Crete

---

We flew Ryanair to Crete, and were a little excited because it was our first time. The best airfare we could find was from Bergamo, Italy to Chania, Crete. So we decided to check out Bergamo for a night, and were so pleasantly to find that it is BEAUTIFUL. Such a cool little city with the Citta Alta built upon a huge hill, with castle walls surrounding the old town overlooking the Lombard Valley. It looks like a city from Game of Thrones and we were so excited to check it out. There was an awesome international food market by the train station where we got some lunch and drank some delicious beers before ascending up to the old town. The hike up was hard, but the reward was worth it. We walked around the ancient cobbled streets, enjoyed the views, ate some delicious food, and had a great night sleep, anticipating the adventures of a new culture and country.

The next day, the flight was absolutely seamless. It was so freaking easy that we were a little shocked because of some of the horror stories, but better. We were greeted in Chania by heat, a wave of really oppressing heat. The airport is a dump with no air circulation and was packed with sweating people, all of which dampened our excitement a little bit. That soon changed though, as our bus arrived into Chania old town.



Chania:

We hadn’t been this far east in Europe yet, and were excited to visit a new place and experience a new culture. First, the people of Crete are so awesome. They are welcoming, helpful, very nice people who love to have a good time and enjoy life. Chania is really two towns, old and new. We spent most of our time in the old, which is also split in two, Venetian and Turk. Our residence, Earini Apartments, was right directly in the middle of these two neighborhoods, next to a main plaza and about thirty second walk to the harbor. It was perfect location and we had a balcony where we could happily sit and watch the days go by. Unfortunately, our time was limited with only a day and a half, so we instantly took off to check out the town. Again, my English fails when trying to discuss how beautiful this place is. While some people may get turned off by the touristy aspect of it, which is pretty strong, if you can push that aside and appreciate the true beauty, it is a spectacular place. The Venetian side is reminiscent of Italian seaside villages, with tight cobbled streets, overhanging flowers, and grape vines protruding from every angles. There is a hill with a fort tower overlooking the harbor, and from there we had a beautiful view of the town itself. The window shopping is very entertaining and cafes have tables nestled to the buildings coupling with the smells escaping the kitchens. One of the great things about Crete is that food and drink are cheap. We got some fresh squeezed orange juice and continued our wanderings. We passed by the harbor which is pretty touristy, but also very beautiful with the aquamarine colors of the water, the Venetian lighthouse sitting at the end of a 1 km long marine wall. We lazily walked along the old harbor, which we passed perhaps twice back and forth, appreciating the beauty of the place. Unfortunately, it is not as peaceful as we would have liked because restaurants line the water and waiters constantly interrupt our thoughts by their calls. But as I said earlier, if you can just ignore this, then Chania has such a real beauty to it. We continued just wandering around and eventually found the famous market of Chania, where we had some delicious lunch at a hole in the wall place. We talked with the cook and he told us he arrives everyday at 5 am and leaves at 8 pm, but it is no problem for him because he loves to cook. The food we ate there is really beyond comprehension. First we started with Moussaka, which on appearance looks like lasagne but in my humble opinion is a little more rewarding to eat. It contains a topping of cheese layered heavily over cooked eggplant and thinly sliced potatoes, which is again layered above ground lamb which is succinctly cooked with olive oil and herbs. The layers of taste are so complex and delicious that before you realize just how good it was, its all gone. We ate chunks of lamb that were roasted simply in olive oil and white wine, nothing else. Dolmades, a typical Greek appetizer consisting of grape leaves wrapped around rice and herbs, again it was just so good. Another portion we ate was called Papoutsakia, which again involves cooked eggplant stuffed with minced meat and various fresh herbs and of course, olive oil. We also had a cooked tomato which was stuffed to the bring in elegantly spiced rice. All of this was accompanied by a delicious Greek beer, Mythos and many, many groans of eating pleasure. The best part of eating in Crete is it’s expected to share, which is right up Laura’s alley. We shared everything we ate and thoroughly enjoyed our first experience of Greek cuisine.

We left with full bellies and goofy smiles and walked back to our apartment for a quick nap. We woke up in the late afternoon and still full from our heavy lunch just decided to wander around and take in the sunset. While wandering near the Turkish side of the harbor, we came across a stage with a band playing some really cool music. We stayed and listened and of course got inspired to drink so our plan was to just go to a liquor shop, buy some beer, and dance the night away. Luckily for us, we stumbled upon a rooftop terrace bar, which didn’t have a sign so it was only inhibited by locals, and also had a spectacular view of the Chania’s old town harbor and of the music stage. We sat down next to some roses and shared a few beers. In the process, we got a little drunk and decided to make the jump to hard alcohol and tasted a Greek speciality, Ouzo, which is slowly sipped in a glass with a few ice cubes. Its a funny drink because it is clear but when poured over the ice it becomes very cloudy, probably a product of the anise which is prevalent in the alcohol. The table occupied next to us were taking shots of a clear liquor and we were interested to know what it was, so we asked our wonderful waitress and she brought us out two free shots of a unique to Cretan drink, called tsikoudia, or Raki. We became quite familiar with Raki in our time here but our first impression was not very good. It smells exactly like cheap tequilla, which was what we originally thought it was. Later in our trip we learned that it is actually a very pure alcohol derived from the leftovers of the grape pressings. All in all, a very successful night in Chania.



We stayed another day in Chania and again just wandered around looking at some historical sights and enjoying the hot weather. The next day we had decided to hike the famous Samaria Gorge and then stay a couple of nights in Loutro, a town on the southern coast of Crete. We won’t bore you with our hike of the Samaria Gorge because not much happened other then constantly walking downhill on rocks, carrying our backpacks in about 95 degree heat. The scenery wasn’t that cool compared to what we have seen before and it was really just an annoyance to continually be walking down, down, down. The end product though, was TOTALLY worth it. Loutro is a treasure beyond anything we have found before. The town is nestled into a bay, with steep mountains creeping up behind the houses. There is no way to get to Loutro other than by boat as there are no roads, cars, buses, nothing; which means that it is totally off the beaten path, a place of total relaxation, which is exactly what we needed after walking 26 kilometers the day before. Our studio apartment in Sofia Rooms, was set just up from the beach of the bay but had a great balcony where we could overlook the small village. We were of course tempted by the twenty different colors of blue and green of the bay, so we instantly jumped into the water only to realize that it is freezing!! Colder than any water we have felt except when we went abalone diving in the Antarctic Ocean off the southern coast of NZ. It was evening, so we associated the coldness with that and went to go eat a well deserved meal. Again, food was so good and a wonderful tradition in the small towns of Crete is that the house offers a free dessert and a bottle of Raki.

Next day consisted of relaxation on the beach. We had bought some goggles in Chania and were so excited to make some use of them. The water is beyond clear and the blues and greens are just ridiculous, it like doesn’t seem real. The closest place I would associate it with is in Tahoe, especially Emerald Bay, but just imagine another ten colors accompanying the already brilliant watercolored landscape. The water today was just as cold as before, but luckily the sun was out and it was very hot, so the temperature was refreshing. Swimming was a little frightening though, because the brilliance of the water is in part because of the coral reefs and how deep the bay gets. We were swimming, enjoying the snorkeling and then bam, the reef just drops into a deep, deep blue. It was beautiful and terrifying at the same time. We swam and explored the whole bay and relaxed, swam again, and relaxed, just a truly glorious day in all of the sense.

Our next stop on Crete was another seaside town, this one a little more touristy, called Bali. Bali is located on the northern side of the island, in between Rethymno and Heraklion. It was a beautiful place, but not much to compare with Loutro, which was still fresh on our minds. We did find a really cool restaurant, bar, club called Club Paradisio, which served really good foods and had a cool ambiance. Club Paradisio also had the best Raki of the island and we enjoyed more than a few shots of the firewater. We also found a very cool beach which was set in a bay a little further away from the main tourist beaches and had another great beach day. It was with heavy and sad hearts that we left Crete and would definitely return again to explore the more relaxing southern side of the island.



Tips for Traveling Crete:





Eat and drink as much as you can, although try to avoid the tourist traps and take time to walk the streets till you find a treasure because there are more than a few out there. Buses are easy to get around so take advantage but make sure to give yourself time because they don’t always follow their schedule as it is posted. The airports suck, so be ready for it. Wake up early and walk around and then return to take a siesta from around 1-3pm, because many stores are closed at that time and it is also the hottest time of the day and is more than a little miserable outside. Don’t hike the whole Samaria Gorge, just stay on the southern coast and take a ferry to the bottom and hike about 1 hour up the Gorge to get the best views and then return, the whole day experience from top to bottom is not really worth it. Finally, its Crete, enjoy yourself.

---