Europe Day Fifty Two to Fifty Four - The Minotaur's Labyrinth

We arrived at the resort at 2 o'clock in the afternoon and got out of the car into the crazy strong winds outside. We checked into our apartment and found out that there wasn't a lot of people around because it was off season. On the way to our apartment we saw quite a few cats all over the resort. We moved into our place and Zaddek went outside and found a nice little kitten that he named Cuddles. We all played a bit of tennis and mini putt and had some dinner at the lobby. We even went for a swim in the pool. Once it got dark we went back to the apartment for the night.

The next day we went to Knossos, the Minotaur's Labyrinth. Knossos is the oldest city in Europe and its first settlement was dated back to 7000 BC. We checked out all the ruins and it was really cool. And I wondered if it is still a marvel nowadays how much of a marvel it would have been 9000 years ago when it was built. The city had a lot of paintings that were made from herbs and flowers and the blue was made from Lapis Lazuli. But the most impressive painting was the Minoan Dolphin Fresco.

The reason it was named The Minotaur's Labyrinth was because of the legend that the King had been cursed so that his son became a Minotaur. The King wanted to kill the Minotaur but the Queen would not let him so they trapped the Minotaur in the abandoned city. We didn't see a Minotaur but Sage spotted a few peacocks when we were having lunch.

After we took some photos of the peacocks we went back to the apartment and had some dinner before going to bed.

The next day we spent the morning at the apartment and Zaddek and Sage found Cuddles the Kitten at the mini putt coarse and said goodbye to him before we left.

We went to the docks where we would get on the overnight ferry. We finally took back the Death Car and had a few hours before the ferry so we checked out the market and we went to a restaurant for dinner. Mom and Dad had seafood, Kaden and I had risotto, and Zaddek had grilled cheese. But Sage had the best order because she got an amazing ceasar salad. (She was very happy about having the best order.) After we ate we boarded the ferry and headed to Santorini.
                                                             

Total Miles Walked: 3 miles

The Death Car

 1 late night ferry

Europe Day Forty Nine to Fifty Two - Crete Wild Goats

We woke up to the loud shrill alarm on Dad's phone and got dressed and packed our bags. We got off the ferry and caught a taxi to our Air BnB Apartment. Once we were all moved in Mom, Dad and Sage took a bus in the rain to get a rental car. When they got back they were in a tiny 5 seat car with the smallest roof ever. We unpacked the groceries that they had brought back with them and headed into the apartment for the night and made some dinner before going to bed.

The next day we got in the tiny car and headed to Elafonisi, the famous beach with pink sand. All the kids were squished in the back row and could barely breath so the car was nicknamed "The Death Car". On the way to the beach we saw a group of wild goats on the side of the cliff.

We got out of the car and took some photos before getting back on the road.We saw a few more goats on the side of the road which was odd because they are supposed to be quite rare. We kept going up the mountain and took the corner to see a roadblock of wild goats.

We had to honk the horn so that they would get off of the road before we kept driving. Once they left we rode the last thirty minutes to the pink sand beach. On the way we also saw some sheep and ram on the side of the mountain.

 We poured out of the Death Car and hiked a long way around and down to the beach. Once we were there I found some really small shells in the sand and collected half a bag full of them. Zaddek and Mom found purple ink shells and Sage really liked the pink sand.

There was a storm brewing on the horizon so we started the hike up the mountain. On the way up we saw a really good vantage point of the beach.

After we left we rode home in the Death Car. Once we were home we had some dinner and researched good places to go in Crete before heading to bed. The next day we went to a beach that was said to have turquoise waters. We got out of the car and found a nice spot on the sand to sit down. We went for a swim in the ocean and even saw some stingrays on the sea bed. We got out of the water and built a Sandman on the beach for Christmas, which was coming fast.

 We had some sandwiches for lunch before starting to head home in the Death Car. The next day we were going to leave to go to the other side of Crete. So we decided to go to the beach that was just a block away from our Air BnB for a walk. Zaddek and I went for a quick swim knowing that we wouldn't be able to swim in an ocean for awhile.

Once we got out a nice stray dog came running up and he was very excited so he kept jumping up and down and scratching Sage. So Sage yelled at him to go away. But on our way back we saw him pick up my shirt in his mouth and drop it in the run off water from the town. I ran down the beach and wrung out my shirt and carried it home sopping wet. We packed up our stuff and my T-shirt which had dried in time and left in the Death Car to a resort on the other side of Crete.

Total Miles Walked: 7 miles

One Death Car