That is THE quote from our trip to Crete. John and I are not sure whether to be proud or horrified. I'll get to that story eventually.
Crete was amazing. We had such a great "hols" as they say around here. John and I have discovered that you can have a relaxing holiday with your children as long as there is 1) a great kids club; 2) good weather; and 3) babysitters available. In all seriousness, we did have a terrific time and the kids returned telling their friends that Crete was "awesome!"
On Saturday, October 18, we arrived to Heraklion Airport late at night - around 11:00 p.m. local time. The taxi ride was about an hour so all three kids (and Mommy) dozed off. Thank goodness too...John said the taxi drivers were a little crazy! When we arrived to the Porto Elounda it was hard to really appreciate the resort because it was dark. We were all tired so it was right to bed for everyone. We did, however, have connecting rooms after learning our lesson in Paris, Edinburgh and Windsor.
On Sunday we woke up to the sound of Kate saying, "Mommy it's a beautiful lovely day!" And indeed it was. There was not a cloud in the sky, there was a warm breeze and, according to Jack, the Sea of Crete was the color of turquoise. We could barely get the kids to sit still and eat breakfast. We knew the resort was kid-friendly as soon as we saw the big bowl of cocoa pops on the buffet. After breakfast it was right down to the beach and pool for us. It was perfect. A quiet little cove for a beach, the pool right next to the beach and the handy-dandy pool bar too. The kids had a great time playing on the beach and swimming.
I started chatting with one of the other "mums" and she informed me that her kids had been in the "Children's Ark" from 10 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Saturday and just loved it. The words were still hanging in the air when Jack came running over to me, "Mom I have a new friend Sophie. She is going to the children's club tomorrow, can we go?" We also discovered the "Children's Restaurant" for dinner. From 6:00-7:00 p.m. there was a special room set up for all of the kids to eat together. A buffet of all the favorites; chicken nugs, fries, spaghetti, fish fingers, plus fruit, vegetables and ice cream for dessert. Our kids were in heaven eating at a table with loads of other kids while on vacation. Meanwhile the parents loved the "happy hour" - happy kids eating and happy parents having a drink! The icing on the cake, however, was the fact that the staff from the children's club also babysat in the evenings. The Porto Elounda was too good to be true.
The next morning John and I dropped the kids off at the "Children's Ark" at 10:00 a.m. We were kid-free until 2:00 p.m. but we were not quite sure what to do first! We ordered a couple of lattes at the pool bar and sat on our chairs reading. A bit later I looked up and saw a parade of kids heading over to another beach area with buckets and nets.
All of the kids from the Ark were being led on a "treasure hunt." They spent the better part of two hours on the beach collecting shells, swimming and trying to catch fish. When we picked up the kids from the club they all sang in unison, "this was amazing, can we come back tomorrow?" At that point I booked a babysitter, Susanna (pictured above with Kate), for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday night.
Tuesday was pretty much the same as Monday: Mom and Dad enjoyed the quiet of the beach drinking coffees and reading our books while the kids had a ball with their friends at the Ark. Then the afternoon was spent together playing on the beach, in the pool and playing ping pong. We also started a little afternoon ritual. We all got treats from the pool bar; kids got ice cream and Mom and Dad got ice-cold beers.
Around 5:00 p.m. we went up to our rooms to get cleaned up for dinner. The kids ate in their "restaurant" and then Susanna came to our room and John and I went out for dinner at one of the hotel restaurants. It was our first night with the sitter so we didn't want to go too far from the hotel. After dinner we went to the hotel bar and joined another couple we had met on the beach and had some after dinner drinks. We shared a lot of stories and laughter and the next thing we knew it was nearly 1:30 a.m.! Nice way to treat our babysitter on the first night huh?
On Wednesday, a bit blurry-eyed, we took an excursion to the island of Spinalonga. Here's a brief history lesson...the island was originally built as a Venetian Fortress in 1579. The Venetians kept control of the island until 1715 when the Ottomans took over and inhabited the island. But the island is best known for being a leper colony from 1903 to 1957. For more information, visit: www.spinalongaisland.info.
We took a very windy boat ride from the Port of Elounda over to Spinalonga. The tour guide that we had, while lovely, was very long-winded. The kids' attention spans are that of gnats so we ended up wandering away from the tour group. Once we let the kids climb and explore they were much happier. The boat then went over to a small beach in Kolokitha Bay.
Unfortunately the weather turned a bit - clouds and a few drops of rain, which made it quite cold to swim. Although it didn't stop Owen and Jack! When we returned to the boat the kids were thirsty and hungry so we visited the snack bar. Jack marched right up to the bar and said, "Hi, can we have three orange Fantas and two beers please?" John and I just looked at each other and erupted into laughter. Jack said, "what is so funny? You want beer right?" The boat crew served a delicious BBQ lunch and we returned to the Port of Elounda and ultimately back to our afternoon routine at the resort. That evening John and I ventured out to the village of Elounda for dinner and ate at The Ferryman Taverna. The owner was very charismatic and the food was amazing. Another couple from our hotel was also dining there so we shared a taxi and an after-dinner drink with them. But we didn't keep Susanna as late as the night before...a respectable 12:30 a.m. this time.
On Thursday, John and I decided to take the next excursion without the kids. They were delighted to return to the Ark and we were excited to perhaps actually hear what the tour guide was saying. We boarded the coach heading for Knossos, the ancient Palace of the Minoan Civilization. Thank goodness the kids were not with us. The coach stopped at a minimum of ten hotels to pick up additional passengers. We finally got to Knossos two and half hours later! The ride should have taken one hour. Some of the passengers boarded well before we did so their ride was three hours. It was awful! John and I kept saying to each other, "at least our kids are not with us." Knossos is very interesting, however there is some question as to the accuracy of it's reconstruction by archeologist Arthur Evans.
The tour was fine, but we had the same long-winded guide so John and I wandered away to explore on our own...and we wonder why our children do that!? Anyway, it was fun to see such a historical place but we were more anxious to return to the hotel and spend our last day on the beach with the kids. John and I had one last dinner out as well. We went into the town of Agios Nikolaos, a very quaint resort town about fifteen minutes from Elounda. We ate at a great place called Pelagos - terrific food, lovely atmosphere and very friendly wait staff. After dinner we wandered through the town and stopped for a coffee at an outdoor cafe. We returned to the hotel and managed one glass of champagne to toast a great week, but then it was time for bed.
We spent our last morning at the Porto Elounda playing golf. The resort has a very long Par-3 course and Jack had been asking all week to play. Our car wasn't picking us up until 11:15 a.m. so John and I figured it would be a great way to spend our last couple of hours. It was a lot of fun - a few moments of frustration and Spaulding-like behavior, but that was just Mom. Sadly the time came to say goodbye to Crete.
Our flight home on Friday was very full....here we go...the Mueller Travel Karma. We flew EasyJet, which is a lot like Southwest...cattle call to board. We paid extra for "Speedy Boarding" which basically means, we'll give you a little head-start to find seats but hurry up. We managed five seats together in row 7. Once we were in the air the flight crew started their food and beverage service and warned passengers to have a second choice of sandwich ready in case they ran out of the first choice. When the cart got to me I asked for two veggie wraps for me and John. "I'm sorry we have no more sandwiches left." In utter amazement and disbelief I said, "but we are in row 7!" She responded, "Yes, I know, they never give us enough food." Huh, I'll say.
About half-way through the flight one of the flight attendants spoke over the intercom..."Ladies and Gentlemen if any of you are a doctor or nurse will you please alert a member of crew. We have a woman who is quite ill." The woman sitting next to me and Kate identified herself as a nurse and walked to the front of the plane. About five minutes later she returned to her seat with tears in her eyes just as the pilot announced that we would be landing in fifteen minutes. We made an emergency landing in Zurich and EMS crews boarded the flight and began working on the woman. After about 25 minutes, the EMS staff hung a sheet across the front of the plane and the pilot asked everyone to exit the plane through the rear door. We sat in the terminal for about three hours while the poor family of the woman dealt with paperwork.
Our kids were great during the delay. Thankfully one of the families we had gotten to know at the resort was also on our flight. Their kids and our kids entertained each other and played so nicely - no complaining, no crying, no whining - for over 3 hours. (Note: if you look back at the Edinburgh entry this follows the "do not put siblings together" theory). The woman's death was a terrible reminder to all of us that life is a gift...and not a dress rehearsal. The airline running out of food by row 7 now seemed so trivial and irrelevant.
When we finally arrived home we put the kids right into bed...as his eyes were closing Owen very quietly asked, "can we please go to Spain next?"
Our love to all.
εις υγεία! (Cheers!)
John, Coll, Jack, Owen and Kate
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