We just returned from a nice trip to Florida, combining a family vacation to visit Ben’s grandmother and attending a friend’s wedding in St. Augustine. My parents and sister met us in FL, and we had a great time swimming and playing with Luke at the beach. My parents and sister, Michele, all had a much needed break from work life back in NC, relaxing and reminiscing about our visits to Flagler Beach as when Michele and I were children. Now we take Luke and watch his test the salt waves just like we did when were little.
Coincidentally, Ben also beached at Flagler when we was little, visiting his aunt Sue and her family in the summer. We missed Sue this trip since she was traveling out west, but she generously opened her home to us. Grandma Colgrove is just across the street, so it was great getting up to go over for breakfast and then coming back to watch Luke swim at Sue’s pool. Ben’s grandmother is wonderful with Luke and always makes you so glad you we able to visit. She’s a model of healthy and graceful aging. Her bright spirit and joy make her a delight.
The garden wedding in St. Augustine was amazing. Such a beautiful location, good weather, and the most fun reception I’ve ever attended. My friend Amy was a gorgeous and gracious bride, and Ben and I were proud to be there to witness her vows and finally meet her husband Carl. We wish them all the best and know they have a wonderful life ahead. 
Luke is a little water rat, so most of the time he was in either the pool or at the beach. He dried out long enough for everyone to go for a final family dinner on our last night. I guess he thinks he’s a big guy now from the way he ‘reads’ the paper. Wonder where he’s seen that pose before?
We started in Rome, planning an overnight stay on the way to Florence to see the few remaining site we seem to have missed on every other trip. The Vatican Museums always seem to be closed when we’ve visited before, so we made it a special mission to finally get there and see all the masterworks, culminating with Michelangelo’s ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The vast collections of sculptures, frescoes, maps, and paintings you walk through just to get the Sistine Chapel are first rate in their own regard and would be top billing anywhere else. A few standouts get some of their due, such as Raphael’s School of Athens (see directly below). If you only had one day in Italy, the Vatican Museums’ collections would be a wonderful survey of the fine art you can find through Italy in municipal museums and churches. Though the crowds can be heavy, it is definitely worth the effort to see.
The Sistine Chapel was wonderful to see, though the ambience is a bit strange. Hordes of people crowded into the chapel, dim lighting to project, the work, and guards that kept shushing everyone when there was too much talking. The dim light must be helping slow damage to the work because the colors were more vibrant than I expected. There are so many iconic panels to see, but my favorite was the Sybil of Delphi. Her expression is just captivating and the colors are gorgeous in person. Photography was forbidden inside, so here is a 
From Rome we journeyed on to Florence, passing through endless fields of sunflowers as we drove through the countryside of Umbria and Tuscany. We arrived in Florence in the early evening, finally getting settled in our room and taking to the streets to do a little sightseeing before dark and to find a good place for dinner. After turning a few corners, we were floored with the sight of the enormous facade of the Duomo, huge and ornately colored with alternating slabs of green and white marble. Florence is home to many beautiful churches, including Santa Croce, and San Lorenzo with the Medici Chapels. In the latter, I was able to see a room called the New Sacristy which houses 9 figural sculptures by Michelangelo. He was commissioned to outfit this less than humble tribute to Lorenzo de Medici.
We made the requisite walk over the Ponte Vecchio, browsing in the all goldsmith shops but knowing better than to even stop to check prices. There were certainly more tourists in Florence than in many other Italian cities we’ve visited, but we also happened to be there during the height of the summer vacation season. All the crowds also make for long lines at the museums, but we managed to reserve advance tickets for the Uffizi Gallery and Galleria dell’ Arte. The Uffizi has an impressive collection by any standard, but the big draws are the painting by Botticelli, including the Birth of Venus and La Primavera (my personal favorite). There are also works by da Vinci, Titian, Giotto, Durer, El Greco, and on and on. The main and some would say only, attraction at the Galleria dell’ Arte is Michelangelo’s David. It is as perfect in form as you would imagine from all the pictures, but the scale is truly surprising. A 6 foot tall man might come up to the top of his thigh. You can walk all the way around him as well, providing new views of his form and the sheer mass of marble from which he emerged.
We flew into Chania, the eponymous capital city of the western province. We spent the first few days exploring the beaches of the Akrotiri Peninsula. We visited both Marathi and Kalathas beaches twice and made a drive-by visit to Stavos beach where the movie Zorba the Greek was filmed. All the beaches have nice tavernnas right there waterside for great fresh fish, Greek salads and strong, iced café frappes.
Every meal was delicious and we were glad to sample more authentic versions of favorite Greek dishes like cured olives, moussaka, lamb gyros, homemade feta, and the delicious fresh yogurt and honey. Our best meal was probably at a little tavernna in a home near the base. We stopped for dinner and the grandmother was sitting on the porch with a British expatriate who has lived in the area for 16 years. She translated for us and essentially helped us be adopted into the family for the night, sampling everything they ate in addition to the items we had ordered. The spread included fresh grilled lamb chops, dakos (crispbread topped with a cooked tomato, fresh cheese, and herbs), stuffed zucchini blossoms, stuffed grape leaves, fried potatoes, green beans stewed with tomatoes and onions, and a white bean soup flavored with rosemary and tomatoes. The grandmother even shared her special tiny olives cured in lemon and salt. Though we clearly didn’t speak Greek, the grandmother spoke kindly to us all evening and kept trying to get Luke to sit on her lap and eat at their table. It was like Sunday dinner at Grandma’s, Greek style. This dinner illustrates what we found to generally be true of the Cretan people; they are warm and accommodating and proud to use all the natural products they grow on whatever little parcel of earth they may tend. Eating local is simply a way of life there and makes dining a real joy when you know the people who grew and prepared the food.
From the northern coast, we took a couple hours’ drive to the southern coast city of Paleochora. Everyone said it would be beautiful and all were vindicated when we arrived on a balmy Saturday afternoon to find the bluest seas I’ve ever seen encircled by stunning rocky coastline. The town in situated on a small promontory, so one side boasts a sand beach and the other the stone beach. We found a very nice hotel, aptly named Hotel on the Rocks, with a gorgeous patio overlooking the water and good views right from our own balcony. We took in the sun, swam, and did a little hiking from here, always returning to the harbor side to enjoy the waterfront restaurants and walks in the evenings.
On the drive back north, we made a day-long detour to Elafonisi Beach, lured by photos we had seen of perfect white and pink sand beaches and constant recommendations by everyone we asked. Though there were more people there than we would have expected, nothing could detract from the remarkable beauty of the place. Perfect aquamarine lagoons of bathtub warm water, peculiar blushes of coral-pink sand, and the feeling that this could easily be the edge of the world.
We finished up our trip with visits to a couple monasteries, enjoying the quiet scenery and striking architecture. The monks we encountered seemed happy and glad to be there. That’s how we, too, felt for our nine days in Crete. A lovely island with gracious people and a simple, peaceful life. What more could you ask for?
