Crete - Part Two

Working our way back up from the southern tips of the Mediterranean Sea toward Rome. A brief stop in Crete again, and tomorrow, a bonus return to Santorini!

We were less than enamored with Crete during our first stop a few weeks ago. Today, we put on our hikers and headed in a new direction, determined to find some sights worth praising. While we hiked at least 8 miles, the only real positives we could find were some nice people, a handful of fishermen, and one dog. Since the economic crisis, the city has let many of the public areas, to include what were once beautiful boardwalks, completely deteriorate. If I had $1 for every discarded plastic bottle, I could pay for this trip many times over. Many of the bushes looked like they'd been decorated for Xmas - plastic bottles stuffed everywhere and in between. Why? Why not recycle...why not put a bounty on the cans & bottles? You see them not only strewn in the landscape, but also floating in the beautiful waters.

As a whole, we're immensely impressed with the Mediterranean. Until this year, we'd only scratched the surface. Taking this deep-dive journey over here has been a great investment. Overall, the people, the cultures, the food, the dozens of beautiful islands are absolutely stunning. For the most part, we've found reasonable pricing and in some cases, downright cheap.

The only major negatives you'll find throughout this part of the world, at least major to me:

1. Pay toilets, or 'water closets' as they call them. I have a small bladder and need a bathroom break more often than average. Public restrooms are a very rare find, and if you DO stumble upon one, you need to pay - anywhere from $1 - $3. There's no such thing as just entering a restaurant or cafe and using the restroom - you must first buy something - anything. It's irritating. I think I've spent more on water closets than I have actually buying drinks!

2. The health issues associated with smoking haven't near the emphasis here. Literally EVERY port we've visited sport very lax public smoking regulations. In fact, there ARE none. Every restaurant, every table has an ashtray. You can smoke anywhere, anytime - doesn't matter. As a reformed smoker, I can sure appreciate the 'habit' itself, but having functioned so many years in America with tough, common sense laws and basic health courtesy to non-smokers, this was hard to get used to over here. Smokers are the majority, and the products are cheap in contrast. Not to sound like a goodie-two-shoes here, because I will smoke socially, even with the health issues I have, and wouldn't pass up a good cuban cigar under the right circumstances. But only to put the subject in perspective, it's like America was 40 years ago...smoke everywhere you go.

Once we hit Rome next Monday morning, we have a hotel within a block of Vatican City. We'll spend Monday afternoon and all day Tuesday & Wednesday touring. Cheryl purchased certain tickets before we left at the end of August to help us avoid the long lines, though I'm sure we'll encounter crowds along the way. We expect it, and will just let it roll. Thursday morning we catch a non-stop to Chicago - 12 hours - then a short 3-hour flight to Phoenix, arriving around 7pm. We have good seats, so we should be reasonably rested. We'll be done with this part of the world, leaving now only extreme western United Kingdom, the northern-most cape, polar caps, & parts of Russia. We'll tackle those regions beginning late May.

At the conclusion of our trip during the summer of '17, I'll be able to say I've made good on my marriage promise to Cheryl...that I'd give her the world.