Crete - Day 11

We were up early enough in the morning to catch the sunrise.

Then we packed up and left. Roula gave us a gift of olives and olive oil, which was lovely but we weren't able to take the oil home as we were on hand luggage only.

We drove to the north coast, and stopped to have our lunch in Panormos after walking along the seafront a little.

We then drove on. Our friend Rachel was also in Crete so we'd arranged to meet her. We picked her up at her (posh) hotel in Hersonissos and drove to the ruined Malia Palace for a walk round.

We then had a stroll and a coffee in Malia itself.

Later we drove hack to Hersonissos and had a stroll at the seafront.

Then we went for dinner at the Mythos restaurant. This was the Greek meze plate for two.

After dropping Rachel back at her hotel, we drove to the airport and dropped the car off at Avis.

The plane home was on time, but it was about 2am when we got home after a very long day.

Crete - Day 10

We went for a coastal walk today. First we took the car down to the waterfront, then tried to find a taxi. This proved more difficult than we expected, but eventually we got one.

This took us 7km along the coast to Krios beach, where we started our walk on the E4 path.

We walked up past a church, and had good views back to where we'd started.

As we went round the coast, we passed many rocky and sand coves. One of them had some ruined columns just lying there.

Later we were going to catch the boat home, it passed us on its outward journey.

As the day wore on it got hotter. Towards the end we were walking on hot sand, and also the path wasn't well marked at that point, so it was quite punishing.

Eventually we arrived at Elafonisi Beach, where it was very windy. We found a sheltered spot and lay there for a while.

We then caught the boat back to Paleochora.

For dinner that night we had pasta with sauce and mushrooms.

Crete - Day 9

We parked the car down in the town, and started walking up the road through a gorge.

At the top of the road is the village of Anidri, where we stopped for a coffee in the cafe.

After coffee we had a look round the church.

After this we started to walk down the gorge towards the beach. It was quite a long way, sometimes climbing down piles of boulders.

At the bottom we arrived at the beach, where we lay in the sun for a while.

Later we walked along the track behind the beach back to Paleohora.

After chilling at home for a while we walked down town out for dinner. We went to the Masasoura  restaurant, where we had fried vegetables, cheese and herb pastries, lamb tsigariasto and a mixed grill. It was all delicious and we were stuffed!

Crete - Day 8

Scott's eye was very red and swollen so we decided to go to a doctor. We went inland to Kandanas Public Health Centre, about half an hour away. There we got seen by a doctor who was reluctant to do anything and said we should see an ophthalmologist. This meant driving north another hour to Chania hospital.

It seemed a bit disorganised there but eventually we saw an ophthalmologist who gave a prescription for antibiotics and (painfully) squeezed some of the pus out of the swelling.

We then drove back to the south coast, to Sougia. After parking we went to a taverna for lunch, we had pita with sausages and salad, a Cretan crepe with cheese and a Greek salad.

After this we lay on the beach for a while in the sunshine.

We drove back to Paleochora and bought some provisions at the supermarket. Then it was back to the apartment where we stayed in for the evening, having a cheese toasty for dinner.

Crete - Day 7

It was sunny in the morning, though a little windy. Nice enough for breakfast on the balcony though.

After breakfast we decided to do a walking tour of the town. Down the hill we first went to Pahia Ammos beach, then along to the end where we had a coffee in a taverna.

We then carried on walking round the peninsula to the new commercial port, which was rather empty.

Then we walked to the jetty and Chalikia beach on the east side.

After a stroll through the streets, we went to the church which was very grand inside.

Then up the hill to the ruined fortress where we had our lunch in the sunshine. There were good views back to the town.

We then went back into town and to the beach, where we lay in the sun for a while, before going back to the apartment to chill for a bit.

We decided to stay in to eat, and had burgers, fried potatoes, onions and mushrooms.