Crete, Greece

 The 6th day of the cruise we stopped in Crete, Greece.  Crete is located just south of Greece, and is the largest of all the Greek Islands.  This was definitely one of our more relaxing stops.  We had such a great time renting a scooter around Turkey, we decided to get one in Crete too.  The weather was absolutely perfect, lows 80's...just the right weather to lay out. :) 

Our Greek scooter!  I'm so paranoid about wrecking the scooters when we rent them, that I usually don't drive.  It's ridiculous...I'm such a pansy sometimes.

 Success, we found a beach!  I promised Sean we wouldn't lay out all day, and that we could get some exploring in.

Isn't it gorgeous?

 We forgot to grab our towels from the ship, so we found a little beach shack down the street that was selling a bunch of cheap towels.  Of course, Sean didn't even pack sunglasses (or flip flops if you remember from the Turkey post) so we got him some sweet "Greek sunglasses".  He was very excited about it.  So, with our new Greek towels and sunglasses, we were ready to hit the beach!

Taking in Greece...

 The water was beautiful.  It was warm and so clear!  As you can see there weren't many waves, but I could have stayed in it all day.  Sean is anti-cold water (go figure, he's from San Diego?), so I'm glad it was warm so I could have some company!

 Here are some of the views from our drive.  We found a lot of other beaches and a bunch of parks the further up the coast we went.  I loved this cute little Greek restaurant we passed.  We would have stopped if we had more time, but we were trying to get in some more sight seeing.

 Just like in Athens, there were a lot of olive trees.  I loved seeing them everywhere.

 This is what I was doing most of the drive, taking pictures and trying really hard not to drop my phone.  I honestly cannot believe that I didn't drop it, especially with my crazy driver! :)

The ship typically departs from the port from 5-7 pm.  While we were in Crete, we were scheduled to depart at 5 pm.  The cruise line will always tell you to be on the ship no later than 30 minutes before the scheduled departure, so on this day 4:30.  I always want to stay until the last minute and soak up every last second of our destination.  Sean, the smart one, always wants to be back super early.  On this particular day...Sean gave up the fight and let us stay.  These pictures signify Sean wanting to kill me....

 While we were in Europe I got an international package for our phone, so that we could still use our Google Maps app.  It was perfect while we were on the scooter, that way we could find our way around the foreign country.  Once we left this last spot, that I just HAD to look at...my phone stopped working.  We knew we were just within miles of our scooter rental location, but we just couldn't find it.  Sean (the calm and collected one of the bunch) was LOSING HIS MIND.  The last shuttle left at 4:15 (to get back to the ship at 4:30)...and the time was quickly approaching.  Knowing that this was completely my fault, I tried to stay calm...but I was freaking out on the inside.  All of the street signs were of course in Greek, and hardly anyone spoke English on the island.  Disaster.  I don't know how (maybe the prayer I was repeating over and over in my head), but we found our way back to the scooter rental location.

We RAN back to the shuttle bus stop, just to see the last shuttle departing for the ship.  I have never Sean/heard Sean freak out as much as he did then.  {Insert to the story} The cruise ship repeats every single day, that they DO NOT wait for people who miss the boat departing.  If you get left behind, you have to find your own way back to the next port location.  Of course, this was the last stop of the trip, and it was heading back to Rome that night!!!  Essentially the worst day to get left behind...

 Apparently Jesus loves us, because as Sean was shouting profanities, some saint (who allegedly works for the shuttle company) saw these two stupid Americans wandering around like fear stricken idiots, and offered to help us.  He told us to hurry and get in his car, and he would take us to the ship!  I quickly jumped in this complete stranger's car, while Sean was hesitant and said to me, "Becky...this is how stupid Americans get taken.  We don't even know this guy."  I basically said, "Do we really have a choice?!" Sean reluctantly got in the car too (come on it was a Mercedes, and his "wife" was in the car), and off we went!  He said that he used to be a taxi driver, and he knew a bunch of short cuts to get to the ship's port.  Both of us were really nervous, but I knew we weren't going to miss it!  The ship didn't leave until 5...they just like guests to be there ahead of time.  Deadlines, shmedlines.  Funnily enough, we ended up getting there before the other 4 guest on the last shuttle!  Our good samaritan wasn't joking, he did indeed know the shortcuts!  

He said he wouldn't accept any money, but we threw the rest of our Euros at him anyways!  It was a little embarrassing getting on the ship RIGHT at 4:30...all of the guests that were on the outer decks were clapping at the last six of us stragglers.  Sean literally wanted to kill me...perhaps rightly so.  Next cruise, maybe I'll just conform and go back early with everyone else. :)

 So, enjoy these last shots of beautiful Greece...they could  have been the end of our marriage, haha!

 I couldn't get over how beautiful and clear the water was, I was in love!

Sean "patiently waiting" at the top of the hill for me and my shenanigans.  It was quite the fiasco for the end of our cruising excursions, but luckily it all ended well. 

 Meanwhile, back on the ship...it's dinner time!  Everyone's favorite time!

My favorite towel animal of the trip!

We loved Crete!  I feel like it gave us a really good taste of Greece.  It was everything I imagined it would be and more.  Peace out Greece, we loved you.