Greece 2022 - Day 4: Cretan Sunrise
We were awakened by a beautiful sunrise and the sound of the ferry’s engine powering down as it neared the port of Heraklion in Crete at 6:30am. After showering and packing up, we grabbed a coffee and yogurt from the ship’s café, then we bid farewell to our cozy cabin. We disembarked the Knossos Palace and made our way to the passenger station where we had made arrangements to pick up our rental car.
A super sweet young man named
George from Crete Auto Rentals was right on time delivering us the cutest little soft top Peugeot 108. We were being given an upgrade to a much
better car at no cost for an unknown reason.
We weren’t about to complain.
After exploring a bit of Bali, we hit the road again reaching Chania just after lunch. With the much-needed help of google maps, we found the location of our Airbnb. Driving in Chania was a bit harrowing. I think Ian might have a few more grey hairs in his beard, and my knuckles are still white from clutching the door handle after that experience. The streets are all one-way and super narrow with cars parked on either side. At times, there was just enough space down the middle of the roads to fit our extremely small put-put of a car. We found our apartment and managed to snag a parking space just down the street.
Since we still had 3 hours before we could check in, we decided to go for a walk to explore the Old Town of Chania. Chania (pronounced haa-nee-uh) located on the north west side of the island of Crete first rose as a Minoan civilization approximately 5000 years ago in 3650 BC. The city was conquered and ruled many times over the years from the Minoans, Arabics, Byzantines, Venetians, Ottomans, and finally, Orthodox Greek as it is today. The Venetian influence is perhaps the most well preserved based on the architecture of the old port. We spent about 2 hours walking along the vast harbor and taking in all the sights such as the Egyptian Lighthouse, the Venetian Shipyards, the Yali Tzamii Mosque, Byzantine Walls, and of course the winding narrow alleys that the Greek Islands are so known for.
After walking until our feet were ached and my shoulders had turned an interesting shade of red, we decided it was time for an oceanside Aperitivo.
While bringing our luggage in, we
had a slight mishap of locking ourselves out of the apartment. This required a bit of creative thinking to
be able to get back in without having to call the host to ask for help so soon
after arriving! Once back inside, we
settled in and enjoyed a late afternoon coffee on the balcony before heading out
again in search of a supermarket to pick up some things for breakfast.
Following a much needed rest in the breezy apartment, we set off to find something delicious for dinner. Normally, I would have researched the heck out of where we would be eating, but after a long day of driving followed by hours of walking around in the hot sun, we were a bit stunned and had trouble deciding on where to eat. It seemed like everywhere we went there was someone hustling us to come into their restaurant. Neither Ian nor I are into the "hard sell", so we kept walking around until we found somewhere that appeared quiet with a nice ambience under a canopy of trees.
Shortly after sitting down, a waiter came over to see if we would like something to drink. We knew things were going off the rails when we ordered a 1/2 liter of red wine and the waiter practically forced a whole bottle on us despite our repeated protests. Things got worse when the waiter came back to deliver the wine and take our food order...we asked for a selection of appetizers to start, followed by a whole grilled Sea Bass to share. The waiter insisted we each order a whole fish, and he wouldn't take no for an answer. After the waiter left, we sat there sipping our wine wondering what had just happened. The whole experience felt like a pushy up-sell. Ian suggested we just pay for the wine and move on to somewhere less aggressive. That's when I faked a phone call while Ian tracked down the waiter, cancelled our food order and handed him 20 Euros to pay for the wine, telling him we had just received an emergency phone call and we had to leave right away. With that, we ran off through the alleys of the Old Town Chania looking for somewhere better, laughing our heads off as we went.
Not too far from where we had left, we came upon another quiet, outdoor restaurant where the ambience seemed more relaxed, so decided to give it ago. We ordered a 1/2 liter of wine without any objection from the waiter. For dinner we opted for Greek salad and Tzatziki to start, followed by a steaming hot serving of Moussaka. Nothing fancy, but it was all extremely tasty and clearly homemade. The only pushy thing about this restaurant was the kitty who insisted on sitting on our laps after dinner!
Tomorrow, I will research the heck out of where we will eat :)
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