Recharged....

In the early years  of my stay here, I thought Norwegians were crazy to spend all their holidays and money lazing on the beaches  doing nothing. But over time I realised the need to calm down ,to totally decouple and recharge the tired body and mind - to be able to play hard,work harder and to cope with the shorter days and dropping temperatures in the months ahead . 

After having a series of city vacations with some beaches thrown in here and there , we all unanimously agreed to a JUST beach family vacation. I don't remember how exactly we zeroed in on Creta, Greece  and within a couple of hours flight tickets got booked, hotel and car reservations made and the travel was on the cards. The next couple of weeks saw us - read books, surf net, must do lists jotted down,  experiences exchanged with friends  and finally we landed at Chania - the biggest island of Greece.  Collected the rental car and after some trial and error efforts managed to get the GPS working and off we drove to  Pandora suites - the hotel we stayed in for the next 4 days before moving onto a beach resort at rethymnon for the rest of the stay.

 The old mediterranean town is charmingly crisscrossed with narrow winding stone tiled alleys lined with art and crafts, cafes,  overhanging balconies, beautiful old buildings with ornate doorways and all these converging into the magnificient harbor dotted by the light house.

what am I talking about Greece if I am not talking about the beaches . Early on we decided that we will not let a day go by without  visiting a beach and to visit a different one each day - as there are so many of them and so unique. 

  Be it the islet of elafonisi with its pink sands from the corals

 The natural pristine beach at Falsarna

 or some secluded beaches in the small towns

In trying to reach these places we also traveled extensively from the east to the west coast across the mountains , idyllic villages

olive orchards

some breathtaking gorges

and so much more....