Olive groves and minotaur echo

Off to Crete to an all-inclusive hotel with a small private beach in a sheltered cove. We booked a room through TUI with access to the infinity pool—but we ended up with one of the additional rooms on the edge of the resort, which, while part of the hotel, are rented out exclusively through TUI. It has its own small pool down below, but not a trace of the beautiful infinity pool up above. We complain, but it’s no use: the room is just the room. Lesson learned—never book through an agent again; from now on, book directly with the hotel whenever possible.
That aside, the resort is really beautiful: well-kept gardens, a view of the bay, a good buffet in the main restaurant, and rotating themed restaurants—Italian, Asian, Greek. We spend a few days swimming, eating, and drinking our way through the program, sometimes by the pool, sometimes down at the beach. Right on the bay, there are two or three really good local taverns with freshly caught fish and cold white wine—we spend the best hours of the day there, with our feet in the sand and the sunset over the sea.
Still, we realize: all-inclusive at a resort—it works well for three or four days, then we start to get restless. While snorkeling in the bay, we do spot a few beautiful octopuses that have their caves among the rocks, but otherwise it’s pretty quiet underwater. Next time we visit Crete, we’d rather rent a car and tour the island instead of spending a week at a resort.
The shock comes at the end: at the airport, we learn that our flight had already left that morning—and not in the evening, as stated on our documents. Only a few passengers had been informed of the change—most are standing at the counter, just as clueless as we are. There’s quite a bit of chaos, a few frantic phone calls, but the airline acknowledges the mistake and arranges a replacement flight for everyone affected. With a bit of