Crete

April 11th - 18th, 2009

After leaving my family in London and spending the day with Jamie, I made my way back to Heathrow Airport. My flight to Athens took off around 8:50 pm and I landed in Athens at 2 am. I didn't get too much sleep on the plane, I ended up staying up watching "Bolt" the whole trip. I had a three hour layover in Athens, but there was free internet there which kept me distracted for a little while. I also managed to run into a girl from B.C. who was studying abroad in Spain which was cool... definitely helped pass the time. My flight to Crete took off around 5:30am and I made it to Crete around 6:30am. I had a cup of tea and then grabbed a cab to my hotel. I was so RELIEVED to find that my hotel would let me check in at 7 am. I had been up all night and was excited to get some sleep.

I woke up that afternoon and went out to explore Heraklion. I brought my book, and ended up reading by the water for awhile. That evening, I decided to celebrate Easter and go out to eat at one of the restaurants that looked crowded earlier. I was surprised to see so much open on Easter, but then I realized the Greeks celebrate Easter the following weekend. But I ended up eating dinner at a restaurant called Tabepna Oyzepi. The waiter spoke little English, but I ended up ordering Mussels and a Greek Salad. The Mussels were amazing! After dinner I wandered around the town a little before heading back to the hotel.

Monday morning I woke up and checked out of the hotel. I was walking through town again, when Mackenzie called to say she had arrived at the Villa. I was originally planning to drive with Anisha, Grace, and Amy later, but after she explained the bus schedule I was ready to go. Three hours and two buses later I had finally made it to our Villa. The place was BEAUTIFUL! The Villa was three stories, it had a bedroom, batheroom, and kitchen (with a patio) on the first floor, another bedroom and bathroom on the second floor, along with the living room and two balconies, and a laundry room and third balcony on the third floor. The pool was filled to the brim and just made you want to swim in it when you looked at it! It was so exciting to finally arrive. Mackenzie and I went out to eat at the restaurant near by and we had tzatziki which was so good! When we finished eating, the other girls arrived, and we gave them the same tour of the place.




























Tuesday we woke up, excited to go to the beach! We stopped by the grocery store first to pick up some food for later, and then made our way towards the beach. It was so nice to lay out in the sun. Anisha and I were the only two not to go in the water the today, but I didn't mind, I had my book to read. That night we went back to the restaurant from the night before, and then spent the rest of the night relaxing in the Villa watching "Oceans 13".














Wednesday turned out to be another great day. We tried for an earlier start but it didn't work as well... I think my favorite spot in the Villa is the balcony on the second floor. There was a huge table for us to eat on, and a bunch of chairs around it. Plus it gave a great view of all the mountains in Crete. We went back to the beach, and I made sure to go in the water... it was a little chilly, but the ocean is just so blue here. Mackenzie and I went on a walk down the beach and walked through the town on the way back. That night we all dressed up and went out to eat at a different restaurant closer to the main part of town. We picked up pastries, and then relaxed at home watching Friends and eating pastries.














Thursday morning, Mackenzie and I got up early and went for a walk searching for a new beach to try. We found one further away with alot of sand. The nice thing about being in Crete in mid April is that we had the whole town to ourselves. The beaches were empty. We spent most the day on the beach, only going back to the Villa for a lunch break. We stayed in that night to cook dinner and spent most our time just relaxing.














Friday morning was sad, no one wanted to leave Greece - especially since we still hadn't found Kostas. But Mackenzie madde us pancakes and then we headed to the beach to make the most of out last day. We all went in the water and hung out on the beach. We ate lunch at one of the small cafes right on the beach and then took our last pictures of the water. When we got back to the Villa I made sure to jump in the pool just once before I left. That night we packed up our luggage, and then took a cab back to the airport. It was a great vacation on the beach!