Gouves lies on the north coast of Crete, 15 kms east of Herakleion. Being close to the island's capital and thus the airport was crucial for us in choosing our holiday resort, as this was the first time we took our little Dora with us, and we didn't want to subject her to too much trouble.

Because of our daughter we also wanted a hotel close to a nice sandy beach, this being very important to be able to have a nice holiday together with a 19 month-old child. That's how we placed our choice at Hotel Astir Beach, which lies right next to one of the best sandy beaches in Gouves.
www.astirbeach.gr

Our balcony had a left side look to the sea, while there were beautiful mountains in front of us, which seemed to change their amazing looks depending on the actual light conditions: sometimes more, sometimes less could be seen from them, and they also seemed to attract clouds like a magnet. This picture was taken right before sunset when the mountains probably provided the warmest atmosphere.

During that short week of our holiday there were strong winds on the beach every day, which really made it difficult to bathe with Dora in the sea, who seemed to love waves from afar but never when she was too close to them... We had no other choice but taking turns with my husband in enjoying our passion for the sea, which now only involved jumping about in huge breakers. Sometimes they were all over us, we really had to be careful not to lose our swimsuits...

Meanwhile the other of us was splashing about with Dora in the hotel's children's pool, who was not really impressed by the rather cool water, she preferred spending her time in her waterproof boat... What she liked best was when we both were there pushing her boat fast to one another. In vain did we keep telling her that the sea was much warmer, she wouldn't listen, she was only willing to wave to those breakers and nothing more!

However, the weather was just perfect to explore our resort and its surroundings, which we practiced almost every day. Fortunately our stubborn and independent daughter was finally willing to sit in her stroller, so we didn't have to carry her 13 kilos everywhere. She might as well not have done it if she hadn't seen all the other babies traveling around this way, who and, of course, dogs were always welcome by a big smile and appropriate sound effect during our exploring walks.

After wandering all over the shore the inner areas followed, where we got a marvelous view of the whole resort and an island called Dia opposite Crete. We even got on a train like open bus to tour the surrounding settlements, once passing through even a military base, which was rather interesting than beautiful...

Touring the island by bus wouldn't have been a good choice for us as sitting at one place has never belonged to Dora's favorite pastimes. But we really didn't want to miss cruising, especially to Santorini, which is regarded as the most beautiful island in the Aegean Sea. One date was cancelled because of the strong winds but we were lucky enough to have a second chance to enjoy cruising on the open sea.

Our cruiser was named Atlantis and started its five-hour, 110 km long voyage from Herakleion with several hundred passengers on board. Unfortunately we couldn't stay on the open deck for too long as strong winds are really not for small children, still it was a great experience. Dora especially liked two things: the gaming room where she wildly pushed all the buttons she was able to reach, and the playground where a huge plush donkey captured her attention. We even had to buy a small donkey in the cruiser's souvenir shop so that she wouldn't bring the big one along everywhere!

Santorini, also called Thira, is one of the most beautiful islands in the world, though its dramatic beauty was created by the darkest forces. The legend of the lost world, Atlantis is often attached to this island, though scientific proof has not been found yet. According to the legend, the flourishing civilization of Atlantis was lost under the waves because the unbounded egoism of its people caused the anger and the punishment of gods. Geologists know one thing for sure: the volcano creating the island had been sleeping for centuries when around 1500 B.C. a strong earthquake shook the island, which was followed by huge eruptions that first covered the round island with a 30 meter thick layer of pumice and volcanic ash, then a huge explosion destroyed the inner and almost all the western part of the island which sank to a depth of 300-400 m. The sudden movement of such great masses of water caused great tidal waves, the initial height of which was 210 meters but reaching Crete it still exceeded 70 meters, destroying all the flourishing settlements on the shore.

The caldera formed by the explosion is the largest of its kind. Today's main island is the eastern, sickle-shaped part of the caldera called Thera which has a length of 18 km, a width varying from 2 to 6 km, and its highest point (Profitis Ilias) is 550 m. About 7000 people live in its 13 settlements. The "capital" is Fira with 1500 inhabitants, which offers one of the most breathtaking views in the world.

The typical white houses built on the edge of the steep wall of the caldera seem snow-capped mountain peaks from afar, while getting closer the visitor is charmed by their unique style and daring location. The sky and the deep blue sea always have the nicest shades of blue, which leaves an unforgettable memory in everybody who have ever seen them.

There is a path with 556 steps leading up to Fira from the old port, which can even be covered on donkeyback. If you prefer comfort or just don't have the time, you can use the cable car, which is capable of taking altogether 72 people up and down at a turn. With Dora we chose this way too, who enjoyed the amazing view given by the steep rise just as much as we ourselves.

Nea Kameni, the island formed around the volcano's still active area can well be seen everywhere from Fira. The shape it has today has been determined by only small eruptions creating domes (1570, 1707, 1866, 1925, 1928, 1939, 1941, 1950). In 1956 there was a strong earthquake which caused the death of 57 people beside significant damage to buildings. You can still see hot vapors and sulfurous gases coming out of the crater of the volcano in Nea Kameni, which you can visit by small boats from the old port. The location of the magma feeding the volcano is estimated to a depth of 1000 meters under the surface of the sea.

In the background in the middle, behind Nea Kameni you can see Palea Kameni, the island formed around the old crater of the volcano. It was created in 197 B.C. by the first eruption after the devastating explosion about 3500 years ago. Its shape was further modified by the eruptions in 19, 146 and 726 A.D. To the left in the background you can make out Aspronisi, the smaller one of the two western remainders of the caldera.

From Ia, 10 kms north-east of Fira still on the main island, there is a good view over the bigger, 200-300 meter high western remainder of the caldera, called Therasia. They say that one of the most beautiful sunsets in the world can be observed from here. Unfortunately we couldn't see it as our cruiser was to leave Santorini at already half past five.

In this interestingly distorted picture Aspronisi, Nea Kameni and Therasia seem whole continents in spite of their small size. Is it possible that people who live here don't need to go anywhere else? They surely have entirely different problems from people living in big cities...

In Thera you can find several churches with typical white or blue cupolas. We could only see these from afar as the narrow streets paved by volcanic stones had many steps, which made moving around with Dora's stroller quite difficult. We spent her afternoon sleeping time on the terrace of a tavern, but instead of the usual 2-3 hours now she only slept for 25 minutes. It seems she just didn't want to miss one of the best experiences of her life!

We only saw the sunset from our cruiser, still it was really beautiful. But we couldn't enjoy the view over our much loved sea for too long as our little Dora was still not tired enough to sleep even for a minute... She would rather climb on the top of her comfortable seat and throw herself down as many times as she could amid loud battle-cries... We had to stay right next to her all the time to take care of her as she just would not stop her quite dangerous stunts. But by 10 o'clock she had become so exhausted that she fell asleep on the bus taking us back to our hotel, where she only got up next morning to be able to enjoy the remaining two days which we spent on the beach.

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