Calming Crete

I flew to Crete from Tirana, via Athens. I could also have taken the bus, which was about half the price, but it would have been at least 21 hours... if everything went according to plan. This way, I was steping off the plane in the early afternoon. I think it was the right call. 

That said, I can't explain why, but for some reason being in the airport in Athens made me so cripplingly anxious I had trouble breathing. I checked my gates a hundred times, went through security early so I wouldn't run into any problems, and ultimately made it out of there with ease, so it was all for naught. I hope I'm not as anxious when I sit there waiting for the first leg of my trip home Friday...

Regardless, once I was there, Crete was lovely. I wasn't thrilled with my hostel, but the island itself was beautiful, and the people I met there were quite nice and welcoming, so it was an easy place to travel around. 

My first afternoon, I headed out in the early evening to see the Venetian fortress overlooking Rethymno - which is really hard to spell correctly, and also spelled differently in every second writing. It was an easy climb up a hill and offered some cool sights. 

The view from the fortress. 

A mosque inside the compound. 

A guard post inside a turret. It looked so cool and shady, but it smelled terrible. 

It was a pretty nice spot. 

Upon leaving, I immediately got lost, but I managed to wander down to a neat view out over the water. 

God I love the ocean. Why did I go inland in Albania again?

There was also this cute little statue... But I really wanted the globe to be on Atlas' shoulders. 

I spent the next day chilling around the island. Crete is really lovely, and it was nice to take it easy for a day and relax for a while. 

Hung out here for a while... Though the water looks nice it was actually full of crap and quite disgusting. 

The next morning I got up at 5.00 am (it was excruciating) to go on a hike through Samaria Gorge. I'm not sure it was worth a start as early as that, but it was quite cool. 

From the top... Fortunately we only had to walk down. 

Baby goat!

I really liked this sign... So if I walk fast enough I can avoid rockfalls? Seems safe. 

It was a 16 km walk, and it was quite tiring... Plus incredibly hot. 

This way the payoff at the end. So beautiful, and the water was awesome! The sand was so hot though, I think I actually burnt my feet on it. 

It was a nice day, but an exceedingly long day. Since I had to get up early to catch a ferry to Santorini the next morning, I wound up going pretty much straight to bed when I got in... And then still wound up getting up at 5.00 am again the next day thanks to my hopelessly inconsiderate roommates! Two days of 5.00 am starts were not very pleasant, I have to say.