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Published: July 11th 2023
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Ok I actually slept really well on the boat?? The cabin was def worth it - in fact I only woke up as we were basically getting into port lol. No problem, takes a while to dock anyway and then forever for everyone to get off so there was no real rush.
I wandered down the street hoping I was going the right way (I was, bless) to get to the bus station t
o head to Chania (boat arrived in Heraklion). The station's super organized and clean... I wouldn't say overly obvious English info, but if you know the Greek name of where you're going it's super easy to find the correct bay/gate. The only English name I saw was "Chania" which I mean... I guess is what most tourists need to know anyway lol. Nevertheless, I knew I was going to Xavia, so s'all good.
Bus was 2h30-3hrs? Something like that. Only major stop was Rethymno and the bus wasn't too full. Another one of my weird things, I like seeing how the intercity bus systems work - like I bought my ticket at the station, so they check when you get on, but then we
randomly picked up an employee like 30min into our drive and she went through the bus double checking and then check everyone else as they got on. (Lots of stops on the side of the highway type vibe) Anyway, I got to Chania (which has an equally nice station) and wasn't about to play in the heat - I took a taxi to my hotel lol. The driver was super cute - he didn't really speak English, but we chatted via GoogleTranslate a bit.
It was around 11am so obv too early for check-in, but the hotel owner was super friendly and chatty - I'm at this small hotel, it's very cozy. The owner was like I'll call you when you're room is ready and he'll bring my bag up for me. We then got to talking about Chania - he gave me all the tips - and we chatted about Canada - because he has cousins in Montreal and he visited one November and my god it was cold. I had to laugh, good thing he didn't go in January. Anyway, we literally talked for a good 30min before I headed out to explore.
I decided to
head down to the Old Town which... wasn't the best choice in terms of lack of any shade at noon-1pm LOL but hey, I made it work. I'm also realizing that although it's great to be wearing a baseball hat so I don;t burn my face, it invites pretty much every American I encounter to ask if I'm from Toronto (it's a Jays hat). Case in point, met a couple from Utah today - I got the big long story how their daughter also loves to travel Europe alone. I'm like yes, she is correct lol.
Anyway, I wandered up to the Fortress, took a few pics of the harbourfront then wandered back into the maze of little streets - this is what I missed about Zakynthos, just wandering around little side roads and exploring and seeing what the locals are up to. I saw many kitties in my travels. For a late lunch I had a Cretan omelette - anthotryo (cheese), apaki (pork? I think? Idk salted meat goodness whatever it is), onion and zucchini - SO GOOD. I then wandered down into some of the tourist shops just to get an idea of prices, stopped at a
grocery store, a pastry shop (that pink cake? YUM) and retreated back to the hotel for a few hours of sun reprieve lol. I still can't believe I haven't burned.
I'm on my way back out now that the sun is a little less intense to walk around the old town a bit more.
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