Milos to Crete

Milos to Crete via Athens 

After dinner last night we retired onto our comfortable double hanging swing. With the lights of the town below us, I quietly played my Baby Taylor guitar and sang songs in hushed tones for my sweetheart until the wee hours. 

The morning sun streamed through the frosted glass of our front door to signal us to rise. Our bedroom was sunken and had a loft with an extra bed. We went through the dark roast illy espresso coffee we brought with us so I bought another container yesterday. Jill noticed that it was medium roast, which I have never seen before. I brewed us a pot and it was excellent. We got packed and then just relaxed until our taxi picked us up to take us to the airport. 

We managed to get our bags to follow us straight through to Chania, Crete which was a concern because our flights were on two different tickets. We were concerned because we had a one hour connection and didn't want to collect our bags and then line up to checkin and go through security again. Our flight to Athens was late, leaving us 15 minutes to connect! Our Aegean flight attendant arranged for a ‘Connection Ambassador’ to meet us as we got off the plane to lead us quickly through the terminal to our gate. We arrived just as they were boarding the bus to take us to the plane. It was tense. Aegean is a wonderful airline and one of the best in the world. Then the worry was … would our bags make the connection because it was a long bus ride to our jet.

It is a 40 minute flight to Chania, Crete. We waited and waited as almost everyone got their bags. There were just a few of us left when out popped our bags, we were so relieved. 

The line up for the bus to Chania was long and we were hungry and tired, so we took a cab. Even at 8 o'clock the traffic was horrendous. Our cabbie drove like a maniac through side streets to get us to our layover hotel across from the bus station. First order of business was to eat. The fish and chip restaurant across the road was highly recommended. Jill had bass with chips and yep, I had calamari. When we were about to leave, the waitress brought us some dough balls covered with honey and sprinkled with sesame seeds and a large bottle of raki, on the house. Cretan hospitality. We walked down to the Venetian Harbour, which was buzzing with activity. The shops were busy as were all of the restaurants. After getting my belt shortened at the shop where I bought it last year, we stopped to hear a duo play Greek music while nursing two small draught beers. Our day was complete. Off tomorrow at 12:45pm to Paleochora, the most south-western tip of Crete. It’s a spectacular bus ride up and over the mountains.