For the last two days we rented a car and toured around the Island. Mostly in search of BEACH. The first day we went to Elafonisi. Driving was an adventure. Okay, I didnt even drive. Amber did. But riding shotgun was still an adventure. We drove up and over the biggest mountains. And through some very teensy tiny little towns... they were barely towns. More like two or three houses right on the mostly one lane road and maybe a church and probably a taverna. Elafonisi is beautiful... it is on the southwest corner of the Island... a super amazing pink and white sand beach. For 7 Euro you can rent 2 chairs and an umbrella. We took advantage of that deal. We were surrounded by tourists... Russians, Swedes, and some Greeks. "Creta" is the vacation destination of Europe.

Everyone we meet seems to be envious of our trip. The first Greek we met on the plane told us that we had planned a vacay "only Americans could plan." When we left Athens, the desk man at our hotel said, "Take me to Creta!"

Our second backroad adventure took place mostly because we had overcalculated gas and didnt want to waste it. We decided to rent the car a second day... We drove to Hora Sfakion. Its at the mouth of the Samarian Gorge and also the location of some of the events during the Battle of Crete in WWII. Also on the southern coast.. We stopped for lunch... I ate dolmadakia, and my friends ate greek pies and meatballs... and of course greek salad with tomato, onion, cucumber and lots lots lots of olive oil. The south coast is gorgeous and our second beach stop was Paridisos Beach. We parked at the top of a huge incline and had to slide down the steep sand to get to the water. It was amazing. So clear and warm. Playing in the waves was fantastic fun. We relaxed there for awhile before we drove back through the mountains. The small back roads are so phenomenal... and as we gained elevation we had some of the most amazing views of the Libyan ocean. (It was kind of crazy to think, while looking out over the water, that the body of land on the other side of that water was Libya or Egypt. It is also within my awareness how close we are to Iran and Iraq. We see American military almost every day. The is a naval base here in the port of Hania.) At one point as we drove through a gorge there was big huge towering rock within two feet of us on either side of the car, and within about five feet hanging over the top of us. We saw churches built into the rock wall. We saw elderly Cretan women all dressed in black walking to the churches. We saw sheep and goats. The mountains are huge and looming.

It was interesting to get off the tourist track and see the real Creta. I promise I have pictures!

Loves to all of you!