The Labyrinthine Wedding – Day 6

Today, we traveled to Crete, which meant that all morning was spent packing, watching my mother-in-law get anxious about everything, and listening to my wife chew out my mother-in-law for being anxious about everything.  I had a headache from that and my continued sickness, so I was more than content to just hang with Troy.

We took a taxi to the airport just after lunch, where we met my mother-in-law’s best friend, who is traveling to Crete with us.  I enjoyed more fighting, as my wife got upset by the airline that my mother-in-law chose (it was cheap), the time that she chose (very late in the day), and the general lack of a plan by everyone on this trip.  Other than that, the process through security was painless, and we had time to enjoy some lukomathes (Greek donut holes with honey and cinnamon) and ice cream.

The plane to Crete was one of those where they park out on a runway somewhere and then bus you to it, so that was interesting.  I think Troy was expecting to get on through the “robot tunnel” that he’d experienced on the bigger airlines, not walk across the tarmac and up into an enclosed staircase.  Unfortunately, we had a one-hour delay while we sat on the plane, waiting for our turn at the runway.  But the flight itself was fine, only about forty-five minutes from start to finish.  Which is ironic that we sat waiting longer than the flight itself.

The airport at Crete was small and packed with people, so we still had to wait for our luggage.  But that’s okay, because after twenty years of waiting, I have finally left the mainland of Greece and traveled to my first island…actually my first island anywhere in the world.  My mother-in-law was still anxious, and she was chewing her best friend out for getting separated from us (she had gotten put on a different bus from the plane to the terminal).  Maybe she’s just an anxious traveler…so many things out of her control.  My wife wasn’t worried, because as she put it, my mother-in-law’s friend had to show up at baggage claim eventually to get her luggage too.  Fair point.

We had another wait at the rental car stand for a shuttle to take us to the actual rental car place.  Then, another wait at the rental car place for the laborious process of filling out all of the paperwork.  By the time we finally got on our way for our Air B ‘n Bs, the sun was setting over the mountains.  We had another fight in the car when my mother-in-law got frustrated by the GPS and then refused to help my wife navigate anymore (five minutes from the rental car lot).  We got lost because the GPS was lagging, so the map wasn’t keeping up with our actual location, and the “voice” would tell you to “turn right” two streets before you were actually supposed to turn right.  Which is hard to manage when you’re trying to drive and navigate at the same time in a strange new place, so kudos to my wife for finally getting us out of the city and on our way.

It was nine o’clock and very dark by the time we had finally found the first stop, which required multiple phone calls to the owner of the Air B ‘n B, since the GPS stopped us three blocks from the actual location.  Our Air B ‘n B was only supposed to be a one-minute drive from my mother-in-law’s and her friend’s, but it took us twenty minutes to twist through the narrow and confusing roads of the village.  Especially since the GPS seemed unaware that some of the roads were one-way only and inaccessible, since a café had blocked off a road and set up tables in the middle of it!  By the time we had finally found it, Troy had fallen asleep.  Unfortunately for him, the night was only beginning.  In traditional Greek style, our night began at 10:00 p.m.  We had to go to celebrate with my brother-in-law and his fiancé.  And besides, it was the only place to get food this late at night, and I was about to hulk out.

My brother-in-law had rented a little villa up in the mountains, which was spacious enough to accommodate the crowd of people that had turned out.  It had an open courtyard, which they were using for food serving, dancing, and music when we arrived.  Their friends were incredibly nice and many came over to welcome us the moment we walked into the gates.  I was shown the food table, where I immediately devoured two chicken souvlakis and Troy tucked into the pizza. 

Troy seemed to liven up again, like he was hitting his second wind.  He enjoyed chasing balloons with the other children, and he took to one 18-month-old baby in particular.  My wife and mother-in-law flitted around socializing with various people, while my mother-in-law’s best friend and I watched from the sidelines.  I downed two more chicken souvlakis when nobody was looking.  When the dancing and singing started, I decided to make myself the unofficial photographer and record the evening for my brother-in-law.  My wife even joined in on a few of the dances and coaxed my son to join in for the Macarena, the Chicken Dance, and the Hokey Pokey.

We finally left the party around 1:00 a.m., and it was still going strong.  We got lost trying to find the Air B ‘n B again, thanks to the GPS, and then had to circle the block to find a place to park.  The apartment where we’re staying is very nice, clean and updated.  It has a little den, dining area, and kitchen.  And it has two bedrooms, one with a full-size bed and one with bunk beds.  However, it does have a few faults too. 

The first is that the electricity is controlled by your access card, so it shuts off when you walk out of the door.  Which means that we walked into the apartment being stifling hot.  It took almost three hours for it to finally cool down!  There are air conditioning units in each bedroom, but none of them work.  The combination of these things meant that I was sweating for half the night.  My son didn’t want to sleep alone, so he talked me into sleeping in one of the bunk beds, and then he left to go sleep in the big bed with my wife and the only fan in the place.  My wife was dying from the heat, so she decided to sleep on the couch with the air conditioner.  To summarize, I was left in a twin bed by myself to sweat for half the night.

The second fault I have is that the apartment could easily accommodate four or more people, but there are only two towels here.  After my wife and son got done with their showers, I was forced to dry off with a dinky hand towel.  The shower itself was an experience as well.  The temperature knobs are so sensitive that turning them even a millimeter will change the temperature from “boil you alive” to “the second ice age.”  So, you spend the entire shower alternating between hot and cold just to get some semblance of warm.  And when you’re finally clean with half your body bright red and the other half a shade of light blue, you get the distinct pleasure of drying off with a dinky hand towel!

There is wi-fi in the apartment, but even though this place is only a couple hundred square feet, the wi-fi signal dramatically drops off the moment you leave the den.  So, when I’m in the bedroom, I have to lean toward the den to send anything on my phone, and even then, it’s a crap-shoot.  Oh well, overall, it’s still a nice place.  I have no idea how it compares to other places in Crete.