Greetings from sunny and warm Crete, Greece. Hoping you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend and start of the Holiday season! It’s funny, they even had Black Friday sales here in Crete! Anything for a sale, right?
Ok, a quick reminder of where we are in Crete. We are in Loutraki, located in the hills above Heraklion in the center of Crete.
Crete is a huge island, it’s over seven hours to drive from East to West. The North side of the island is where the main beaches are and there are literally thousands of hotels, condos and apartments that are empty/closed this time of year, along with thousands of restaurants, bars and mini marts. It’s so strange how everything shuts down in the winter. The weather is beautiful, highs in the upper 60’s. In the US snowbirds would be everywhere, here they’re closed.
The beach’s are wonderful and there are hundreds of them, empty 🧐
After a couple of days of rest👍✔️ we hit the road to explore Crete. First stop, a driving tour up the Pano Arhanes valley, staggering with beauty.
Next day a three hour drive to Chania, a major city in the northwestern part of the island, lovely 
A floating souvenir shop in Chania 
Next day, a trip to the city close by, Heraklion, the largest city in Greece 
Ferry’s are used extensively for transportation 
Yes, it’s Christmas season in Crete, a Christmas tree
Poinsettias grow all year in yards 😎
Ok, next day up to the Lasithi Plateau, quite the drive straight up hill 😳
Windmills are used to bring water up the hill, they removed the sails in winter and some are outdated 
This is the mythical birthplace of Zeus, the Cave of Zeus and the pathway to it🧐
Rethymno, another lovely empty beach city, great beaches 
The economy here is tourism. It’s empty this time of year so the Greeks pick olives.
First the net to catch the olives, which are knocked off the tree by these cool power shakers 
Then it’s off to the olive oil press, all within 24 hours of being harvested
Some of the oil is sold commercially, most is for personal use. See the names on the cans?
Wonderful time in Crete. You always have to remember Crete is one of the oldest civilizations in the world. The modern stuff (post AD) is Roman stuff. Fun place, nice to get a little rest. Flying to Athens and then to Rhodes tomorrow for eight days.
Ciao ciao from Crete 👍😎
traftonseuropemexicoadventures 