Crete /3

Here's the last pictures of our trip to Crete. I know it's only been three weeks or so but seeing this pictures makes me want to go back immediately. Especially since I've been under quite some stress since I started going to school again. Before we took our giant hiking trip to the Samaria Gorge, I thought I could use some rest so we stayed close to our hotel. That doesn't mean that we lay at the beach all day (just a couple of hours), we also visited the Arkadi Monastery. It's very impressive. And so is its history.

Short version of the story: when the Turks invaded Crete, a lot of the Cretan villagers fled to the Arkadi Monastery. As the Turks got closer and closer, rather than surrendering, the people in the monastery decided to blow up all of the gunpowder in the monastery. They committed mass suicide, killing the Turks as well. Poetic, isn't it?

Our reward

After that, the big day was there: hiking through the Samaria Gorge. I never thought I could actually do it but it went easier as I anticipated. But just to be clear: 16 km is no joke. Certainly towards the end, my feet started to hurt so much. It was worth it though. I've never seen anything so beautiful.