My friends and I had an amazing time here. The hotel staff were very friendly and were very helpful. The view from our room was gorgeous. Not too far from the city, just a 25 min walk, and even closer to the beaches. Very reasonably priced.

Great authentic food! Fresh, nicely prepared dishes :) Everything fast and in a friendly atmoshere. The owner and his sons make sure that you feel well served and satisfied. They work like little ants but occasionally when they have fewer customers they come and talk to you, or invite you to the kitchen to show all these magic ingredients :D The Greek salad here is just too much! :D Oh, and of course! you are going to get something extra at the end! (no! not only the bill!):) It's a great place to relax and have a nice evening with friends!

We do it all very calmly today. We need to stay out of the sun, because we got burnt yesterday. Eef wears light long trousers; Timo goes outside in his shorts and T-shirt. We get up around 08:30, go for breakfast and start the day the same way as yesterday. Then we walk through town. We find a good place to meet each other, when Timo goes to collect the car the day after tomorrow. Timo takes the bus and returns to Chania with the car, where the taxi driver has dropped us off. Now we stroll through Chania. We again come along the market place (now closed) and the minaret and arrive at the old harbor. There we return to the center. There is very, very busy, but we prefer a nice and quiet table. What is quiet? The wind blows very hard and even blows an umbrella away. Really quiet is not the case. There are a lot of clouds today, but we don’t mind, because we needed shade as it seems our skin is not big enough due to the sunburn. We have each one frappe de luxe (10 Euro) and write the postal cards to everyone in Belgium. We could finish already half of them. We stay sitting for a while and then want to visit the archeological museum. We take about 1,5 hours to see the funds. It’s kind of a torture; stand still and then start moving again. That really hurts our legs. The museum is worth the visit, not really big, but very nice. It is located in an old church and we see a lot of statues of bulls and a lot of old pottery, where people kept grain and water. Also a few beautiful mosaics are in the exhibition. After the visit we make our preparations to go to Samaria tomorrow. In a small shop we buy cola, 2 bottles of water, bread, cheese and some napkins. For tomorrow we need a lot of water and sugar. Timo puts it all aside in the hotel room and Eef tries to get some money. Then we go to eat right next door at Soultanas. It tastes really good: a mixture of Greek specialties, moussakas, beans in tomato sauce, stuffed eggplants, stuffed peppers and meatballs. We have two small bottles of retsina with it and are very surprised, when we get the bill: all together it is 36 Euro; this is too much. We were planning on returning here, because it was that good, but that will not happen for obvious reasons. Then we return to the hotel, it’s time to take some rest. We sleep until 20:00 and then make everything ready for dinner. We’ve just eaten, but are already a bit hungry. Don’t worry we won’t eat too much. Just 1 dish for both of us and that’s it. We go to restaurant Faka. We take moussakas, chicken souvlaki and 2 Mythos. When we ask for the bill we even get raki and a plate with apples and cinnamon. Enjoy it! We return to the hotel, write the last cards and go to sleep at 23:00. Tomorrow at 06:10 the bus will pick us up and we will need to be able to walk the Samaria gorge. Sleep tight!

According to our plans that we made yesterday we should be going to Elafonissi today. We took a timetable from the buses yesterday and there was a bus at 08:30. So we get up early and have breakfast. The breakfast is nothing special as usual in Greece. Then we rush to the bus stop and buy a ticket to Elafonissi and back. It is a ride of about 2 hours from Chania to Kastelli to the south part of the island. We rest a bit on the bus and we’re stunned by the variety of landscapes we drive through. This part of the island is green and fertile. There are chestnut trees, fruit trees and nut trees. We drive through the mountain side, along the coast line over hills and through valleys. This side of the island is really magnificent. And indeed after two hours the bus arrives: it is beautiful. It seems like we’re on a Caribbean island. An unbelievably beautiful beach with a lot of lagoons. The water has all different colors and on some spots the sand is rose. Sometimes you see it very clearly; on other parts of the beach you don’t see the pink color. We wade through the sea from the first beach to the second that is even bigger than the first one. You can go into the sea for over 100 meters and still be in the water only to your knees. We lie down near the water and think it’s just great here. We put sun cream over whole our body, swim a bit and lie in the sun. Timo suddenly sees a small calamari, really cool. He even can hold it in his hand for a minute, but then immediately release the animal and let it swim freely. We rest, swim, bathe in the sun, and swim again and to it all very relaxed today. Off course after a few hours (at around 13:00) we’ve had it and need to do something, instead of just lying around. We follow a track into the dunes and over the rocks and along beaches. After a while we need something to eat and go all the way back, to where the bus is. There is a small kiosk and we have a sandwich with tuna and one with ham and cheese. We drink retsina and a lot of water with it. We sit there eating and it starts to become a bit chilly. There is a lot of wind and we’re sitting in the shade to avoid we get sun burnt. So we move a bit to a quieter and warmer spot. There Timo sleeps a while and Eef rests a bit. After a while we notice we even got sun burnt lying in the shade, great. We’re both as red as a lobster. So we go back to the kiosk and wait for the bus to return to Chania. It seems the watch of Eef was running late and we had to rush to still get the bus on time. Nice to know, her watch is not OK; we still had 20 minutes, when the bus almost left. So we get on the bus to take the same way back. It’s the same as the road we came: get some rest and enjoy the trip. At 18:00 we’re back in Chania. We now know where the Tourent office is, where we need to collect the car on Tuesday. That is something Kurt did not schedule OK. We need to get the bus for about 15 minutes to go there. We’ll see then. We go back to the hotel and start using sun oil like hell. First shower and then oil. We can use it, because we got seriously burnt the last couple of hours. But off course, that’s not really smart is it? Lie in the sun that long on the second day in Greece. After about an hour we’re ready and have now time to go to eat. Again at Monastiri, but there were too many people, so we eat right next door: at Michalis. We drink 1 liter of retsina, 75 centiliter of water and eat mix grill fish. This is: one piece of swordfish, 4 big shrimps, about 10 sardines, 10 rings of calamari, 4 big stuffed mussels and octopus. Two large pieces of octopus. Two whole stuffed squids and all of that on a bed of rice. Really very good and only for 40 Euro. you can’t leave it for that little money. We did not manage to eat it all; we had to give some sardines to the cats. On our way to the hotel we buy another bottle of retsina and water, but we only smoke a cigar and go to sleep, as we’re very tired. Tomorrow we sleep long.

We get up at 03:45. We need to make sure we’re at the airport in Zaventem at 05:00 at the latest. Maurits picks us up at 04:15 and we leave for the airport immediately. We take 1 suitcase, 1 bag pack, and a small bag pack as hand luggage. We arrive at the airport on time and check in; at the VIP stand off course. Everything goes smoothly and after customs control we can go to the main departure hall. We take our time to have breakfast, because it will take a while until we have our next meal. Two coffees, 2 biscuits. Then we can enjoy the sunrise near our gate (the last one, number 72). The plane can leave on time; there was only 15 minutes delay. So at 06:45 we leave! After a flight of about 3 hours we land at Chania airport in Crete. It is 26 degrees: great! For once we have two items and off course we need a long time until the bag pack is there. The bag pack was there and immediately the band stops, so that really was the last one. We take a cab to the centre of Chania for 25 Euro. The driver brings us to the centre and we need to walk another 3 minutes to get to the hotel. It is situated in a neighborhood, where no cars are allowed. We like it already. In the hotel we need to wait for another 10 minutes because our room is not clean yet. We’re in “Porto Del Colombo” in a room on the third floor. We need to put a lot of effort to bring the bags up, but have a great view on the old harbor from our room. On the other side we see the city, which is also a great view. We don’t spend too much time in unpacking our thing, because we feel like exploring Chania. First we have something to eat at a restaurant near the sea: Monastiri. We have a Greek salad, tzatziki and grilled octopus. It’s very nice and not too expensive. Then we go into town. We start with a walk, that we get from our tourist guide and follow that. The guide leads us past small alleys with all different kinds of shops. We pass along the orthodox cathedral, the archeological museum (something for later) and go to the market. There is nothing much to see now, because the market has already closed the doors. Maybe we can return there a bit later. We walk to the Agios Anargoeri, a building where a lot of icons are visible. We don’t enter here; this would lead us too far already. We walk on to a church with a minaret and arrive at the port, just where the new and the old one come together. It’s already four in the afternoon and we’re already awake for 12 hours, so it’s time to have a siesta. Let’s go do that! Around 18:00 we prepare to go to have dinner. We ask at the reception, where we can book a tour to the Samaria Gorge and the woman advises us to go outside of town for a tourist office. We don’t go there, but she calls them and within 5 minutes everything is scheduled. Monday we go to Samaria. We walk to the harbor, enjoy the sunset and look for a nice restaurant. We take an aperitif (ouzo) and then have a lot of small dishes al together: cabbage salad, small Greek fishes, and dolmadakia with retsina. We can enjoy our first meal here.  When we ask for the bill (only 24 Euro), we get a raki for free. Here on Crete it seems that people drink raki more than ouzo. Then it is time to return to the hotel. We take the road along the water and then dive into the alleys. Underway we buy the cigars and retsina we like on our holidays. We continue to enjoy the good weather: it’s till hot till 00:00 and around that time we go to bed.

Just some pictures from the trip to Chania. Nothing but restaurants and souvenir shops.

It was very nice to get away from the resort area and go to Chania and very healthy for me as I was starting to get crazy in the place where everyone just eats, drinks and lies on the beach. I love towns, cities, probably a lot more than landscapes and nature.

Chania is the second biggest town on the island. It is a great tourist attraction, Venecian port is packed with restaurants and tavernas with polish, german, russian, french and other people eating. But the Venetian port is the main attraction so it is natural that everyone goes there. And it is very beautiful. Small calm bay with lighthouse and wild sea with foamy waves just as you take several steps from it. The old part of the town is a labyrinth of small narrow streets, most of them are with souvenir shops.

Here is a piece of advise. Take some time to go to Akti Miaouli, it is a promenade right of the lighthouse, it starts twenty meters from it but it looks like no tourists know about it. It it a street with street cafes facing the sea, not the "authentic tavernas" you see in every hotel area but modern cafes with great design, comfortable lounges and great music. Of course, it does look like every other city with modern cafes, but the view is great, the service is not that tourist-oriented and you can meet real native people there. It is very refreshing.

So Chania is a certain must-see place in Crete, it didn't leave a lot on my mind, but it was worth seeing.

We went to Greece for 2 weeks each time. My grandparents joined us once.

loving Greek food

    Chania was a first city that I explored on Crete. It is really charming and fascinating town with a lot of narrow streets, restaurants serving local (but of course not only) food and full of shops offering souvenirs to tourists.
    My obvious mistake was going to town during the hottest time of the day. Nevertheless apart from seeking for cool enough place to hide, I also saw a few places.
    The first one was Venetian Harbour. Its a nice place to see not only during the day but also at night. In it's surroundings you may see Djamassi Mosque. Nowadays it lost it's sacral character, as it has been turned into a gallery. During my stay there you could have seen display of photos (there was no entrance fee).
    Apart from waterfront area Chania has to offer also other attractions. The place you should definitely see is Agora. Its kind of a bazaar in witch local vendors offer their, usually hand crafted, goods. You may find there such products as chesses, honeys, herbs, spies, boozes (try ouzo!) and some other souvenirs like komboloi or traditional Cretan knives.
    While being in Chania you should also "dive" into the labyrinth of residential area, especially in the evening.
    All right, since Chania is not the only place i saw on Crete, i'll be finishing for now. I don't want you to say OMG tl;dr :). Maybe later I will add something, but now nothing comes to my mind and i'm just to tired:/

We take the evening ferry to Crete today...

We've spent the last three days in Crete and leave tonight on an overnight ferry to Athens.  Everything has gone smoothly so far in Greece (I actually for the first time used a travel agent - gasp - to assist with the arrangements in Santorini, Crete, Crete car rental and the ferries).  A huge thank you to Dina with Fantasy Travel in Athens for all her help and patience with our itinerary.  :)

Crete is much more arid than either of us expected.  And for those of you who are wondering whether I'm still wearing my long underwear everywhere, the answer is no way.  Haven't worn them since we got to Samos, Greece.  We've done a LOT of driving on Crete, just taking in the island and it's little villages (we swear one "town" we drove through literally had one house there!). 

We've had a relaxing time on the islands (enough time for me to start really missing my puppy), but we're ready to head back to see more "old stuff."  One of the partners running the hotel we stayed at in Selcuk, Turkey, said that we're "cultural tourists" and we both like that term.  We travel to gain awareness and understanding of other cultures...and along the way we pick up neat things to incorporate into our lives back home (like the fact that olive oil just plain tastes better over here - we have to find better stuff than whatever's on sale at the local grocery store).

4 books down and only 3 more left to read - going to check out an english-language used bookstore we heard about in Athens to see if we can pick up another one for me to read.  For some reason, I'm just flying through them!!!