Arriving in Crete, Saturday, 13 October

We arrived in Sitia on the island of Crete at 8am this morning. We had three flights and our plane literally puddle jumped across the Mediterranean. The second leg was about a five-minute flight and the last leg was ten minutes. We were the only passengers on the last leg. We stepped off the plane onto the tarmac. We could see nothing but the little runway, the water and a fuel truck on the edge of the tarmac. There were no buildings, just the four of us and the plane. Finally the pilot pointed around the plane. We hiked up the hill to the terminal.

As we loaded the car, the boys noted that Sitia didn’t look as busy or touristy as Lindos. No kidding Sherlock. We are the only ones here at the airport. The rental car was waiting in the driveway of the terminal as planned. Yeah! We have an orange Fiat Doblo in honor of upcoming Halloween, I guess. We drove out of Sitia through progressively smaller villages. We are in Kato Zakros, a little valley of olive trees in an otherwise barren, dry landscape. As we drove up to Stella’s Apartments, we passed Minoan ruins, herds of sheep and goats, big vegetable gardens, a beautiful beach and some taverns. Everything we need. There was even a rainstorm yesterday so the air is cool and clear and the world looks freshly washed and dusted. Stella says the taverns are great with fresh fish from the Med and vegetables from the gardens we passed. Sometimes I wonder what Doug is thinking when we head out on the road. Usually, he is the driver and I am itinerary planner. We rarely end up in the middle of a town, let alone a town if I have my choice. Lindos was the exception. He always seems up for the adventure. The one bummer is that the internet connection does not seem like it is as fast and convenient as we thought. We all want to video-conference with our family. Before the trip I had thought Turkey would be more internet-challenged. Ironically we had a much easier time finding fast, reliable internet connections in Turkey.