After spending two months in what has been one of the coldest, rainiest summers in Ireland's recent history, Leslee and I decided that it was due time for a vacation, preferrably somewhere with sun & an ocean. We are well aware that we in no way deserved such a great vacation, seeing as our time in Galway has already been a vacation in and of itself, but we figured, hey, you only live once. We might as well continue being irresponsible and compulsive as long as we can get away with it!

So after nearly 24 hours of buses, planes, sleeping in London Gatwick airport, and nauseating cab rides through the mountains of Crete, we finally arrived in the adorable little town of Paleohora, on the South-Western coast of Crete.

Our days were filled with sun and saltwater. We spend hours lounging at the beach, alternating between our chairs & thatched umbrellas and the perfectly cool, crystal blue waters. At night we had amazing meals - the most delicious greek salads and fresh seafood, for dirt cheap prices.

We tried to see as much of the neighboring areas as possible - Paleohora itself has two beaches, a rocky beach and a sandy beach, but to escape the crowds on our first full day in town, we hiked an hour to the nearby Anidri beach. We passed wild goats on the way, and once there we enjoyed the peace and quiet and basically were in awe of how lucky we were to be able to experience this place. We explored tide pools, swam, snorkled, read ridiculous amounts of books (seriously, our luggage was waayyy heavier on the way back), and of course, worked on our non-existant tans.

We ended up loving Anidri beach so much that we came back a few days later, this time opting to rent mountain bikes for the trek over, and staying much later into the evening. Although not quite as picturesque as some other beaches we saw, it was still amazing and gorgeous, and we loved it the most simply because we nearly had it all to ourselves.

One day, we took a ferry from Paleohora to the nearby Elafonissi beach. Here, the water is shallow and warm in areas, and you can wade across it to get to other parts of the beach. It really seemed like a little oasis, and we couldn't help but feel like we were at some sort of strange resort water park. The water was a bright crystal blue, and the sand was white, tinted pink in parts with bits of coral.

On our last day, we took a mini-cruise to the Island of Gramvousa, on the North-West edge of Crete. The small island is topped with a Venetian fortress that dates back to the 1600s. It was later taken over by various different groups, and eventually became a Pirate port! The hike up to the top was pretty steep and brutal in the hot weather, but the views of the island and of Crete were completely breathtaking.

After spending some time on the island, our ship took us to the nearby Balos Bay, which is considered by many to be the most beautiful beach on Crete, and with good reason. White sand beaches, the water is shallow and warm, and varies from a light blue to a deep, brilliant blue. In points it's hard to even differentiate between sand, water, and sky, they all just blend together. 

All in all, we had an amazing week, and we are both so glad that we decided to go. The city itself is so out of the way that they rarely get any Americans, so it was awesome to go a bit off of the beaten path and see an authentic Cretan town, full of Greeks on holiday. The trip was exactly what we needed before finally becoming responsible and getting jobs :)