Crete Wrap-Up

I had a problem with the last couple of posts not uploading on time, so the timing may seem a little off. I left Crete on Sunday, which meant Nathan and I had a final Saturday to explore the island together. As much as we both wanted another "sit on the beach all day" day, we decided instead to explore some of the interior of the island. We'd read the Amari Valley is a beautiful region, and about three different people had asked me at one point or another if we'd visited a town called Argyroupoli.

Those are oranges filling the pickup truck - this was a great drive!

We began our little tour at the end of a peninsula in the itty-bitty town of Stavros. Parts of the movie
"Zorba the Greek" were filmed here, and the town boasts a pretty square with a concert stage, no less than four tavernas, a church, and a post office:

And that's all, folks. Stavros. But I fell in love with it anyway, to the point of taking a picture of a neglected house just off of the beach that I took to calling "My future home." We loved it so much that after driving a little bit in the Amari Valley (just as beautiful as described) and visiting the pretty towns of Spili and Argyroupoli, we headed back to Stavros for a little beach lounging at the end of the day.

Argyroupoli is a town with loads upon loads of fresh mountain springs pouring out of their ground. The townsfolk have cleverly built several tavernas around these springs, meaning each restaurant has some sort of interesting and beautiful water feature, from sheet waterfalls out of stacked stone structures to waterwheels to large fountains. Not only does it make for a pleasant meal, but the town was quite cool (literally cool, although also cool in the slang sense of the word). I imagine that on a hot summer day, this place would be a little piece of paradise.

Our drive gave me the chance to take more pictures of the tiny churches, with which I fell in love. I want one desperately. I did find out that they are memorials, so I don't want one for it's real purpose - just for playing, like a dollhouse.

In my previous posts, I forgot to mention an extremely important point about Crete. Dessert is free. We made the mistake of ordering dessert after our first few dinners. Then one night, we didn't - and when the server brought our bill, she also brought a dessert and raki (like grappa - a digestivo for after dinner). We thought it was just a nice restaurant. Then it happened again...and again. New friends finally informed us - dessert is free. You don't get to order something specific, but whatever you get will be delicious...and did I mention free. I'm a sucker for a bargain. Here's a Chania photo wrap-up: