Elle Takes Europe 2026 - Day 15: Late Starts
I’m getting pretty tired of these early morning wake-ups and airport transfers. Today was by far the toughest one to wake up for. Even though our flight to Crete doesn’t leave until 10 AM, the drive to the airport takes almost an hour. Our alarms were off at 6 AM, and at exactly 7 AM, we were all up (in various states of readiness) and in the lobby, ready to get into our Mercedes van. The ride was uneventful, outside of a number of tunnels we drove through that Elle got a kick out of each time. We continued an old family tradition of yelling “dun nuh dun nuh Batman” through each one. Elle kept asking for more, and fortunately, there was a lot.
We arrived at the airport, quickly dropped off our bags, and had breakfast before security. We gave Elle the option of pizza or eggs, and she chose pizza. We think it’s her new favorite food over pasta. With all of us fed, we made our way through security. We had less than an hour until boarding, so Jenn and I took turns walking Elle around the airport. She was a little more cranky than normal, but once we got to see the planes take off, her mood turned around. We boarded the plane on time and sat for nearly an hour. When we finally took off, the flight to Crete was only 35 minutes. We spent far more time on the ground than in the air. We got there a little late, grabbed our bags at the very small airport, and met our driver to take us to the Domes of Elounda, an hour away.
Elle slept for roughly half of the drive to the hotel, and had the driver not started asking a crazy amount of questions towards the end, she might have slept for even more of it. The roads were bumpy and windy, but eventually we made it to the beautiful Domes of Elounda. When we arrived, we were greeted by the staff, our bags were taken, and we sat down to get the welcome. Elle was still waking up, so a long introduction wasn’t possible, but we did hear there was a maintenance issue with our room. Although check-in was roughly an hour after we arrived, we likely wouldn’t have a room for 3-4 hours. Had it just been Jenn and me, we would have been bummed, but no big deal; with Elle, this was a much tougher situation. We put on a brave face and went to lunch at their Italian restaurant near the pool. Jenn had pasta, and I had a Caesar salad with a pizza. We also ordered Elle chicken fingers, but she didn’t touch them. We killed as much time as we could before going back to the lobby, being told there was no time update, and grabbing our swim gear to go back to the pool.
After our trips to Cancun and Palm Springs this year, it is evident how much Elle loves being in the pool. If I could have captured her initial squeals when we brought her into the pool here, I’d bottle them up and save them forever. Jenn told me before we came on this trip that each day there would be small moments where you’d know all the hard work of traveling and getting to these amazing destinations would be worth it, and this was one of those moments. We spent at least 2 hours in the pool, going up and back and under each of the five bridges that outline the massive family pool. The hotel staff told us they’d call us when the room was ready. Sadly, it was almost 6 PM, and we had heard absolutely nothing. I contacted them via the app and found out the room was ready. We went to the lobby, grabbed the key, and headed to Room 405, our family suite with a whirlpool. The room is perfect for the three of us, a small living room with a big bathroom, and a bedroom for the three of us. Our balcony overlooks Spinalonga Island and the ocean. It’s stunning.
Given we didn’t get settled in our room until 6:30 PM, we chose to do room service for dinner and eat it on our balcony. They brought up a high chair for Elle, and we enjoyed a perfectly picturesque dinner on our patio as the sun was just starting to set. Jenn had their shrimp pasta, Elle had pasta with a red sauce, and I had another Caesar salad with shrimp. We couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful and relaxed way to close out a long but beautiful day in Crete. Here’s to three more days of relaxation!
