It’s All Greek to Me!

Oct 30, 2008 by Suzy Ogé    No Comments    Posted under: Inspiring, Just for fun

In case you were wondering if I extended my holiday in Crete, I will tell you that we did love it enough to go directly to a real estate office on the 2nd day, with a long term extension in mind.

My husband had declared a “topless holiday” policy.  Hold on, it is not what you might be thinking.  Although the South coast of Crete has always been popular with Hippies and Nudists, we were in the North and the topless rule meant “No Laptops”.  Although I had protested to this rule, I realized that he was not alone in thinking I needed a break from my laptop when my friend, who happens to be a psychologist, asked me in a very clinical manner if I was experiencing anxiety symptoms about going “laptopless” prior to departure, which I will admit I was.

Once we arrived in Crete and found our way through the mountain roads and olive groves leading to the Villa it was after midnight.  We were instantly impressed by the house and pool.  But the real treat was waking up in the morning to the magnificent views overlooking the mountains, the Bay of Chania and nearby islands.  I must have walked in and out of the house hundreds of times in the week, but I was stopped in my tracks every single time, captivated by the views.  Do you think I missed my laptop?  Not even for a minute.

I had spent hours online searching for the perfect house to rent, and to everyone’s surprise, my research and hard work paid off!  No trick photography- the villa exceeded our expectations in every way!  My husband’s hiking research was less accurate- read about the Escape from Samaria Gorge tomorrow!

The terrain in Crete is wild & rugged, not a concrete jungle of cheaply built high rise hotels.  The hills and expansive wide open space were a welcome change from the Netherlands.  We felt secluded in our house in the hills yet the charming Venetian Harbor and city of Chania were nearby.  There was only 1 McDonalds sighting all week! I love that people don’t speak English in the supermarket and many product labels are entirely Greek-it is more of an adventure to prepare local products.  October is low season, which enhanced our impression that we had this unspoiled and underdeveloped paradise island to ourselves!  There seemed to be one mini mart per inhabitant along the beach.  The Cretians are very entrepreneurial and service oriented- they still pump your gas!

We were amazingly lucky with the weather; sun and swimming every day, dinner under the stars every evening.  Despite the assumption that my Mom flew over to join us for babysitting, this villa was the ideal environment for all of us to spend time together.  The holiday was the perfect melange of relaxation and adventure, privacy and proximity, sight seeing and stargazing. The infomercial for Crete stops here, but they literally had to drag me away.  On the last day after we swam and all dried off to pack, I couldn’t resist diving in the pool one last time.  Perhaps, having my Mom around brought out the kid in me.

People say I look relaxed and healthy.  Holding on to the holiday feeling isn’t easy; it fades as quickly as an Indian Summer tan.   Not only did I not miss being online, I didn’t check voicemail once or turn on the TV News.  Miraculously, the American Presidential Campaign went on without me and the financial crisis continued.  Most Europeans think a one week holiday is too short, but the break from our daily grind was complete and our attachment to Villa Ariande strong enough to gain an entirely fresh perspective.

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