Trip to Greece

So I feel like I just finished posting about how quickly October seemed to pass, and now it's already December?! Holy cow!

Jordan was scheduled to go on a TDY to the Greek island of Crete during the second week of November. At the very last minute, I decided to ask for the week off so I could go with him. And I am so glad that I did! (I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this before, but under USAFE command, spouses are allowed to tag along on certain TDY's.) Jordan and his crew were scheduled to go from Mildenhall to Crete, then they had a day off before flying to the desert. Another wife was along for the ride as well, so the two of us had no other choice but to lounge in Greece for the week while the boys refueled some planes on their way to the desert. Rough life, I know.

Fortunately, lodging was full on the Navy base, so we were able to stay in Chania (pronounced "Hania"), a beautiful town on the North coast of Crete. Just a little tidbit--Archaeological artifacts have proven that Chania has been inhabited since 3000 BC without intermission! Crazy, huh?! The tourist season ends in October, so it was rather quiet when we were there. But it was really nice to walk around freely and not have to worry so much about big crowds.

Kitty (the other wife) and I spent a lot of time wandering in and out of shops and art galleries, while exploring all of the tiny little streets in Old Town Chania. We enjoyed breakfast at our hotel every morning, leisurely lunches, and dinner at new and different restaurants each night. The traditional after-dinner drink in Greece is a shot of Ouzo, an anise-flavored spirit. We hated the taste of it, but as they say...when in Rome, do as the Romans do. One particular evening, our waiter decided to give us a second complimentary round of Ouzo, which quickly turned into about seven. We felt bad not accepting something that he clearly cherished, so down the hatch went the ouzo!

On another note--The feta cheese was AMAZING!! I have never had a Greek salad that tasted so good! And the olive oil... sooo flavorful! I gave the kalamata olives a fair shot, but I guess olives just aren't for me.

And now, for the pictures!

This is on our first night there, enjoying our first Mythos with dinner. The guys had the next day off, so we went out with the crew afterward and had a great time.

Good form of transportation if you ask me...

Looking out into the harbor at the lighthouse.More Harbor. The sun was going down, so it's a little dark.

Exploring some of the old town streets.
Me :)

That small little shrine to the left of the doorway had a candle in it, and when most Greek people walk past, they stop and make the sign of the cross. We saw these all over the place.

Kitty and me on one of our girls nights out.

One day, Kitty and I decided to be bold and take a cab to a nearby town called Kolymbari. It was beautiful there, but after lunch it began to rain really hard, and because the tourist season was over, we had a bit of a rough time finding a cab back to Chania...not to mention finding someone who spoke English! But we lived to tell about it and saw some beautiful sights!

Also in Kolymbari

This picture was taken on an early-morning walk around Chania.

Jordan came back in time for dinner, so we walked around until we found the perfect spot.

Soooo pretty.
Enjoying some Cretan wine on our last night.

Crete from the air... we have decided that our long-awaited honeymoon is going to be a Greek-island hopping trip! :)

Switzerland...A ski trip is definitely in order!

On the flight back, as we were about to arrive in Mildenhall we were informed that the winds were out of limits (40 mph cross winds!), and we were unable to land. Sitting in the cockpit and listening in as the pilot, copilot (Jordan), and boom operator figured out where we were going to divert to was intense! It was a great display of teamwork, but I must admit that at times I was a little nervous. We ended up diverting to Ramstein Air Base in Germany. So we had some schnitzel and a hefeweizen, and called it a night. The next morning (Sunday), we flew back to Mildenhall, and I was able to make it back to work on Monday!