Myself and Mum have never had a girls only holiday. Being the only girl out of four myself and my mum are outnumbered when it comes to men in the house. Unless off course you include Poppy my dog (a very valuable part of the family). So when mum asked me if we would like to go away together I obviously, very easily, said YES!
The destination of this holiday was chosen by my mum, with my slight input when suggesting Greece. We stayed in a lovely little apartment complex called 'Klio Apartments' in Gouves, Crete, Greece.
It had everything you could possibly need, with pool, all inclusive options, extremely easy access to the beach (a 5 minute walk) and of course two beds to sleep in.
On our first day on the beautiful Island of Crete we decided that we should walk around and get a feel for the area that was going to be our home for the next week. When doing this we found the beautiful, clear sea and an amazing little cove to swim in which my mum loved very much.
(The Cove)
Monday was then spent booking two excursions, lying around by the pool and reading. Mum also was very happy playing her Sudoku.
The following day, Tuesday, was very exciting as we went on our first trip of the holiday. This was called the Lassithi Plateau excursion.
The first stop was in Mohos village which is a traditional Greek village. We were free to wonder around the small town, which is where we saw a beautiful church and also saw the colourful streets.
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(The Village & Church)
We then headed of to our next stop which was the cave said to have been the birthplace of Zeus, the god of the sky, this was called Diktean Cave. The legend says that Zeus was brought here to be birthed secretly without his father knowing, to save him from being eaten by his father who had done this with all five previous children to stop them from battling and defeating him thus making the child the new God of the Sky and the father sent to the underworld. The final stop was at the Nunnery of Panagia Kera. It's believed the founding of this monastery is connected with the Virgin Mary.
Monday was then spent booking two excursions, lying around by the pool and reading. Mum also was very happy playing her Sudoku.
The following day, Tuesday, was very exciting as we went on our first trip of the holiday. This was called the Lassithi Plateau excursion.
The first stop was in Mohos village which is a traditional Greek village. We were free to wonder around the small town, which is where we saw a beautiful church and also saw the colourful streets.
.
(The Village & Church)
We then headed of to our next stop which was the cave said to have been the birthplace of Zeus, the god of the sky, this was called Diktean Cave. The legend says that Zeus was brought here to be birthed secretly without his father knowing, to save him from being eaten by his father who had done this with all five previous children to stop them from battling and defeating him thus making the child the new God of the Sky and the father sent to the underworld. The final stop was at the Nunnery of Panagia Kera. It's believed the founding of this monastery is connected with the Virgin Mary.
(The Nunnery & The View from the front of Zeus' Cave)
The next day was another lazy day wandering around, sitting by the pool trying hard to catch some sort of tan (which is apparently an impossible task for me haha) and we also went out for dinner. I had some spaghetti bolognese (adventurous as always) and mum had a calzone.
On Thursday was our second and last excursion out to the island of Spinalonga also know as the Island of Tears. Our first stop was in a town called Ayios Nicolaos which has a beautiful lake in the centre of town, which many cats seemed to love and were well kept, which was a nice change from seeing poorly strays.
(The 'Bottomless Lake')
We then traveled to Elounda where we got a boat and travelled to the island of Spinalonga. This was once a Venetian fortress and also became home to many lepers to isolate them from the healthy. They would only be allowed to leave the island when they were pronounced healthy. Although the island was very beautiful it was still very saddening to hear of the hard lives people had to live on this island just because they had an illness.
(Main Entrance to the Island)
(Th Ruins on the Island)
We then headed for Kolokitha where we got to jump off the boat and swim in the water. However our swimming session was short lived as mum ended up cutting herself and decided to make a joke about the fact that sharks might come and get her. We both then massively freaked ourselves out and decided maybe swimming in the water wasn't such a good idea. Cheers for that mum hahaha!!
A BBQ was then cooked for us and we were able to eat on board the boat before heading on our long trip back to the apartment.
The last day of holiday was another relaxing one where we tried to make the most of everything, such as the pool, the beach and the restaurants before making our way back home to Scotland.
I had such a wonderful holiday with my mum and getting to spend quality time with her. The island we stayed on was extremely beautiful and interesting. I would highly recommend staying on the Island of Crete as we both loved it very much.
(The View from Crete)
Thanks for reading,
Eilidh x
