Downtown Chania and the Parthenon

In true vacation fashion, we got a late start Monday morning and headed downtown about 10:30, happy that it was sunny. After finding a free parking space on the street (I’m still amazed at that since two of the lots we’d tried had been full), we followed a German tour group toward the old town area. Finally peeling away, we walked to the old Venetian harbour, one of the main things I wanted to see. The buildings were neat, but the entire waterfront had been taken over by restaurants and souvenir shops. Avoiding the hawkers as best as we could, we meandered along to the lighthouse.

Originally built in the late 16th century, the lighthouse fell into disrepair during the Turkish occupation and was rebuilt in the early 1800’s. The base is from the original Venetian times, but the main lighthouse is referred to as “Egyptian” since it was built during a time when Crete was occupied by Egyptian troops. Earthquakes and WWII bombings caused the lighthouse to lean, but extensive renovations in 2005 fixed it right up. It stands proudly at the end of a long wall (seriously, it felt like half a mile), offering lovely views of the harbour. Unfortunately, the interior of the lighthouse is closed, so you can’t go inside. The wall offers two paths to walk along, the upper and the lower. Both were fairly narrow at some points and felt rather treacherous with a toddler. We ended up folding the stroller and carrying it as pushing it became impossible. There were quite a few people relaxing and enjoying picnics on the upper wall, but we decided to walk back and find indoor seating for lunch. Clouds were closing in and we barely made it to a restaurant before the downpour started.

Old Venetian Harbour in Chania

Lunch lasted as long as the rainstorm so, with full bellies, we set off to explore more of the downtown area. Little Man had completely missed his nap and was quickly turning into a terrible two (and a half) year old, which meant visiting museums was out. So we walked the narrow streets and enjoyed the atmosphere. It really was quite lovely. We stopped by the Etz Hayyim synagogue (another place on my must-visit list), but it had closed for the day.

Entrance to the Etz Hayyim synagogue in Chania

Since 1944 this was the sole Jewish monument on the island of Crete. The Nazis had all but obliterated 2,300 years of Jewish life on the island. From 1996-99 the synagogue was painstakingly restored, following the philosophy “Am Israel Hayy”, or “the people of Israel live”. Being Jewish, I would’ve loved to have gone inside. I’ll chock it up as one more reason I need to go back to Crete.

One of the many lovely alleys in Chania

About that time, LM had an EPIC meltdown. There are times when travelling with a toddler seems like the worst idea possible. This was one of those times. He screamed at the top of his lungs (made even louder thanks to the narrow alleyways), and many heads turned in our direction to see just how we were torturing this poor child. The one piece of comfort I received was when an older Greek lady pointed at him and said, “three? Is he three?” When I answered yes, she nodded and responded with, “Patience”. I knew she understood our struggle and that small bit of understanding was like salve to my mamas soul. After 45 minutes of this nonsense (I kid you not), LM finally calmed down. It was only about 4 pm, but we decided to call it a day. We had to pack that night for our early flight back to Athens the next morning, and we were all done in. (Now is when I’ll mention that on the drive home, we passed the only police car we saw on the island, lights flashing, heading in the opposite direction. No crazy fines for me!)

Chania airport

We enjoyed a light breakfast in the airport lounge before our Tuesday morning flight. Once in Athens, we purchased a 3 day transit pass for 22€ per person, which included a round trip to and from the airport. An individual ticket to the airport costs 10€, making the 3 day pass the more economical option (even though we were only in Athens for the night), providing we took the metro at least twice. It was a 40 minute ride from the airport to our hotel, but remember how it had been raining in Greece for two months? The hotel we’d planned on staying at had water damage and rebooked us the previous night (they were really great, working with us and giving us options) in a studio apartment nearby. As the apartment was not ready when we arrived, we stopped by the hotel to check in and drop our bags, before grabbing some amazing Greek food for lunch.

 

 

dav

dav

dav

After a quick stop by the apartment to make sure everything was in order, we went back out to walk around Athens. Little Man finally napped in his stroller, and right after he woke up, we found a delightful cafe where we could sit inside, out of the wind, and enjoy some coffee and cake. The cafe had two floors, the staircase therefore affording LM seemingly endless entertainment. I finally got him to sit down by telling him he could have some chocolate cake. (His eyes were huge when he saw the cake in the display case.)

First chocolate cake of the trip

Now that we were all feeling more refreshed, we made our way to the Lycabettus Cable Car, at the top of which, we were promised stunning views of the city. We were not disappointed. The round trip cost 7€ each (5€ one way if you want to hike up or down; I wouldn’t recommend it, it’s a steep climb) with children under 3 years being free. The ticket also gives you a discount at the cafe/restaurant at the top. Not wanting to bother trying to find somewhere else to eat, we took advantage of that and had a lovely meal with a great view. Standing at 277 meters, Lycabettus hill is the highest point in Athens. This means that the wind we’d been enduring all day was particularly strong here.

Good thing LM doesn’t mind heights!

View of the Parthenon from Lycabettus Hill

Wednesday morning we woke up early so we could get to the Parthenon when it opened at 8 am. We managed to get there ten minutes after because I made us stop for coffee, so not too bad. There was hardly any line, and after paying a total of 40€ (again, LM was free), we climbed to the top of this legendary landmark. It was sort of surreal to be there in person. Parts of it look just like the pictures, but seeing the setting through your own eyes is pretty cool.

The sky was spectacular as well

As much as I enjoy history, I’ve never been one to read display plaques; not that my little explorer has the patience to let me even try. This was a surprisingly great place to let him roam around, though, and he had a blast climbing all the stairs. Arriving as early as we did meant that we avoided most of the crowds. There were what looked like two school classes, possibly one tour group, and a few solo travelers. We spent a total of an hour and a half there, giving us enough time to stop at a cafe before picking up our bags from the apartment and heading to the airport. (I’m starting to realize just how much travel this trip involved: a LOT.)  I mean, who could pass up the opportunity to get their toddler sugared up before a two hour flight?

dav

dav

We managed the metro ride back to the airport slightly better than the arrival, if only because we had gotten a feel for how it worked. Unlike Finn’s, Greeks are quite expressive, and not at all shy about taking a seat, or asking you to move, on public transit. It was a shock to my system after living in Finland for over two years, and LM spent half the ride on my lap to free up a seat.

The two hours at the airport went by quickly and, too soon, we were saying farewell to Greece. Our time there had been phenomenal and I’ve been wanting to return since the moment we left. Not many countries have that kind of pull on me, so you know it was exceptional. Soon enough, however, we were landing on the next island, ready for yet another adventure.

dav

dav

 

 

 

A Warm Welcome to Greece

Friday afternoon is as good a time as any for a quick 3.5 hour flight to Athens. We took a shuttle from the airport to the hotel, which normally would not be worth writing about, but it’s where we met the nicest French couple! They told us about their favorite place to eat near the hotel we were staying in, how they’d been coming to Greece since before I was born, and a number of other interesting facts. Of course, we followed their recommendation for dinner, and were only slightly surprised when they arrived at the same restaurant shortly after we’d been seated. The gentleman stopped by and offered advice on which dish to order, even letting us know about the sweet that was provided at the end of the meal. Definitely worth while.

We were only staying in this hotel for one night before flying to Crete. The views were nice, but the hotel itself was not amazing. We had adjoining rooms so Little Man could have his own sleeping space; it worked well enough, even though the only window in his room looked over the dining room/courtyard where a noisy reception was taking place at bedtime. Our room had a balcony with a decent ocean view, but the smell of smoke wafted in from outside.

View from the hotel balcony

We were up early Saturday morning to catch our flight (#41 for Little Man!) and were lucky enough to have lounge access, where we partook of the breakfast spread. It was nice to be somewhere quiet, with a guaranteed seat, instead of trying to corral an active toddler in a busy airport. (Although, once he learned where the juice was kept, it was hard to keep him away.)

Lounge at the Athens airport

After our gate was announced (which doesn’t happen until an hour before departure), we made our way there to stand in the queue. We were bussed to the prop plane for the 30 minute flight to Chania, on the west side of Crete. After a 20 second bus ride to the arrivals hall (it would’ve been faster to walk), we were greeted by marble steps into one of the cutest airports I’ve been to. We easily made our way to the Sixt rental car desk, where I was informed that, because I do not have an international driving license, the police could give me a ticket for 1,500€. The same fine would be given to the rental car company, for which I would be held liable. That was a lot of stress for someone who hadn’t been planning to drive in the first place! (You know that niggling feeling you get when you know you’ve forgotten something? Hubster kept getting that before we left. Turns out he forgot his drivers license.) Luckily for all of us, driving in Crete was a lot easier than I’d expected. It wasn’t crowded at all, and if anyone wanted to pass me on the narrow two line roads, they did so without fuss.

Once we got on the road, Little Man fell asleep pretty quickly, so we drove around a bit before deciding to head toward our air bnb in the village of Fournes. Trusting Google just a little too much, we ended up going down a dirt road with no other traffic. Little did we know, it had been raining in Greece for the past two months, causing multiple mud and rock slides all over the island. This poor little dirt track went downhill so far that the bottom was completely covered by a giant puddle. Figuring the side of the road was the best bet, I went slowly, eventually getting stuck about halfway. Sighing at the fact that this was not the first time this sort of thing had happened to me, Hubster got out and pushed. He managed to get us out with only minimal (he may argue with that) mud splatter.

The rest of the drive was uneventful, unless you count the steep hills and narrow lanes to get to the apartment. We settled in and relaxed for a while before driving a short way to a restaurant for coffee and a late lunch. I thoroughly enjoyed simply being in Greece. Back at the apartment that evening, I cobbled together the ingredients our hostess had left us to make a traditional Chanian dish. It was very good and ended up being part of our dinner every night we were there.

Sunday morning we had a relaxing, slow start. We made the hour and a half drive to Elafonisi beach, testing my skills on winding, mountain roads, passing through tiny villages along the way. It was one of my favorite things we did. Some things you just don’t see if you don’t have a car, and these roads (hopefully) are one of them. (We only encountered one or two larger trucks, but no buses.) It was so nice to be able to pull over, when we saw a sign that read “Nice View”, and check it out. And what a view it was! I never pictured Greece as mountainous, but we certainly drove through mountains.

Valley on the way to Elafonisi

I had just commented that I was glad LM didn’t get car sick when I heard a noise from the back seat. Oops, spoke too soon. On the bright side, we only had one more s-curve to go before we pulled over and cleaned up. After that, it was a pretty straight drive to the beach. It was a sunny but breezy day, so the fact that LM now only had a hoodie and long trousers to wear (I hadn’t thought to pack him a change of clothes for the day), was not a bad thing. I had no idea how he’d react to the beach; last year in Croatia, he couldn’t have cared less. He ran around on the sand for a while, and when we finally got to the water, he had the time of his life. We made a game of running into the water, then running out when the waves came up. Best game ever.

Yes, he brought his stuffed cat to the beach

Elafonisi beach is famous as being the “pink sand beach”. I was slightly disappointed when I saw the majority of the sand isn’t even tinted pink. Instead, there are pockets of pink from the ground up sea shells. It’s more prominent in some places, like along the waters edge, but the water itself is gorgeous. We walked along the peninsula for quite a ways before finally deciding to turn back. It was late afternoon and we hadn’t had lunch yet, so we stopped at the only restaurant at the beach’s entrance. It offered a great view of the ocean, along with delicious food.

Can you see the pink?

Full, tired, and happy, we hopped back in the car for the drive “home”. We were surprised to find that it had rained the whole day on the other side of the mountains. What a great day to go to the beach!

Oranges after the rain