Brian and I just returned from a beautiful trip to our (my) thirteenth country in ten months...Greece! I really wasn't sure what to expect, and just kind of organized a trip based on the cheapest prices. I knew that we'd want to visit a couple of Islands while there, and obviously some are more popular and famous than others, so I just started looking into airfare and settled on 4 days in Crete and 3 days in Zakynthos. There were different routes that were much easier and less expensive than other routes...for example: to fly from Athens to Crete was $33 and took about an hour, the flight from Crete to Zakynthos was $60 and took about 40 minutes, and then the flight back to Athens from Zakynthos was only $20 and took 30 minutes. However, if we'd wanted to fly from Crete to Santorini, it would have cost over $100 with a 2 hour layover back in Athens, so we would have wasted a lot more money and time that way. Plus, the two Islands we chose are a bit more obscure, so I was excited to explore them without any expectations. There are ferries between the Islands, but they aren't cheap and they take a lot of time...plus, I have a history of sea sickness. Our itinerary ended up being pretty perfect and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
The flight from Phoenix went direct to Frankfurt, Germany and was about 12 hours. I had been dreading it for months...it was a red-eye and I knew it would be difficult to sleep and be comfortable on a flight that long. I ended up passing out pretty early on and slept a solid 8 hours and then just watched a movie for the remainder...it wasn't bad at all. However, we flew Condor air and they'd booked our flights into Athens so I wouldn't have to worry about connection time or anything like that. Well, they'd booked exactly one hour for layover. ONE HOUR. 60 MINUTES. Once the plane hit the ground, we drove about 15 minutes to the gate, and since we were towards the very back of the plane, were among the last to get off of the plane. The gate wasn't printed on the ticket yet, so we had to navigate to the monitors to see where we were headed, and when it wasn't on the monitor, we had to find an information booth and ask. Never in my life have I encountered so many miserable, slow employees with absolutely no sense of urgency. They all just looked at me from behind their cell phones with blank looks on their faces...it was the most frustrating thing ever. We immediately made our way to customs where we waited in line for another 20 minutes waiting for our passports to be stamped and then had to go to another terminal which required a trip through security. There were 2 belts open and about 200 people in line, so we waited FOREVER, but I wasn't terribly worried because I assumed that we'd be taken care of by the airline if we were running late. Well, I was wrong. The plane left without us. We went back to the ticket counter and were told that an hour was more than enough time to make it, there was no excuse, and they would not be putting us on another flight...we'd have to pay for the tickets. There was one more flight that night that was direct and leaving in 2 hours, but would be $625 per ticket. Seemingly having no other choice, I handed over my debit card and we made our way back through the security line from hell and then off to Athens. Luckily, our Airbnb hosts were super accommodating and picked us up at the airport even though it was like, 12:30 am.
Our flight out to Crete was supposed to be pretty early the next morning, but got bumped a couple of hours which was nice so we could sleep in a little bit. We arrived without incident, until we went to pick up our rental car that we'd booked several of months in advance and found out that, since we were a couple of hours late for pick up, they gave our car away...even though we'd paid for our reservation. Sigh. I managed to get another car through a different company and within about 2 hours, we were on the road towards our Bed and Breakfast.
Flying over Santorini
Crete has a very old-fashioned feel to it...it's really not very touristy at all (or at least where we went). The prices are cheap and we were probably the youngest people of the entire island...I don't think we saw anybody else under about 50 years old.
I managed to find a really cool, old villa in the middle of hundreds of acres of olive trees and vineyards. It was located pretty much smack dab in the center of the island, so it was going to be easy to access every part of Crete and be super secluded, which I was looking forward to. We wound up a narrow winding road through the country side and found our little oasis without any problem at all. The hostess, Afroditi, greeted us and showed us our room, inviting us to dinner at 7 pm in the little tavern across the street that she owned. The room that I booked used to be where they'd stomp grapes for wine hundreds of years ago and had the most amazing 2' thick stone walls and massive timbers. We unpacked, unwound, and ventured out for a walk through the grounds of the villa, complete with it's own little church and incredible views.
Can you see our villa up there? Heaven...
After a few hours, we walked over to the little tavern and settled in for the most amazing meal and sunset. There were table cloths and candles and 2 other couples enjoying a meal and we listened to old Elvis songs with the sliding glass doors open on all sides and the most beautiful views of the grounds.
Right away, we noticed the outstanding hospitality of our hosts...Afroditi's husband brought us a bottle of wine that he'd made himself and told us about how the villa had been in his family for several generations and that he tends the crops himself and is an elementary teacher in the nearby village. Greeks definitely savor their meals and from start to finish...several courses spaced out with many glasses of wine...I think we were there for about 3 hours.
The stunning sunset led to pouring rain all night, and some really cool thunder. We both commented that the thunder there sounded different from anywhere else we've ever been...it just rumbles on for several seconds and has a different echo to it that was really beautiful.
We met Afroditi for breakfast in the kitchen and were blown away: greek yogurt, honey, pastries, bread, fresh fruit from their land, tomatoes and cucumbers, grilled ham and cheese sandwiches, coffee, orange juice, hard boiled eggs...I can't even remember all of the food, it was amazing. We stuffed ourselves and then headed into Heraklion to check out the Archaeological Museum while we waited for the rain to let up. The museum kind of blew us away...it had artifacts from 6000 BCE that had been found among ruins on the island. After a couple of hours and a hearty lunch, the weather cleared up and we made our way to Knossos: Europe's oldest city and the largest Bronze age archaeological site on Crete. Many of the artifacts in the museum were taken from this site when it was uncovered.
This is a horse that was sacrificed on an alter...craziness
We got frappes and snacks before heading out to explore a little bit before dinner at the little taverna across the street from our Bed and Breakfast. This time, our hosts recommended some dishes that they thought we might enjoy and we just went with the flow. It was like staying with relatives who cook for you and chat with you (even if they speak very little English and we speak NO Greek) and offer to do your laundry while your out exploring. We actually kind of bonded with them...they were just the sweetest couple ever.
We finally made it to the pink beach and enjoyed the warm water and endless sandbars.
On our last full day on Crete, we explored the east side and had the best time. We wound along the coast to an ancient village site called Itanos overlooking 3 beautiful beaches. It was kind of a "local's spot" so there were only a handful of people around and we hiked off to the farthest beach where you could snorkel among part of the old ruins had fallen into the sea. It was a nude beach, so I was in heaven. We spend a couple of hours there, and then hiked up to the ruins and enjoyed the view. The site is totally open for exploration and still mostly unexcavated. They used to trade shells, purple dye, and glassware with the Orient for 900 years until it was destroyed in the 15th century.
We were so sad to leave our amazing villa and amazing hosts and the beauty that was Crete...we both absolutely loved it there.