Ah, Crete, how I love you so....
We have to leave Crete tomorrow and I am so sad. We have really enjoyed our "relaxtation" here in Paleochora. You would think with two weeks we would have seen the whole island, as there is much to see. But we just have not had the desire. We have been very content hang out and to only explore within a one hour drive radius of our base. We have been riding our bikes, reading, hiking and playing paddle ball on the beach. I think we all needed this rest stop. Traveling the world is hard work!
We chose well in picking Paleochora for our base as it is close to excellent hiking. Mike wrote earlier about our hike in Samaria. That was 17 km of downhill. We all realized that we were sore the next day when we descended the stairs of the apartment! Funny. We also hiked the Agia Irini gorge which was equally gorgeous, but not as long. The gorge itself is only 7km long and then most people walk on the road 5.5 km down to Sougia to catch the boat ferry. When we were getting ready for this hike, Mike was encouraging me to plan to ride my bike to go retrieve the car, like he did with the Samaria gorge hike. I love a good bike ride, but I was not into that sort of adventure - when Mike says something is challenging, it is really hard. I chose to turn around at the 7km end of the gorge and hike back up the gorge and retrieve the car right away and drive down to meet everyone. This way we didn't have to pay for the ferry and I got to hike uphill, AND I got to drive the manual transmission car on the curvy roads! What a bonus.
Just two days ago we hiked to the ruins of Lissos (300 BC). This hike starts 4km outside of Paleochora proper. We rode our bikes out to the trail head and then hiked the 7km to Lissos and back. The ruins were pretty sparse, but there was a nice mosaic in the temple of Asklepios. It is amazing to me that these places are still around given the time exposed to the elements and earthquakes etc.
I am so pleased that we have been able to hike in most of the countries we have visited. The kids are agile, strong hikers now. We do hear a fair amount of whining at times, but in general they are strong and up for a good challenge. This is good because we hope to continue seeking out the hiking opportunities throughout the rest of our trip. And of course, when we get back to Ouray....
I had to replace my running/hiking shoes this week. Thankfully there is a sports store here. It is no Ouray Mountain Sports, of course, but they do carry New Balance.
As an aside, Mike and I both think Crete would be a great place to do a bike tour. The roads have decent paving and very little traffic (at least on this side of the island). There are little towns everywhere offering places to stay and good wine! And the scenery is amazing, including the adorable goats everywhere! Crete is on the list for future trips.
We have to leave Crete tomorrow and I am so sad. We have really enjoyed our "relaxtation" here in Paleochora. You would think with two weeks we would have seen the whole island, as there is much to see. But we just have not had the desire. We have been very content hang out and to only explore within a one hour drive radius of our base. We have been riding our bikes, reading, hiking and playing paddle ball on the beach. I think we all needed this rest stop. Traveling the world is hard work!
We chose well in picking Paleochora for our base as it is close to excellent hiking. Mike wrote earlier about our hike in Samaria. That was 17 km of downhill. We all realized that we were sore the next day when we descended the stairs of the apartment! Funny. We also hiked the Agia Irini gorge which was equally gorgeous, but not as long. The gorge itself is only 7km long and then most people walk on the road 5.5 km down to Sougia to catch the boat ferry. When we were getting ready for this hike, Mike was encouraging me to plan to ride my bike to go retrieve the car, like he did with the Samaria gorge hike. I love a good bike ride, but I was not into that sort of adventure - when Mike says something is challenging, it is really hard. I chose to turn around at the 7km end of the gorge and hike back up the gorge and retrieve the car right away and drive down to meet everyone. This way we didn't have to pay for the ferry and I got to hike uphill, AND I got to drive the manual transmission car on the curvy roads! What a bonus.
Just two days ago we hiked to the ruins of Lissos (300 BC). This hike starts 4km outside of Paleochora proper. We rode our bikes out to the trail head and then hiked the 7km to Lissos and back. The ruins were pretty sparse, but there was a nice mosaic in the temple of Asklepios. It is amazing to me that these places are still around given the time exposed to the elements and earthquakes etc.
I am so pleased that we have been able to hike in most of the countries we have visited. The kids are agile, strong hikers now. We do hear a fair amount of whining at times, but in general they are strong and up for a good challenge. This is good because we hope to continue seeking out the hiking opportunities throughout the rest of our trip. And of course, when we get back to Ouray....
I had to replace my running/hiking shoes this week. Thankfully there is a sports store here. It is no Ouray Mountain Sports, of course, but they do carry New Balance.
As an aside, Mike and I both think Crete would be a great place to do a bike tour. The roads have decent paving and very little traffic (at least on this side of the island). There are little towns everywhere offering places to stay and good wine! And the scenery is amazing, including the adorable goats everywhere! Crete is on the list for future trips.
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