August 2015 - Crete - Greece

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August is the time when you need to enjoy some sort of sun, unfortunately the UK does not provide enough of this so Crete it is!

This holiday was found by my sissy, Jess, and we were set to go with a mother, aka Granny, and baby Arthur, in tow. Travelling with children is hard, however, we get to push in all the time which makes it better!

Before going we were worried about the euro money troubles. On arrival the Island seemed to be functioning well with shops still open, people working, buses running, and money being spent.

Crete is the 5th largest island in the Mediterranean Sea and it is Greeces biggest. It's located in the Aegean Sea and has brilliant mountain landscapes as well as clean beaches and hot sunshine. We stayed in Rethymno north of the island about an hour away from the capital Heraklion.

On arrival it did rain....however, on a positive note it was that hot that it cooled down the steaming hot sun! We stayed in a hotel called Marvel Sands Hotel. We ended up in a first floor room which was clean however was not practical for baby. They were extremely helpful and let us move to the ground floor the second day which was a lot bigger and better. Although the air con was in the bedroom of one room? Odd but we didn't need it anyway as we were out in the sun and the nights were not uncomfortable.

First day suns out we head to the beach! The sun loungers are a complete waste of money but the fact you can be comfy is i guess a bonus. We led out and went for a swim in the sea. We managed to get Arthur a floaty which had a roof to keep the sun off his delicate head. It also had the added joy of the slogan 'Have a fun!" We did certainly do this! The beach its self wasn't all sandy it had tiny pebbles just before going in the sea but this wasn't bothersome. The sand however was stuck in every piece of clothing, towel and bag!

Every afternoon after enjoying sites and trips we really loved hanging out in the pool. They had three different pools we could use including two shallow pools. Arthur could then put his feet on the floor and kind of float and walk about! He took to standing on one side of the pool and I would scoot to him humming the jaws theme tune! He loved it! The hotel entertainment was, how can I describe this? Not to everyone's taste perhaps. They took to coming out by the pool every so often turn on a speaker, blast out some music and yell down a microphone. This part was not fun and not many people got involved!

We picked up a couple of leaflets at reception and decided to get on a yellow train tour to The Holy Monastery of Arkadi. It looked interesting and what child doesn't like a land train ride! FYI he slept most of the journey, d'oh!! The train picked us up right outside the hotel and the sun was scorching, we lathered up with sun cream to look like slippy oiled body builders, minus the toned muscles! The train took us through villages up into the hills. We had a great view of the tallest mountain in Crete, Timios Stavros, and back down to the stunning blue sea and beaches.

On route to the monastery we were given the facts about why it is a national symbol of Greece. During the Cretan Revoloution against the Turkish in 1866 the people in the monastery sacrificed themselves in order to stop the Turkish from taking them into slavery. They gathered in a bunker and blew themselves up when the Turkish had arrived in the monastery. This act of heroism and self sacrifice succeeded in changing the course of Cretan history.

The monastery isn't big or grand but it serves the purpose for the monks and nuns who still worship there. There is a dead tree in the courtyard which still has a Turkish bullet wedged into it! The monastery is surrounded like a fortified complex and has a number of different entrances allowing sheltered tunnels on the inside which have green pretty plants growing over the sides adding to the peaceful atmosphere.

After a few hours here and Jess spending €2 each to get in. We got back on the train and whizzed through the streets of Crete back to a small village for a drink stop and then back to the hotel. The flags outside the hotel waved us back in and baby Arthur was very keen to point and say flag.... A lot! He is so clever!

The next day we were prepared to the get the bus into the old town of Rethymno we waited at the bus stop, the bus came, and we found out at this point we can't pay on the bus you need to get a ticket from the shop. This is vital peice of information that was missed on explanation about the buses! The buses run every half and hour but this is questionable, we were on Greek time. We opted for more luxurious transport and got a taxi.

We had a boat trip booked with a tour operator called dolphin, we chose to go on the speed boat across the island to the pirate caves. We climbed on and sat relaxing while the boat sped across the ocean, Jess felt sea sick and Arthur fell asleep, all was going well! The boat took us along the north coast with views of the shore line beaches and towns set behind. Further along we came to cliff faces with small caves dotted along the side. We entered the first cave and the sea was very blue and you could see the sea flood. There was little information given about the caves. Further along we came to a cove with a natural arch created in the cliff pointing out to sea. There was a man stood out on this with a video camera, so waved at him!

The trip back to shore was so fun we hit the biggest waves and flew up into the air and would hit back down with a bump. Jess then turned a funny shade of green and Arthur cried! I however thought it was the best fun ever! Although it was a little sore on the body as I had my appendix removed two weeks ago.

Walking around Rethymno was lovely although it was absolutely boiling there was a nice breeze that blew through the small ally's every so often. The streets were clean and there was very little hustle and bustle from other tourists or shop keeper/restaurants. We did a bit of shopping in the quaint little shops then headed back to the hotel. In the evening Jess and I went out and brought mum some presents from the supermarket... I still haven't seen her wear the beautiful clip we purchased!

We had a great last day where we relaxed, read a book, wondered to the shops, we had such a good time and hope we can all do it again another time.

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