part 1

After a good night's sleep we wake up in our apartment. We have breakfast outside under the umbrella next to our own swimming pool. After breakfast and coffee we drive to Pefki. This is a small village in the mountains at the top of the Pefki gorge. From here we have a beautiful view over the mountains and the gorge. We drink a Nescafé and enjoy the view. Then we drive to Kato Pervolakia. The drive there and the view of the gorge of the same name are beautiful. The village itself is not very special. Then we drive to Moni Kapsa, an Orthodox monastery on the coast. Access only with long trousers. The monastery is still inhabited by monks. Higher up the mountain above the monastery is the cave where Yerontoyiannis, an illiterate monastic, who was instrumental in the re-establishment of the monastery after its destruction by the Turks, regularly retreated. There is a small altar in his honor. Yerontoyiannis was illiterate and therefore not canonized by the Greek church, but is seen by the Cretan as a kind of saint.
We drive back towards Makry Giallos and have lunch at Taverna Oasis. Then back to the apartment, where we cool off in the pool. We relax and wait for Giannis, one of the owners of the complex, for the check-in.

In the evening we drive back to the village center and drink a cocktail at Bar Olympico on the beach. Then we walk to restaurant Elia for dinner. Reasonable food with a view of the sea and not too expensive.
Back home and we watch Dutch TV online.

Weather: sunny, 32 degrees.

We have breakfast outside beside the swimming pool. After coffee we drive to the Lasithi plateau. That is a long drive: more than two hours. We stop in Malia for coffee. Malia is hyper-touristy with lots of quad rentals, booze cruises and hordes of scantily clad youngsters. After coffee we leave this hell hole of a resort and take the road into the mountains. This seems like a different world. After another half an hour we arrive in Tzermiádho. This is the largest village on the Lasithi plateau. This plateau is located in the mountains at an altitude of 840 meters, but not on top of the mountains. It is a plain at an altitude, surrounded by mountain peaks. In sleepy Tzermiádho we have lunch at the Kronio tavern, which is completely geared to French visitors. The owner is married to have a French wife, as it turns out. Apparently there is a French tourist resort nearby that sends all its guests to this tavern. The owner is talking constantly. The food is nothing special and partly comes out of a microwave. Erik takes souvlaki and I take mousaka. The service is friendly, to the point of amicable. We get some fruit as desert and we decline the offer of a raki.

We drive on to the Kronos cave. The cave is a cemetery from the Neominoic period (3600-1450 BC). From the road a path and then a staircase (no signpost) leads to the cave. Inside there is not much Minoan to be seen in the dark, but it is still special. We then continue to Ayos Konstantínos. A very small village, known for its embroidery and looms. We drink a soft drink before we continue to Psychro. Near this place is the cave of Zeus, also known as the cave. In this cave the supreme god Zeus is said to have been born as a child of Rhea and Kronos. It is a kilometer long climb to the entrance here. This distance can also be covered with a mule, but we climb up under our own steam in about 15 minutes. Once at the top, a concrete staircase leads down again into the cold cave. At the bottom of the cave are large stalactites and stalagmites. It is cold and damp, but beautiful. Back upstairs we drink a juice in one of the many food and beverage outlets around the parking lot. Then we drive back to Makry Giallos.

In the evening we eat at Mina's Place on the harbor. Very simple, far from exceptional, but nutritious.

Weather: sunny and warm 30 degrees. A lot of wind. But on the Lasithi plateau it is a lot cooler: 23 degrees, a relief.

We have breakfast again at the edge of our swimming pool. Then coffee on the terrace. We then drive to Agio Nikolaos. That is a drive of more than an hour. We park in a guarded parking lot. We have to park exactly in the parking bay designated to us and indicate how long we will be staying. We walk to Migomis, a café with a view over the inner lake of the town. It is quite a climb, via stairs and an ascending road. Once we have arrived we have a beautiful view of the lake, but there are no cakes to accompany the coffee. Monday is apparently not a good day for cakes. We drink a capucino and walk back down and walk around Agio Nikolaos. It is busy and touristy, but fortunately with a bit more class and tranquility than in Malia. After the walk we go by car to the church of Saint Nicholas, which gave the town its name. The 12th century church now finds itself on the grounds of a 5-star hotel. We are not allowed to park on the hotel grounds - only just outside as we are not hotel guests. The young but friendly doorman knows no mercy – probably afraid to loose his job. We park outside the grounds and can visit the church. The key is at the reception, but another interested couple have already fetched it. We tag along. It is a very small church, with peeling frescoes from the 8th or 9th century and belonging to the oldest existant frescoes in Greece.
After visiting the church we drive to Elounda, about 12 km north of Agios Nikolaos. There we have lunch on the boulevard. After lunch we look for a boat that will take us to Spinalonga. Spinalonga is a Venetian fortress on an island off the coast, which served as a leper colony in the 19th century. After some searching we find the boat, which is about to leave. The crossing takes about fifteen minutes. On the island we have an hour and ten minutes to explore the location. We walk around the island. There are living quarters, a church and fortifications. The Venetians controlled the bay from the fortress. The fortress was so impregnable that it was not surrendered to the Turks until 1715, 50 years after the rest of Crete had already been occupied by the them. After we have walked around the island I go up the stairs to view the bastion. Then wait for the boat back. We will be back around 4 pm. We drive back to Makry Giallos.

In the evening we eat at Gusto. A restaurant with more ambitions than the neighbors. Italian inspired and excellent food and service. Erik takes a bruschetta first and then ravioli. I took vegetable spring rolls and then lamb chops. Plus a Greek Merlot. It was fine. Unfortunately they don't serve dessert. Then straight to the coffee.

Weather: very windy. Sunny and 31 degrees

It has been very stormy last night. Today it is still very windy. That's why we have breakfast inside. After breakfast we drive to Sitia. That is half an hour's drive to the northeast. Not a special place and not very touristy either. There are many terraces at the harbor front. We drink coffee on one of them. Then we walk around a bit. It is also very windy here. There are white crest on the sea water and the waves crash over the coastal road. We then continue to Moni Toplou, a monastery further up the mountain in a northeasterly direction. It is a small monastery, but very prosperous. Numerous valuable icons and engravings can be seen in the church and museum, including a highlight of the Cretan religious art Megas ei Kyrie - God be almighty. The monastery also practices viticulture and has a wine shop. The monastery owns a large part of the agricultural land in the area. In the Second World War it played a role in the resistance against the German occupation forces. Attention is also paid to this in the museum. We continue to the northeast coast, to Vaï. Here is a sandy beach surrounded by a palms grove. It is said to be the largest grave of Vai native date palms in Europe. We have lunch here in a restaurant with a view over the beach and the palms. After lunch we drive south along the coast to Zakros. A Minoan palace has been excavated near the beach at nearby Kato Zakros. You can clearly see the contours of the palace and the map of the palace . Other than that, there isn't much left. After the tour we drink a juice on the beach at a beach bar, Akrogiali. Then we drive back to Makry Gialos. The road leads over the mountain ridge, which we climb through numerous hairpin bends. Then we drive over a mountain plateau for a while to descend to sea level near Makry Giallos.
We have a beer, a splash in our pool and then watch the Vuelta on TV.

In the evening we eat for the second time at Faro on the promenade. It is remarkably quiet in the restaurants. Have the tourists gone home? Or is it the strong wind that keeps people at inside? The terrace is protected from the wind with transparent canvas.

Weather: partly cloudy, later sunny. Strong wind, 6 Beaufort. 24 degrees.

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