Day 1: August 20

The plane was surprisingly half empty. After takeoff, I ran over to Volchy; there were two empty seats next to him. We sat like kings, in a row with lots of legroom. I suddenly really wanted something warm to drink. I ordered us 2 cappuccinos. Of course, they were nothing special, but how nice it was to treat ourselves to cappuccino on a plane! We drank it with dark chocolate with nuts.

Our flight was delayed by an hour and a half. We arrived in Crete at sunset, around 8 p.m. The sky was a light raspberry color, and a white, almost full moon hung in it.

It smelled so nice here, of dry grass, pine needles…. I wanted to breathe in this air again and again.

And it was so warm here too! It seemed as if this warmth was enveloping you and making you softer.

Chania Airport is so tiny. We easily found parking near the airport, and in the parking lot there was a Kappa booth where we rented a small white Ford Ka. By the time we got the car, it was already completely dark. It was time to head to the hotel, but before that we wanted to buy some supplies. By then, all the normal supermarkets were already closed, but Volchy found an open grocery store in some rural backwater, where we were able to buy food for dinner and breakfast.

On the way, I thought about how neglected everything here was; even now, in the dark, it was easy to see how many ruined, abandoned little houses there were. I shared my observations with Volchy, and he said that he had just been thinking the same thing.

A friendly Greek was waiting for us at the hotel. He treated us to a plate of fruit. Our room has a sea view, but at night it’s not very clear that it’s the sea; only by the reflection of the streetlights do you guess that there’s water there. We have a great balcony, where we had a delicious dinner (beer and our favorite vacation food - tortillas with tuna and vegetables :)
Hooray, I’m finally on vacation, and at the sea too!