So we last left off just having been spat out of the Suez Canal and full steam ahead for the Greek Islands. When we initially booked this journey – our next port of call was supposed to be Istanbul Turkey. However with the recent political turmoil and escalation in extremist activities- P and O decided to forfeit Turkey and gave us Crete and Athens instead. While we would have loved to have visited Istanbul we were happy to accept some Greek Islands.
Although Crete does have its archeological marvels – most notably the Minoan city of Knossos whose discovery proved that Minoans were the earliest civilisation in Europe exisiting around 1900 BC, what we were more in the mood for was some mixing with the locals – maybe a local taverna! So with this in mind – we decided to forgo any organised excursions and would see what the day would bring.
Once again parked immediately in front of the port was one of those convenient hop on off buses. At 15 euro each we jumped on and were soon weaving in and out of the local traffic. The wind was blowing in our hair, interesting stories about having sex with bulls was playing in our ears and I frequently was being smacked in the head by passing branches. And it was all brilliant. Glimpsing pristine Grecian beaches, ouzo drinking locals at little tavernas, historical ruins, our last stop just happened to be right in front of a bakery full of the most delicious and cheap goodies. Bellies full and all for less than 3 euros we just let our legs do the walking and meandered through marble paved streets. Full of interesting little shops and cafes staffed by friendly, English speaking locals, time went and our bellies emptied – it was time to find that taverna.
Spoilt for choice, twenty minutes later found us sitting, harbour view, beers in hand, perusing a huge menu. Despite Darryls warnings that the servings appeared large – I ignored him (after all when do the pictures ever truly depict the meal that arrives?) and proceeded to order. From the arrival of the first plate – a mountain of (warm?) dalmades, followed by plates of cheese balls, eggplant dip, crispy zucchini I had to admit I was wrong. Cracking up over the sheer amount of food in front of us we just dove in and did our best.
An hour later still laughing we couldn’t believe it when a huge plate of donut balls and ice cream was put in front of us along with a bottle of some local liquor, two shot glasses and the accompanying word “cheers”! Assuming it was their way of thanking us for being such good customers – we proceeded to tuck in to both the donuts and shots.
Another hour later – stomachs absolutely groaning we bade our farewells and slowly made our way back to the Arcadia weaving in and out of fascinating little streets. Back on board, Crete was farewelled with another top deck party. All in all – she had given us exactly what we had been looking for.
