Our Adventures Await

Welcome to our blog, a place for sharing our adventures as we explore Greece and Europe. Join us as we create memories and share them with you, our friends and family back home. We hope you enjoy the journey!

This is the processing plant Konstantin uses.  While a lot of people will just have their olives mixed with others, he has his processed separately.  What a difference from what you buy in a grocery store.  His is much smoother and sweeter.  It is quite common here to be given sliced bread and olive oil for dipping as a starter at restaurants.  

We are now into November which is olive harvesting season.  This is our landlord and one of his brothers.  Between him and an uncle they own about 900 trees.  Very very busy time of year with very long days.  The poles have rotating fingers on the end to knock the olives down onto nets they spread on the ground.  They then have to separate the leaves and bits of branches  out and Konstantin feeds them to his sheep.  We  found out that olives can't be eaten off the tree.  They have to be processed and soaked for months before they can be eaten.  The family keeps some for eating and the rest are processed for olive oil.  

Back home on Crete.  The pirate ship does cruises along part of the North coast of Crete.  They supply a salad and glass of wine.  When they reach their furthest point people are given an hour to scuba dive if wanted.  We get some very pretty rainbows and sunsets here.  

Pretty little mosque in Tirana and a musical ride.  I haven't seen one of those for ages.  

When we left Montenegro we had to part with Miranda.  She started heading back home to Calgary and we took a bus to Albania.  It was only about a 3 1/2 hour trip.  Most of the countries here have good bus and train systems and of course much cheaper than flying.  Taking a trip like that lets you see how the average person lives there.  They are a very poor country and lots of homes are in very bad  shape.  Sad to see.  We stayed in Tirana, which is the capital, and a very modern city.  Some of their buildings were so fabulous.  Then when you walk down the alleys to get to airbnbs, you see the lovely wiring systems on the old ones.  Pretty scary looking. 

While we really enjoyed our day trip, it did not end well.  When we were walking back to catch the bus I was gabbing and not paying attention where I was walking.  Of coarse most areas here are cobblestone and I tripped and did a face plant.  I split my inner lip and had a big bloody spot under one eye.  Thankfully I didn't knock any teeth out at least.  I looked like hell for about a week and a half.  I felt like telling everyone that saw me what I did so they weren't thinking Jim hit me. LOL.  

Next stop was Montenegro.  We stayed in the capital and took a day trip to a little town on the coast.  Very pretty scenery.  

A couple other buildings in the area.  The last picture in the top row is a feeding station for stray cats.  You put coins in and dry food goes into a tray at ground level.  Apparently there are a lot of them around the city.  I thought it was such a great idea.  So nice to see a country that takes care of the strays.  The majority of the strays are very friendly as they are treated well.  There are food and water dishes outside so many homes and businesses.  The first picture in the second row is a fake rock formation with holes all over for cats to go into a safe place to snooze.  That is one thing that does bother me about Greece.  There are so many stray cats and dogs and most people do not look after them.  Rather heartbreaking.  

Discover our collection of creative work and visual projects. Each piece showcases our attention to detail and commitment to delivering results that exceed expectations.

This is the Blue Mosque.  It isn't as big as I expected but it is so beautiful.  The stained glass and mosaics are so pretty.  It amazes me the amount of work craftsmen used to put into buildings.  It was built in 1609 and of course being built of stone and tile is built to last.  

It is now September 2025 and we have been here for one year.  Such a great decision.  We have no regrets at all.  Yes some things have been difficult, shopping especially.  We are so used to our big box stores that sell everything, while here there are tons of tiny stores that sell a small selection of things.  It's a good thing we are retired and have all the time in the world to find things.  We really enjoy the outdoor lifestyle and slower pace.  

The pictures below are from the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul.  It is huge.  It covers about 7.5 acres.  They sell pretty much anything you can think of and a lot of knock off designer labels.  Definitely a must see.  A very close friend came for holidays and we spent a few days on Crete and then several in Istanbul.  

This sea turtle, Suzie, hangs around the Chania harbor in old town.  The fishermen and restaurants feed her whenever she shows up. So cool to see.  We have only lucked out once seeing her. 

We took a side trip to Matala.  The caves in the second picture were once Roman tombs.  In the 1960s hippies starting living in them.  The place still has a bit of that vibe.  The southside is mainly an agricultural area.  There are miles and miles of greenhouses.  The tree outside our airbnb was loaded with ripe figs.  So sweet and good.  

We found a wonderful herb store.  Absolutely everything you can imagine.  Needless to say we left with quite a few purchases.  

First time I have actually seen a praying mantis.  We get quite a lot of them around here.  Cool looking.  We made a 3 day trip to the Southside of the island to a little village called Frangokastello.  Lovely place right on the coast.  I couldn't get over the number of swallows.  There was probably 4 times what is shown in the pictures.  Good old Google maps sent us on a horrible, very narrow and very winding road.  The switchbacks were crazy.  And of course you have to keep an eye out for goats and sheep.  When we left we took a different road out and it was great.  No idea why it would not have been the recommended one.  We  have found this so many times with Google.  Oh well, still a lot better than the old paper maps we used to use.  LOL.

This is one of our favorite restaurants.  They have live Greek music every Monday and we rarely miss going.  The music is great as is the food.  Like so many restaurants around here they are only open through the busy tourist season which is about mid May to end of October.  We have very few choices during the winter unless we go into the city. 

Well I am in the middle of changing websites as I had so many problems with the old one. For right now I am not sure where I left off (:  So there might be a couple of overlaps.   Anyways...a picture of a restaurant on top of a hill in a little village close by.  When we arrived there was only a couple other people and tables.  As the night went on they just kept dragging tables out from a couple different buildings  to accommodate people.  Lovely meal.  Also a picture of the neighbors artichokes.

We didn’t realize when we booked this place that we are in a very touristy area. We have a very lovely view from the top deck. We also have about 5 cats that come to visit every day and get a meal. The traffic is crazy busy. People are elbow to elbow on the sidewalks. I can’t imagine what it is like in the middle of summer. The main street is very close to the ocean and is a decent size, but not enough to accommodate two driving lanes and parking on each side. People park up on sidewalks and double park everywhere. Of course once you get off the main drag, the roads are pretty much all windy and narrow. A person has to be very careful going around corners here. Drivers pay very little attention to any road rules. They pass pretty well everywhere they want . At least most people will pull over to the far right to let others go past when on the main highway. Motorbikes are the worse. It’s like they have a death wish. They weave through traffic and up on sidewalks. When stopped at a red light they pass everyone and go to the front. Quite often they will even go through red lights. It is rare to see any police so people get away with things very easily. Greece is supposed to be one of the safest countries in the world so I presume that is why there is a very small police presence here.

We arrived in Chania on Crete, September 27. Spent a couple days in an Airbnb before moving into the villa we rented in Stalos, just West of Chania. We have a wonderful view and huge deck to enjoy it from. Weather is hot and sunny.

First stop was Rome. We found a nice little AirBnb close to the airport. Stayed two days so Sophie (and us) could adjust a bit. 9 1/2 hour direct flight from Calgary. Evening flight and no sleep. We are beat. Lovely area. We fly to Athens next with another two day stop.

Well we did it!

We finally received our visas and are on our way. Greece here we come. 😊

 

First stop was Rome. We found a nice little AirBnb close to the airport. Stayed two days so Sophie (and us) could adjust a bit. 9 1/2 hour direct flight from Calgary. Evening flight and no sleep. We are beat. Lovely area. We fly to Athens next with another two day stop.