Ashley Gets Lost

I have gone to a couple of classes for yoga on the beach with the lovely Sitara from Om Home Studio in Rethymno, and last weekend she hosted a special event on the south side of the island. It’s about a 30 minute drive from Rethymno, but it’s more like 90 minutes from our home. I decided I wanted to go down Saturday night and spend the night so I did not have to wake up at the butt crack of dawn on Sunday.

I was totally planning on going by myself for a little Ashley time away, and booked a room right on the beach for my second favorite price of 69 Euros, first favorite being FREE, of course. Joshua told me he wanted to come, so we both left Saturday morning around 10am and arrived around noon after a trip to the pharmacy for contact solution and a stop at the bakery for fresh pastries. Side note: you totes have to buy things like contact solution at the pharmacy, or as my friend Gabi calls it “The Apothecary”. The pharmacists here are called “Chemists”, and I think that’s cool!

The trip was absolutely lovely. Two thirds of the drive was on roads we have traveled before, but the rest was all new, including a section of driving through a gorgeous gorge. Gorge squared. The area around Plakias is beautiful, and it seems like it’s much less overrun by tourists. We definitely live in a tourist hot spot. It’s that way for a reason. It’s beautiful and there are tons of fun things to do and see, but it was very nice to escape the crowds!

I had one goal for Saturday, which was day drinking on the beach obvs. One of us always has to drive home, so it was a fun idea that neither of has had to drive anywhere. Cue a very strong margarita and a beach beer! It was unfortunately very windy, and it was blowing sand at us like nobody’s business. It was uncomfortable every once in a while (and made me have to cover my beach beer!), but the water felt amazing.

Also we were right next to the nude beach, and if you know me, you know I am INTO THAT. However, I wanted a bar because I did not bring a cooler for my own beers. Having eagle vision, I was able to see many nude dudes from afar, but I don’t think I saw any ladies. My favorite part is that Joshua told me about a review of the beach referring to non nudes as “fabrics”. Turns out it’s textiles, but it’s still adorable.

Anyway, eventually the wind started sandblasting us like it was everybody’s business, so we chose to move our party over to a taverna for lunch. The food was great, and we tried Metaxa for the first time, which is like a Greek brandy. They only had the youngest, cheapest version. It smelled like nail polish remover but tasted delicious and fruity. I’m going to have to pick up a slightly better bottle for home! They also brought us melons for dessert, and this watermelon was delicious.

After an afternoon/evening nap, I woke up with a stuffy nose, and we went out to dinner and then IMMEDIATELY TO BED. I woke up early to shower again because I was feeling like I had been molested by The Mummy after he turns into that sexy sandstorm to scare people. Joshua was going to give me a ride to the yoga event and then entertain himself while I was off finding sweaty peace with my friends, but my snot situation was not great and I had started coughing too. I was unsure if I was dealing with allergies or a cold, but I realized I would not be able to pull off my ocean breath, coughing would be disruptive, and I did not want to share plagues with friends if it was indeed a bug. I was sad to cancel my spot, but we had a good day regardless, starting with breakfast at a bakery where I ate the king of all avocado toasts. Highly recommend Stamatis Handmade Dough and Coffee. The pastries were also delicious. I had to get one to go for a later snack!

We then wanted to go check out Preveli beach, which has Crete’s only natural palm tree forest. The official route is quite a hike, but we found an alternate route with a much shorter hike by parking at a neighboring beach.

It has a river surrounded by palm treats that empties into the Libyan sea. When we got there around 9:30 am, there weren’t many people around, but when we left around 11, it was getting busy!

We did not explore the forest much as Joshua got a little woozy on the twisty drive and I was suffering from unpredictable access to nose breathing, but we plan to go back with Felix soon and really get into it!

We loved this sweet little couple walking around honking at people.

I swam out to the heart rock for a picture but didn’t realize I was in the deep shadow! Oh well! I also won a wet tshirt contest on my walk back to the car. Nobody else knew about it, so I was the only contestant as well as the judge. I won a smoothie at a beach bar and a trip back home for my trouble.

We stopped at a botanical garden on our way home, which I need to revisit when I feel better and tell you all about it. It was a kitchen witch’s dream come true! I felt a little better by Monday morning and 100% by Tuesday. I’m fairly certain I had a bunch of irritation in my sinuses from all that sand!

Ok, I promised Felix a lunch date just us at our favorite spot for what I refer to as “hangover food”. We’ve never been there with hangovers, but I know where I’ll go if I ever do have one! Smell you later!