I always stress-out prior to a vacation, worrying about taking
time off work and thinking about the backlog waiting for me on my return,
wondering if it’s all really going to be worth it to go. In my heart of hearts
though I realize just how important it is to get away and relax, unwind and
gain a new perspective on life.

This year I took a couple weeks and travelled to the
Mediterranean where I spent some time exploring the beautiful Greek island of
Crete. The scenery was captivating, the food scrumptious (a Mediterranean diet is one of the world’s healthiest!), and the swimming/snorkeling was incredible (I spotted an Octopus as well as a Moray eel!); however, I missed my dog terribly. I was therefore always on the lookout for a surrogate
pooch to pet, but with the hot, hot day-time temperatures I’d rarely see any
dogs out and about until the sun went down. Those dogs that were out during the
day time were always found flopped down in shady shelter, but once the sun set, I’d see plenty of dogs out for evening romps or walks with their humans.

Here are some photos that I snapped while there:

 

Here’s the drop-dead gorgeous island of Santorini (if you ever go to Greece – this island has to be on your agenda) – we did a one-day side-trip there by taking a 2-hr hydrofoil ride from Heraklion (the largest city and the administrative capital of Crete).

 

This photo was taken whilst walking in Agios Nikolaos, a coastal town that we stayed in on Crete – I was surprised to see a sign advertising Orijen, a Canadian brand of dog food!

With a different alphabet, it was often times difficult to understand street signs!

Fishing is an important industry in Crete and refrigerated seafood displays frequently grace the fronts of restaurants so that patrons can chose the fish they’d like the chef to prepare for them.

Another photo from Santorini – here we ate a scrumptious lunch sea-side…

This cutie was checking out the tourists passing by, but wasn’t about to venture out into the hot street.

This fellow found respite in a shady corner…

Zonked out, that is until the sun set!

This black dog was taking full advantage of the shade!

This dog decided to give me his most photogenic smile!

Lots of the tourist shops, such as this one, had a doggie mascot. With the sun finally set, here she is, outside, taking full advantage of the evening breeze off the sea and garnering loads of attention from passing tourists.