She underwent this procedure on Monday 9th May and happily it seems to have been a complete success. After an OK from the heart Doc, we arranged to fly out to Crete on the 16th May for a week's R and R. Return flights from East Midlands to Hania were £60 each and we managed to secure a self catering maisonette for under £25 a night. Add on £80 for car hire (the same price as taxi transfers) and we were away.
The accommodation was brilliant and I can't recommend it highly enough moreover the owner, Andreas could not have been more obliging. Have a look at the place for yourself. The pool and sunbeds all come with the package as does the beach front and bar/restaurant.
This is the living room with a spare bedroom on the mezzanine level.
This is the kitchen and looking towards the bathroom and our bedroom.
The view from our balcony towards the pool restaurant and beach.
A view of the pool from the pool.
Our restaurant also served outside on the beach.
Nobody mentioned the elephants in the room, but then you don't, do you?
I should have posted these chaps on dogbook as well.
A day trip took us up the gorgeous Theriso Gorge. The subtle shades of green in the Crete landscape could be seen at their best.
We saw lots of interesting wild flowers. Does anyone know the names of this one and the large flowering cactus below?
This mountain range is called the White Mountains. It was from this inaccessible area that the Cretans centred their formidable and extremely courageous resistance to the Nazi invasion. It was also through here that they helped evacuate the allied troops to Egypt via the isolated south coast ports.
The village of Theriso witnessed ferocious fighting and consequent reprisals which is remembered through the museum today. The field guns are some German survivers, along with a 19th century anachronism.
We had a day trip out to the West coast and visited the wonderful sandy beach at Falasarna which was beautifully clean and tidy and almost completely unspoiled.
As the beach faced west and the prevailing wind, there was a constant pounding of rollers which made swimming a most exciting experience. I think I'm coming up for the third time!
This is in the notorious village of Kandanos. Try to read what the notices say if you can. The village has been completely rebuilt since 1945. It stands at a strategic junction high up in the White Mountains and in 1941 the Nazis burnt the village to the ground and murdered all the inhabitants. This was as a reprisal for the local resistance to the invasion (stones and daggers against sub machine guns ). It is a very moving place to visit and today 75 years on you must respect the great courage that those people possessed.
The rebuilt Orthodox church in Kandanos. The one on the left hand tower shows the correct time, the one on the right tells the time when the village died.
The small roads that connected these two places and back over the top towards Hania represented some of the hairiest driving that I have ever experienced and certainly not for the faint hearted or those of a nervous disposition.
The sunsets over the Mediterranean Sea from the west coast of Crete are justifiably famous. Unfortunately we overlook a penninsular to the west so miss out on the watery reflections.
So, it's goodbye from him and
goodbye from her.
