It had to be done….we found a Harley Davidson garage in Crete. Well, a Harley Davidson chop shop so we had to go to try to get a Crete Harley T-Shirt. So a 2 hour drive to Chania this morning.

Chania is lovely! It was first taken over by the Ottomans in the 1600s and then by the Venetians who wanted a ship building area so they built a huge set of warehouses large enough to build their ships in – a few are still there. The ancient Ottoman walls and mosques as well as Venetian architecture are all present and it has a feel or Venice or Rome about the old town.

Food was pleasant down in the harbour and a great spot to people watch. Although it was our first cloudy day temperatures are still really high and well into the 30s

With a 2 hour drive back to the villa it was my chance to practice Greek driving, Nigel Mansell style….such fun apart from the bits where I closed my eyes.

Welcome to Crete the land of Super Mario Cart where every driver is a nutter! Undertake, overtake on blind bends, ride on your bumper, you name it, anything to move one car space closer to death

Who knew that when we made it to Crete, that we would be so close to our last destination

We wanted to do at least one winery visit while in Crete so found one close to the villa called Lyrarakis Winery. They offer wine tastings and a local Cretan food picnic so we decided to go on spec.

Luckily they were pretty quiet so after a brief wander around one of their cellars (it’s pretty much for show we reckon), a fuss of a local stray dog that’s moved in (so friendly and cute) and a welcome wine we were provided with a huge picnic hamper and taken off to the picnic area in the middle of the vines.

What a fab experience! We sampled three different wines with our brilliant picnic all explained by our host – accompanied by stuffed vine leaves, fried and stuffed courgette flowers, pork gyros in pitta bread, feta and spinach cheese balls and a mix of cold meats, nuts, cheeses, figs, bread and fresh feta and tomatoes.

For dessert, we had Greek pancakes stuffed with creamy cheese covered in local honey served warm with walnuts and accompanied by a glass of fizzy wine.

What a wonderfully relaxing afternoon, in 35 degree heat sat in a shady spot in a vineyard with the mountains in the distance.

And yes, of course we bought a few bottles to bring back to the villa….it would have been rude not to.

Tonight Mr Fogg has fired up the charcoal BBQ and is about to have a go at cooking what the butcher described as baby cow chops – veal to you and I. They look delicious

Today was my turn to drive. We opted for a mini road trip up to a couple of mountain villages I’d read about. The first one was Tylissos which is a very old village with an impressive set of excavated ruins of a large Minoan town. Unfortunately despite it supposed to be open every day it was all closed up and locked. However we wobbled around the village and enjoyed the small square.

The old fountain and church in the village square are beautiful and even better – not a tourist shop or tatty tourist gifts in sight. This is just a local village with at least three old coffee shops and about 50 cats. Peaceful

On then to Rogdia or Rodia, another village based in the mountains with incredible views of Heraklion and the sea (and equally perilously narrow winding roads that snake up the hillside). We hoped to grab a bite to eat at a couple of Tavernas I had read about but unfortunately despite the views they offered they were closed. However, we had a peaceful day driving around

And that bloody cough of mine is back again. Today I’ll be mostly sounding like someone trying to kick start a seal.

Many moons ago, Mrs Fogg spent 12 months learning Greek in our attempt to relocate to the Peloponnese. So here we are Tylosos about 30 mins outside of Agia Pelagia, to visit some Greek ruins, which are shut and for the Mrs to order two hot coffees in her bestest Greek. Well that paid off then didn’t it, nice iced frappe.

And the local toilette which has no seat, a swimming pool for the locals and a SAW toilet rating of 7 out of 10 (based on SAW 1)

Quaint little seaside town approx 50km from the Villa with some of the most bonkers car leap frogging drivers ever.

We is Here

Lunch courtesy of Steve’s Pub….or was it? Sadly Steve cannot cook or figure out how to serve warm or even edible food. So a sharp stage left for us and on to the beautiful Venetian harbour for a meal watching the little fish and the big tourists!

All we can say is WOW! The Villa is Here

Built on 4 levels, with a gym in the basement (and pool table, ping pong and drum kit), next floor has 4 spacious bedrooms with 2 en-suite, the 3rd floor is the main living / dining area, with the final floor containing yet another en-suite bedroom and a study. This place will easily sleep 10.

On top of that is a pool and, manicured gardens, BBQ pit and numerous terraces.

It is quite something

Hurrah, here and so is our luggage, obviously not an Emirates flight then

And the view from Zorbas Greek Resraurant

Agia Pelagia is Here