The Greek Islands - Crete

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May 26 Had a late breakfast at the Kronos hotel, then found a rental car company - Caravel - and hired a wee Hyundai manual for 140€ for 6 days. Drove to Hania, stunning drive -coastal and mountains. Stopped at small beach resort for a coffee en route, lots of families enjoying the water as it was Sunday. Drove out to the coast near Hania, but got lost trying to find our accommodation, sweet once we discovered it was called Artemis Apartments not Aristotle! Had to find a café with internet to check the name of the hotel, so had an early pizza tea at a local café! Got there to find it was a lovely spot hidden behind a vacant section with long grass, was very quiet so we got upgraded to a one bedroom apartment, all for 76€ for 3 nights! Went down to Maleme for the 6.30 memorial service for the Battle of Crete, which was very moving. Met WW2 veteran Roy Hammond, and Peter and Dick, a couple of Kiwis attending the service and flyover afterwards. Drove Dick back to Hania on the way home.

May 27 Had a lazy start, so nice to have the apartment, we can even make real coffee! Set off to explore Hania and walked around the old town, with its lovely Venetian harbour and maze of narrow streets. Found a small family tavern and had a delicious lunch of sausages with a lovely sauce, and little spanakopita made on the spot! Very warm day. Back to base for a swim at Stalos beach which was just across the road. Dinner at Maria's, very meaty! Realised that we were missing the Kindle and cellphone, so tried to contact the hotel in Heraklion. Yes found out when we got back there a few days later, the maid had found them and put them aside for us, but we couldn't get anyone on the phone who spoke English at the time!

May 28 Today we walked the Samaria Gorge. Our day started at 5:40am with a bus pick up! About 30 in our group, bussed over the mountains to the start of the walk. Coffee then off we went, started about 7:45 for a great walk down into the gorge and through to the coast, 18 km in total. Was a beautiful day again, but very warm (as always in Greece!) We stopped at old Samaria, then through the narrow gap in the gorge known as the Iron Gates, to Agia Roumeli. Wow, a big walk, our legs were very tired, mostly from walking on the rough stones. Got there about 2:30pm and had a swim at the beach, then a gyros for lunch. The beach is so stony that it was very hard to get out of the water, especially after a long walk, our legs struggled to clamber out of the sea. At 5:30, everyone was picked up by a large boat that took us to Sfakia, the sea was too rough to go the other way towards Sougia. From there we were picked up by bus to go back to Hania, got home about 9 pm, so tired! Managed to stay awake to have dinner at Oassis just near to our apartment, yummy food, had a nice eggplant tomato and cheese dish and meatballs. Washed down by the usual carafe of red wine and raki, this is getting addictive!

May 29 Slow start today, so tired from our big walk, packed up and left Stalos about 11 am. Went on a driving tour across to the north west of the island then meandered down to the south west corner through little villages, getting hopelessly lost for about an hour! All adds to the fun and drove through some remote and beautiful places on the way. Spectacular mountain drive, stopped for lunch at a tiny village called Kefali, high in the mountains. Drove to an amazing cliff-top viewpoint, but it was pretty misty. We found out from the taverna that the visibility problem was dust from Africa!! Drove down to the beach at Elafonisi, a famous beach for its pink sand (apparently coral formations from aeons ago causes the pinkness). Unfortunately the day we were there it was dull so the pink sands weren't at their best but still a lovely spot. Thought we would head up to see Katina's old village (my brother in law's Mum), saw a sign for a shortcut to Sklavapoula and started heading up a gravel road but it was too rough, so went back via Kefali on the main road to Paleochora. Stayed at Savas, which is run by relatives of Katina. Basic but good, Fotini rushed off and got cakes when she found out we were related to Manos! Paleochora is a nice town, the old part has narrow pedestrianized streets with cafes and tavernas, walked up to the old ruins above the town for the view over the town, beach and harbour. Dinner at Maria's on the waterfront, had a yummy lamb leg in tomato sauce and a zucchini, potato and cheese dish! Of course the usual raki after dinner!

May 30 Drove up to Sklavapoula, and after a bit of a search, found Katina's old home and the 2006 memorial plaque. Ali explained later that the roads have changed since she was there. Spectacular mountain scenery, very warm. Drove to Rethymnon next and went in search of a café where we could try grilled sardines. The first one had run out of sardines, not good enough, so found a nice place on the waterfront - we weren't disappointed! Had a wander around the old town - lots of narrow cobbled streets and old buildings. Bought another cushion cover. Set off for the coast through spectacular gorge and mountain scenery to Preveli where we visited the monastery. What an interesting place perched high on the clifftops overlooking the sea. Famous for the monks who hid over 5000 WW2 commonwealth soldiers (not all at once) from the Germans and evacuated them by submarine from Crete to Egypt. There is a recently built monument on the headland signifying the role of the brave monks in risking their lives to save the soldiers. A hot day again so we decided to walk down the 600 plus steps to the lovely beach below, had a swim and walked back again! Are we mad? No accommodation at Moni Preveli so drove across to Plakia a few kms away, found a small place called Secret Nest for 35 € a night, good value! - we seemed to be the only ones there, nice to sit on our balcony with a wine. Had a very yummy pizza dinner on the beachfront, getting to enjoy the after dinner raki too much! Slept well!

May 31 Left Plakia and drove through to Heraklion via a good road. Left car in a parking building (they park it for you, great service!) and went to see Costas at Kronos Hotel, got our lost phone and kindle back - then did a wander through town. Went to the post office to post a parcel home, but what a waste of time, Greek PO system is so inefficient - we left after waiting for over half an hour! Went to the Archeological Museum to see the exhibits from Knossos. Had a delicious souvlaki, then drove out to Knossos, picked up a guided tour, there was only 4 of us which was good (10 euro each), Stella was very informative and personable. Good being the last tour of the day as the crowds had gone. Blu bought a rare souvenir (he doesn't buy many!)- a corkscrew from the market stalls! Back in the city, took a walk along the Venetian harbour, then had tea back at the restaurant we found on the first night, just on the harbour front. Great meal of tomatoes stuffed with rice and moussaka. Then our friendly waiter came out with 2 big desserts and raki (complementary)! So full! Our table overlooked a roundabout, we watched with great amusement how people just stopped for a chat in the middle of the road, or parked their car while they got out to talk to a mate across the other side! No one seemed to bat an eyelid! Got the car and drove to the port, great to be able to leave it in the car park for the rental company and just hop onto our ferry, which was huge, Anek Lines. We had a nice inside cabin, quite spacious and comfy. Left Crete at 9:30pm for Pireaus, Athens!

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Photos

Heraklion Harbour
view from our hotel balcony!

Pohutukawa in Crete!
found outside our hotel!

meeting WW2 Veteran Roy Hammond
at the Maleme Airfield, Battle of Crete memorial service

Mosque, Chania
Küçük Hasan Pasha Mosque