In Which We Utilize a Rental Car

Our favorite Athens folks Christina and George came to visit (last weekend)!



We rented a car and, for the first time ever, actually explored Crete a bit. Off we drove to rubbly ruins at Knossos, home of the fabled minotaur lurking in his labyrinthian home (there was no trace of him remaining, hard as we looked).

Knossos is as equally well known for its more recent history. In 1900 Arthur Evans, an archeologist-cum-British gentleman of independent means, bought the site and promptly conducted massive and thorough excavations, not to mention reconstructed buildings and frescoes where he saw fit and according to his own ideas about what was what. He's a controversial figure, to say the least. George, for one, was a bit less than thrilled, especially in regards to Evans' rampant use concrete in place of wood (etched with whorls to give it that authentic look). Also, in re: image to the left there, the durned thing uploaded sideways. Please tilt your head 90 degrees counter-clockwise in order to get the proper perspective.

John was a sicky poo for the whole weekend, although he did his best to participate. "Participation" for him often meant just being in the car... he was able to wander around Knossos a bit but generally speaking, he most often looked like this:

Not to be dettered, we took off from Knossos and into the mountains in search of that ever elusive Untouched Cretan Lifestyle, i.e. we kept looking for THIS guy:



We were not as successful as we were hoping, though we DID spot some black-clad widows and a few glimpses of potential male candidates through the windows of the traditionally-male cafeterias. Sigh. I hate when my tourist ogling instinct is thwarted.

That night we ate at our second favorite restaurant - one on the water that happens to have live Cretan music on the weekends. The most entertaining part of the evening was twofold: Fold 1 - Clandestinely staring at the table of gratuitously, shall we say, affectionate teenage couples at the table next to us. The double date went from spells of heavy public make outs to moments of awkwardness, i.e. when they weren't making out. I tried to take a picture using the ol' "pretend to take a picture of John when REALLY getting the other table" but I think they were on to us.

Fold 2 - there is a woman who earns a living by entering Chania restaurants, dumping a bunch of key chains and lighters on every table along with a card that explains that she is deaf, mute, and destitute, and that each little toy is 4 euros, please help (the card is translated into a few different languages and, to look REALLY professional, is also laminated). One such toy that evening was a mini-revolver, which I assumed was a lighter. When I picked it up to try it out by squeezing the trigger, I dropped it and shouted in surprise when the darn thing SHOCKED me with a majillion volts of electricity (obviously an exaggeration, but OH MY GOD it was so weird). I stared at it with hate and mistrust until the woman came back to take it away, relief quickly followed by regret at not buying the toy. What was I THINKING?! It would have been HILARIOUS to have other people try!

Our last day with Christina and George was spent driving along the west coast to enjoy the gorgeous coastline. Up up up we went through twisty and mountainous coastline roads (I continually forget that I have a certain fear of heights until I realize the very act of looking at the view out my car window makes my feet sweat), and down down down we would go to dip our feet in the water and take as many snapshots as possible before clambering back in the car. We saw millions of goats - they sometimes caused traffic jams. Luckily a traffic cop was there to guide us through.

As our final meal together, the four of us stopped for a late lunch at the first place we spotted as we left our final beach destination to drive back to Chania. We weren't even entirely sure they were open - there just seemed to be folks hanging out around the general vicinity of this "taverna". But yes yes, they were open, and they ushered us inside, right into the hubbub of family activity. The woman in charge arose and ushered two older boys out of the room. Her two little daughters occupied another table, finishing the remnants of their lunch, coloring in books, and watching the huge television that took prominence off to one side. The eldest of the two girls (Christina, who knows such things as a teacher, estimated her to be about 8 or 9 years old) came over and softly told us everything they had that day. She wrote down our order in careful, looping penmanship, and often looked to her mother for clarification of any of the gentle questions George and Christina posed to her about our options. The mother, at this point donning an apron, was more than happy to oblige. Needless to say, the food was delicious (it was lots of meats and cheesy stuff... George is so good at ordering we never questioned what was put in front of us), and the girl was incredibly adorable and helpful throughout. We almost stole her.

And now? Now it's a weekend later. Dinner with the circus and our new favorite hotel friends tonight!!