Western Crete - Chania and Elifonisi Beach

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We flew into Hania on the Western side of Crete. On the plane we got some advice for where to go from some Greek Canadians visiting



family. The advice they gave us was consistent with what Theo from Alexis Hotel told us as he planned our entire time on Crete in the first



20 minutes we met him. We did everything Theo told us to do and continued to refer to him throughout our time on Crete as if he was an



old friend. The restaurant is “4 stars” delicious. We later learned that Theo is also the chef. In the open air restaurant we had our first



encounter with Greek cats and the Cretian wind. That is the one thing that's been consistent everywhere we go in Crete, cats begging for



food and some quite aggressively, and strong winds. After Hania we drove to the next town's port, picking up some French hitchhikers on



the way and tried to board the ferry to Gramvossa but the last one leaves at 12:30 and we arrived at 12:45. It was a minor disappointment



but it's hard to be upset for too long when you're in Greece. We decided to head straight to Elifonisi which was our second



destination on the list Theo gave us. Elifonisi is a small-uninhabited island reached from Crete by walking through the crystal clear



knee-deep water covering the small sand bar in between. I thought that maybe it was windy because we



arrived in the afternoon but the next day it was windy too. I was still in the process of accepting the Greek wind. The trick on Elifonisi is



to find a cove on the south side of the island to protect you from the



wind. The further back you go, the less people. On our way up the unpaved road out we pulled into the first hotel we saw, called Elifonisi



Village, and asked if they had any rooms. We lucked out: they had one left. The great thing about these small family owned B & B’s is that



the proprietors are very helpful and informative and their restaurants are really good and cheap. It’s much different that a large hotel



chain that charges you for every little thing and rips you any chance they get, which was our experience throughout Turkey. Not a



reflection on Turkey, just on the fancy hotels we stayed at because we were with a tour. We enjoyed our meals on a cliff looking out over





Elifonisi beach sipping rakimelo (raki with honey) and playing scrabble. Just us, the stray cats and the wind.

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