CHAPTER 37
Leaving Oia was bittersweet, but as always in these situations, we came to terms with it by vowing to return someday. Our party was breaking up, and after a week in paradise, we were all going our different ways- Kate, John and Hannah to explore more of Europe, Jake and Jackie to set sail on a blustery tour of the Dalmatian Coast with the legendary Yacht Week, and us, to return home and take possession of our own sailboat, the equally legendary Saint Robert. Happily though, due to logistics and airline schedules and ticket prices, our flight to the US was not for another few days, which delay coincided nicely with Jake and Jackie’s own hiatus before their sailing voyage- and so, the four of us decided to make one final stop in the Aegean before leaving it to the Greeks: we decided to go to Crete.
We would only be there for two days, so we picked a laidback hotel close to the beach, with the plan to spend one glorious day sunbathing on the sandy shore (something lacking in Oia), and the other visiting the famed ruins of Knossos, where King Minos built a labyrinth under his palace to imprison the Minotaur. Some of us enjoyed the ruins more than others, but we all loved the beach. But in the end it didn’t matter…
As long as we are together, with good friends, having good laughs, and making good memories, it doesn’t much matter where we go or what we see. Our circuit around the Aegean, was definitely amazing, and I cherish all the stories and photos I accumulated, but the real souvenir was time spent with our favorite people.
