We had chalked today up to just a travel day, but it ended up as quite a bit more than that. It started as we expected, finishing our packing and heading out the door at 10am towards the airport. And we did get to the airport without incident, though the Bag Drop was a bit of an adventure with one group ahead of us checking 10 *massive* bags. I hope they were moving or something because I cannot comprehend how many clothes would fit in that.
The flight was similarly uneventful, which is really all you can ask for oj a flight. Kieran slept nearly the whole 55 minute journey, as did Grandad. It was quite convenient that we had a row of 6 all to ourselves. The Heraklion airport is almost as chaotic as the Athens one, but we navigated our way through successfully and found our rental car place amongst the sea of them.
We have the pleasure of driving a Suzuki Vitara, which is about the size of a Mazda CX-3. It did fit all of our bags, but it seems to have less power than my 2011 Chevy Cruze and it definitely requires a light foot at the traffic light to ease it into the high speed. Oh well, it works and we made to to the place. The roads in Crete are reminiscent of England and Ireland, with *just* enough space for one car to squeeze through. What do you do when two cars are coming at each other then? Great question, answered on a case by case basis.
Our villa is pretty nice, with a whole three separate sleeping areas along with a living room and kitchen. No good spot to lie on my front, but there are oodles of air conditioning units which is a pleasant change. We made our way to the pool which overlooks the whole valley. Interestingly, somewhere in the valley was a house blasting party music so loud that we could hear it from the hilltops. Our patio also comes with not one, not two, not three, but 6 cats. Jordan is enthralled with the comings and goings of them while Emily and Liam, both of whom are mildly allergic are making sure none of them sneak into the villa.
We did have to drive back to town to find a restaurant for dinner. We settled on a random place that Emily found on the edge of town. Well it turns out that we ended up crashing a girl’s third birthday party. They had done all sorts of decorations and had a sweets table set up as well as a princess performer blasting loud music for the kids to dance to. It was quite the party! And people just kept arriving.
Undeterred, we got some great food. It was peppers with feta, Dolometes (grape leaves with rice) and fried zucchini with cheese to start which was all amazing. Emily and I split a portion of lamb from the wood fired oven with potatoes cooked with the lamb. Jordan got a massive pizza and Liam had a pasta with chicken and mushroom. The food was all amazing, though very rich and filling, necessitating a take out container.
While we were there, Jordan was invited to partake in the party shenanigans. So she danced around a bit and played in their parachute game. Then, the organizer came over and dropped enough sugary treats to last Jordan our whole week in Crete. Then came again with a little barbie-ish doll for Jordan and a toy car for Kieran (and then once again to bring another treat)! Kieran even made friends with another 6 month old baby there called Elina.
And if all that wasn’t enough, the restaurant also brought out a free desert and a small bottle of Raki (a strong liquor) with shot glasses. And some fruit! Then the whole dinner only came to €64! And I was right in my guess that the party organizer was related to the restaurant somehow. But I imagine they would have been gracious hosts anyways because everyone there was insanely kind.
Then it was back up the winding roads to get back for Kieran and Jordan to go to bed. Luckily, it wasn’t quite dark yet, as we got routed on an even steeper and narrower hill than last time. It was wonderful returning to a properly chilly place. What was supposed to be a boring repositioning day ended up being one of the most memorable days of the whole trip and a story we will be telling probably forever. Onwards to tomorrow where Kieran and I will explore Heraklion while everyone else does some pottery.
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