crete – robinchartier

Arrival in Sougia (more Crete)

Paleochora was one of our favorite places. I loved the tiny peninsula that was only a few blocks wide, surrounded by waterfront — rocky beach or sandy beach, we had our pick. Our last morning in town we ate pastries from the shop across the street, walked across town to the corniche and picked up a few souvenirs along the way. The boys found a 1 Euro shop that they were sure held all sorts of treasures . . . but no.

We would come to this side of town to eat dinner at night with its gorgeous view of the Mediterranean.

Our last stop before we headed into the mountains to our next vacation destination was a final meal at our favorite restaurant, the schoolhouse cafe in Anidri Village. The boys brought cards, Josh and I brought our books and we sat for several hours in the sunshine, relaxing, eating and enjoying a lazy lunch.

Our lunchtime view

Always making friends. This baby was at the table next to us and he loved Carter. The two younger boys followed him all over the grounds while we were waiting for our food.

Fresh salads with olives and feta (yes, that’s pickled seaweed on top — delicious!)

Camille wanted escargot today

and she loved it. Caleb wasn’t a fan. He said it tasted good, but couldn’t get past the texture. No matter, Camille ate it all.

I can’t remember what else we ate, but I can guarantee that it was excellent. Every meal has been perfection. Every tomato perfectly red, ripe and with the tomatoey sweet/tart/acic balance that sets them apart. I realized I haven’t had a good tomato since moving overseas. Even the beautiful tomatoes that we had in Turkey weren’t nearly as vibrant in taste as the ones we are getting in Crete. Cretan food is now my #2 favorite cuisine after Mexican (guacamole and salsa are hard to beat).

In order to get to Sougia, a remote spot on the southern coast, we had to drive north to get around a set of mountains and then back down to the water’s edge.

More winding roads through the mountains with zero traffic.

Josh kept teasing me and pretending that we were going to have to drive on roads like this one headed up and to the right. I still hadn’t quite recovered from our harrowing ride to Elafonisi beach. I don’t know who lives on those roads less traveled, but I certainly wouldn’t!

The winding back and forth put her to sleep.

Driving through paradise with the breeze in our hair, spotting goats, sheep and dogs snoozing in patches of sunshine along the sides of the road (and sometimes in the road!) Have I mentioned that we spent our drives thinking of career moves that would enable us to move to Crete?

We arrived in our one road town in time to get unpacked, walk down to the beach and explore before dinner.

He’s reading. A shocking sight.

A rocky beach made up entirely of rounded stones. Easy on the feet, but lots of slipping and sliding and sinking in as we walked.

Rock skipping ammunition for days!

The setting sun signaled it was time to find a place to eat dinner.

More great food, steps away from where we were staying.

Dinner outside on a clear night

We’ve tried the local village wine everywhere we’ve stayed. It’s usually a brownish color rather than red or white. It’s cheap and goes perfectly with all the feta, olives and grilled seafood that we’ve been eating.

You can even buy it in unlabeled bottles at the local grocery store or mini mart. It’s a crazy contrast to the US where everything sold in stores has to be carefully labeled and compared to Bahrain where alcohol can only be sold in special stores. Crete = freedom.

Detour (Elafonisi beach)

Crete is magical. Relaxed, easy pace — though part of that is self-designed. You could definitely overdo it here. One of the things about travel planning on the fly is that at night when I’d normally be blogging about our day, I’m busy figuring out what we are going to do tomorrow or trying to make arrangements for the next hotel/apartment.

The black netting is strung out under the olive trees to catch the fallen fruit

So there is this legendary pink sand beach that is one of the most famous beaches in the world. It’s tucked away on the southwest corner of Crete so we figured it would be a good day trip when we are staying on the southern coast. Except it turns out that the shortest way to the beach is over a rock and dirt road requiring 4 wheel drive, which we don’t have. Oh well, it’s still only about an hour the long way around.

Where are we going?! Through someone’s backyard?

Following our map and GPS we start out on some of the narrowest and most winding roads I’ve ever travelled on. Beautiful views off the sides of the cliffs, but also plenty of shrines, reminding us of those who hadn’t been as lucky on these roads. Things were looking good until we hit dirt. Thanks a lot GPS lady! We had thwarted her first attempts to take us to the “shortcut,” but she was slick and persistent and brought us back around to another pass through the mountains (instead of around).

hmm, looking a little rough . . .

uh, oh . . . where did the pavement go?

The road went on and on and got worse and worse.

According to our dumb paper map it was an “improved” road, but I don’t know what it looked like previously to make this series of holes, ruts, and boulders the improved version. We tried to drive it for a stretch, especially since we were so close, but finally called it quits and Josh did a 42 point turn on the side of the mountain to get us turned around and headed back to find a paved road.

We backtracked and eventually found a place where we could meet up with the main road that would take us all the way to the beach.

I was not thrilled about taking this super-sharp blind turn.

A pretty drive, but a roundabout one.

Sheep in the road!

random goat on a cliff

lots of goats!

chilling in the road

goats at church

finally a glimpse of the ocean!

The legends of pink sand are true, but not in the way that Carmel is a white sand beach. Elafonisi beach was similar to our beach day further north on the same coast, the edges of the surf tinged pink with sand made of red coral. Beautiful and indeed pink, but the majority of the sand is beautiful plain golden/tan beach sand.

Turquoise water as far as the eye can see and we planted our towels on an island sandbar for the afternoon. Warm water, little fish swimming among the rocks, and because it’s October, this very popular beach isn’t overrun with people like it would be at the height of summer. Worth every extra mile.

Checking out the pink sand

Hiking around our sandbar island

On the far side we found the black and pink sand beach

pretty, Mama!

Crystal clear water — warm enough to swim

Trying to sort the pink grains from the black . . .

Building an “aquarium” for the fish they are going to catch.

the inland side of our sandbar

Crossing over — the tide is coming in, so it’s getting deeper

fishing!

Sun-kissed and happy, heading home.

The correct way through the mountains this time.

Dinner of grilled anchovies

and moussaka (Greek lasagna-type dish. So delicious!)

And then we stopped at an outdoor cafe for crepes and honey raki

A perfect nightcap

A beautiful full moon over the Mediterranean.

End of the Road (Crete revisited)

Feeling like escaping reality today so I’m focusing on my happy place (anywhere in Crete). I found my notebook with some blog posts that I wrote while traveling so I’m adding photos and revising and FINALLY posting them.

Nothing like cruising along the coastline of the southern Mediterranean on a ferryboat listening to old 80’s classics playing over the speakers. Rocky cliffs on one side, endless blue water on the other, and Billy Idol’s White Wedding in my ears.

Our last day of touring on this wing and a prayer vacation. Tomorrow we head back north, stopping at a few places along the way before ending at the base for the last night with my safety reservation in case the plane schedule shifted. (And hallelujah it did! An extra day in Crete!)

Today Josh and the boys are going to hike the longest gorge in Europe — Samaria Gorge, but not all 18k of it. Typically people will catch a very early bus in the morning (6 or 7am), arrive at the top of the gorge by 9 am and spend about 6 hours hiking down it. Then, because there is no car access, everyone waits at the bottom, on the coast, for the ferry to shuttle people back to civilization at the end of the day.

We are doing the hike the “lazy way,” starting at the bottom. (That’s actually how it’s referred to on Trip Advisor.) Wake up at 8am, catch the 9am ferry, walk up the gorge as far as they want and then hike down and take the ferry home. Meanwhile, Meels and I are doing it the truly lazy way as we camp out on the beach for the day under an umbrella, drinking fresh juice and reading a book. It’s my gift to all of us because as much as I’d like to hike and see the gorge and Camille is a surprisingly nimble hiker, she is unpredictable in her stamina.This way the boys can go as fast as they want and cover more ground and the only tears will be about whether she can have another fresh squeezed orange juice with her lunch.

It’s lovely sitting on the top deck of the ferry — only the slightest breeze in my hair, listening to the rumble of the engine below. It’s ironic since an hour ago my stomach was in knots and I was planning potential escape routes in case the boat started to sink. That wasn’t an actual fear, but figuring out all the “what ifs” keeps my brain busy and distracts it from focusing on the idea that I’m trapped on public transportation with no way out. Just residual issues that I will have to work at for life. I think it must be a bit like being an alcoholic — totally better and functioning fine, but the potential to crack is always there. Of course as soon as we backed away from the dock I was fine because it changed from “can I do this?” to “I’m actually doing this and it’s no big deal.” My brain is a devilish thing, always looking for a way out until the last second when it resigns itself to the fact that I’m not going to fall for its tricks this time. I’m glad I didn’t let it win.

Up and out to catch the ferry.

The “dock” at the end of the beach

good morning, sunshine!

Gorgeous cove on the Sougia coast

Here’s the ferry!

Lovely family photo — just happy to be underway. No turning back now!

It’s peaceful and beautiful

Perfect blue water

Pulling in to shore — ready to to hike

They are off!

This is the life

food and drinks make for a happy girl

We had the place to ourselves from 10 am until after 2 or 3pm when the hikers all made their way to the beach.

beautiful black pebbly sand

We had our pick of chairs

I had a book, a notebook and pen, and my girl. A perfect day at the beach.

Walking the coast. I’m happy I didn’t miss this day by playing it safe and staying at home.

They made it back from the gorge and cooled off in the water. The restaurant had kayaks that we were able to borrow.

I would do this every day if I could.

I think the hike wore them out

Time to head home. I can definitely recommend the gorge hike “the lazy way.”

A walk back to our hotel and then down the road for dinner. The town of Sougia is 1 main road and a waterfront.

Another excellent dinner to end our adventure. Tomorrow we head back to civilization and prepare to fly home.

Crete day 8, Anidri village

We woke to sunny and clear skies that promised a beautiful day ahead. We ate amazing pastries from the local bakery across the street (my favorite was the chocolate filled phyllo dough and the custard filled croissant-like things . . . mmm) and then we headed out of town and up the hill to a nearby village.

It’s only about 5k away, and many people make a day of hiking up to the village and then returning either by the road or the gorge trail that leads down to the beach, but because we had Camille with us we opted to drive up and then hike around once we were up there.

It’s a beautiful tree lined road that tucks in and out of the sunshine as it weaves its way up the hillside.

We passed lots of hiker with their ski poles. I don’t get the pole thing. It seems like more work to carry two sticks than just to walk. Especially on a paved road. I guess it’s a German thing.

At the village — goats roaming the hillsides and running in the street

Even the drinking fountain has style

Yes Camille dressed herself. Ready for hiking and swimming.

Our lunch destination. An old schoolhouse that has been converted to a cafe. The proprietor of the place we stayed in Chania said that we must eat here. Since all of her other recommendations were spot-on, we were looking forward to lunch.

But first, we hike! We found the path that led behind the schoolhouse and down the hill toward the gorge and eventually the beach. We weren’t going to go all the way down (because that would bring us home), but our plan was to hike partway down and then back up.

The path led us by an old cemetery and church. Josh figured out (from googling the greek inscriptions) that it was the resting place of one particular family — the most recent burial was just last year of a woman who was in her 40s.

A beautiful view down the gorge

Checking out the inside of the church

I was amazed to see all these beautiful ornate frescos inside the tiny chapel.

Caleb pointed out that these were much nicer than the ones we saw in Turkey because they “didn’t have their faces all scratched out.” The things you notice when you spend a lot of time in a Muslim country.

Camille checking out St George. He is featured all over Crete.

After leaving the church and cemetery grounds, we found ourselves back on the path.

Olive trees everywhere. I love these tiny ones that look like capers or juniper berries.

It was October, but there were still beautiful fall flowers blooming.

Passing through the goat gate and into the gorge. It really was a goat gate with a hand lettered sign asking hikers to make sure it was put back in place so the goats couldn’t roam.

The two oldest boys easily outpaced us as we scrambled down the rocks toward the valley floor, but Caleb stuck close to help Camille and I when we needed a hand.

Seeing the way he helped his sister (without being asked) is one of my favorite memories from our trip.

Found the trail and they were off and running

I expected Camille to need more help than she did. I made a comment to Josh that I was going to have to “step up my game” if I wanted to keep up with her on future trips! She was a scrapper and scrambled over the rocks as if she were half goat herself.

We kept seeing stacks of rocks along the path as we walked down the trail and I wondered what the meaning was — maybe past trekkers marking the path? Some sort of secret hiker code? Nature’s version of Jenga? But when we finally caught up with Calvin and Carter it turned out they had seen one stack so they started creating them on all the big rocks that they passed. So much for my romantic ideas of

Later when I asked the kids to list some of their favorite memories from the trip, this hike made all of their lists. It was a small path that barely makes it into the guidebooks, but it’s exactly what they miss living in the Middle East. Trees, unknown paths, space to wander and explore, rocks to climb and freedom to run without knowing what is beyond the next bend.

We met up and decided it was time to turn around, hike back up the canyon, and have lunch.

The inside of the schoolhouse is the kitchen and all the seating is outdoors overlooking the gorge. We ordered fresh juice and cappuccinos and sipped and read books while we waited for them to take lunch orders at 1pm.

Calvin and Carter read the menu items off the chalkboard and we decided on dishes like baked fennel (inside a phyllo pastry crust), balsamic beet salad, cretan salad (of course!), baked pasta and some other things I’m forgetting. As promised, it was all divine and we added this place to our “must do this again” list.

The perfect lunch spot

Heading South (Crete revisited)

Josh is gone for another 2 weeks (doing fun stuff mostly, no need to worry about him) so in between my taxiing of children I’m going to try and finish up our Crete trip. The big incentive here is when it’s finished I will turn it into a book as a ready reminder of our vacation. I started this last year with Turkey and I love being able to pick it up and look through 100 pages of snow, Turkish lamps, ferry rides and food. I added Paris this fall and eventually want to go back and do a book of Oman (that might end up being several books), Jordan, UAE, etc.

So Crete. Lovely place. We left off having spent 5 days on the northwestern coast with days full of hiking, wandering, driving, beaching, and eating. On day 6 we headed south for more of the same. The town I chose is called Paleochora and is known for being great for tourists looking for beachside accommodations with a quaint small-town feel. Our drive south was full of windy roads, switchbacks and beautiful vistas overlooking green valleys. Every now and then we’d drive through tiny towns where a few houses dotted the edges of the road and then back to open road. I wonder where they do their grocery shopping?

houses on the side of the mountain, in the middle of nowhere.

These little shrines dot the side of the highways. A lot of people have been killed on Cretan roads. It didn’t make me feel any better about some of the tightest turns to see 3 memorials in a row.

Josh kept saying things like “I think we’re supposed to go straight up that hill” to freak me out. Only a mountain goat should be traveling on some of those hillside paths.

We finally made it across the island to the southern coast (About a 2 hour drive). Our destination was a tiny peninsula town that spans both sides of the finger of land.

Look how the sign says “Beach” with arrows pointing in both directions.

Standing here I could see the ocean in both directions — one side of the peninsula has the sandy beach, the other side is a shoreline made of large round stones.

Cretan man outside the 1 Euro store

We grabbed some lunch “downtown” (a few blocks from our apartment)

More wonderful Gyros — the fried potatoes are perfect. Nothing like french fries.

Feta, pepers, tomatoes, olives, greek seasoning (oregano, thyme, mint)

After eating, we headed to the sandy beach that was only 1 block from our apartment. It was overcast, but not cold at all.

The sand was smooth and fine — perfect for castle building. We were fortunate that there wasn’t any wind. Because Paleochora sticks out further than the rest of the coast it can get really windy here. The subsequent days we had to time our beach visit to avoid sand blowing in my iced coffee. Such a trial.

We stayed and played and read and rested until sunset.

The view from our apartment balcony — have I said it yet about this place? I could live here.

We walked a few blocks across the peninsula to the rocky side of the coast to find dinner when the moon popped up from behind the mountains. Picture a black sky with a huge glowing ball hovering below the clouds and you’ll almost have an idea of how amazing it looked.

A yummy dinner of lentil soup, more fresh salads, moussaka (greek lasagna), grilled fish and more house wine.

Checking out a few of the touristy shops on the way home.

Greece has beautiful churches. Every little town has one.

Stopping by the local grocery store on the way home for a few things for breakfast. These bottles of wine were a bit more upscale because they actually had labels. We saw tons of unlabeled/home brewed wine for sale in stores all over Crete. Why not? The entire country is laid back and relaxed. I love it.