Blogs from Greece, Europe - page 9

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Europe » Greece » Crete » Sitia July 19th 2023

Super short and sweet today - I literally did nothing, did not even leave the Airbnb other than to sit outside on the porch and take in the view! Before leaving I had agreed to take a summer contract to write part of an eLearn course for next year - it wasn’t a huge time commitment but I’ve been plagued by so many awful wifi spots at hotels that since I have the perfect view here and strong wifi I decided to plough through the more internet intensive stuff today. Can’t complain with views like this. And with ginormous blueberries that tasted DIVINE. I worked outside for a good chunk of the day before it got too hot. Tomorrow I’ll actually head out to the east coast and do stuff again. It was nice to have ... read more
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Europe » Greece » Crete July 18th 2023

Today was a tech adventure… my networks all randomly stopped working. The wifi at my place in Heraklion was iffy at best in my room, but this morning didn’t show up at all as a network. And my data wouldn’t connect either. Even when I got into the city still nothing. So that’s a problem lol. Thankfully I have offline maps on my phone so I could still get around ish, but it’s a good thing I looked at the bus to the airport (to pick up my car) ahead of time bc I would’ve been screwed otherwise. (Also shoutout to the hotel for letting me leaving my bag there for 3 days until I come back to Heraklion lol) The Heraklion airport feels like it hasn’t been updated since 1970. It is the sketchiest looking, ... read more
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Europe » Greece » Attica » Athens » Kallithea July 17th 2023

From Cheapism: Air travel used to be glamorous. Back in the 1930s, you’d board a flight in your finest suit, stretch your legs, and enjoy a seven-course meal on fine china. Today, you’re lucky if you can get a bag of pretzels. Of course, the trade-off is that flights are far cheaper than they were in the glory days of air travel. But still, some of today's carriers are so inhospitable that they make Southwest look like a luxury airline. That’s especially true for this list of seven stinkers, which made url=https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/14visbg/what_is_the_worst_airline_you_have_flown_with/Redditors’ list of the “worst airlines.” Air Canada Canadians say it sucks, but I have flown them several times, including a biz class from Toronto to Santiago, Chile. It was more than acceptable, the flight staff was great, and the food was more than passable. ... read more

Europe » Greece » Crete » Heraklion July 17th 2023

Another toasty day on the island of Crete! I went to Knossos (ancient Minoan palace) first thing this morning - still hot, but better than midday! (PS The site is bugging on me and I can’t do pictures - I’ll add them back in tomorrow.) The palace was worth it, but it’s kind of large and… flat? If you will. The audio guide is def worth it for the history piece, but there are some signs here and there to explain what ruins you’re looking at. (It really is ruins - there isn’t much left standing) But the parts that are there are striking, such as the GIANT clay pots and some of the art. After Knossos I headed back into the city to grab some lunch and bakery treat (all the bakeries = SO delish) ... read more
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Europe » Greece » Crete July 16th 2023

I forgot to actually post yesterday lol. I drove down towards Elafonissi beach which was nice, but was no Falasarna. The drive was an adventure, as always lol. Actually most of it was totally fine - there were just a few small villages with the usual SUPER narrow roads you just hope you don’t meet anyone incoming. There’s also a tunnel but they have a stop light for it at least. (I love that the locals just blast ahead anyway and inch forward.) The rest was a whole lot of switch backs but two lanes wide so happy with that :) Arriving at Elafonissi I immediately disliked the parking situation - you have to pay unlike Falasarna and you have to park like 10min walk away. That is an eternity when it’s 39C out lol. Needless ... read more
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Europe » Greece July 16th 2023

After our lovely stay in Elounda Bay near Spinolonga we moved into a different mode as we keep thinking about our 90-day limit here in the Schengen countries (most of Europe with very few exceptions) so we decided we needed to start moving every day as much as we could. We know this is definitely not the way we typically like to travel as we enjoy stopping on the way to see things of interest, but time marches on and we have a long way to go to get to Cartagena, Spain. We know we could do some larger jumps by doing some overnight and multi-day trips which we know are definitely in our future, but for now we decided to just try this with long day trips. We will see how this works out throughout ... read more
Last Views of Spinolonga As We Leave
Always Treated To Lovely Sunrises With Early Departures
Watch Out For These - Put Out By the Fishermen!

Europe » Greece » Crete » Kissamos July 14th 2023

Ok so my friend Stav - who is Greek - gave me the rundown of what to see and what to eat in this part of Crete (I mean, he helped me pick my itinerary as a whole, but specifically here) - I didn't doubt for a moment, and he didn't steer me wrong. Falasarna is absolutely STUNNING and so much good food around here. I'm sure tomorrow will be more of the same. So this morning I left Chania pretty early in order to get to Falasarna before the crowds - it's only about an hour drive, so nothing wild. Sure enough I got there perfect time (around 9:30) there were still some "front row seats" if you will, comfy lounge chairs and umbrellas. Since it was still quiet I went out into the water ... read more
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Europe » Greece » Crete July 13th 2023

My plan was to go to Rethymno before Arkadi Monastery today but the traffic and parking gods had other plans for me lol. First things first, leaving Chania! My hotel is on the street where they do a big Thursday market so it was fun just to walk to my car - so much fresh fruit and veg..!! Some stuff I had no idea what it was lol, but the usual stuff was all there too and it all looked amazing. (I grabbed some cherries - I want watermelon but didn’t want to carry it / try to open it lol) The drive to Rethymno wasn’t bad - pretty solid traffic, but nothing awful. Getting off the highway was the start of the gong show though..!! Lessons learned, Thursday is market day so you do loose ... read more
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Europe » Greece » Crete » Chania July 12th 2023

Busy day today! I went to pick up my rental car… I uh, wow driving in Chania city itself is a ride haha. I don’t really have something to compare it to driving wise - lanes? Nah. Parking? God speed. To be fair my very helpful hotel guy told me there’s parking behind the school since they’re on holidays - it’s like a 5min walk from the hotel and omg worth not dealing with the chaos. I had to pickup near the airport, so on my way back towards Chania I made a few stops. First up was Holy Trinity Monastery - I saw the name/sign and was like yes, of course lol. I was wearing a short skort so wrapped my scarf around my waist. (But they had shawls inside if you didn’t have your ... read more
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Europe » Greece » Crete » Chania July 11th 2023

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. ... read more
Graffiti hunt - it's on.
Walking along the fortress
View of the waterfront




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