It's time for a roadtrip!

Greetings everyone! 

Today, Hermine and I had another day off, and we rented a car at the airport. That meant getting up early! Unfortunately, I couldn't really sleep well the night before because our neighbors thought that renovating at half-past one in the morning was perfectly fine. Well, I thought earplugs would do the trick. At half-past four, I woke up again because the neighbor next door was snoring so loudly (!!!) that I could hear it through the wall despite the earplugs! He probably could have benefited from being turned into the recovery position. 

Anyway, we took the city bus to the airport early in the morning, picked up our car from Carwiz, and then zoomed off to our first destination: Elafonissi Beach! A truly beautiful beach with partly pink sand. The water is turquoise blue and quite shallow. It almost feels like the Caribbean. It's wise to arrive relatively early since the beach tends to get pretty crowded around 12:00 - 12:30 PM. 

But before we even arrived there... first, a crisis (as Hermine always says). We had barely made it to Souda when the tire pressure warning light started blinking. So, what do we do now? We decided to drive on and ignore the little lamp. But I was sweating anyway. When we arrived at the parking lot of Elafonissi Beach, I googled how to reset the warning. I ended up watching a YouTube tutorial in Spanish (?!) – which I didn’t understand at all – but in the end, I really managed to reset the warning (crisis averted). This often happens after a tire change if it's not properly adjusted right away. 

After Elafonissi Beach, we continued on to Seitan Limani. It's a breathtaking beach, but the road there is definitely not for those afraid of heights. It goes steeply downhill, with almost no safety barriers on the sides, and there's a drop-off right next to the road. So, when more tourists are out and about in Crete, I really wouldn’t want to drive that road. That's for sure. Once we got there, we parked in a small lot and then made our way down into the gorge, because that's the only way to reach the beach. It was simply beautiful. We also went swimming there. The water is freezing cold, but once I managed to overcome the initial shock and dive in, it felt really good. There were goats running everywhere at Seitan Limani. So, it's best to avoid bringing food or only eat it secretly, as the goats can become aggressive otherwise. The nice lady in the picture here even got pretty close and briefly considered eating my towel. 

In the end, we went on to Stravos Beach. We actually wanted to visit the Cave Lera here, but the ascent would have taken about 40 minutes, and unfortunately, we didn’t have that much time left. From that cave, you have a gigantic view of Stravos, and the sunsets are supposed to be particularly beautiful. So, if you ever find yourself in Crete, and especially if you have a rental car, make sure to check it out. 
The road trip itself was a lot of fun, and I had a top DJane as a co-pilot, without whom the journey would have been only half as enjoyable. While we drove along the narrowest roads or zoomed down the highway, we sang along loudly to Unwritten, Flowers, etc. 

After returning the car, we took the city bus back to the city. Interestingly, we ran into Olivia and her cousin at the airport. They had the same idea and also rented a car from the airport. 

In the evening, we went to the Fagottobar and met up with Aljaz and Brandon there. Aljaz had contacted Hermine through the Solotraveller app and asked if we wanted to meet in a bar. So we met up around 9:45 PM, and to be honest, I wasn’t really keen on going at first, because Aleks is only 21 years old. Well, I said I would join for a drink but would probably leave early. Hermine mentioned that he would bring a friend who might also be older (according to Hermine: around 40). It turned out that Brandon is also 29 years old and shared my concerns. What started as a 'short evening' ended up being until half-past 1, and the conversation topics were truly very funny. Aljaz is from Slovenia and is currently on vacation in Crete for a week. Brandon, on the other hand, is from Boston and has been traveling the world since 2023 and experiencing the craziest things. He often sleeps in forests and caught a kiwi bird in New Zealand, along with other wild experiences. He is spending his Greek Summer here and isn't quite sure where he is going next. 

At some point around half-past 1, we said goodbye to the two of them and returned to our accommodation since we had to wake up again at 6:00 AM the next day. So again, no sleep... I tell you... I need a vacation from this vacation :D