I don't know if you know this about me, but I have an obsession with taking pictures of kids on harness leashes. I just think it's about the funniest thing in the world. It started while on my Euro "backpacking" trip with Nicki five years ago, and from now on, anytime either of us see a kid on a leash, we have to send the other a picture. Anyway, that is just to say, IAAB (I am a bitch) and will totally take a picture of you if you're child is on a leash and maybe (probably) post it on the internet. Fair warning.
Moving on. Crete! It is the biggest island or - as I kept saying: The Texas of Greek Islands! - and has quite a different landscape/environment from north to south and east to west. We started out in the central north where we met Spiros' family, then traveled south to Agios Pavlos to stay at the place he'd been before.
To get there we drove through dry, hilly land full of beautiful, silver-leafed olive trees. Finally we arrived at the edge of the turquoise sea to a picturesque cove, with one rocky side that looks exactly like the head of a dragon. Magical!
The area is a well-known yogi retreat because it has some sort of "special energy from the equator" or something. I will be honest, while it was very beautiful and nice, I was ragingly PMSing (or as I told Spiros "the spirit of the devil has taken over my body and I can't be blamed for my actions"), and after the luxurious Hotel Altana, the 25 Euro-per-night, camp-style accommodations were a bit of a challenge to get used to right away. (But as I remind him on a daily basis, I am super low-maintenance so it's cool! Whatever!)
It was great to socialize with his friend Dimitris, who runs the place with his parents, as well as the other staff and guests. Spiros also brought with him his hang drum (this special drum they only make a few hundred of per year and apparently it is really awesome that he has one, according to my way cooler younger brother).
Although it was nice spending our nights sitting around chatting and listening to music, the best part was seeing the stars - including the freaking Milky Way - as if we were in a planetarium. Seriously it was unreal. Also unreal was the amount of mosquito bites I got while "enjoying nature" but who cares!
(Another really fun part of enjoying nature was when Spiros tried to take me to this beautiful beach that involved walking down a fifty foot sand dune made up of scalding hot sand and I freaked the f*ck out - see above re: PMS - and then also when it was so insanely windy that said hot sand whipped against our bathing-suit-clad bodies like a sandblaster. Nature: always keeping us on our toes!)
No, but seriously, all whining aside, it was a really beautiful place full of great people, booze, and gorgeous scenery. Oh, and it was an awesome place to nap.
Seriously, it looks just like a dragon, right?!
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