Return to Crete......

We decided to return to Crete again this year in September as we only spent a week there last year and there was lots more to see......  The weather is fabulous at this time of year.... not too hot!  With just a few clouds some days.

We stayed first in the Villa Kerasia, just 20 kms south of Heraklion. This was to enable us to visit the Heraklion Archeological Museum which closes early and then to go on to Knossos.

 The villa was a little difficult to find but definitely worth it.  We spent quite a bit of time on the old road which ran alongside the new road! It is an old house which has been totally remodeled in the past 5+ years so offers a very comfortable stay.
Our room was really a suite........ so offered a lot of space, with a great view from the windows...

It had a nice rather unusual pool.....it went round a corner! It also had a nice  outdoor table under some ready to eat grapes.....

Unfortunately we couldn't eat in, as there were not enough guests who wished to do so, but we were able to check out 2 local village tavernas...
in Venerato... the only taverna in town, at the crossroads. Mainly greek guests watching sport on TV, good food and the house wine was a little on the sherry side!

in Dafnes, the Arodamos restaurant was  also a little difficult  to find but it is essentially on the main parking area in the town.


As Dafnes is a wine village the open house wine we had there was excellent. It was from the Douloufakis winery. Food was good and the courtyard was excellent with the owner playing a lyre in the background!

The Heraklion museum was fascinating.... the museum is not actually fully open but we were able to access the rooms which had most of the exhibits which came from Knossos....

We then revisited Knossos....

and saw where the processional figures had been found........

and this time we found the restaurant Olive and Mint (or Elia and Diosmos)

..... that we failed to find last year. Ironically it was at the same cross roads, just across from where we did  finally eat!

We can definitely recommend this restaurant and wished we had had time to return....... and it is definitely very close to Knossos......

Summer on the Cape....... Cape Cod that is!

This year we decided to have a family get together on the East Coast and needed to find a home which would be large enough to sleep 3 generations.
We were a little late in deciding to do so but found what we were looking for in Woods Hole.

The home had been built in the 20's and was still owned by the same family! It was on a private estate with other (same) family homes and had a very old world character which totally suited us!

Particularly the kitchen........

The drawer full of kitchen implements.....

yielded a hand rotary beater which brought back childhood memories.... but did the job! Chocolate mousse did follow!

 It had access to a private part of a public beach

and even had its own bath house.... which allowed us to leave beach items at the beach.

At the other end of the beach there was Nobska lighthouse.........

The area and the town of Woods Hole was delightful. The small town was an easy 10 to 15 minute walk from the house and had several restaurants and cafes.

We found Shuckers very pleasant and of course indulged in oysters and lobster!

and the place to be in town seemed to be Pie in the Sky judging by the buzz there each morning!

Woods Hole has a ferry to Martha's Vineyard and of course we had to go over....

We went to Oak Bluffs...........whose claim to fame is the very large Methodist Tabernacle

 and the quaint cottages which surround it.

and this photo opportunity was too good to pass by....

We lunched at Martha's Vineyard Chowder Company............where we were introduced to Lobster Rolls, new to us but apparently very popular on the East Coast!  Fabulous!!