We headed off the peninsula and down the hill where the base is located and into the nearest big city, Chania, the second largest city in Crete. It is a cute town that attracts lots of tourists to its beautiful harbor/shopping/dining area. There are tons of B&Bs and boutique hotels that line the alleyways and side streets so we thought we might have some luck finding a place to stay. October is the beginning of the low season so we weren’t concerned that we’d end up sleeping in the rental car.
The boys were being good sports because they were hungry and the sun was shining in their eyes. I don’t know why I always try to take photos in those conditions. I wanted the harbor, but wanted people to be in the photo. Fail.
Much better. The harbor area is quaint, adorable, and lined with cafes. I was so thankful we were there in October because it was plenty busy. In mid August the path would have been thick with people.
We had read that the better food is away from the front row of shops so we wandered back alleyways until we found this restaurant with guitars and folk art on the walls and delicious smells coming from the kitchen (I hate the word aroma, but I don’t like smells either. Scent? Too much like a skunk. We just knew yummy food was bound to come from that kitchen.)
The ‘C’ in Chania is silent so it’s pronounced Hania — this restaurant uses the Greek spelling of X = Ch
I can not pronounce Greek. It’s looks close to English, but they throw in extra “letters” and the ones that look familiar aren’t even pronounced the same. Like when you see a ‘P,’ it’s actually an ‘R.’ For example, I read that word at the bottom as “Ethiopian.” I know that’s not what it says, but it’s the only way I can pronounce it. The entire two weeks I was reading signs and sounding like the GPS lady — turn left at “Hagawaga . . . oh I don’t know. That thing with the 27 letters. Turn there.”
By this time it was late afternoon, 4:00 or so and she was both tired and hungry.
The first of many freddos. Greek iced cappuccino. This picturesque alleyway . . .
with grapevines growing directly overhead. See the bunches of grapes?
We ordered several appetizer type dishes and shared them. Fresh bread, olives in oil, a Greek version of crostini with diced tomatoes and garlic, a hot sheep’s milk cheese dip and a Greek salad, of course. Everything was delicious and we devoured it all. I thought we had gotten lucky, but almost every meal we had in Crete was memorable. It was just the first of many amazing meals.
At the end of every meal in Crete, Raki is usually served. They bring out a small flask and two tiny glasses and you serve yourself to as much (or as little) as you like. It tastes quite a bit like paint thinner smells, though over the two weeks there were ones that were much more palatable than others. I always had a tiny sip just to try it, but that was usually enough for me.
Yes, we let the kids taste it.
That’s usually the face I made too.
The harem pants that got away. I loved them (and several pairs behind them on the rack), but they were 15 Euros and I didn’t want to buy the first thing I saw in a touristy area. And it’s not like I needed them. We never got back to that shop. Sigh. Bye-bye pants.
We checked out a bunch of possible places to stay, but because it was Friday and we were in the most desirable location, most only had one room or didn’t have availability until the next night. There were a few places available that were ‘eh’ (looked more like a room at a youth hostel than the kind of place I want to stay on vacation), so we decided to head back to base to check into lodging there and then find a place online where we could settle for the next 4 nights.
On the way back to the car we walked along the water’s edge, happy to finally be on vacation and feeling like it was already better than we had hoped it would be.
Balancing on the sea wall. The boys were running ahead and hanging over the edge, looking in the tide pools. Crete was perfect already.
