Crete day 4 - heading back home

Our last day arrived way to fast and we found ourselves packing up our Polo for the trip back to the airport.  But we had one day left and we took advantage of it.

We stopped at a beach in the morning halfway back to the airport. 

We made sand castles and ran in the waves.

As always, Jaxon caught a crab.

The salt content of the sea is very high and when you get out your skin is coated in a thin layer of salt as visible on Jonas.

"I think I'm ready to retire" 

We spent the afternoon visiting Knossos, an ancient Minonan city still in the process of being excavated by archeologists.

The boys found snails in abundance which impressed them more the Neolithic city ruins. 

We loved the ancient pottery which was not on sale in the gift shop.

It is true that snails are really cool

We made our way back to the airport and Jonas found a comfortable spot near a sleeping woman.   We all loved Crete and did not want to leave so soon, but were grateful for all the fun experiences we had together. 

Crete day 3 - Balos

The next day we were counseled by locals to go to the north west tip of the island to the remote beach of Balos.  We were told there was a "dirt road" that took us to the trail head.  Something must have been lost in translation because the road was more what I would call a 4 wheel drive trail. .  We decided to park the car and walk several kilometers to the trail head.  Going a bit slower we got to enjoy the amazing scenery and even hang out with the goats.

The boys were amazing hikers all day.

A beautiful white church decorates the cliff tops.

There was even a bench for the boys to rest for a while.

At the end of the morning when we left the clouds behind and enjoyed blue skies and cool wind.

We then hiked down from the cliff tops to the beach - a shallow lagoon with warm water and white sand beaches.

Jaxon is a natural.  We gave him the camera and he did a great job taking pictures of us.

Jaxon rated the beach 2 thumbs up

Jonas agreed!

Daniel took the boys across the lagoon and ran in the ankle deep water on the other side.  The lagoon was not only protected from the waves of the sea, but also from the wind.  As hiking is required to arrive to this beach, it was nearly empty.

A rare sand foot crept up on us.

There was a restaurant on the beach overlooking the sea.  We picked a table with our feet in the sand.

Jaxon decorated the table with sea shells and relaxed for a couple hours savoring a long meal and not wanted to leave this wonderful place.

Jonas who was worn out by the long hike and running around in the lagoon passed out on mamma.

We hiked up to the wall of rock that protects the calm lagoon from the high waves of the rough sea.

Sea water gathers in holes in the rocks and evaporates leaving a salt deposit behind.  We all tasted the sea salt which was yummy.

At the end of the afternoon we noticed the blue sky was replaced by ominous clouds.  As such, we began the 2.5 hours hike back to our car.

Jaxon and Jonas the explorers did great and were still smiling at the end.  Somehow they still had energy for a swim in the pool at our apartment at 9 pm when we got back.  Daniel was nominated to swim with them.

Crete day 2

After talking to some locals we agreed we would drive across the island to the southwestern corner of the island via the mountain roads.  We saw signs for a cave and decided to check it out.

The boys loved climbing all over the place but were watching out for signs of the Cyclops

We always love tiny church in caves

And on the side of the roads... All over the island there were little churches the size of mailboxes.  Some were very ornate.  As we drove around the island we played a game trying to spot roadside churches.

Someone told us to go to a small village in the mountains which finding ended up being an adventure.  We drove to the tops of mountains were all signs were in Greek and eventually ended up on a dirt road going to a place not even on the map.  We found it and were not disappointed.  The sign at the entrance was quite extensive including no playing the trumpet or shooting people.  Apparently the only thing allowed is sleeping.

So we installed ourselves in some chairs purely to be obedient to the rules...

The village was ancient and everything was natural at the restaurant.  We ate on the terrace which gave amazing views of the valley. 

Daniel ordered lamb, a specialty of the region.  It was so good it melted in your mouth.

Jaxon and Jonas spent a while chilling in a hammock while it began to rain.

After a couple hours on the mountain roads we arrived at our destination - Elafonisi beach.

We walked across a lagoon to an island. 

The lagoon water was much warmer than the sea, so the boys enjoyed swimming for a while.

Jaxon was excited to find that the entire island was sand.  A dream come true!

In the late afternoon the sun went behind the clouds and the wind picked up.  Jonas wrapped up to keep warm but we still needed to walk back across the lagoon to get back to the car.