

 

We stopped and let the other car go ahead to check what's ahead as the road was starting to get pretty steep.  We stopped a local that was driving up the street and asked about the restaurant.  Go back and turn left and it's another 200 meters up the other side of the hill.  Off we went and must have driven past it as we parked and scoped it out on foot.  It really did go on to prove that the locals really have no idea what a meter truly is.  Turns out the restaurant didn't really have any signage.  The sad thing was that it was closed for the afternoon and wouldn't be open until dinner.

 

Not the restaurant, just some local real estate.

 

Back down the hill and to the beach area we go.  We ate at a lovely restaurant that was right on the water and the weird thing was the floor was made up of astro turf.  Here the local cats ate very well, as they were treated to some kebob and fish. 

 

 

 

The restaurant would then go on to be known as "Volcano" after a great sounding dish that we found out about after already ordered.  Those that visited the WC did come back and all report that it may be the cleanest WC in all of Greece.

 

A nice couple of shots of a local stopping for a beer.

 

 

 

A quick drive back to the villa so we can start some patio time.  It was a great night of tunes, conversations, nibbles and laughs with friends.  Before I knew it, it was time to turn in once again.