A Room With A View

This view:came from this outhouse: It jutted out over the cliff-edge a couple of feet. For those able to successfully overcome any sense of Vertigo, their Elimination products are plastered to the cliff-face directly below the open hole - or onto the canyon floor thousands of feet below.

Classy ruins to classy outhouses. You'll get it all over the next few days as we post on our trip.

The first three days we explored Crete.

Hiking the Samaria Gorge(ous).
We camped near the trailhead, so we could get an early start. Day-hikers would shortly be coming in by the busload, but for awhile we would have the place to ourselves. It was getting hot by the time we hit the canyon floor. A negative-one-second glance at the siren stream preceeded the decision to strip off my clothes for a quick dip. It was crazy cold. Briton was shocked, but hot enough to follow suit. Meanwhile, our lead closed before we were fully re-dressed. The next hiker was greeted with a happy moon. (We won't say who's). Whoops!
The gorge, the longest in Europe, ends at the sea.
We swam in this water:
and played our first (of many) hands of RISKAY
while waiting for the ferry back to civilization.

Knossos:We decided here that we're pro-restoration. It makes looking at ruins less redundant and boring.

Knossos is the largest of the Minoan palaces. This is where the Minotaur roamed the labyrinthine corridors, searching for youthful Athenians to devour, who were imported in as human sacrifices.

And speaking of mythology...

We took a peek into the Cave Where Zeus was born:Mwah-hahahahahahaha

The cave in located on the Lithohoro Plateau - an agricultural area. You can buy some of the sweetest, juiciest oranges you'll ever taste from a guy peddling them from his truckbed.

Then a stop at the Museum to see The Original:

The archeological museum is under reconstruction. Some highlights are on display in a one-room substitute where I swear they employ the same number of docents that worked in the large museum. There is one whistle-wielding docent per square foot, fighting each other for prominence. I kept getting in trouble by these docents, who were outdoing each other with their whistle powers directed toward me. I wasn't trying to be a nuisance - so let me pass on some tips, should you be planning a trip to this museum:

1. You may take a picture like above but you may not take a picture of the above with a person, say, me (or you), standing next to it.
2. Don't touch the cases.
3. Don't take off your shoes
4. Don't eat tuna fish sandwiches

It was a very uncomfortable visit. The suffering was only assuaged because we got to see the Bull Leaper fresco in real life. Very cool.

Overnight ferry back to Athens:

"The moon is high, the sea is deep, we rock and rock and rock to sleep."

Only, we didn't. The wind whipped and banged all night long. But it was better than being inside with the lights, noise, and reeky cigarette smoke.