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I took a short vacation to Crete with my friends Torsten (Ossi),
Andy and Gyde. Here we are at the airport just after we
arrived. Don't we look like a happy bunch?
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We took the bus from the airport to the main town of Iraklion.
It's always cool to take public transportation when you
first come to a foreign country and can't speak the
language or can barely read the writing. Highly recommended.
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Iraklion is a bustling metropolis that survives from commerce
as much as from tourism.
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There is the fort 'Koules' on Iraklion harbor that was built by the
Venetians in 1303. Now it's a tourist attraction and
theater for local performances. Here are Gyde, Ossi and
Andy playing out their own Greek Tragedy (or is it Comedy?)
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Swallows circle the thermals above the fortess, can
you make them out in this photo?
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All over Crete they build hotels and apartments
for tourists, but this one tops them all.
The skinniest hotel I've ever seen!
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One of the coolest things we did we rent scooters and
tour around the island. These scooters were tough!
We rode them for miles up and down hills and
off-road down this steep and gravely road to the
seashore.
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A pleasant pause in a cave - you would not believe
how big this cave is, it went back and back and
back into the mountain.
Dang my legs were sunburned. Well that's what
2 years with no sun will do to ya.
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Supercop?
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Actually we had planned to leave Crete and see some
of the other Greek islands, but the ferry workers
were on strike. We were told time after time,
"Maybe tomorrow, maybe tomorrow." The strike
lasted 4 days, so I stayed on Crete the whole time.
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So we rented a car and took off to Hania on the west side
of the island. The car was a Fiat Panda - cute eh?
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We ended up in the tiny village of Stavros. Turns out that the
film "Zorba the Greek" (1964) with Anthony Quinn was filmed
here .We rented a nice apartment and make our own breakfast.
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Andy showed us how to make Greek style crepes.
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On Monday, we watched the World Cup Soccer match, Germany vs.
the USA. As you know, the US lost 0:1, but we played
well, don't you think?
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Evenings we had cocktails on the beach. The bartender
was a funny Bulgarian named Margarita.
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