i keep a diary

October 26, 2003

European Vacation Part 11: Caves of Matala.

Again, while it didn't look too far on the map, the drive from Agia Galini to Matala turned out to take much longer than we'd imagined.

See, it doesn't look far, right? Looking at the map we figured it would only be a half an hour, but because of the windy coastal roads, took us almost 90 minutes!
crete ˆ map
We parked the car and managed to get out on the beach with about fifteen minutes to spare before sunset. Matala is best known for the caves you see in the limestone rock in the background.
beach ˆ cave ˆ crete
chris a
All the caves were carved in the rocks by the Romans and were used as a cemetery! In the late 1960s, a bunch of hippies found them and for two years the caves caves became a commune (Joni Mitchell actually spent six months here living in one of the caves). More and more hippies kept coming until the local authorities got fed up and kicked all of their dirty, patchouli-smelling asses the fuck off the beach. ("Take your guitar and MOVE IT, Harpo! Now!"). Boo-yah!
beach ˆ cave ˆ chris a
Now the caves are a gated tourist attraction that you have to pay to be guided through. By the time we got there, the gates were closed so we weren't able to go up in them and explore. Fucking hippies. Always ruining it for everyone.
beach ˆ cave ˆ crete
The beginning of sunset.
crete ˆ sunset
chris a, grant, me
The beginning of sunset.
ocean ˆ chris a ˆ grant ˆ me
fatty
...yet another photo-sesh in which Fatty tried to capture the perfect JDate photo. Here's the Hasselhoff
beach ˆ jdate ˆ sunset ˆ fatty
fatty
Seriously, check it. From the hair right down to the glasses, he's got it down! Even the man himself gives Fatty a "thumbs up" for his flawless impression.
best ˆ doppleganger ˆ thumbs up ˆ fatty
fatty
After perfecting David, it was time for him to work on his Pamela.
beach ˆ jdate ˆ fatty
fatty
Hahahahaha.
beach ˆ fatty
chris a
Here's Chris demonstrating how engorged he became watching Fatty writhe around in the sand.
beach ˆ chris a
chris a
Chris on a rock.
chris a
chris a, grant
Chris and Grant on a rock.
hat ˆ chris a ˆ grant
grant, me
Me doing a Sweep the Leg Johnny Crane kick on the rock.
crane kick ˆ karate ˆ kung fu ˆ grant ˆ me
me
Action shot of me jumping off the rock.
jump ˆ ocean ˆ me
fatty, me
When Fatty showed me the great mid-air picture he captured of me jumping of the rock, we decided we needed a picture of EVERYONE jumping off the rock. So without further ado, here we go!
camera ˆ fatty ˆ me
fatty
Fatty jumping off the rock.
beach ˆ jump ˆ ocean ˆ fatty
grant
Grant jumping off the rock.
jump ˆ grant
chris a
Chris jumping off the rock (and getting bonus points for coldlamping mid-air Thrasher magazine style, circa 1984).
jump ˆ chris a
grant
If you thought you loved the original, wait until you get a load of the sequel: Grant jumping off the rock, PART II!
jump ˆ grant
me
Dah-dah-dorks
jump ˆ me
grant
After the rock jumping photo session, Grant asked if I'd take some Bay Watchesque portraits of him.
beach ˆ best ˆ crete ˆ run ˆ grant
grant
But after the first pic, Grant turned around and gave a Randy "The Macho Man" Savage-style FLEX DOWN! Hahhahaha. (Oh, and here's a lil' treat! It's the hi-res, large version for all you Grant fans out there (mostly dudes, I'm assuming) who are looking for a little "Beefcake Stoddard" desktop wallpaper action.)
best ˆ gun show ˆ grant
me
Yo, that Bay Watch shit was corny. But I wasn't about to be left out of a WWF FLEX DOWN!
gun show ˆ me
grant
The nearby village at dusk.
beach ˆ crete ˆ sunset ˆ grant
me
Afterwards, we emptied our shoes, got some ice cream in the nearby town and then hopped in the car to head back to Rethymnon. I don't have any pics of the ride home, but we ended up getting totally and hopelessly lost on the way back to the highway. We got stuck on lightless mountain roads and almost drove off a cliff when we tried to make a u-turn.
shoes ˆ me
Three and a half (car sickness-inducing) hours later, we finally made it back to Rethymnon. We got back to our porch and were greeted by these two awesome stray cats. (Cretans really like cats and so there are stray cats all over the place that will come up to you and hang out for a while because they want to be fed and petted). So we gave them some milk.
cat ˆ crete
me
And took pictures with them. Here's the big one getting a little behind the ear scratchy scratchy.
cat ˆ me
fatty
And here's Fatty accidentally taking the two worst pictures ever of himself.
cat ˆ fatty
fatty
Hahahaha. This is definitely NOT JDate photo material.
cat ˆ fatty
me
After a light dinner at home, we were still feeling carsick from the overly bumpy (and long) ride home. We decided to take it easy at the condo. We even managed to find a delicious granola snack that described our photoshoots earlier on in the day.
food ˆ treats ˆ weird foreign food ˆ me