We just got back from a great week of vacation in Crete, Greece! We stayed at the Grecotel Marine Palace Hotel in Panormos, about an hour away from the airport in Heraklion. It was a beautiful setting right on the Mediterranean Sea. We had some rainy days while we were there, but we also had some incredibly beautiful perfect weather days. The beach here was my favorite ever - it was all sand, and even William could walk out really far and still just be up to his waist or shoulders. It was incredibly clear and blue, and the waves weren't too strong, so we could really swim in the ocean. Elise tried scuba diving for the first time and loved it (apparently she was a natural), and Dave took Elise, Nate and Will on a jet ski. And we all had a great time enjoying the sand, sea and sun!
In addition to the beach, the hotel had lots of activities that were a lot of fun. There were several pools, and we tried out the indoor saltwater pool on one of the rainy days. It was great and even had a small lazy river. And Nathan was able to show off his new swimming skills. We also gave the water slide pool a try (although the water in the pool was colder than the sea!).
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| We took many, many shots trying to get a good family photo - William was often making faces! |
We played tennis several times and took some lessons from Xairo, the local tennis pro who was a lot of fun. Dave and I did some of the fitness workouts in the outdoor pavilion with a great view of the ocean, and the kids all loved the craft activities. Mer, Nate and Will joined in the Kinderdisco, Nate and Will got new Greek haircuts, and Elise and I got pedicures. Best of all, was the food! It's a blessing and a curse, because the food is so great that we all eat too much. But we enjoyed Greek as well as all different kids of food (unlimited pasta and an "always open" ice cream bar were the kids' favorites). We even watched the movie "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" together as a family to really savor the Greek experience!
We did venture out on a tour one day to some nearby towns. We visited a bakery where the workers fell in love with Meredith as well as William and Nathan and couldn't give them enough goodies. We bought some fresh bread and snacked on it for the rest of the day. We also visited a wood carving museum and workshop where we learned more about the Greek culture from the artist and saw some very impressive sculptures. The kids loved this! We also saw an olive press and a small traditional chapel. We had a very interesting lunch, eating freshly barbecued lamb at the top of a mountain. It had started raining quite hard before we got there, so we ran from the bus up the hill to the hut where we ate! We were served the whole lamb - including all the "inners", so we got to try the liver and intestines. Quite a memory! William was brave enough to try the intestines, Elise tried the liver, and Nathan couldn't get enough of the lamb meat on the bone.
It was a wonderful family vacation and we are so blessed to be able to travel as much as we do. We had initially hoped to visit Athens on this trip, but didn't because of the current unrest in the capital. But we're glad we were able to discover this beautiful part of Greece (when we arrived back in Zurich it was 7 degrees Celsius - guess it's time to get ready for ski season!).
