Time for the Beach

Our second day of the weekend, we elected to drive down the west coast of Crete, along a spectacular “European Rambler Trail.” The road did, indeed, ramble – all around cliffs and mountain villages and along the coastline. After a quick stop off to see an old monastery (that was closed, so we didn’t get to see inside), we arrived at our destination, Elafonisi Beach, one of the prettiest beaches we’ve ever seen. I’ve already mentioned how clear the water is around Crete, but when we topped the rise  and our vista opened up to include Elafonisi, we both had huge, indrawn breaths. White sand, turquoise water, rocks to provide some topography, and something parents must love – a pool of water separated from the ocean and as shallow as toddler pools found at water parks. Elafonisi Beach actually has an island that is sometimes a peninsula. At high tide, visitors have to walk through the ankle deep water to reach the island. We were able to walk across a sand spit, with the gorgeous, clear ocean on our left and the shallow pool on our right. The day was sunny and warm, but very windy. So much so that it was too windy for us to set up our “borrowed,” hotel towels on the sand. But we lucked into a little spot tucked away in between the rocks which allowed shielding from the wind while not impeding our view. We enjoyed it so much that we scrapped all thoughts of any other activities for the day and lounged about for hours – what a perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

The "toddler" pool

We especially liked the warning against "unsolicited interference" and wondered who has the authority to allow solicited interference...and who exactly would solicit pollution anyway?