Trip to Crete - Day 4

On the fourth day of our holiday we went down to the beach! There was a minibus down to the beach but in the off season it only ran a few times a day. So we timed it well. We had a big breakfast and then wandered round the hotel, looking at the cats and then we sat on the terrace. Lee was playing on his Steam Deck and I was cross stitching. It was a Christmas themed cross stitch so it was a bit absurd to be doing it in twenty five degree heat in Crete! 

We got the bus down to the beach at 1pm. It was a tiny little bay, with two shops, three cafes/bars, a restaurant, and a couple of hotels. Oh and a cash machine, which was helpful. We went into one of the shops and bought souvenirs including tzatziki herbs for me and my mum and some olives and olive oil for my stepdad. We went down on the beach which was rocky rather than sandy. There were sunbeds and parasols but we went into the shade. I wanted to go in the sea, so I made my way down. There was quite steep shelf on the beach so it was quite hard for me, but I managed it eventually. I swam lots and there was something that was maybe a broken jetty that came out really far, so I went over to that and walked around on the submerged rocks. 

I struggled to get out as well, because of the bank and because it was rocky so it was hard to get a purchase on. Lee came and helped me, which was good. But I'm glad I swam! It was lovely. We sat in the sun for a bit so I could dry off a lot. Then we went into one of the bars for a drink and pudding. It was empty except for us and the waiter was lovely. I got a ridiculous cocktail and we were brought some nibbles, and then I had a crepe with nutella and banana, and Lee had chocolate cake and ice cream. It was lovely! So nice to just sit by the sea. The return minibus left at 4pm so we went back to the stop and waited for a bit. 

I think we went back to the pool for a bit but the sun was moving away so it wasn't as warm. As usual we got showered and dressed and ready for tea. On this night I had more of the Greek bruschetta type stuff which was lovely, I could have eaten that all week to be honest. As usual, it was a chilled day but I'm glad we went down to the beach

The book I was reading, which I had high hopes for but ended up not really liking. I left it on the hotel book shelf for someone else to pick up

A better look at one of the baby kittens. I definitely wanted to steal this one and bring it home with me

View from the terrace where we sat most of the morning

And here's me cross stitching, haha

Down in the bay, it was literally so tiny but so cute

Close up of the rocky beach when I was lying down. We looked for sea glass but didn't find any

Proof I was in the water

Here we are in the bar which overlooked the water, which was nice

Lee and his pudding - I can't find a photo of mine which seems unlike me!

Schnapps as we were paying the bill

As we were waiting for the minibus, looking up towards our hotel. It was so steep!

As you can see the pools had no sun on them by this time

This rock in Heraklion Bay looks a bit like a lizard so there's a myth about how a giant lizard invaded Crete so Zeus turned it into a rock, because of course there's a myth about it

Carob rusks with tomatoes and whipped feta, so good

Moonlight on the water last thing at night

And here I am in this dress, which I love for being ridiculous

Trip to Crete - Day 3

On the Thursday of our holiday we got up, had breakfast, and then headed to the spa for 11am. We did meet one of the cats again on the way, who immediately came to sit with Lee. He is like some kind of cat whisperer, I swear. The spa was in the depths of the hotel. There was a lounger, a sauna, a steam room, and a plunge pool, which was cold. Lee doesn't like getting hot so he just stayed in the cold pool and read stuff on his tablet while in there (it was on the side!). I went from hot to hotter to cold and around again. It was a nice way to spend a bit of time, and a bit of a treat as we were on holiday. It was only 30 euros each. 

I don't think we had lunch, maybe we had had a bigger breakfast, I'm not sure. I took a picture from one of the terraces, which may have been the terrace outside the restaurant, so maybe we did actually eat there? I can't remember. By 2.30 I was under a parasol reading a book, for sure. We had a couple of drinks and ice cream in the afternoon. We went back to the room for a nap and a shower. I took a photo of the sunset because it was really pretty. 

About 7pm we headed down to the pool where there was a little market on. There were loads of useful signs around the hotel which told you things that were happening each day, so I had seen that and said we should go down. There was a stall selling Greek sweet wine, which tasted like port, so I bought some of that. There was a stall selling skincare, which Lee got some of. The seller was very sweet for that. Then there were some craft things and I ended up getting a present for me and my mum. We then headed to the pool bar where I totally let a bartender upsell a cocktail to me because he was just very sweet about it. It was some kind of colada so wasn't included in the all inclusive but I wanted to get one anyway. Lee had a milkshake. We sat by the bar for a bit, which was nearly empty, before heading upstairs for tea. I was wearing this mustard coloured dress which is one of my favourites for summer holidays because it's so thin. I also really like the neck of it. However, as it cooled down a lot at night I had tights on with it instead of just shorts.

A quiet day, again just something we really needed. 

Good morning from the balcony!

Here's Lee making friends with the cat again

Views around the little spa. It was fun to experience

View from the terrace at lunchtime

Under my parasol in one of my halter neck swimming costumes, which I've had a couple of years but only really wear on holiday

From under the parasol

This may have been the day that I waded into this pool all the way up to my waist, which was quite enough thank you

Ice creams later on

Sunset from the balcony

Milkshake and cocktail at the pool bar

And here I am in my mustard coloured dress last thing at night

Trip to Crete - Day 2

On the first full day of our holiday we got up and went down for breakfast. Again there was plenty of choice for food - but the drinks were a bit of a letdown as they didn't have decaf coffee. We did discover a couple of days later that there was a hot chocolate machine in the dining room, which was good, but the juices weren't up to much either. No matter! It also rained really heavily a couple of times, but then the sun came out and it dried up, so that was good. I put on my new sandals - I bought them after our cruise last September and then put them in storage in February so I didn't have them out to wear over the summer, which was a shame. 

The hotel we were staying in had a spa so in the morning we decided to go there and see what was what. As we were walking round, we came across some stray cats! I know Greece is famous for cats and I was so excited to see some! At one point in the gardens there was a mum and her three kittens, all of whom were wandering about and playing. And just near the spa there was a mum and two very little kittens. They were all so cute!

We went into the spa and liked the sound of a 90 minute appointment and the price was low, so we made a booking for the next day when they had some availability. We went back into the lobby of the hotel and sat there for a bit, I think. I was reading - I had started this Ruth Rendell book that I unearthed when I unpacked all my books. I think it belonged to my mum originally. I really enjoyed it. 

I think we had lunch but I can't remember exactly. Some days we had a bigger breakfast and didn't bother with lunch, and some days we had both. We went down to the pool anyway and spent the afternoon there. I was under a parasol. We waded in the baby pool as it was too cold to swim elsewhere. It was nice and sunny but there were clouds passing over - I took a picture of one coming in. I tried the sangria which was lovely, I had more than one of them during the week for sure. 

After a rest and a shower we went down for tea. I don't eat a lot of bread, I don't really care about it, but Lee does so he ate loads, but I noticed these rye rusk things and tapenade, tomato, and feta. There were instructions about how to make it with herbs and olive oil, like the Greeks do, so I did that, and it was delicious! I also had an ouzo sunrise which was strong so I didn't bother with another one of them. 

We just sat and I read and Lee played on his Steamdeck, in the lobby of the hotel where there was a bar. Oh I think we probably went in the shop this night, too. I bought postcards and a tacky magnet - we love tacky magnets! The shop was in the hotel. 

When we went to bed I took the last two photos from the balcony as it was a full moon and the moonlight looked so pretty off the sea. It was such a pleasure to be able to see the sea from where we were!

These were my lovely new sandals, they were comfy too. My toenails were a gorgeous aqua shimmer colour from Barry M

Mama cat number one and her kittens, so cute. 

And here were the two littlest kittens, they really can't have been very old! 

My view from under the parasol - this picture took accidentally when I was faffing with my music, but I liked it so I kept it

This black cloud was moving over us though

Lemonade for Lee and sangria for me

The book I was reading. I will have to read more by her

Ouzo sunrise later in the day

The Greek food I put together - it was basically bruschetta but, like, Greek

And finally the little peninsula we were on in the moonlight

Trip to Crete - Day 1

At the beginning of October Lee and I went to Crete for a week! We had booked it months ago, knowing we would need some rest and relaxation after the house move and everything else that has gone on this year. We planned to do very little and we really did very little. We didn't care where we went so I looked at plenty of places but eventually we booked an all inclusive holiday near Heraklion, in Crete. The hotel was called Blue Bay Resort and the reviews said it was lovely but the pools were cold, so we were prepared for that. Anyway, we packed and got everything ready the night before, because we had to leave the house at 3am. 

Yep, 3am. We were flying at 6am, through our choice, so we left the house at 3am and I drove us across Woodhead Pass to Manchester Airport. We had booked Meet and Greet parking which took us a while to find but we eventually did and we headed inside. Check in was easy and security was a doddle. They've simplified it and it took two seconds. Once we were through we got seats and got hot chocolate from Pret a Manger. It was so early and so ridiculous, haha. We knew we would be hungry later so we bought sandwiches in WHSmith before boarding the plane. 

We had booked with Jet2, we haven't been with them before but I would recommend them. The aeroplane seats were comfortable and really quite spacious. We both listened to music and read things, and both fell asleep too, which made me lose one of my earbuds which was annoying. We had hot drinks and croissants on the plane so didn't end up eating our sandwiches. We landed about 12.15 local time and quickly got through security and everything and picked up our bags. I use a walking stick, as you know, and got to bypass queues in both airports which really helped me. We then headed out into the nice warmth, where we were greeted by friendly Jet2 staff who pointed us in the right direction for our transfer. We were with three young women who were in the same transport, and the driver brought a taxi round to us and set off. It was lovely to not have to stop here there and everywhere - we stopped at the girls' hotel first and then Lee and I maybe half an hour later. 

We arrived at the hotel about 1.45 and checked in. Lunch was finishing at 2pm so the receptionist told us to go down to get something to eat before going to our room, which was nice of her. The dining room wasn't busy which was good for me because it allowed me to get my bearings. There was a lot of choice and we ate well all week. I got salads and chilled red wine which was lovely. 

We went to our room, which was fine, like most hotel rooms abroad, but it did have a really lovely walk in shower which is good for me. The view from the balcony was lovely. We had paid a little bit extra to have a room in the main building which was good because the resort was on a very steep hill and there were rooms dotted all over and I would have struggled to walk to and from some areas. We got changed into swimming things and headed down to the main pools. 

As promise, they were freezing so we just dipped our feet in. The sun also wasn't totally over the pools for a lot of the day in October, which was basically fine for us. There was a bar by the pool and as we were all inclusive I started my way through the drinks. Some were better than others but it was nice to try them! 

We had showers about maybe 6pm before heading down the dining room for food. There were plenty of vegetarian choices and quite a few Greek dishes to try, so I was fine for food. I think we headed to bed early after the very early start, but I was wearing these pale blue Converse slip ons. As you know I really like the style but my white ones have had it so I got these on Vinted. I like the colour and will wear them a lot next year, but they are good for holidays too

Hot chocolates at 4.45am in the airport

Sunrise

Over some mountains, possibly Croatia?

And as we were arriving into Crete

My lunch - plenty of salads and fresh tzatziki and I'm happy

Chilled red wine in the dining room

View from the balcony, of the hamlet where we were staying which was basically hotels, 3 bars, 2 shops, and a beach

One of the pools when we got down there. The parasols were really good, we made a lot of use of them

A lot of drinks were included but I bought this one extra

And finally my new to me slip on Converse