On the drive to Chania
The beach town
Chania Harbor
Joanna and I shooting the horrible tasting post-dinner drinkWe got on the road rather early to head to Chania. A cool town on the other side of Crete. We got lost trying to get out of Heriklion (see above for reasons why). We finally got on the right track when we stopped at a gas station and were told that we need to go, “500 miles, then turn left.” “500…miles?” “yes, miles.” Given that 500 meters equals 3.75 miles, we decided that 500 miles = .75 kilometers. Once on our way, we had absolutely gorgeous views along the mountains and sea. Even if the town isn’t that great, the drive there was pretty much worth it. We stopped in a crazy town along the way, “rath…something” it was a nice enough beach town and we bought some beach clothes and had some dinner. Mostly just a bunch of touristy stuff.
Once in Chania, we drove around about 2 hours trying to get to our hotel. Our hotel (the Palazzo) was nice enough and had air-conditioning. The girls decide they want to check out a beach about 45 minutes away. I wasn’t as interested in beaches, so Joanna and I went to explore the town. While we were exploring the town we started to think about our plans to go visit the Samaria Gorge. The front desk clerk told us in broken English that we just needed to go to the bus station and catch a bus and everything would be fine. Our guide book had a different story. They suggested we go through a tourist agency. We opted for the tour agency. The tour agency told us we needed to be back at 6. That’s early.
Joanna and I grabbed dinner on our own. It took us a while to find the restaurant (Antigone) because a) it was wasn’t where it was supposed to be. And b) There was a hole-in-the-wall restaurant in its place and the owner tried to convince us to go there. He tried a three pronged approach to persuading us. 1. He charged the same amount in the winter and summer, 2. his dad started the restaurant and its been in the family for a while, 3. he would give us our food for free if we didn’t like it. All very tempting; except it smelled really badly there. So, we kept searching. After a while we found our place. It looked ok. The waiter/owner told us the freshest fish was swordfish. It didn’t matter because it didn’t taste very good. We were saved by the fact that we had to do about 4 shots of the crappy after dinner drink that tastes similar to the home-made spirits in Hvar town. Off to bed to prepare for a day of nature and hiking.
Once in Chania, we drove around about 2 hours trying to get to our hotel. Our hotel (the Palazzo) was nice enough and had air-conditioning. The girls decide they want to check out a beach about 45 minutes away. I wasn’t as interested in beaches, so Joanna and I went to explore the town. While we were exploring the town we started to think about our plans to go visit the Samaria Gorge. The front desk clerk told us in broken English that we just needed to go to the bus station and catch a bus and everything would be fine. Our guide book had a different story. They suggested we go through a tourist agency. We opted for the tour agency. The tour agency told us we needed to be back at 6. That’s early.
Joanna and I grabbed dinner on our own. It took us a while to find the restaurant (Antigone) because a) it was wasn’t where it was supposed to be. And b) There was a hole-in-the-wall restaurant in its place and the owner tried to convince us to go there. He tried a three pronged approach to persuading us. 1. He charged the same amount in the winter and summer, 2. his dad started the restaurant and its been in the family for a while, 3. he would give us our food for free if we didn’t like it. All very tempting; except it smelled really badly there. So, we kept searching. After a while we found our place. It looked ok. The waiter/owner told us the freshest fish was swordfish. It didn’t matter because it didn’t taste very good. We were saved by the fact that we had to do about 4 shots of the crappy after dinner drink that tastes similar to the home-made spirits in Hvar town. Off to bed to prepare for a day of nature and hiking.
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