So on the request of my darling mommy -- i am finally finishing up blogging about the end of our vacation in Crete and then this past week! The realization that i now have less than 2 weeks left in Paris is pretty ridiculous -- and so that thought has been consuming me a bit. Along with that, i finally finished up all of my classes for my junior year yesterday! How crazy. And so i'm in the process of doing all of the final work for my classes -- i am down to one 12-15 page paper for my economics class, and one final exam on Monday, and then i'm all done! Again -- crazy.
So going back to our time in Crete -- i think i left off on our first day. So i'll start with day two -- Wednesday! if i remember correctly....i started the day off with a run out on the Venetian harbour -- it was pretty amazing! it's about 2.5km each way with a nice little (tiny) lighthouse at the end. After that, we ate breakfast downstairs in the hotel, and then took a quick taxi ride to the airport to pick up a rental car.
We headed off to Rethymnon -- or as we liked to call it, "rhythm city". it was highly recommended, and definitely more of a "picturesque" Greek town (whatever that means.....). We spent about an hour wandering around the town -- it was actually pretty quiet for the most part. The only slightly unpleasant part was being heckled by multiple guys from seafood restaurants that were right on the water -- they all told us that we'd have free drinks, free dessert, and then each one kept trying to out-deal the other....
The harbor in Rhythm City.
After our brief stop there, we headed up into the mountains -- which was recommended to us by one of our good buddies from the restaurant across the street from our hotel. We finally found the little town of Argyoupoli. We pulled into the parking lot of this tiny church. Shortly after getting out of the car, we were approached by this little old man -- without many teeth, who told us to follow him. So -- of course, we did. isn't that what they teach you exactly NOT to do in every stranger danger talk we ever had in school?! He took us up to what looked like a little restaurant where his wife was eating lunch, and had us sit down. She gave us some water and little shots of the alcohol everyone kept bringing to us....and then he started to show us a map of the area and all the things that we had to do -- it was clear that he had given the same speech to about 239472 other tourist over who knows how many years. Then his wife showed us all of her sewing work -- and we dutifully purchased one of her lace table topper things.
After that, we took a little stroll around the town (which took about 5 minutes), and with our map in hand and a restaurant recommendation -- we headed off to lunch. We ate at a place called the Old Mill which was this enormous place down below a hill that had rivers running through it and was covered in all sorts of trees and vines - a pretty incredible atmosphere!
So after a delicious lunch, we went off to see the "tourist" sites recommended to us by our friend and his wife. The highlights included the Church of the 5 Holy Virgins which was this charming little church on the side of a hill being watched over by a herd of sheep! And then walking a little farther down the path, we found the infamous 2000 year old tree -- which was also, quite impressive!
So going back to our time in Crete -- i think i left off on our first day. So i'll start with day two -- Wednesday! if i remember correctly....i started the day off with a run out on the Venetian harbour -- it was pretty amazing! it's about 2.5km each way with a nice little (tiny) lighthouse at the end. After that, we ate breakfast downstairs in the hotel, and then took a quick taxi ride to the airport to pick up a rental car.
We headed off to Rethymnon -- or as we liked to call it, "rhythm city". it was highly recommended, and definitely more of a "picturesque" Greek town (whatever that means.....). We spent about an hour wandering around the town -- it was actually pretty quiet for the most part. The only slightly unpleasant part was being heckled by multiple guys from seafood restaurants that were right on the water -- they all told us that we'd have free drinks, free dessert, and then each one kept trying to out-deal the other....
Heading off in the car
Rhythm City street -- complete with kitties!
After that, we took a little stroll around the town (which took about 5 minutes), and with our map in hand and a restaurant recommendation -- we headed off to lunch. We ate at a place called the Old Mill which was this enormous place down below a hill that had rivers running through it and was covered in all sorts of trees and vines - a pretty incredible atmosphere!
View of Argyoupoli
Heading down to lunch!
The 2000 year old tree!
So! From there -- yes, we kept going. We took a little adventure in the car with the map from my dad's iPhone....which led us rather astray, to say the least. Meaning that we ended up at the side of a stream and were supposed go across it, but had no way to do so......
Dad checking for a way across.....unsuccessfully...
We finally found our way to Lake Kournas which was pretty spectacular! The water was a color that i've never really seen before -- kind of green and clear. We each had a chocolate milkshake at one of the restaurants perched on the side of the lake! Yummy.
Lake Kournas!
That about concludes Wednesday -- a pretty wonderful day! Thursday was the last day we spent together! (Enter crying noises). We saw Knossos Palace which was pretty touristy, but cool none the less! And then we continued to drive around, had some lunch around this really awful tourist town (unfortunate, but oh well). And then Dad drove me to my hotel that was a few kilometers down from Heraklion, and was actually great! i said goodbye to my daddy :(
The next two days i spent by myself -- there was a restaurant right on the beach where i sat and did some homework. Very peaceful, and the perfect way to end the spring break!
So the next two weeks might not be full of blogs -- as i try to "profite" of my last days in Paris, and finishing up my work. i had a swim meet this past weekend (which i got sick halfway through) -- a pool that i actually have started to like!
Piscine Georges Vallerey
A bientot! (Maybe.....)
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