A walk in the woods I never knew that existed, and then... a whole different world :)

There is something magic about small islands, although Crete, the island where I currently live, is not the smallest one in Greece. On the contrary, it is the biggest one. Still, you can drive from one side to the other within 4,5 hours so not that big :) The variety of landscapes, vegetation, architecture, cultures that you can meet in such small places is fascinating.

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Living in the eastern part of the isalnd, we headed up to the west to do some island hopping with our small van. A trip that started about two months ago and came to an end a few days ago.

The western part is definitely more green, but I never expected to spend the first morning in the woods!

Neither did I expect to spend the first night at the house (actually the yard) of my Vipassana teachers for whom I have great respect and I must admit that I was anxious meeting them outside the seminar. The reason for that visit was that we wanted to drop off some olive oil for the seminars.

For those who don't know, Vipassana seminars usually last 10 days (there are other that last longer) and they are based on donations of the students. You take the seminar and when it is finished there is a donation box to give whatever amount you want or can. Well, when I did it I literally had just the money to take the ship to Athens and the bus to get there and return back, so whenever possible I like to give anything I can, because honestly I feel extremely grateful for this seminar. Anyone who has done it will probably understand :)

We left from their house full of precious presents like this one!

_{Ziziphus jujuba}

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Their house is just 15' from the crowded city, located next to a forest. Believe me, forests are not very common here :)

A very pleasant surprise for my companion photographer and for Marcos as well that he had the chance to run amongst the trees, while I was worried about the shepherds around. I wish I was as carefree as he is when he is running and fooling around.

It had been a long time since the last time I was in a woodsy place, I had forgotten how amazingly beautiful it is. Next to it there is a late Minoan cemetery, and as you know ancients paid a lot of attention to the energy of the places. It felt special and very light being there. Unfortunately no dogs where allowed in the archaeological site, so it was just what we could see from the fence. Returning to the forest seemed a good idea anyway.

It is not a huge place and as you can see in the picture above it is surrounded by olive groves. The difference between the natural and the cultivated terrain is interesting.

We didn't meet many flowers during summer, so the few that we found took all our attention!

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After our walk we had a luxurious second breakfast! Who says you can't be fancy when you are on the road? Oats, chia seeds, sesame paste, banana, mango and cinnamon :)
And hot cocoa!

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And then, in a quarter we were at this small cute beach. The sun falls quickly there, good for reading not for taking photos :)

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That was a big day. Oh well, you know, travelling is not an easy job :)

This is my #wednesdaywalk contribution for the wonderful challenge by @tattoodjay!

Happy walks everyone!

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All the pictures and the words are mine.

If you would like to know more about me this is my introduction post.