Day 9--on to Crete

The morning view from our hotel was lovely.

We left the hotel, but naturally though Jane and I were "prompt," we neglected to remember that we had to hike several blocks to the pick up point, so we hustled, and met the bus on time.

Our two-lane road through mainland Greece was lined with pink and white oleander, and the rocky hills dotted with wind turbines gave way to rocky valleys filled with olive trees. Again, we saw spirit houses and hoped our trek would end safely--no need for spirit houses for us!

We drove to two places enroute to the Athens' airport: the sanctuary of Athene Pronaia and the monastery of Hosios Loukas, a UNESCO site.

Athena Pronaia

This monestary preserves an almost intact group of wall mosaics, the highest degree of artistic expressions of the Byzantine culture.  It also constitutes the earliest example of an architectural type (cross-domed octagon), which was an original creation "distinguished for the unified internal space and its harmoniously structured volume."

Though it was again beastly hot, our driver dropped us at the airport and we had another adventure--somehow we'd been booked on Aegean Air to Crete with a "no luggage" designation, so we each had to pay 35 Euros for each bag.  Then two of the nine of us were given "standby" status, and the situation escalated once we got to the gate. With 20 minutes until takeoff, we wondered why no one else was at our gate, only to realize (once viewing the screen) that the gate had been changed--and off we flew to the new gate.  We arrived to a packed crowd, and our two standbys got the last two seats on the plane.  Disaster averted!

The 30 minute flight from Athens to Chania (HON-YA) in Crete went well, and we were met by a new driver and a new van.  Off to the hotel and before we even got to our rooms, Jane and I and Anna stopped at the hotel bar for a double gin/tonic.  Ten Euros each, but we didn't care--we were SO hot and ready for something alcoholic and wet.  Delicious.

I took the quickest shower to date and met the crew for a walk to a great restaurant, Xani, where Anna again ordered various things for us to try--a highlight was the lamb, and we enjoyed a great feast (again!).