Saturday morning we were up early. We had things to do. A quick clean-up in the apartment and packing up. By noon we were ready to go. A taxi took us to the front door of Vritomartis, a beautiful seaside resort less than two miles from downtown Sfakia. http://vritomartis.com
It's pretty hard to take pictures of the wind, but it blew in this lovely sunrise Sunday morning!
First stop
Baa!
Taverna at Ammoudari. A round of raki. The worst wine we have had . . . Maybe ever. Mediocre cheese pie. And the world's nicest taverna keeper.
For the next two days, we swam in the beautiful pool and the ocean, soaked up sun, ate delicious food and washed it all down with good local white wine. Within minutes of our arrival we met Sue. She and her husband Gordon turned out to be great company during our stay. I feel like I've made a new friend.
The weather here in Crete is very changeable! On Saturday, the skies were blue, the temperature perfect, the winds calm. Sometime during the night, the wind starting blowing like crazy. It blew all day Sunday and Monday. I'm talking CRAZY wind. At one point when we were on the beach, the wind gusted so hard, it blew everything away. Shoes, towels, and beach bag! Stanley found one of our towels in the parking lot about 50 feet from its starting point and ten feet above the beach level.
After breakfast Monday morning, we all piled into the car Gordon and Sue had rented and went off on an adventure!
After much discussion, we decided to explore the agricultural area just east of Sfakia and the mountains above it.
Hang on, folks! We don't want anyone to get blown away!
Up, up, up! Another look at the sea!
Another climb up!
And another look back down.
I'm so glad I got this picture. It would be very difficult to describe just how twisted this road was! The picture helps.
St. Georgio's. A very old church with lots of traditions including a well with the immortal water.
We could not find the well.
Inside, it was obvious this church is still very much in use.
Any ideas?
Stanley sort of slipped out of church early.
Baa! Baa!
A quick look at the white mountains.
Grand church at Askifou dedicated to two Sfakian saints: Manolis and Ioannis. Who knew Sfakia had its very own saints?
This was a much newer church and much more ornate!
Ygeiá sas!
Back at the resort in plenty of time for a Greek lesson and dinner.
