Das Lasithi-Plateau

When you travel around Crete you realize that the island is not just beaches and the sea but also a lot of mountains. You get the Ida-Mountains, the Dikti-Mountains and the Lefka Ori, all of them more then 2000 meters above sea level, and then of course there is the Lasithi-Plateau, which is between 800 and 900 meters up and where you even get snow in Winter.

Compared to the other Greek Islands Crete is so big that it takes a lot of driving to get around there, going up to Lasithi took us about 2 hrs from our hotel in the Malia area. But it is definately worth it, you see a lot of the "real" island, and you can enjoy wonderful views.

There are plenty of archeological sites at Crete, the place we wanted to see today was the "Psychro cave", the place where - according to Greek mythology - Zeus was born. His mother Rhea is said to have been hiding in this cave because his father Kronos was jealous of the baby, but when Kronos found her she showed him a stone instead of the baby and Kronos was obviously happy and walked off. How dull can you be? A stone instead of a baby? Oh well.....

The way up from the parking area to the cave is quite tough, they tell you that you have to be in good shape to make it up the mountain, and this is really true. You walk up a very steep path, and the sun blazes down on you, and the way is looong.......

You can take a donkey up if you want - and believe me I was tempted. But noooo, this is something for whimps....

And after you have completely exhausted yourself going up, up, up you go down into the earth again. Here it is lots cooler than outside.

The Psychro cave has been a worshipping site for over thousands of years, and you can feel there is something there. It is just a pity that the "something" is there with so many other people. But this is definately a problem here: At Crete you are never alone with the sights. And we were not even in the main season. But no need to worry, once you are off the beaten track you are fine.

Afterwards we simply travelled around Lasithi and found lots of nice little villages with comfortable little gardens and the familiar looking Greek doors. Later we had a perfect light lunch in a small taverna right next to one of the little churches you find everywhere, and later we went in and lit a candle to ask for save travelling.

And then we ventured on to see more of this friendly, easy-going area.

And later, back in the luxury and comfyness of our hotel, when the sun went down over the Aegaeian Sea, we thought that it had been a really good day.