At the end of summer, the well-known woman set off for Crete with her heart partner Marius and son Nikolas, ready for an active holiday – to travel a lot around the island, walk and see as much as possible. However, just before the flight, the family’s plans were adjusted by an unexpected injury to her husband.
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“Marius and I like very active rest – hikes, motorcycle trips, so this time it was really strange. We planned to travel a lot around the island, but just before the trip, Marius somehow accidentally hit his leg on the stairs and broke his toes.
The foot was bandaged. He could only wear slippers. Walking itself became a challenge for him, and Crete is very rocky, so we had to quickly rearrange our plans,” says Gerda.
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Nevertheless, the family did not want to give up all the planned places. Renting a car for three days, they set off along the serpentine roads of Crete, stopping at viewpoints, and for one of the most desired sites to visit – the famous Zeus cave – they even found an unexpected solution.
“First, we asked artificial intelligence whether it was possible to travel to Zeus cave with broken toes. The answer was very clear – definitely not. You have to climb quite a bit, and the path is rocky. But we found out that people who have difficulty moving can be carried up by donkeys.
That became our solution and another interesting experience. We really liked the cave itself, and we walked down on our own – descending was much easier,” she smiles.
Another travel experience the family could not miss was sailing on a catamaran. Nikolas, Gerda’s son, especially looked forward to it – until then, he had never sailed in the open sea. And finally, Marius, who was injured, also dared to go into the water.
“The Greeks turned out to be incredibly friendly. The captain’s assistant saw Marius’s leg, brought a whole box of medical supplies, and promised to reapply and re-bandage everything after swimming so that he could bathe. I am very happy that we entrusted everything to the travel operator ‘Coral Travel,’ with whom many famous friends travel.
They organized not only the entire trip, recommended the best hotel for our rest, but also took care of all excursions from A to Z – we just had to arrive at the reception on time, and everything else was already arranged. It’s a very good feeling not to worry about anything during the holidays and to know that everything is done for you,” says G. Žemaitė.
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Although the slower pace of the trip was unusual for the family at first, it eventually became one of the biggest advantages of this holiday. Gerda, who is used to constant running, filming, and solving other people’s problems in everyday life, allowed herself not to rush anywhere this time.
“We stayed at the newly opened ‘Cactus Village’ hotel. A small area, several pools, and tranquility suited the unexpectedly changed holiday scenario perfectly. It was absolute peace for us there. The hotel is new, very cozy, small, and no one steps on anyone’s toes.
From the first moments, there was a great hospitality – the owner himself welcomed us and showed us around the area. Nearby was a larger hotel belonging to the same chain, with lots of activities, where we could use all their entertainment, but we felt so good in our hotel that we didn’t even want to go anywhere,” she says.
In the end, what seemed like an unpleasant disruption of plans before the trip allowed the family to experience a different kind of holiday than usual.
“We slept as much as we wanted, didn’t rush anywhere, not even to breakfast. Nikolas rested before school, and we also allowed ourselves complete peace. Although we planned a completely different trip, we returned truly rested,” says Gerda.
The TV show host says that this year has been unusually generous with travel for her – Gerda managed to visit Switzerland, Milan, Zakynthos island, Crete, Cyprus, and also rested on the Lithuanian seaside. But after such an intense summer, she admits – now she is waiting not for another flight, but for a return to the daily routine.
“I have never had such a summer and such a year. I have always loved action, work, rushing, filming, sports, but this year I really wanted to travel more, and it seems the universe heard me. Now I am completely longing for routine, work, and sports. Marius and I even said – maybe that’s enough traveling for this year,” laughs G. Žemaitė.
