Greece-Crete

6/7/20251 min read

We have arrived in Crete (pronounced Creta)

We spent our five days in Crete in Chania (shania). It was a busy five days. The beaches in Chania were beautiful, but we barely had time to enjoy them. As opposed to Naxos, Crete was all about learning the history of Greece and the people. We stayed in the old town of Chania, which was so charming. Our hotel was the Maimo Historic Hotel which was a renovated old building that was stunning inside with extremely modern technology. We could not even figure out the fancy light switches! Charming streets and right on the port . It was a perfect location! Our travel agent planned several excursions including a Monastery that now produces wine, which of course we did a tasting, an olive press factory, a food tasting tour, a cheese shop that made amazing cheese that we enjoyed, and a distillery that produces Ouzo (three shots each!) Our guide told us that Crete has 1,000,000.00 residents and 45,000,000.00 olive trees. When tourist season ends in September, the residents of Crete all join together and harvest olives. I may be biased, but I think Italy has better olive oil. While the beaches were stunning, again, the water was very cold but still manageable. After two weeks in Greece, which were amazing, I was homesick and ready to return to Italy. Greek food is very redundant and I missed my pasta!

A wild grapevine!

1000 year old olive tree