Don and the Lamborghini

Well we did not expect that Don would have the opportunity to see let alone sit in the seat and drive a Lamborghini...

When we drove up to our hotel in a very small town (about 100 people) called Tsoutsouros we parked right next to a Lamborghini...Dons eyes nearly popped out of his head. He said our loud "I wonder who owns that?"

Well, we went for our swim, went for dinner, went to town...and when we returned the Lamborghini was still there. Maybe the hotel owner owns the Lamborghini?

Don frets over this all night!

The next morning the two older people sitting on the front porch of the hotel say hello as we go for a morning swim...they are friendly and happy! As we come back to the hotel Don is wondering if he should ask them who owns the Lamborghini...and then out of no where he asks...and they wave him to it and say go ahead sit, sit...he asks for a picture...I am quite purple by this time...they say yes, yes go ahead take pictures!!!!!

So, here it is ...Don driving the Lamborghini...

 

Olive trees and .... have never seen so many!

Greece is a wonderful country full of richness and fruit of every description. We have seen olive trees (forests) everywhere we went. We have also seen oranges, figs, plums, pears, apples, peaches, apricots, grapes (of course) and yesterday bananas... I expected a lot of fruit trees but not ....

greenhouses!

The country is warm most of the year so why the towns of greenhouses? The growing season here is most likely two or even three crops per year. I was amazed at how many greenhouses there are in many places in Greece from north to south...literally greenhouse landscape the size of fairly large towns. Actually larger than some towns here...

 

But then there are always the olive groves...nicely laid out against the harshest of landscapes... this is Greece!

 

Tie up your dogs and let your goats run wild!

On mainland Greece we noticed many times that there were many places where the sheep or goats were watched very carefully by herd dogs...not the ordinary Sheppard we are used to but very large white and black colored dogs that mingled freely with the sheep or goats.  Greek Sheep dog
We were told that a farmer or goat/sheep herder would count the dogs at the end of the day not the goats or sheep. If there was a dog missing it meant that the dog was guarding a missing sheep or goat. The dog will not leave the goat or sheep alone at night. The dogs are raised with the sheep/goats and protect them staunchly.

But, here on the Island of Crete we have seen a number of large herds of goats just running wild with no person and no dogs guarding them! We wondered about this and then we saw that there were dogs tied up at homes and workshops. So, here on Crete the dogs do not guard the animals but are tied up and the animals run wild. Interesting! We will watch to see if this changes...
Well today we did see more goats and sheep on the road but they were fenced into pastures...but still no dogs guarding them.
We have now learned from a few conversations that the herders let the sheep graze up on the mountains and take their dogs out to bring them in... I guess there are no predators here on Crete (other than humans).
 

Up the mountain...down the mountain...to the sea

Day 20 Stavros to Plakias via southern route

Well I think we did the most switchbacks today than ever before. We counted 27 switchbacks and 37 big curves getting from the top of a mountain to the ocean at the bottom. The road in most places was only one car wide and the car coming up the hill had to wait for the car coming down the hill to make the turn before it proceeded around the turn...

The shoreline here is very rugged with a lot of rock and jagged cliffs. But, the sea is like a song with the waves crashing melodically on the shore just meters from our patio door! The deep blue Aegean waters are stunningly bright with the whitecaps rolling toward the shore and breaking on the large black rocks.

 

The power went out in the entire town of Plakias as we were walking from the Taverna where we ate dinner back to the hotel tonight. We had a wonderful medley of samplings of Cretan food at the Sophia resturant.

You are wondering (no doubt) why so many times the food is half eaten before we take a picture...simple answer...it looks so good we forget to take the picture first! I am getting better at remembering the picture but Don still digs in to the food first!

So, we had nothing to do but star watch...Don pulled a big, thick blanket from the cabinet , took the pillows from the bed and put it all out on the balcony. We laid there and watched the stars moving across the dark velvet sky with no lights to be seen at all! It was pure magic....not something that will be easily forgotten.

 

From Delphi to ...Ahhhh beautiful Crete!

Day 18 Part 1: Delphi to Athens airport to fly on Aegean Airlines

Well the day started pretty good with a nice breakfast and then the ancient site of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi Temple of Apollo at Delphi
as well as the Temple of Athena. Temple of Athena
Really enjoyed the climb up and down the mountains. Both sites are well preserved and he paths are easy to navigate. We took lots of pictures as usual and discussed our own versions of what may have happened here 2000 years ago. The museum was also great...

We laughed about walking on the same stones as the ancients did and asked the Oracle what the weather would be like for the rest of our trip... sunny and warm with no chance of rain!

We drove straight through to Athens and ended up at the airport a few hours earlier than we planned but that was OK because neither of us like the stress of trying to cut things to close. The Athens airport as usual was a hectic enviornment. We found the line for Aegean airlines and stood in line for about 30 minutes before we made it to the counter to be told we could not check our bags because this line was only for the flight to Frankfurt...ok go and stand in another line for 30 minutes! Got the bags checked and then found our boarding gate...stand in line for another 30 minutes. Wait no...we cannot go through security because they have reserved this security check point for the flight going to Milan which is late... ok would be nice to know this...some signs would be appreciated... and the lady came and asked if we were lined for gate B1...yes...but no one mentioned the Milan flight!
Ok go get something to eat to wait for the time to go through security for Chania, Crete!
Finally made it through security and made the uneventful flight to Chania.
The airport at Chania was worse than Athens...it was lined three or four rows deep from one end of the airport to the other and out the door and along the complete sidewalk with people waiting to check in for flights to the Scandinavian countries... we couldn't believe the number of people!

The person who delivered our rental car (camel) said it was like this four days a week... oh boy! This was supposed to be a open car... the only thing open abut it was the doors! The roof did not fully open, the bak did not fold down nor did the zippers to take off the windows work,,,it was a mess! We ended up changing it for a closed car!