NOTE: My camera’s memory card glitched and we basically have no pictures from our trip until we hit Athens. I may try and find images online, just so you have a sense of what we saw/ are talking about. (And will credit if I do.) But keep that in mind as you read these next posts.

We slept until after 11am, and I just couldn’t face another day in the car, so this turned into a quiet day. Mostly, I caught up on my travel blog posts and we both read.

Our host had stocked our ‘fridge with fruit, so we snacked on that through the afternoon, and made a conscious decision to have an early dinner since we needed to be up and out fairly early the next morning. Although I’d done a lot of research about places to eat prior to getting here, I wasn’t completely in agreement with what I’d found, so I looked again.

We ended up at Oinoa Wine restaurant (no website), about 5 minutes walk from our place. It was a perfect choice in so many ways. Since we were so early (6:30pm) we were able to snag a table (there were none available by 7pm) without a reservation and we happily began to peruse the menu. After a bit of consultation with our server, we chose to start by sharing the salad with gravieta and prosciutto, then the grilled vegetable bruschetta. For our mains I had the beef tenderloin and J. had the sea bass. J. tried ‘green cola’ for his drink, and I asked the server to choose wines for me. It was PERFECT. The salad had bits of walnut and tiny cherries mixed in and the combination of flavors made for a bright combination of sweet, salty, and earthy all at once. The vegetables were grilled perfectly, creating a silky texture that contrasted beautifully with the grilled bread. My beef was supremely tender and flavorful and J’s fish was divine. My wines complemented the food exquisitely. The one I want to tell you about was the red: A blend that was most similar to a ‘super Tuscan’ in its flavor profile. But instead of $80, it was more like $18. And Cretan. SO GOOD.

We then walked home, and J. went out for gelato. Truly a perfect way to end our sojourn in Chania.

(Sep 10)

NOTE: My camera’s memory card glitched and we basically have no pictures from our trip until we hit Athens. I may try and find images online, just so you have a sense of what we saw/ are talking about. (And will credit if I do.) But keep that in mind as you read these next posts.

Looking back, it’s a bit astonishing that it took us so long to get to the beach. Typical for us, it wasn’t one nearby — we went to the village of Aphrata about 30 km north of Chania on the eastern side of the peninsula. It’s a tiny, rocky (!!!) beach with a taverna and free sunbeds. Gorgeous.

I actually don’t have a lot of pictures from here — I didn’t take out my camera at all. I think J. got a few pics with his phone. I was too busy getting in the salt water (yay for water-ready sneakers!) … sheer bliss. We stayed for a few hours and just did nothing.

Lunch was in the local resort town of Kalymyra in a place off the tourist track: Ionnais Kafenagogeio. A superb ‘greek’ salad with added peppers, olives, mini croutons and balsamic vinegar; (pork) souvlaki accompanied by the best fries we’ve had so far, cabbage salad (SO GOOD); and a unexpected ‘starter’ of grilled bread drizzled with olive oil and oregano along with tzatziki and hummus. The bread in particular had me in raptures, although the whole meal was one of the best we’ve had in a taverna. J. went to pay and they insisted that we have ice cream, which came in the form of a mini ‘sicle of vanilla covered with a truly scrumptious milk chocolate.

We had an evening tour planned, so we headed back to Chania, had showers, and met our guide at the Central Market right before 6:30.

A group of seven from Milwaukee, the Channel Islands, Montreal, and Seattle (/me waves) we joined Anotinis of Urban Adventures for their Bohemian Sunset Tour (https://www.urbanadventures.com/Crete-tour-bohemian-sunset-tour). This four hour walk and dinner with curated local wines was great fun. We meandered all through Old Town learning about the history, how to tell a Venetian wall from Byzantine, why the Egyptians are so well liked even they were only here for 20 years, and seeing the remaining devastation of WWII. We also learned about the local food, why the knife is almost sacred to Cretans, and were given tons of recommendations for where to get various kinds of food. I should say that a perfect start was the glass of fresh squeezed orange juice we were given in a tiny shop around the bend from the Market.

Antonis is an electrical engineer by day, designing security systems and occasionally installing them. He also manages several Airbnb units in town while doing these tours. I got the sense that he is earning money to travel, as he was passionate about where he’d been and what he still wanted to see.

We ended up at Boheme (https://www.boheme-chania.gr)– a restaurant with a strong interest in showcasing local wines. Let me stop right now and tell you that Crete is going to be world famous for its wines in not too long a time. We started with a kind of brushetta of thinly sliced local bread, toasted with an avocado-yogurt creme and ‘cherry’ tomatoes accompanied by a white wine. Our second was a salad of fresh greens and lettuce, walnuts, with a light dressing and a local cheese tasted somewhat like manchego but was a bit softer. It was accompanied by a rose which was nothing like the ones from France. Our main was a smoked pork with local mushrooms and fried potatoes accompanied by a red that was full and a bit jammy, but not sweet or thin. Yannis, our sommelier, opened each course with a description of the wine and why it was chosen.

We left Boheme, crossed the street and had some of the best gelato I’ve ever had at Delizia (Halidon St). Made from goat’s milk, my nocchia was truly superb. Cones in hand, we wandered just a little ways to Pastelaria de Dana (https://www.facebook.com/sketiglika), a patisserie, where we were given a tiny tart of marscapone cheese covered with salted caramel — magnificent! The evening ended with a glass of local raki blended with honey and a secret herb in a tiny bar who’s owner thematically redecorates every couple of weeks. (For us it was a Frida Kahlo/ Dios de los Muertes theme — apparently the Frida on the bar is the permanent fixture.)

I have to say that this one one of the best food-based tours we’ve done and I highly recommend it for anyone visiting Chania — make it your first night so you can get a feel for Old Town and get a ton of recommendations for places to eat and spend your time the rest of the trip.

Swimming was lovely, but I need to find a sandy beach . . .

(Sep 9)

NOTE: My camera’s memory card glitched and we basically have no pictures from our trip until we hit Athens. I may try and find images online, just so you have a sense of what we saw/ are talking about. (And will credit if I do.) But keep that in mind as you read these next posts.

We left our place in Skalani, after one more lovely breakfast, and made our way to Gortyna.

“Gortyna was first inhabited at the end of the Neolithic period (3000 BC) and by the Late Minoan period (1600-1100 BC) it became a flourishing settlement. Remains of the Archaic period (7th century BC) were located in the area of the Acropolis, while the large inscription, the Gortyn Law Code, dated to the 5th century BC, attests the prosperity of the city, which continued throughout the historical times. However, Gortyna reached its peak during the Roman era (1st – 5th centuries AD), as an ally of Rome and the capital of the Roman provinces of Crete and Cyrene. The city remained an important center of Crete in the following Early Byzantine period and, according to tradition, it was the first Cretan city which espoused Christianity. Gortyna became the seat of the first bishop of Crete, Apostle Titus, to whom was dedicated a monumental temple. The conquest of Crete by the Arabs put an end to the history of the ancient Gortyna, which was destroyed in 824 AD.”

It was lovely. We got a tad lost along the way, but not too badly. The Odeion (ancient theater) was great, and the Law Code amazing. We had a lot of fun wandering around.

From there we drove to Phaistos. “Phaistos was one of the most important centers of Minoan civilization, and the most wealthy and powerful city in southern Crete. It was inhabited from the Neolithic period until the foundation and development of the Minoan palaces in the 15th century B.C.”

In some ways, Phaistos puts Knossos to shame. There are a ton of inscriptions, all in linear A, which remains unsolved. (How can that be in this modern age???) This is one of the best ancient sites we’ve seen.

We were feeling like we’d had enough, though, so we headed to Kokinos Pirgos Harbour where we had lunch at Taverna Pelagos. A very family run (cash only!) place with good, simple food.

And then, on to Chania. Our host had requested that we SMS her to give her at least an hour’s notice, so we tried . . . and then realized that although we’d specified that service when we bought the SIM card (in Frankfurt) it wasn’t working. ARGH. So we sent an email, and prayed. And sure enough, all sorts of things went wrong.

We ended up at a total tourist trap of a restaurant at 6pm and basically bought a meal so we could beg the manager to please make a call to our host on our behalf. He did (only cost us a 60eu meal), and we figured out where we’d gone wrong, and then met our host.

I have to say that this was the best host we’ve had at Airbnb, and one of the nicest locations (https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/13671184) ever. Well thought out, with clever touches, we had everything we needed for our stay. Including huge amounts of food in the fridge (eggs, bread, juices, fruit), all we needed to do was add yogurt and we had breakfast all ready to go. And — oh heaven! — the shower stall was legitimately useful for a person J’s height.

(Sep 8)