Skip to main content

Chania - Crete

Early flight to Chania which is pronounced “Han-Yah”, not even close to the English spelling.  Illias, a guide in training, accompanied us on this part of the trip.  Really nice guy, and easy going bass guitarist. Chania is a port city with Venetian architecture and narrow streets and plenty of outdoor dining on the waterfront. The food in Crete was the best, lots of olive oil and fresh tomatoes.  After our first lunch, Erich paid and then the waiter brought over a little bottle and two shot glasses and some ice cream. This is a tradition, the Cretans serve Raki, a grape liquor, served after a meal to aide in digestion. It is part of the meal…and yes it helps with digestion.  We ate so much and were so full that a couple shots of Raki really worked.  Another night we ate a local restaurant listening to some live traditional music, drinking Raki and had the best Moussaka EVER! 










Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Lake Atitlan - Guatemala

Lake Atitlan is surrounded by many villages, in which Maya culture is still prevalent and traditional dress is worn. The Maya people of Atitlán are predominantly Tz'utujil and Kaqchikel. The Maya weave textiles and each group has their own pattern. Santiago Atitlán is the largest of the lakeside communities, and is noted for its worship of Maximón, an idol formed by the fusion of traditional Mayan deities, Catholic saints and conquistador legends. The institutionalized effigy of Maximón is under the control of a local religious brotherhood and resides in various houses of its membership during the course of a year, being most ceremonially moved in a grand procession during Semana Santa.    Source:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lago_de_Atitlán The rain was starting to let up as we walked through a maze of cobblestone alleyways to the house of Maximón. The courtyard was was thick with the smoke of incense and the light drizzle of rain collected on the blue plastic...

Arches - Utah

Put on your coat, gloves and fuzzy hat because Utah is cold in the winter. Arches National Park is 119 square miles of over 2000 iron oxide rich, red rock arches at roughly 5000 feet above sea level, just minutes outside of Moab, Utah. We stayed at a cute, old western themed hotel in the center of town. Santa was driving a covered wagon in front of the bunkhouse style exterior aglow with holiday lights. The tiny room was equipped with a mini kitchenette and knotty pine paneled walls and furniture. Very comfortable and warm!! http://www.moabredstone.com We missed a winter storm a few days earlier, which left a dusting of snow on the monumental weathered rock formations, revealing depth and contrast to the otherwise predominately red landscape. Driving up the paved passage into the park, Park Avenue is the first formations you see and a little further is the Courthouse Towers viewpoint. Bundled up like an Eskimo, I rolled out of the car and waddled around the ca...

Grand Teton and Yellowstone - Wyoming!

The second road trip of the year we headed to northern Wyoming to visit the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone.  We stayed in Colter Bay, a village in the Grand Tetons, renting a rustic cabin for 4 nights.  This was the home base for our adventures of exploration in the parks. We had a bit of weather the first two days, after all it is Wyoming and you always have to be prepared for anything.  It was quite cold, around the lower 40s in the day time , cloudy and rainy.  We bring our 'Wyoming Bag' on every road trip (gloves, beanies, and 32 degree jackets). This is not great weather for photography, but we pushed through. We brought the IR converted Lumix cameras just for fun. We did some cool stuff in infrared in the Badlands two weeks ago and wanted to keep the trend going.   Camera: FujiFilm XT5, Lumix LX 100, iPhone  Grand Tetons in Infrared  We started the trip in Cody, Wyoming over the weekend intending to avoid the weekenders in the parks.  We strol...