After leaving the farm on Paros, Ryan and I headed for Crete via Santorini. We were so excited to finally be able to see more of Greece and especially the Greek islands. We were so isolated at the first farm -- when we finally left it felt like we had just arrived in Greece!
In Santorini we stayed at a very hip campsite where we were able to swim and relax by the very nice pool. We mostly followed the island life of waking up early, going out to walk around Thira or take a bus to another area, coming home to take a long siesta by the pool or in our tent, and then back out again for the rich night life. One of our day time explorations included a winery where we took a 4 euro tour through the underground vaults where animatronic characters acted out scenes of Santorini's wine making history. It was hilarious! And absolutely wonderful being in the cool tunnels out of the blazing sun. After our walk through what seemed like a decaying Disneyland ride (there were some very old animatronics and some other characters were pieced together with pieces from clothing store mannequins) the tour ended with a wine tasting. It was incredible! Ryan and I have been extremely disappointed in Greek wines. They always tend to be WAY too sweet, light, or completely flavorless. However, these wines we tried were amazing. Now look, nothing will compare with Italian wine. Especially the wine we had in Sardinia which I will always believe to be the best wine in the world. But at this winery in Santorini, the wine really was good.
After a few nights in Santorini we left for Crete! Thank you a billion times over Mom and Ken for treating us with the room for a week! We stayed in Chania, Crete. A beautiful town that was run by the Venetians, the Turks, and the Germans (pretty much EVERY town in Crete has this same history). Luckily, the Venetian architecture stands strong in the main part of the city. It truly could be called a "Little Venice." Just to the west of the town center called Old Town, are the beaches of Nea Hora where Ryan and I stayed in a WONDERFUL hotel called Arocaria run by Mr. Photis. Photis was an absolute delight. We were situated directly across from the beach and had an incredible view from our balcony of the bay with its many islets. Restaurants, bars and cafes were the consistency of our neighborhood on the waterfront. At night Ryan and I would sit on the balcony after eating the amazing octopus stifado (that we cook from scratch!) and listen to the live Cretan music pouring out from the pier where the restaurants set up tables and chairs. It really was magical. Even more so were the 1 euro ouzos we would have while we listened to these incredible musicians! One of our friends, Antonis who we met at Ilias's bar on our return to Athens, said that the Cretans are Greek but that they like to think of themselves primarily as Cretans. They purposely try to do everything different from other Greeks. I have to say that was not hard to notice! The music, the food, the dancing, the overall attitude was completely different from anywhere else we had been. We went out many times to see live music. All the musicians were intrigued by us because we were so interested in the music. One night, they even had Ryan and I go up and play! It was wonderful. The farm on Paros had been such a trial and it was so nice to be able to be travelers again and to meet people! So again, thank you Mom and Ken for that wonderful, relaxing week!!!
Before we left Chania, Ryan made an itinerary for the rest of our time in Crete. We left our bags with Photis who said, "Of course! Leave your things. You come back in 3 days, 1 week, 1 month! No problem." We headed for the famous Samaria Gorge. 15 km long, the biggest gorge in Southern Europe! Yes, we hiked the whole thing and then I couldn't walk for 3 days. I'm NOT kidding. That thing kicked my butt! Luckily, at the time I had no idea it was coming and so we thoroughly enjoyed it. We saw the mysterious Kri Kri which are the wild goats in the mountains. This place was just absolutely amazing. The gorge can go from 30 meters wide to just 3 meters towards the end. And when you come to the end, the gorge opens out onto the sea and you think you can even see a little piece of Africa in the distance. But you don't really care at that point and just run as fast as you can into the water! We then took a ferry to a classic hippy beach town called Sougia. Although it was very small, Sougia had something that Ryan and I really liked and we still are not even sure what it was. It was just beautiful! Then we took another ferry to Paleochora. All these little towns in southwest Crete are connected through small ferry lines. The ride was simply breathtaking. Towering cliffs and hidden caves with the turquoise blue Mediterranean below. The pictures do no justice. The southwest of Crete has to be the most beautiful landscape Ryan and I have seen yet (even more than Corfu! Crazy right?!)
We made it back up to Chania to retrieve our bags and move on to the capital of Crete, Iraklio (Heraklion, Iraklion, etc. there are like 3 different names for everywhere!) We only stayed for one night and planned to move out to a little town called Anogia the next day. AFTER we visited the Minoan palaces of Knossos. OH yea, in Santorini we went to the Minoan museum and were BLOWN AWAY. The Minoans were AMAZING! There was no sexual discrimination, they ran a VERY democratic community, the artists were incredible, and they made amazing wines! Seriously, I became obsessed with these people. Even more amazing to me is that they knew the volcano in Santorini was going to blow. No bodies were found under the ashes of Akrotiri because the inhabitants had known the eruption was coming and evacuated to Crete. So, Ryan and I felt like we had an affinity with them because they had to leave everything behind and move out whether they wanted to or not. After we visited the ruins of the palace in Knossos we quickly made it over to the local bus station to get to Anogia. Anogia is a little mountain town best known for maintaining Cretan tradition and culture. Oh, and really good lamb. So we got to the Iraklio bus station only to discover that we had missed the bus. Oh no! We did not want to stay in Iraklio again, so we looked to see where else we could go. Hmm, what about Matala? The Lonely Planet Greece book has this to say about Matala..."Small village with famous Roman tombs that are caves along the hill side next to the beach. In the 1960's hippies came and lived in these caves." Nothing really exciting but I thought, "Hey, there's a beach! Let's go!" With Matala decided and only 20 min. until the bus left Ryan and I researched on the Kindle about this unknown place on the southern coast. "What? Joni Mitchell went there? WHAT?? 'Carey' was written about this place?! OH MY GOD! "MATALA MOON!!!"" I cannot even describe how utterly ecstatic I was when we boarded the bus. We arrived in Matala in the late afternoon and quickly found a nice little place with a kitchen for the night. First of all, these caves really are incredible. Not just in beauty BUT it's the one ancient site I've been to that, 1. you do not have to pay for 2. it's open ALL night! You can go in and think about the great Romans that are buried there or of how Joni Mitchell, Cat Stevens, AND Bob Dylan most likely slept there. We had an ouzo and toast to J at the real Mermaid Cafe which is now called Waves. We watched World Cup games at these very funky pirate themed bars, and we hiked over the hill to Red Beach which is only accessible by foot or by boat. It is, to this day, my favorite beach in Greece. Coming down the rocky hill you see one little shack selling beverages and snacks. It is a very open beach with naturists all along the water. Ryan and I of course joined in and realized everyone wasn't looking at us because we were naked but because we were the YOUNGEST ones there and we were not self-conscious whatsoever. The water was perfect and we spent the entire day there laying in the sun, jumping in the water, and then doing it all over again.
I will NEVER forget Crete and I certainly will never forget Matala. Sometimes this adventure makes me feel as if I'm doing it because I won't have a chance again. I've had to throw away that idea because there is NOTHING that is going to stop me from returning to Matala. Discovering how easy it is to travel here, how inexpensive it is to rent a little place for a week or two (or even a month!) in June or July has made me ask myself why haven't I done this before?! What has really stopped me? Every time we have arrived in a new place it has been overwhelming and difficult. But after only an hour or two we start to get our bearings and relax and have the most incredible time! It like getting in the water here. ALWAYS so cold (and you know what I'm used to...the PERFECTION that is Pensacola) BUT once you've let yourself jump all the way in, you wouldn't take back that jump if your life depended on it.
After Crete, we returned to Athens to begin a Work Away job with a guy named Vasilis. Next blog is about our crazy experiences there...and you won't want to miss it. Oh no.
Love to all! Finally, pictures of Greece are UP!
