Off to Crete!








 We originally planned to take the 8:30 speedboat back to Ermioni and hit Mycenae on the way to Athens. Around midnight last night we realized how silly that idea was! Instead, we slept in a bit and had a leisurely start to the day. 1130 boat back was much more palatable. that also meant there would be no ruins toward today which I’m sure only bothered a couple of us! 

We returned our cars at the airport and sadly they did indeed notice the big dent on the side of Matt’s rental car. Oddly, they spent more time inspecting a microscopic paint chip on Simo‘s car! I’m pretty sure Matt got his dent in trying to avoid hitting a cat. That should totally count for something but I don’t think the rental car company saw it that way.

5:00 flight to Crete was uneventful. We picked up a new set of rental cars and headed to our house that we have rented for the next four days. The house is wonderful. We were a little scared as the owner led us through some sheep fields and single dirt roads to approach it, but once you step inside his property it was amazing.

The owner has completely rebuilt an original Cretan home with all original stone and woodwork. It has been furnished with really cool antiques. It also has a lovely pool that looks out over the valley below. The owners greeted us with a toast of Raki. This is the traditional homemade spirits found throughout Crete. Very similar to moonshine…bad moonshine!

Once we settled in, we set  out in search of dinner. We found a beautiful little taverna just up the road from the house. We walked in a little after nine and really think they were getting ready to close. They did not give us menus but just kept bringing us food. We were trying to be accommodating and asked for whatever they had that would be easy to make because it was late. That translated into a little bit of everything. All the kids had some firsts. Rabbit with pasta, goat and potatoes, giant Lima beans (delicious, but almost certainly called something else!) lamb, etc…The owner brought us Raki to end our meal and we parted as friends!

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