Days 10, 11 and 12 - More Crete

We headed out in search of beach and some down time on Day 10. We drive toward Chania and the western coast of Crete where the Lonely Planet says are some really beautiful beaches. Well, the beaches were beautiful but friggen cold. The bus load of German tourists in speedos didn't seem very happy about it either. A little sloshing around in the Med and a sandcastle later we got back into the trusty little french car and explore the countryside.

Not too far away we come across the ancient ruins of Falasarna. Well, there weren't too many ruins. The ticket booth looked like it was abandoned years ago so we walked right in and kicked at the stones. Lots of goats in Falasarna. Lots of goats in Greece for that matter.

The drive down the western coast was... well.. spectacular.

Day 11, we head out some more and see Knossos, Phaestos and more countryside. Goddamn driving is fun in Crete.

Anyway, Knossos was a little disappointing since most of it was reconstructed by Arthur Evans some 120 years ago. But interesting nonetheless. The fascinating thing was the sewer systems and water pipes that were built into this place. The Engineering marvel that it was completely fascinated me. The umm... "reconstruction" could have been completely done away with in my humble opinion. They really didn't have to paint the woodgrain on the concrete slabs that were supposed to immitate wooden beams and such.

The followup drive took us south toward Phaestos (Festos) and past the ancient city of Gortyna. We saw Gortyna from the road since its on a hilltop, but access to Gortyna is via a bumpy dirt path that seems to go through some guy's farm, but is signed as the entrance to Gortyna. It was a rental car, so I risked it and drove down the bumpy dirt path where this huge friggen dog jumps out and starts chasing the car. I swear it looked like it could have bitten the tires off the car. So, I think... screw that, turned back and on we went to Phaestos.

Phaesotos was much more interesting as it was in its original (relatively) condition and didn't look like it was messed-with (much). Similar cultural goodies to Knossos but less the woodgrain painted concrete slabs.

The drive back across Crete was awesome (duh) and the little Citroen didn't dissapoint. Along one lonely stretch of road, I was busy watching the tach so I don't go over redline as I power through a corner, and I slam right into a pothole the size of a bathtub. I didn't see the right-front hub cap fly off, but Chz did. We double back and find it resting against a curb. Cracked but all there.

Day 12 involved packing up and returning the car (hoping the rental agent doesn't notice the messed hub cap). The rental agent (cougarish looking woman that I wouldn't have minded getting stuck in an elevator with) didn't seem to care about looking at the car when I dropped it off.

We finished our day in Rethymno with a visit to the Venetian Fortress before heading back to Heraklio. Again, not messed with much and very cultural. At one particular corner of the fortress, each and every step we took sounded like we were walking on eggshells. Well, they were shells anyway. Snails. There were millions of them in the grass, and on the walls, and everywhere. I kinda felt bad for the first 5 or 6 steps, but then I stopped feeling bad when I realized that I couldn't do much about the situation so... crunch crunch crunch I went.

At the bus station in Rethymno, we run into ***** and @@@@@ coming back from Plakias, where they spent the whole 3 days. We exchanged nods.

There really is nothing to do or see in Heraklio. Really. And it smells funny outside our hotel. One night to kill before flying back to Athens, then London. Raki all around. Its free and it gets you drunk.

Looking forward to a birthday party that Chz is bringing me to back in London.

I think this will be the last entry before I get back. It was all amazing, but whats going to suck rocks is that I go back to work on Monday.

Over and out.

By the way, no pictures this time. The hotel internet computer is a POS and doesn't have a USB port for the photos.

Day 9 - Crete

The overnight ferry was interesting. The overwhelming smell of diesel fuel and fumes made staying out on deck hard to bear. The sleeping berths were really really hard and made sleeping almost impossible for me. The gentle rocking motion wasn't bad at all.

Once we got there (one hour late at 6am instead of 5am), I decided that I felt too old to keep staying in Hostels and really wanted to rent a car to drive around the island. ***** felt otherwise and since we were going to meet up with someone else, I figured I'd let him slum it and not try talking him out of it. Enjoy the rest of your stay and I'll see you back at the office.

Anyway, Chz and I found a cheap beachfront hotel in Rethymon overlooking the beach for only 20 euros each a night and rented a small car (Citroen Saxo) for three days for a total of 80 euros.

With keys in hand, we head off for a drive. The first thing that comes to mind is to try to meet up with ***** in Plakias and rub it in a bit, but we couldn't find him there. The drive was amazing with twisty narrow roads and steep drop offs making it a blast.




Plakias was a nice little town but it was windy as hell and we stayed off the beach for that very reason.



We continued driving towards Sfakion and then back up to Rethymon on some more wicked roads, many without guiderails and many with guiderails in seemingly pointless locations.



In my opinion, the car was a great idea. Anyway, more Crete tomorrow.

Day 8 - Athens

At the airport the other night, we meet up with Chz and the three of us head into town to find the hostel. The cab driver turns on the meter and it comes out to like 20 Euros for the drive from the airport, according to the meter anyway. But he wants 25 Euros because its the airport rate. Huh? You'd think that when the meter goes on thats what you're going to pay, right? I guess not.

After a little walking around the neighbourhood at.. oh... a quarter past midnight, we find the Hostel and the Aussies running it greet us with open arms. We're shown to our beds and decide to head out to find some booze.

The thing you immediately notice about Athens are the stray dogs and cats EVERYWHERE. I mean EVERYWHERE. They follow you, they look at you funny, they're just creepy and a little sad. Tons of orange trees strewn about the city as well, which I think is kinda charming.

Anyway, its 1am and we're looking for a bar. What we didn't realize is that its Easter weekend in the Orthodox calendar and most places are closed. Except for this one dance club type thing that seemed bumpin' enough to get our patronage. Well, the doorman tells us we have to pay a cover. We huddle, discuss things and decide to thank him for his time and leave. He stops us, I think realizing that we're not there to dance, but to drink, and waves the cover charge and lets us in. He was right, we were there to drink, but we danced too! The crowd was a little young, which made me feel old, but it didn't stop me from gettin jiggy wit it. The strange thing happened right after they played YMCA. Of course Chz and I got right down to it, arm motions and everything. ***** watched, Heineken in hand. No one else knew the arm motions there. No one! Damn Greek kids. Anyway, the strange thing was that the place just cleared out right after the song. I really hope it had nothing to do with our dancing.

When we got back to the hostel, boozed out of our minds, Chz having walked over a few cars and kicked various things. Actually, I don't think ***** was drunk at all. Anyway, we got back in at about 5am, but impressed the hostelful of Australians that stayed there with our partying prowess.

A week straight of pure culture and history was starting to get to me, but you can't miss the Acropolis in Athens. Had to do it.





An overview of the city from the Acropolis



Couldn't help but take a picture of an Ontario plated Chrysler minivan parked in Athens. Also looks like it was bought at Brampton Chrysler... Woo hoo GO BRAMPTON!



Tonight, a ferry to Crete.

Day 7 - Rome to Greece

The last day in Rome was fairly easy going. The walk was down to under 10km and we managed to see a few things such as the Circus Maximus (grass), part of the Aqueducts and the Appia Antica park.

The aqueducts and city walls





Narrow streets in the Appia Antica park



Rome was great, and I have a feeling I'll be back.

Next... Greece

Day 6 - Rome to Pisa and Back

For the hell of it we decide to use the last available day on our rail passes to do a day trip to Pisa to see the tower before it keels over. Anyway, a 4 hour train ride in 2nd class with accordion playing vagrants was interesting but we got there.

We ran into this girl (Simona) on her way home to Pisa for the long weekend. After rocking back and forth in our seats for a few km, ***** grew some balls and started to talk to her. Unfortunately, she didn't speak any English or Spanish so I had to make do with my crappy French and lay my own charms on her. For most of the trip, we made fun of ***** and laughed at him without him even knowing it.

The tower




And thats it. Nothing else in Pisa.

The return was better, 3.5 hours in 1st class.

Tomorrow, last day in Rome and on to Greece.