So I hope everyone figured out the last blog title was Greek for Crete. This one means "very beautiful stairs." And they are. It took us about 6 days and an average of 3 people working 8 hours a day or so to complete it. In the end we had a handmade log cabin staircase built almost entirely from eucalyptus trees, which had been cleared by our friend a few years ago when he built the road up to his home. Everyone helped to strip the bark, sand, and stain the wood. We used a small chainsaw and a grinder plugged into a gas generator to make all the cuts. A large knife was used to strip the bark. It was a fun project and the stairs turned out good and strong in the end.
The weather sort of cooperated with us but was a bit cool... not totally uncommon for Crete in March. We still managed to get to the beach at Tris Iklesis for a giant pork roast and some swimming, (go Iz!) in the Med.
We also checked out Knossos, which must have really been something in its day. The road we took to get there took us past a part of Crete famous for wine. Back in Minoan times an aquaduct was built here to ferry wine barrels down the hill to the palace of Knossos. The palace is in a state of semi rebuild; it houses some incredible murals and giant rooms and pots. You could look through grates in the floor to the fabled maze below. We were lucky to arrive at a time when there were only about 5 or 7 other people there. We were told this is usually not the case and as we got ready to leave, tour bus after tour bus came rolling into the parking lot with dozens of camera laden tourists. Lucky.
As we head to Athens, and then Italy we are looking forward to the chance of doing some work at Pirapora, as well as looking back to the wonderful time we had working and touring around here in Crete. Efkharisto poli to our lovely hosts and friends here in a bit of paradise. We are all glad we had the chance to explore this ancient outpost and recomend it highly!
Next up: Last stop...
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