Just returned from spending a few days in Crete and thought I would share my experience.
Lodging
We stayed at the Port Veneziano Hotel, a nice hotel on the Venetian harbor in Xania.
The most amazing part of the hotel is the orange juice maker. Look at this thing!
It makes freshly squeezed orange juice right before your very eyes!
The room I stayed in was the suite. It was double the price of the regular sized rooms (150 euro versus 75), but it was well worth it. I had a living room and a bedroom, along with two lengthy harbor side balconies.
View from my balcony.
The hotel also has a bar, well stocked and reasonably priced minibars, a nice Cretan breakfast, and free wifi.
Food
For the Greeks, eating is where life happens, so meals are very slow. We were usually spend 2 to 3 hours at dinner every night.
At every single restaurant, two things occur without fail. First, you are always brought bread. It can be different, sometimes its baked sometimes just a loaf, but you will always have it and will always be charged for it. Typically about 1 euro. Then, after you finish your meal, you are brought a shot of Raki, a locally made liquor from grape mash. It's typically 80 proof though strong Raki is 140 proof. If you have the opportunity to try the honey Raki, it is amazing. The Raki is said to be good for digestion and is free everywhere you go.
Monastiri
This was our main restaurant. It was just down the street for the hotel and right on the waterfront. We went here the first night and had a great waiter. Because of him, and because the food is good, we ate here almost everyday for at least one meal. Our waiter friend was Lefty. That wasn't really his name, it was a Greek name, but that's the closest to pronouncing it we could get.
Our friend Lefty
May I recommend the tamara and the calamari?
Doloma
An excellent little mom and pop place in Xania. Best Greek Salads anywhere.
Tasty's
A great little place in American Alley that serves gyros. Only 2.30 euros for one, best deal we found in town.
They also had an interesting beer selection from Craft Beer.
Good beer. The most interesting one was the smoked lager. It tasted like someone mixed in some liquid smoke with the beer. Brilliant!
Another Xanian Restaurant
We ate at another restaurant in Xania, but I never saw the name translated, so I'll just post a picture. They cook all their meat in a brick oven, but the dessert, now that is amazing!
Aeraki
Aeraki is in Almirida. Excellent place right on the beach.
Things to do
In Xania, the shops and restaurants that most people go to are right on or within a few blocks of the Venetian harbor.
The harbor itself is gorgeous. Be sure to walk out the breakwater to the lighthouse.
There is a maritime museum on the harbor as well.
Driving around the island, we also went to the Holy Monastery of Gouverneto. It was built hundreds of years ago and you can spend hours hiking around and exploring the ruins and the caves.
We also went out to Knossos which are some really cool ancient ruins.
We also stopped by the town of Archanes where the neat thing was the Church of the Panagia.
We didn't spend much time at the beach as it was not warm enough.
Driving tips in Crete
Drive aggressive and defense. If you are on a two lane road and want to pass the car in front but there is a car coming, don't worry! Just go for it! They will yield. If you want to pass but there is a curve coming up and you can't see, don't worry! Just go for it! They will yield. But on the flip side, make sure you yield if someone is coming head-on to you and when you take a corner, go to the shoulder just in case. Lane markers? Don't worry! Those are merely suggestions.
In this picture, a motorcycle splits traffic while the car in front backs up. The car had turned onto the road but the road wasn't wide enough for two cars so she backed up. However, as you see there is traffic behind her. So between motorcycles splitting traffic, she turned sideways into the first road to allow the oncoming car to pass. If you can pull off a move like that, you just might make it in Crete. We never saw a car wreck, but there are tons of shrines along the highways...
Gypsies
I forgot the most important tidbit, the Gypsies! They are abundant around American Alley. Their children will run to you, bang a drum for about 2 seconds, then demand money from you while cussing at you in new and interesting ways. Lefty said that it was acceptable in Crete to kick them. I found that the locals did a little headnod that the Gypsies respected as meaning, go away! The headnod is just like what we would do in America to say What's Up? to someone. Whatever you do, don't make eye contact!
Lefty also said that it was acceptable to kick cats. And Albanians... What a weird place!
[This message has been edited by Pro Sandy (edited 3/31/2010 12:30a).]
Lodging
We stayed at the Port Veneziano Hotel, a nice hotel on the Venetian harbor in Xania.
The most amazing part of the hotel is the orange juice maker. Look at this thing!
It makes freshly squeezed orange juice right before your very eyes!
The room I stayed in was the suite. It was double the price of the regular sized rooms (150 euro versus 75), but it was well worth it. I had a living room and a bedroom, along with two lengthy harbor side balconies.
View from my balcony.
The hotel also has a bar, well stocked and reasonably priced minibars, a nice Cretan breakfast, and free wifi.
Food
For the Greeks, eating is where life happens, so meals are very slow. We were usually spend 2 to 3 hours at dinner every night.
At every single restaurant, two things occur without fail. First, you are always brought bread. It can be different, sometimes its baked sometimes just a loaf, but you will always have it and will always be charged for it. Typically about 1 euro. Then, after you finish your meal, you are brought a shot of Raki, a locally made liquor from grape mash. It's typically 80 proof though strong Raki is 140 proof. If you have the opportunity to try the honey Raki, it is amazing. The Raki is said to be good for digestion and is free everywhere you go.
Monastiri
This was our main restaurant. It was just down the street for the hotel and right on the waterfront. We went here the first night and had a great waiter. Because of him, and because the food is good, we ate here almost everyday for at least one meal. Our waiter friend was Lefty. That wasn't really his name, it was a Greek name, but that's the closest to pronouncing it we could get.
Our friend Lefty
May I recommend the tamara and the calamari?
Doloma
An excellent little mom and pop place in Xania. Best Greek Salads anywhere.
Tasty's
A great little place in American Alley that serves gyros. Only 2.30 euros for one, best deal we found in town.
They also had an interesting beer selection from Craft Beer.
Good beer. The most interesting one was the smoked lager. It tasted like someone mixed in some liquid smoke with the beer. Brilliant!
Another Xanian Restaurant
We ate at another restaurant in Xania, but I never saw the name translated, so I'll just post a picture. They cook all their meat in a brick oven, but the dessert, now that is amazing!
Aeraki
Aeraki is in Almirida. Excellent place right on the beach.
Things to do
In Xania, the shops and restaurants that most people go to are right on or within a few blocks of the Venetian harbor.
The harbor itself is gorgeous. Be sure to walk out the breakwater to the lighthouse.
There is a maritime museum on the harbor as well.
Driving around the island, we also went to the Holy Monastery of Gouverneto. It was built hundreds of years ago and you can spend hours hiking around and exploring the ruins and the caves.
We also went out to Knossos which are some really cool ancient ruins.
We also stopped by the town of Archanes where the neat thing was the Church of the Panagia.
We didn't spend much time at the beach as it was not warm enough.
Driving tips in Crete
Drive aggressive and defense. If you are on a two lane road and want to pass the car in front but there is a car coming, don't worry! Just go for it! They will yield. If you want to pass but there is a curve coming up and you can't see, don't worry! Just go for it! They will yield. But on the flip side, make sure you yield if someone is coming head-on to you and when you take a corner, go to the shoulder just in case. Lane markers? Don't worry! Those are merely suggestions.
In this picture, a motorcycle splits traffic while the car in front backs up. The car had turned onto the road but the road wasn't wide enough for two cars so she backed up. However, as you see there is traffic behind her. So between motorcycles splitting traffic, she turned sideways into the first road to allow the oncoming car to pass. If you can pull off a move like that, you just might make it in Crete. We never saw a car wreck, but there are tons of shrines along the highways...
Gypsies
I forgot the most important tidbit, the Gypsies! They are abundant around American Alley. Their children will run to you, bang a drum for about 2 seconds, then demand money from you while cussing at you in new and interesting ways. Lefty said that it was acceptable in Crete to kick them. I found that the locals did a little headnod that the Gypsies respected as meaning, go away! The headnod is just like what we would do in America to say What's Up? to someone. Whatever you do, don't make eye contact!
Lefty also said that it was acceptable to kick cats. And Albanians... What a weird place!
[This message has been edited by Pro Sandy (edited 3/31/2010 12:30a).]