Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Hikes, monks and food



Our "Hello America!" neighbor-- he's great

Today started out very similar to yesterday— we took another hike, this time knowing which fence to go through to get the church on top of the hill. We learned yesterday from our landlord that all the little wire fences are to keep the goats and sheep out, so it’s chill if we just go through them as long as we close them after. We found the church which was all tiny and cute, then continued along the path that turned into a road. We followed the road for a while, just enjoying the gorgeous view. The pictures of the town and views don’t do it justice at all. The atmosphere here is so cool and everyone here is so nice that just adds so much character to the town. This morning, our neighbor greeted us with “Hello America!” and proceeded to help us find the right path. After our hike, we stopped at the village herb store, and Marianna, the shopkeeper, talked with us and put oils on us to sample.

We've seen this woman each day, she sits outside and crochets and attempts to tell us directions although she speaks no English
Finally found the church
Aryn overlooking the village
Our walk was lined by this wire fence that keeps the goats and sheep in/ out

You really can't even get a sense of how beautiful this place is....
Herb & Oil shop
We then went to a monastery not too far away, which was absolutely beautiful. We walked around there for a while before heading to lunch. The waiter at lunch was pretty funny, cracking jokes about Greece’s financial troubles, then gave us a history lesson about Crete which was interesting.
Flowers a the monastery
Some ancient tree that had shrapnel in it from a war
More pretty flowers
Monastery in the back

Walls that surrounded the church of the monastery

Front of the church 
Adorable kitty asleep in a tree
Finally--All the kids!


The reasons behind this amazing trip & villa
Then we headed off to the local beach, swam and laid out on lounge chairs. It was soo nice and relaxing. And it’s pretty cool that the sun doesn’t set here till about 9pm earliest. We were at the beach from like 3- 6pm and it was soo sunny and nice. Hopefully I got slightly tanner.
For dinner we headed up to the taverna on top of the hill that our landlord suggested that we go to. We had stopped by this morning on our hike to let them know we would be coming since some of the places around here need you to give them a two days heads up so that they can get fresh food--- it’s great. Anyways, we sat on the patio overlooking the entire town and ocean as the sun set. It was absolutely beautiful and the food was the best so far. 
Everyone!
The sky when we first sat down, the sun was already beginning to set

My brother and Dad

Cheers-ing to making it up huge hills, though tiny paths and past goats in our stick shift cars without dying 
Food Section (only got the appetizers... then I forgot once I started eating)
Spinach pies-- no cheese, so I was stoked 
Tzatziki  & Greek Salad 
Vine leaves stuffed with rice
Greek Salad
Homemade goat cheese-- our waitress's dad made it with his goats
The sun setting



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