The ABCs of Greece - C is for Crete
The tail end of our September 2021 trip to Greece concluded with four nights in Crete, after having spent time in Athens and sailing in the Cyclades Islands. Greece is such a beautiful country and we’d had two very different experiences before arriving in Crete via ferry from Santorini. Crete was to be a special time for us since we were planning to spend a lot of time with old and new Greek friends.
Why Crete?
Crete is the largest of the Greek islands and a popular tourist destination. It’s a very mountainous island and the large interior offers a different experience from the expected beaches and seaside villages, very much an agricultural area. Crete has been inhabited for more than 130,000 years and was the home of one of the earliest civilizations in Europe, the Minoans. Because of this geography and long history, Crete heavily influences the Greek economy and culture, while retaining much of its own character. The island is beautiful, offering a wide variety of things to see and do, and the people are warm and friendly.
Hersonissos and our Greek friends
I happened to be lucky enough to get connected to the family member of a Greek friend. Eleni was introduced to me by my friend (and her sister-in-law) to offer me some local planning advice. We became instant long-distance friends and her help was invaluable to me in planning this trip. She even flew to Athens to join us in attending a concert at the incredible Odeon of Herodes Atticus. A beautiful person inside and out, Eleni also happens to live in Crete and this happy coincidence allowed us the unique opportunity to spend a lot of time with her and the K. family. Even better was that our Greek friend in the US was also planning to visit Crete at this same time for a family wedding. The family home (Villa Greco) is also rentable and we really enjoyed this large and beautiful villa and pool. The father Gianni (the K. family patriarch) lives on site so we had lots of opportunity to get to know him and learn about his colorful life. Our visit began with a welcome party and divine barbecue after we arrived. The whole family joined and welcomed us with open arms!
Villa Greco in the village of Hersonissos
Villa Greco is located just up a hill from the small, old village of Hersonissos. A very quaint and traditional village, the town square is filled with restaurants and a few small shops. It’s not terribly touristy but oozes charm and local flavor. It was easy to walk to the small grocery store to get supplies for the house, visit the local coffee shop, get our Covid test at the pharmacy and enjoy lively meals. The house itself was amazing and a luxurious place to end our trip. We stayed on the main part of the house (Gianni lives in the lower level) and had an enormous living area, a full dining room, well-equipped kitchen, pool table and large balcony with seating overlooking the island with sea views. There were two large bedrooms with spacious baths on the first floor and a large master suite with bath on the second floor. The villa had beautiful gardens and a refreshing swimming pool which we used often.
Village of Old Hersonissos
Day One - Hitting the beach!
Our first day on the island was spent on the beach, soaking in the sun and the Sea of Crete. The villa is a short drive to the beach but it was easy to navigate with taxis and the help of our friends. First stop of the day was lunch at the incredibly delicious and beachy Saradari restaurant. This was one of the best meals of the trip, the location and ambiance very much adding to the experience. The restaurant is located on a small beach road overlooking the sea and is very open so that you can feel the warm sea breezes and smell the freshness of the sea. The service was excellent and the food so elevated and fresh. Their Greek salad was one of the best of the trip and was “Cretan style” with the hard rusk croutons that are a signature for the island. Best of all, the restaurant basically has its own small beach! After our fantastic lunch, we were able to walk down a narrow path to the beach which was packed on this hot day. The water was so crystal clear and was just the right temperature to be refreshing but not too cold. We had a great day on the beach! Even more exciting was that the informal nude beach was right next to us, though none of us had the nerve to actually go over to the nude beach, it was titillating to think about it! Back at the villa we had another party with the K. family, this time to celebrate one of the son’s (Leon) birthday. The whole family joined together again and we toasted to Leon’s long life and health with drinks and birthday cake. Dinner was down in the village at Zachos Tavernawhere we had such a fun time, in no small part due to the “raki alligator”. The waitress had some plastic alligator toy/game which she took table to table and if your hand got stuck in the alligator’s mouth, you had to take a shot of raki. Our poor friend Tom was consistently the victim of this trick. We were having so much fun we almost got kicked out of the restaurant for being too loud! The K. family arrived to save us from ourselves and we headed next to the Village Inn for more birthday drinks and celebration. What a fun day we had!
Saradari Restaurant and Beach
Day Two - The mountains
Dragging slightly after our fun night, we had a long day planed for our second full day in Crete, and this was to be a different experience than any we’d had so far in Greece. We’d arranged for a full day tour of the interior of the island with Leon’s company, Safari Club. This Land Rover tour company operates full day tours across the island which include historical points of interest, natural geographic features, and local culture and foods. We’d opted for the Minoan route and the driver/guide (the wonderful Jason) picked us up at the villa around 10 am. The tour centered around the Lassithi Plateau, a flat agricultural area high in the mountains, and also a visit to Zeus’ cave, where the father of all the gods is said to have been born. Much of the drive was up and up the winding road that hugs the ancient Minoan paths used millennia ago. Along the way, we learned about the sunken village of Sfendili, which was intentionally flooded when the Aposelimi Dam was built. It was eerie to see the tops of houses and churches rising above the water and apparently as water levels lower, you can even enter the village itself. We also learned about local herbs and mountain tea, olives, and had the opportunity to visit a shepherd tending his flock and making goat cheese. A short stop in the small village of Kastamonista included a raki and olive oil tasting, the raki helping to rejuvenate us. The views from the mountain tops were breathtaking and we felt we could see the whole island. We learned about the invasions of the Turks and their treatment of the Cretans while visiting the Tsourlis Grave and threw our own rocks at the scoundrel buried there.
Scenes from the Safari tour
Rounding the bend to finally see the Plateau, we were amazed that such a large and flat agricultural area was so high up in the mountains. It’s so large that the Nazi’s used it as a landing area during their ill-fated invasion of Crete. At Zeus’ cave (Psychro Cave), we walked high up a path to the entrance and then descended deep into the dark and cool cave, green and dripping moisture from tons of stalactites. We ended the tour with a very traditional Greek meal (and unlimited wine) at the tourist restaurant Halavro Kouzina. It was such a long and wonderful day and we were pretty tired so we spent the rest of the evening at the villa relaxing, just ordering in food for dinner.
Zeu's Cave and Lunch
Day Three - Knossos and Heraklion
Our last full day threatened rain, the first of our whole trip, and was much cooler than the previous week and a half. Some of the group decided to just stay in and have a relaxing last day so my spouse and I rented a car and headed to Heraklion (the capital and largest city) and surrounding area. Driving in Crete was very easy with familiar infrastructure and rules. The only thing we were advised about was that Greeks don’t like to follow other drives, so no matter how fast you drive, they will always try to pass you. I can totally relate to this as I also can’t stand driving behind anyone, regardless of how fast they are going. It’s customary in Greece to pull to the side, even into the shoulder, to let others pass. It took hardly any time to get to our first destination, which was the ancient Minoan Palace of Knossos. Knossos is an enormous archaeological site and has been called Europe’s oldest city. I was very much looking forward to seeing this and it did not disappoint.
The little bit of rain cleared as we arrived into an already crowded parking area so we “made” our own parking spot on a median (we considered it the Greek way). The Palace is huge and there is a bit of controversy about it since parts of it have been “recreated” to show what it may have looked like at the time. Traditionalists balk at this type of interpretation but I think it adds to the experience of understanding how things may have actually seemed like at the time. The Palace and surrounding area was abandoned around 1300 B.C. for largely unknown reasons. It was rediscovered by Briton Sir Arthur Evans and Greek Minos Kalokairinos. Knossos was the seat of the Minoan government and culture, the capitol of King Minos and the site of the labyrinth of the Minotaur – all of which feature in our history schoolbooks. It’s a beautiful and reflective site, well know for its frescos, of which many have been recreated on site (with the originals housed in the museum in Heraklion, see below). One of the most prominent is the Prince of the Lilies and the most well know is the Bull Leaping fresco, memorializing the brave young men and women who leapt over bulls’ backs as part of the sport culture of this society. We did a self-guided visit and in retrospect wish we’d had a guide to explain everything to us. After visiting for about an hour we headed to the Cretan capital of Heraklion, a very short drive away.
Palace of Knossos
Heraklion is a city of about 215,000 in north central Crete and was founded around 825 A.D. by the Arab inhabitants of Crete. Its name refers to Heracles’ City, a nearly Roman port city. There is a major airport and ferry terminal here, making it a central transportation hub. The city center is compact and easily walkable. We parked by the port, very close to the main town, where there was ample paid parking. The first order of business was lunch, we were pretty hungry by this point but not yet hangry, and a local favorite Peskesi had been recommended to us. It looked fantastic but we had not made recommendations and the wait for a lunch table was several hours, obviously it was very popular. We walked around the neighborhood to see what we could see (which I hate doing – I’ve had some arguments and bad meals using this method) and landed on Amalia’s Kitchen. Amalia’s is an interesting concept as it’s a Greek-Texan style restaurant (maybe the only one in the world?). You can order traditional Greek food as well as spareribs and pork chops. We snagged an outdoor table under an arbor and next to a very nice couple as well as a French family with several unruly children. The food was good but I think outdoor setting under the trees and next to a nice park really made the experience. I did get to try my first (and last) retsina wine, which is a resinated white or rosé wine.
Heraklion and Lunch
After lunch we walked around the old city center which has a lot of architecture with a Venetian feel. The Venetians did rule Crete (and much of Greece) from about 1200 to 1770 A.D. and you see evidence of that through the country and especially the islands, with many Venetian forts protecting important harbors. Heraklion itself has a beautiful Venetian fortress names Koules. The city was very lively with lots of people shopping and going about daily business. Other points of interest were the 400 year-old Morosini Lions Fountain and the Church of Saint Titus. The church was originally a Byzantine temple, at times a Catholic church, once a mosque, and now a beautiful Greek Orthodox church.
Heraklion City Center
The primary goal for Heraklion, besides lunch, was to visit the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion. It did not disappoint. The second most visited museum in Greece, the modern building houses the most extensive collection of Minoan artifacts, pottery and art in the world. It was an incredible showcase of the innovation and skill of the Minoan civilization. A relatively compact set of rooms set over two floors displayed artifacts by groups - pottery, funerary urns, frescoes, items used in daily life, etc. I was fascinated by it all but was particularly taken by a 3,700 year old board game made of wood and ivory, a large urn containing the skeleton of the person buried inside, and the bare breasted “snake goddess” statues. The collection of floor mosaics and wall frescoes was also superb, with many originals taken from the Palace of Knossos - such as the Prince of the Lillies, the Ladies in Blue (my personal favorite), and the dolphin fresco. The museum was built on the site of a prior Roman Catholic monetary and there were a few mentions of that and a view of some of the original building just off the outdoor cafe, which also was the scene of three adorable kittens playing in an old water mountain.
Treasures from the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion
We left Heraklion to meet up with our friends and our Greek family for drinks and to celebrate our last night. Our hostess Eleni (a superb planner and super help for us throughout the trip) and the family was already at a close-by and very local taverna called Taverna Me … Raki. They seemingly had been there for a while enjoying small bittes and shots of raki. Raki is a strong Greek spirit made of grapes and anise and commonly consumed in shots and as an after dinner drink or apéritif. The five of us joined into the party and had an incredibly fun time tasting delicious small plates and enjoying bottle after bottle of raki. Friends and neighbors of the family would stop by from time to time to chat - it felt like this was the local hangout and we were blessed to get this non-tourist experience. We were having so much fun we got a few disapproving looks from some of the other tables, seems like we were continuing the rowdy theme from earlier in the week. Afternoon turned into evening and this became our dinner spot too, the best of days when you just lose track of time.
Saying Goodbye to Greece
After a short night, we had an early morning departure back to Athens and then on to home. We sadly left the K. Family at the villa with hugs and promises of return visits soon. One friend was off to Barcelona and the rest of us had long journeys back to the U.S. through Doha on Qatar Airways. Long after the glow of our tans faded, we’ll remember the sun, sights, tastes and warm people of Greece. A wonderful trip of a lifetime.
Jeff did an amazing job of creating a seamless transition from Island to Island. Crete was our Greek home away from home. A warm and welcoming family greeted us with a delicious traditional Greek meal upon arrival! The kind and proud people of Crete know their history, enjoy talking about it, sharing laughs and …,drinking Raki!! Crete, a Must do!