We (my boyfriend Alex and I) also made the mistake of taking the same flights as my sister Karolina and Victor, arriving at around 3.30 in the morning and again our lovely parents were kind enough to pick us up at that god forsaken hour. Quick drive back to Agios Nikolaos marina, had a small welcome drink and went to bed. 

Woke up to blue sky and a big yellow thing in the sky which the rest of the world calls the sun, it does sometimes show in London but not quite as often as we like. Anyways, we had a small breakfast and asked all types of questions about the boat as we only saw it once before in France when it was cold, snowing and raining. It was so nice to see the boat in a warmer climate. Drove to a small stone beach and had a swim. It felt extremely nice to float around in the salty water and feel the sun tingling on your skin. 

Afterwards, we went to the restaurant next to the beach and had our first taste of Greece. I can tell you, it was great as we had Mezes (small platters to share) so we had a small taste of everything; greek salad, feta cheese, octopus, fried sardines, cheese wrapped in filo dough, tzatziki, saganaki and stifado and greek beer. During the late afternoon we went back home, took it easy, had a G&T and started our Canasta tournament. 

The next day we drove to one of the plateau of Crete and had lunch at a lovely restaurant (cannot remember the name) and they had millions of pink Bougainvillea hanging over the tables to give some shade. Te food was great again and at the end of the meal I saw something I have never seen in my life: a tiny colibri flying around above our heads, it is incredible how small and fast they are. We tried to take a photo but that was more or less impossible (you should google it if you have never seen one). 

The following day we finally took the boat out for a spin, so exciting to see Sans Peur in her full glory and we anchored in the bay close to Spinalonga where they had the bad luck last time to be hit by a freak storm, luckily we were safe and sound in the bay this time. Nice temperature in the water, snorkeling, sunbathing and again good food and drinks. I drove the boat a bit on the way home and it was not as difficult as I thought it would be. Like driving a massive car...!? But I would never want to try to moor the boat, way too scary. 

During the weekend we also had the Rugby World Cup going on so we all ran up to the sports bar to watch the games. There are many English people moored at the marina so the atmosphere was good. 

The other days the weather was not too good but still nice and comfortable enough to be in shorts and a thin top so we could only go out with the boat once. The rest of the days we explored the areas around such as Ierapetra which is the most southern city of Europe, had a guided tour of Vassilakis Estate Oil Farm where the people were very friendly and we of course had to buy some olive oil (Crete is covered with olive trees), we visit the Aquaworld Aquarium & Reptile Rescue Centre which was quite small but very interesting as the animals are all rescue animals. A very nice couple runs this place, very talkative and they explain where the animals are rescued from, they also help nurture hurt animals and once healthy they are released back to the wild. 

We had great dinner at Portas which is owned by a very jolly man who has different Mese platters everyday which results in a large variety of fresh dishes the two times we went there. We had way too much food and wine the first time we ate there and by the end of the night I sneaked off to pay the bill which resulted in a lot of laughter between myself and the owner. In addition, we went to Alexandros Roof Garden with a nice view of the lake and good music, very nice mix of music from good oldies to new commercial music. When we went there it was not very busy as it was the end of the season but the staff where very nice and made you feel welcome from the beginning. 

Overall it was a great holiday with amazing company, great food and drinks and we will definitely come to visit on the boat again as soon as we both have some more holiday. We will need to finish out Canasta tournament next time to see who the true winner will be as we finished equal at 4-4. Thank you again for an amazing time and for having us over at Sans Peur. 

Skepp ohoj!

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