This past week in Crete we rented what was advertised as a "traditional" villa, with our friends Rachel and Mitchell, in a small coastal town called Almyrida. Evidently the word "traditional" is up to one's own interpretation. Villa Maria was truly great from the outside with a pool, a few eating areas, fruits trees and breathtaking views; however, the inside included a few less-than-desirable characteristics such as a couple questionable washrooms, a lovely sewage smell, and our very own resident ants. Jokes aside, we were happy with our spot and Villa Maria had her charm.
A few highlights from our week in Crete:
Our car rides
We rented a car for the week. Josh was driver and Mitchell navigator. They were a perfect pair. It made our road trips pretty seamless - with the exception of getting lost once at sunset where we literally found ourselves in the middle of an olive grove.
When we first picked up our rental car we were challenged with fitting all of our luggage into a tiny Fiat. The boys conquered it no problem. I swear Josh's boy scout badges pay off far too often - if you want a good laugh ask him about his Boy Scout poncho:). We then had a 2-hour journey in darkness across the island and miraculously arrived at Villa Maria despite a comical set of directions, some off-roading and a handful of u-turns. Rach and I occupied ourselves with 80s and 90s movie soundtrack trivia - sorry boys!
Elafonisi day trip
Elafonisi is rated the nicest beach on Crete and justly so. I have to say this is by far the most beautiful beach I've ever seen. It was the perfect combination of powder sand, clear turquoise water, and great people watching.
Before we got to the beach we stopped at a little restaurant recommended to us. Funny enough as we pulled up we realized their signature dish was Canadian style pizza! The couple who owns the place spent 25 years in Canada but returned to their native land about 10 years ago. We opted not to order pizza and went with a few authentic dishes to Crete. They also introduced us to Cornela, their goat that they won the day before at a church raffle. This was one chatty goat! I think she was trying to get her bearings and was also afraid of her fate. I was relieved to hear she wasn't going to be the "weekly special" but kept as a pet instead.
Dinners - slam dunk for two out of the three
After our day trip to Elafonisi, we got home late and the boys whipped up a delicious pasta dinner.
On another day trip we went to Chania - a larger venetian style town on the island - and perused their Saturday open air market to get some ingredients for dinner. We settled on fish and Josh, Rachel and Mitchell got some cooking instructions from a local fish monger which helped to make this meal delicious. I happily stayed out of the kitchen.
(Venetian harbor in Chania)
The third homemade dinner unfortunately took a nose dive. It was Rach and I's turn and we attempted a Cretan casserole. This did not go so well, thanks to our oven. The recipe said 45 minutes in the oven but after almost three hours it still wasn't cooked through! The highlight of the night was when Rachel and I put on our dresses - we happen to have bought similar ones. But changed after a few hours when we realized we wouldn't be eating until midnight!
Looks good doesn't it?? Looks can be deceiving.
Scenic Almyrida
We enjoyed many a walks along the strip of Almyrida. It was small, and not really Greek - at all actually - but was still very cute and scenic.
One of our many coffees, lunches, beers at Cafe Francoise - a popular beach spot for locals and tourists.
Below was a little picnic we had on our last night (courtesy of the Purdys) on top of a rock overlooking Almyrida bay.
We had a great week with the Purdys in Crete and we already miss them.
We've just touched down in Istanbul and can already tell this place is going to leave a lasting impression. Talk soon.
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Location:Almyrida, Crete - Greece
