Day 28, Reflections on Greece

We left Crete today, ending our four weeks in Greece trip. Some thoughts off the top of my head. 

Weather

I think we timed our visit pretty well, arriving in Corfu at the end of September and leaving Crete at the end of October. We had warm sunny days, but not hot, sticky days. We only saw rain in Corfu, which is known for being the greenest part of the country. In fact, flying from Corfu to Athens, and later from Athens to Paros, and today flying over Greece after leaving Crete, I could see riverbeds, all of them completely dried up. The riverbeds on Crete were also completely dry. The lack of rain is real and ongoing. Our host in Rethymno said that their olive trees on Crete haven't produced any olives the last three years, due to extreme lack of rain. 

Internet access 

We bought a 5G 30-day Greece-only eSIM card from Saily for my phone and a 3G 30-day Greece-only eSIM from Saily for Nick's phone. Both plans were data only. No texts or phone calls. Mine cost about $14 for the 30 days; well worth it for navigation and web lookups on sights and such. I used 2.8G on this 4-week trip.

Nick's eSIM was free because of a promotion from our VPN company. He also had access to 12 Travel Day passes from Verizon but used only one of the day passes, in Albania where our eSIMs weren't valid. In the past we've bought eSIMs from Airalo, also a good company.

WiFi is available at every restaurant and taverna. With WiFi or with an eSIM, you can use the app, WhatsApp, to text and make phone calls. That is what we did. And that's what we will do on future trips.

Crete is amazing, just as our stops have been on the rest of this trip, each in their own way. All had really good food, mountains (except Athens), beaches, and ancient ruins. All are worth traveling to, IMHO.

Let me reflect on each of our stops.

Corfu

We loved the Old Town of Corfu, and the northern town of Kassiopi. If I could have a do-over, I would rent a car to see more of the rest of the island. 

Our day trip to Albania opened my eyes to its touristic potential. 

Athens

The sights here are what you study initially in fourth or fifth grade, right? So how can you not be impressed? And there is more to Athens than the ruins of Ancient Greece. It is a vibrant modern city that is worth exploring. 

Paros

Somewhat of a ferry hub to other islands, Paros has a variety of towns, all with fantastic views. Where we stayed, Naousa, seems to be more of a young, chic enclave complete with night clubs and near views of Naxos and distant views of Mykonos--which I think Naousa tries to emulate. The towns of Drios and Aliki on the southern part of the island are smaller and quieter. If I were to do it over again, I'd choose one of those two towns to stay in, I think. I'm super glad we rented a car because I feel we really got to see all of the island. Paros has some really nice beaches and great restaurants. 

For my do-over, I would spend three nights here and four on Antiparos.

Antiparos 

Antiparos is tiny, quiet, and full of little places you can explore. Nice beaches. Good restaurants. Three or four nights here would be about right, though longer, if you have the time, would be great.

Naxos

Known for having the best cheese, lamb, and potatoes, Naxos is beautiful and very mountainous. Im not sure their beaches are as nice as those on Paros. Our short stay doesn't qualify us to comment further but our impressions of Naxos were positive. 

Santorini

Our 24-hour sojourn on Santorini was very positive. When planning our trip back in July, I wanted to avoid both Mykonos and Santorini because I feared they'd be overrun with tourists. But because of the ferry schedules in October being reduced, we couldn't go directly from Paros to Crete. So we had to spend a night in Santorini. I am glad we did. It was gorgeous. And yes, it had a lot of tourists but our time there was so short that our chosen itinerary skirted them, mostly. A second night would be my do-over plan

Crete

Crete is large, has great beaches and amazing food, of which the Cretans are immensely proud, rightfully. 

Crete, especially heading south or east from Rethymno strikes me as a cross between the American Southwest and the Italian Amalfi Coast. It has the arid rugged mountains of the Southwest and the curvy mountainous roads that skirt gorgeous turquoise waters of the Amalfi Coast.

My do-over plan for Crete does not change. A week is perfect, though longer would be better. We met a few snowbirds from northern Europe (mostly Brits) who spend at least part of their winter on Crete. 

We are now at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, waiting to board our flight home to Boston. Potable water is free and readily available and their sewage pipes must be big enough to handle TP. 😁 Life is good.

I am beyond grateful to have this opportunity to travel like this, especially with Nick. We travel nearly seamlessly with each other and have similar interests. We both enjoy meeting new people from around the world, sone of whom we continue to stay in touch with, and even reconnect with on subsequent trips. Personal interaction is key to understanding other cultures, I think. And that makes our world better.

Carol

Day 27 Last Full Day in Greece

 

Our trip is rapidly approaching its end. Sigh.

This afternoon was spent on the beautiful beach in Rethymno (RETH im noh). Nick spent part of the afternoon talking with Glenn and Erja, the sailing couple, while I stayed at the beach. It was a peaceful and scenic way to say goodbye to a gorgeous island filled with welcoming Cretans. I'm going to miss the warm temperatures, the blue and turquoise waters, the stunning mountains, the delicious food, and the warm, friendly people. Crete was a treasure! 

I asked our host for a recommendation for a really good EVOO that I could buy as a souvenir. Her response was that she'd ask her friend if we could buy a liter of the friends's olive oil, pressed from their own trees. And it worked out, so I've got a liter of unbranded olive oil in my suitcase. Guess I'll be checking it vs carrying it on the plane.

We also asked our host for a recommendation for a restaurant or taverna, one that local people would go to. She thought Taverna Zisis would fit the bill, and she was right. One family was having a birthday party for a clueless one-year-old. Other families, large and small, were doing their Saturday night things, couples on dates. It felt familial. And the gratis dessert here was a twofer: fresh green grapes and mini ice cream bars. And the usual raki, of course. 

Tonight in Greece they end their Daylight Savings Time, gifting us with an extra hour of sleep before we head to the airport tomorrow morning in Heraklion. 

Carol

Day 26, Knossos and Agios Nikolaos, Crete

We are in Greece, renting a small German car whose owner's manual is written completely in Italian. Go figure!

Today we first went to the Knossos Palace near Heraklion. It was a major center of the Minoan Civilization. The site was discovered by a Greek in the late 1800s and was "restored" by an Englishman, Sir Arthur Evans who made some major and controversial restorations. 

Below is a copy (the original is in a museum) of the dolphins fresco in one of the restored rooms. It is reported to be a fantastic example of an early Minoan painting. 

I zoomed in to highlight the the details. 

The column is an example of the type of restoration the Sir Evans did. Behind it is a copy of the Charging Bull fresco. 

Next we drove to the eastern side of the island, to the charming and beautiful fishing village of Agios Nikolaos (Saint Niklaus).

Agios Nikolaos seemed like the love child of Venice and a Caribbean town. We both were enchanted by it.

We had to have a light lunch there, and what a view!

After lunch, we walked down to the waterfront, passing by a playground with a beautiful and colorful mosaic. Too bad the shadow partially obstructs the view.

Here's a look at a closeup, again to show the details. 

This statue is of Europa, daughter of a Phoenician king, mother of King Minos. She was abducted by Zeus who turned her into a white bull (!) to seduce her. Obviously Zeus needs someone to sit him down and tell him that is no way to treat a lady.

The final photo shows a now-restored Venetian fortress built in the 16th century in Heraklion.

When we got back to our apartment, our hosts gave us a mini carafe of their homemade lemoncello! They also gave us a sample of their own olive oil, made from the olives ftom their 350 olive trees. Such sweet people, and so very kind.

Carol

Day 25, Relaxing in Rethymno, Crete

Today we spent a part of the afternoon at the super nice beach in Rethymno, just two blocks from our apartment. The tide was going out so the waves weren't as big as they were the other day. I just waded in the water. It was warm and tempting but the sea breeze was a bit too strong to convince us to go swimming. I neglected to take any photos. 

Later, we went to the pier where we watched a boat being hoisted out of the water and loaded onto a semi. Also watching the "show" was Glenn from Montréal, who, with his Finnish-born wife Erja travel the world on their 32-ft sail boat. We asked him about some of the places they've been. Since they've been doing this year round for decades, they've been to a LOT of places. He really liked Fiji, saying the people there were super friendly. For these two people, it's all about the people they meet on their travels, and much less about the sights they see.

Sunset at the pier, with Old Town Rethymno.

After supper (Lemon Fish soup for me, Pastitsio and a salad for Nick), we got treated to the usual raki shots plus dessert: fresh apple and pear. 

FYI, most tavernas (which are more casual than a restaurant, with a more limited menu focused on traditional family food) will serve, gratis, at the conclusion of a meal a small container or fancy little carafe of raki with small shot glasses. And they'll provide a dessert, too. Usually it's been a lemon or orange cake bombarded with honey, so tonight's fresh fruit was a pleasant surprise. 

Here are two examples. The green glasses were our sparkling water glasses, NOT the raki glasses.

This restaurant served the raki already in the glasses--no mini carafe.

This little carafe was by far the largest we've received. 

When the raki was gone, we walked around the Old Town before walking home

Carol

Day 24, Kourtaliotiko Gorge, Kotsifou Canyon

Today we headed to the south side of the island. Our final destination was Plakias Beach but we were hoping to poke around some other villages and such.

We rounded a corner and BOOM! We had entered into a gorge, Kourtaliotiko Gorge to be precise. Amazing! And windy!

That's Nick in the lower left.

The rock faces were pretty high up there. We hadn't expected this so it was a fabulous surprise. 

A couple more photos.

As we continued on traveling in the mountains we were treated to some great vistas. 

It didn't take too long before we saw the sea on the south side of Crete, maybe 40 minutes from Rethymno. 

Lemon trees, orange trees, and lots and lots of olive trees are ubiquitous. I wonder how many lemons are on this tree?

We stopped at a taverna for a light lunch in Myrthianos and then headed on. Nick had spotted a sign for Kotsifou Canyon waterfall so we pointed our car in that direction. But it was not to be. The road to the waterfall was closed due to a large rock fall. ☹️

We parked the rental car on the side of the road and took off on foot up the closed road. Google maps told us the waterfall was only 1/2 mile away. Google maps did not tell us about the strong winds barreling down the canyon. We persisted. Lo and behold, we came upon a monastery built right into the mountain. 

Continuing on. We met a few kri-kri or Cretan goats, who looked at us as if we were intruders. I guess we were. The kri-kri are somewhat elusive so we were lucky to see them.

Ooooh, that ahead is the rock fall. See the large crane? There ain't no way I'm going there, so we turn around. With the hurricane-force (I jest) winds now to our backs, we make much better time.

Still beautiful vistas. And somewhere in there, the goats were bleating.

Nick picking his way around the little rocks that had fallen. 

There's the sea again, in the far distance. 

After driving the switchbacks, we arrived in Plakias Beach. I waded in the warm water, then we read a bit, and caught 40 winks to boot!

We headed back to Rethymno to catch some supper and walk along the beach.

Another fun day on Crete.

Carol

Day 23, Pink Beach and Chania

The photo below is from yesterday. The owner of the place we're staying in, Maria, had a basket of these pastries, made fresh that morning by her sweet mother, Liza. They were filled with a soft cheese similar to ricotta but, according to Maria, better than ricotta. 😊 It was yummy. I asked Maria to write out the name of it in Roman letters and in Greek letters. She emphasized to me that the CH is pronounced like H, the C being silent. So I think the pastry name would be something like lee nah ROCK ee ah.

Okay, now on to today's highlights. We drove 2.5 hours to the western most part of Crete. En route, our highway was lined with oleander and bougainvillea and tall grasses and Cyprus. Off to the north, we often had awesome ocean views, like this.

And this.

We had to cross some mountains, and in one little mountain village we saw a sign that said, "910 year old olive tree" so we stopped and snapped this photo. Later we learned that if we'd walked just a few meters deeper into the olive grove, we would've seen the 2000-4000 year old olive tree of Vouves.

Our destination on the west coast was Pink Beach, AKA Elafonisi Beach. Why is the sand pink, you might ask?

A specific type of microorganism lives in its shallow water. Once they die, they leave behind a pink shell. Those shell pieces then mix with the white sand to give it a pink color. Sadly, there is less pink sand there now because tourists take samples from it to bring home as a souvenir. This area is nature reserve and its sand and flora and fauna are protected. 

After a quick dip, we headed back over the mountains, stopping for a late lunch/early supper at a little restaurant in a mountain village. The restaurant had a large eucalyptus tree out front, ftom which it took its name, The Eucalyptus. Reportedly,  the tree is 140 years old, a mere pup compared to Ye Olde Olive Tree down the road.

Next we headed to Chania (HAWN ee ah), specifically their Old Town. The sunset was a treat.

Chania's lighthouse. 

The waves were splashing up big time which is exactly what Nick and I like.

Another shot of the lighthouse and then we hit the road back to our apartment. 

Carol

Another European hinge idea that would be good worldwide

Check out these hinged plastic lids.

Fifty years ago, the beer and soda industry figured out how to keep pop tops attached to cans. The plastic manufacturers have finally caught up.

--Nick