Advertisement
Published: July 10th 2006
Edit Blog Post
6/16 - 6/29
We left Mykonos and took a 4 hour speedferry, followed by a 3 hour bus ride to visit my sisters town of Chania, Crete. I have had the good fortune of getting to visit my two sisters in their beautiful beach laden island every few years, but I was most excited to bring Jaime, and have her spend time with my family in Greece. One of my sisters, Tara, was kind enough to move her family over to her mother-in-laws house a few blocks away, and give Jaime and I their apartment for our use. Moving out in order to make us feel at home, was the first of many gestures of genuine hospitality, and Jaime and I were made to feel quite comfortable with my family for the duration of our two week stay.
One of the nice things about getting to experience Greece with my family, is that you feel more like a guest than a tourist. We ate at the most delicious tavernas, and skipped the touristy restaurants at the Port. Eating was a major event every day, Jaime and I both gained a few kilos according to their scale (good thing I don't
really know what that means). We were unable to resist the delectable cheese pies, french fries with tatziki, and lamb and pork everything else. The food in Greece is taken very seriously (by me anyways) and we were treated to several delicious home cooked meals- where the fresh ingredients and frequent use of lemons and olive oil on everything, helped make the trip even more memorable. I did consider creating a separate blog site cataloging each meal, but Jaime shot it down.
Spending time with my family was much fun, going to a local beach part of our daily activity. We also enjoyed a couple of road trips around the island, and even a birthday party for my 12 year old nephew George. Apparently he wears his Kobe Bryant jersey I got him in 2004 constantly, so I got him Lebron and D Wade jerseys for this visit. The family was pleased to see him switch it up a bit.
One memorable afternoon in Crete was a day spent with my other sister Georgia, a friend of hers Julio, Jaime and I. They took us on a long drive through the mountains to find a particular taverna, with
an outstanding mountain view, and delicious grilled meats. We enjoyed a few bottles of homemade wine (except Julio the driver), and then decided to go to another spot for one more drink in the late afternoon. Julio took us to a friend's house who had his own farm/junkyard in a nearby mountain. My sister had never been there, and it was an interesting experience for all of us. When we pulled up we did not know where we were, and the farmer (Dimitrius) was certainly not expecting us. Before long he was hugging all of us, I think super excited to actually see other people. We were shown around his land, including many rusted 50+ year old cars, with chickens and rabbits inside. We saw a Kri Kri goat (a rare mountain goat endangered in Crete). After the tour of many animals, we were brought inside and began to drink his homemade "seguida" a liquor similar to "raki" from Turkey, very harsh alcohol, native to Crete. Tastes vaguely like tequila. Anyways, before long, this guy is getting hammered. He kept shouting "Yammas!" ("To Life") and started teaching Jaime and I some curse words, throwing back shot after shot. He insisted
Jaime at the Samaria
The generous smile is a sign we were at the begining of the hike. Towards the end, Jaime got "Hot". on we keep pace with him, drinking with every toast. Jaime and Georgia soon fell behind, and it was well received that I was making an effort to keep up. Before long we finished our first bottle, our farmer friend instinctively smashed the empty seguida bottle on the floor, catching everyone by surprise. Breaking of dishes and glasses is I guess an old school Greek tradition, but I had never seen anyone actually do it (except maybe one or two fraternity events- another story). Many "Yammas Grecco", a few Greek curse words, and a lot of beer and whiskey bottle breaking on the floor later, we called it a day and I left plastered. We arrived home safely. That afternoon will go down in the not soon to be forgotten category.
A few days later, Jaime, Tara's Husband Nikos, and I all took a day trip through the Samaria Gorge. It is a national park on Crete, about an hour drive from Chania. And of course I must mention it was June 21st, summer equinox, "The longest, most beautiful day of the year"...at least I have heard, and of course Jaime's Birthday. The passage is about 14kms (~8Mi) between
two mountains, but the very rocky terrain requires caution with every step as not to sprain an ankle, and it took us about 6 hours to make it through the gorge, stopping for a few pictures, and homemade spinach pies, "the trail mix of Greece". We caught a ferry to the town of Loutro where the gorge let out, a small bay with no streets, and about eight beachfront pensions. We stayed there for two nights, with Tara's family, before returning back to Chania. On our drive back to Chania, we got to listen to Notorious B.I.G. Duets, a present Jaime bought for Tara. Tara played her lone Eminem CD in the car for our visit up until this point, and Jaime thought it would be nice to get her a another rap CD, not really knowing what was on it, just that B.I.G is my favorite. Jaime on the other hand prefers more classic rock, and I don't think ever once sat through a full biggie smalls song, let alone album. To Jaime's surprise, it contains some of the most explicit lyrics around, and it was fun to watch Jaime cringe at the relentless vulgarity, as my sister bobbed
her head to "Nasty Girl" and "Get your grind on".
Our two weeks in Chania proved to be very enjoyable and staying with the family will be nice to look back on when we head to Asia.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.26s; Tpl: 0.02s; cc: 15; qc: 76; dbt: 0.084s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.3mb