Day 3: Western Crete

It was a beautiful bright sunny day when we woke up this morning. We had breakfast sitting on our balcony, enjoying the amazing view of the sea.

The aim for today was to do a bit of a road trip around the western part of Crete. Our first stop was Aptera, an archaeological site not far from where we're staying.

We were expecting to have to pay four euros each to get in, but for some reason it was free today.

There weren't very many other people there when we arrived, which meant we had this theatre all to ourselves.

To be honest, the theatre was probably the highlight of Aptera; it was a pleasant place to walk around but there weren't loads of ruins to see.

We enjoyed looking at a beautiful little white church...

...and we got a view of what looked like a fortress in the distance...

...but I don't think the ruins themselves are going to win any prizes compared to some of the other historical sites we're hoping to see on this trip.

What was really fantastic at Aptera were the views of the mountains.

The interior of Crete really is very mountainous and this was a good location from which to admire it.

After Aptera we jumped back in the car and drove west, towards a place that seemed to appear on every list of must-see sights in Crete: Falassarna beach.

Falassarna has apparently been voted not just the best beach in Crete, but also one of the best beaches in Europe.

It is a very sandy beach, but we weren't really that impressed!

It was extremely busy and covered in paid sun loungers; not like some of the amazingly remote sandy beaches we've been to in the Hebrides!

Admittedly, the weather is better in Crete and the sea was an amazing shade of blue  

We had a quick drink of water and then got back in the car to continue our road trip. The route took us back up into the mountains and the views of the sea from here were fantastic.

We made an unscheduled stop at a viewpoint when we noticed goats by the side of the road.

There were so many of them! And plenty of sheep too.

The goats in particular were quite brave, just wandering across the road whenever they felt like it...

...before jumping up to safety.

It was a viewpoint well worth stopping at for the views of the sea too.

Both the sea and the sky were perfectly blue

Our route continued to take us through the mountains.

As we began to loop back around towards Chania the countryside was surprisingly green in places.

We stopped for lunch with a lovely view in a taverna by the side of the road, which was deserted except for us and a local cat.

We both had chicken souvlaki, which came with chips and some gorgeous pitta bread.

Then we headed back to the apartment, where I enjoyed sitting in the air conditioning for a bit; it was very hot today! Once the weather had cooled down a bit, it was time to venture out for a little stroll around the village of Kalyves.

There's a small beach here too and a little seaside promenade.

I loved the view of the mountains behind the town...

...and also this absolutely tiny chapel right by the sea.

The main church in the middle of town is much bigger!

We've had a fun day today exploring some different parts of Crete. I think we've probably managed to see some bits which most other people on our flight won't have