Crete, Greece

     Our first day in Crete and it was a long one. We got in Friday night around 9 o'clock. We had to lug our heavy bags for a half hour to our hotel. It turns out that its located in questionable part of town. We had dinner at a beachfront restaurant that overprices their drinks but serves tasty food at a reasonable price. On Saturday morning, we hoofed it back across the city thinking we were going to our car rental place. Google Maps failed us and took us to the wrong spot. Yay! After asking a few kiosk guys, we finally found one that recognized the name of the company we wanted and pointed us in the right direction. By this time, we'd lost two pounds of sweat. To boot, the company informed us that the GPS we'd ordered and paid for wasn't available so we were going have to navigate the island on our own. Not to worry though, they would refund us the money for the GPS and give us a map. Double yay! The ride to the western part of Crete was nice but finding our hotel took a couple of hours and an expensive phone call. Instead of doing something, we went to the beach again. Afterwards, we caught a bus in Chanía to check it out. It's a nice town and we walked around a bit and had a nice dinner. Here are some pictures from our day.

     

We have decided to make a list of things we've learned so far in Greece.

1. Crosswalks are for parking your motorcycle, not crossing the road. Even the police don't stop at them.

2. Real Greek salads don't have lettuce.

3. It's not hard to understand why their economy is in dire straits after seeing their work ethic. You'll never see people work harder to give you an excuse to go away than to simply do their job.

4. Greeks price sun block as if it were gold. And people pay those prices.

5. Everything tastes betta with feta. Yes, I said betta.

6. If a car hits you while crossing the street, the ambulance won't arrive for an hour. See number 3.

7. Traveling via ferry sounds romantic but its really a pain in the ass.

8. Always check the gas tank, not gauge, on your 4 wheeler.

9. Don't wipe and throw that paper in the toilet!

10. Don't drink the tap water either!

11. Greek burgers don't come on a bun, thus forcing you to eat them with a knife and fork.

12. The cats here know how to play you for food. It's not a long meow, just a whimper and pouty eyes.

13. If a guy out front of a restaurant tries to get you to come in, run.

14. People here think that by addressing you as "my friend" you will let them rip you off.

15. Greek roads are so confusing that neither Google Maps, nor the ones made by Greeks themselves will serve you any good. Just keep asking people along the way and hope for the best. Carry a GPS. We tried but rule 3 got us.

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