Somewhere deep in Crete's mountains is the cave where Zeus was raised. As you might recall from Greek mythology, Zeus was the supreme god, the one with the unnerving ability to throw thunderbolts. He was born into what today might be called a dysfunctional family. His father wanted him dead. But his mother, Rhea, who knew a trick or two, hid her baby boy to be raised in a cave on Crete's highest mountain.

克里特岛深山中的某个洞穴，就是宙斯生长的地方。你可能记得，在希腊神话中，宙斯是至高无上的天神，拥有击发雷霆的骇人力量。在今天看来，他可说是生于一个不正常的家庭。他的父亲想置他于死地，幸好母亲莉亚懂得略施小计，把小男婴藏到克里特岛最高一座山上的洞穴里。

Crete, Greece's largest island, just may be one of the most perfect vacation spots in Europe because virtually all vacationer's whims can be met on this 130-mile-long chunk of sea-bound rock. And it should get even more attractive once the 2004 Olympics arrive in Greece. Football matches will be held at the 27,000-seat Pankrition Stadium in Iraklion, scheduled for completion this December.

克里特岛是希腊最大的岛屿，它之所以能跻身欧洲最完美的度假胜地之列，可能就是因为在这块四面环海长130英里的巨大盘石上，度假旅客的万千遐想几乎都能实现。而在2004年希腊奥运之后，它势将获得更多注目。奥运足球赛将在伊拉克里翁市的庞克瑞逊体育馆时行，这座可容纳27,000名观众的体育馆预定于今年12月竣工。

Its beaches rival those of the Caribbean but its resorts are cheaper. The price-conscious Brits Discovered it years ago and run daily charters to the island. The island boasts 300 days of sunshine each year. Its mountains are breezily cool and inhabited mostly by goats and their herders. It also has stunning historic sites like the famed 4,000-year-old Minoan palace of Knossos. For more energetic visitors, Crete boasts one of Europe's finest mountain hikes, down the Samaria Gorge. Its seaside towns are so romantically charming, you'll be tempted to hang out at the harbor at sunset, sip cool drinks under a table umbrella and watch the boats bob.

克里特岛的沙滩风情比起加勒比海毫不逊色，但它的度假中心可便宜多了。十分懂得精打细算的英国人许多年前发现了这里，现在经营着每日往返克里特岛的包机。这里每年有300天阳光普照。山上，凉爽微风轻拂着，仅有山羊与牧羊人长居于此。岛上还有着令人叹为观止的历史遗迹，像已有4000年历史、著名的米农文明克诺萨斯宫殿。对精力旺盛的旅客来说，克里特岛更拥有欧洲最棒的山间健行步道之一，就沿着萨马利亚峡谷前进。滨海的小镇又更浪漫迷人了。落日时分，你会禁不住诱惑到港口走走，坐在露天咖啡座下小口小口地啜饮沁凉冷饮，望着点点船只起伏。

Splayed out against an ink-dark sea, the beaches are superb-and plentiful enough to escape from all those German tourists who insist on parading around in the buff.

沙滩向湛蓝的海面展开，不仅美不胜收，而且开阔到让人得以躲避那些坚持光着屁股乱晃的德国观光客。

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