Today is our last day in Crete. We have enjoyed a low key, slow and relaxing 4 days – tomorrow we head to Athens for a week.

The small village of Agia Pelagia (Saint Pelagia) has been a perfect beachside holiday for us; from day 1 we decided against pursuing any touristic activities. The weather has been devine at 27 – 29 degrees each day, light breeze and not a cloud in the sky.

We have established a lovely little routine here:

Breakfast on our balcony

Stroll along the beachfront, visit one of the 3 mini supermarkets for supplies (grapes, tomatoes, watermelon, fresh bread, olives, cheese, tonic water…) and explore little areas of the village

Sit on the rooftop, which has an undercover area with uninterrupted views of the sea – write, eat grapes, read, watch the planes coming in to land

Have a long lunch in the same place (bread, olives, salami, ham, pickled vegetables, cheese, watermelon) then play flip UNO and concentration

Go to the beach – snorkel, play catch with a tennis ball, paddle about

Go home for gin and tonic on the balcony

Shower and go out for dinner

Wake up and repeat

We understand why people want to quit their 9-5 lives and move to a Greek Island. It’s an easy pace, no stress and views for days.

There are many tourists here from a host of different countries. We haven’t heard any Australian accents, but plenty of French, German, Chinese, Russian and English. The tourists (not us) bake themselves from sunup to sundown – my dermatologist would have a fit! Many people are sunburned and then return the next day for more. There’s nothing like a European beach scene to educate a 14 year old Australian boy – bodies of all shapes, colours and sizes, boobs, g-strings…I’m sure he notices but none of it comes up in conversation. And so many people smoke or vape – I feel this has not improved since our last European trip – how are the health messages not getting through?

A couple of little quirks of Greece for your entertainment:

Toilets. We don’t flush toilet paper in Greece – the pipes are too narrow. The used toilet paper goes into a bin next to the toilet and we just take it out with the rest of the trash. This has taken some adjusting and I’m sure there are many people who would really struggle to do this (including some of you!) but mostly it’s just breaking the habit. Hamish said he’s fine doing it, although initially it made him a bit uncomfortable. Fair.

Dining Out. After dinner, the waiters bring you either a free dessert (we’ve had ice-cream and chocolate sauce with 3 x spoons and something like a walnut and carrot cake with ice-cream and 3 x spoons) OR fresh fruit and raki. Raki is made from distilled grapes and aniseed and is somewhere between 40-50% alcohol!

We had been pre-warned, it’s a sip not a shot, so were prepared when this liquid fire was delivered to our table. I won’t lie, it was dreadful. Our host tells us it’s ’good for the digestion’ – always a good line.

Cats. Much to the delight of Rod and Hamish (and many other people) there are a core group of about a dozen cats who wander the beach front, the restaurants and generally hang about enjoying pats and treats.

Vegetation. We’ve found quite a few plants here that are native to Australia (or at the very least, grow in Australia). Bottle Brush, Bougainvillea and eucalyptus tree. The Greeks are opportunistic with their gardens and we have found many on our walks.

Food. The food is fresh and we have enjoyed the local cuisine: gyros (which isn’t actually a wrap, it’s meat and salad on a plate with tzatziki and flat bread) veal casserole, seafood risotto, fish soup and a dish that Rod said tasted like meatball parmesan, chicken with eggplant and capsicum.

As mentioned tomorrow we head to Athens. We have an 0930 flight, so today have done a bit of washing. Our accommodation in Rome has just been cancelled, so I’ve also spent a bit of time today re-booking. Frustrating but it happens. Tomorrow is also Hamish’s 14th birthday – so we’ll find somewhere local in Athens to take him out for dinner and we’ll try and get him a cake from a market or bakery. We spent a bit of time yesterday looking up what we might do in Athens and will start with a free 3 hour walking tour Sunday. A good way to get our bearings and some local info.