Eastern and Western Crete (1)

We'd been thinking of going to Crete for a while, and since this year both our son and our friends' little girl have turned six, they were, for us, old enough to take as many as 6 flights in 15 days, to be tossed about from morning to night and to have every lunch and dinner time thrown out of the window. In reality these little explorers of the world adapt far better than we do to every situation; the important thing is to keep them entertained and find a way to make them feel involved and interested in what we're about to visit. We planned the trip to Crete well in advance, booking scheduled flights as early as March; that way we got a better price than any charter flight for the two central weeks of August. The only problem? No direct scheduled flights leave from Bologna, so.... with Alitalia... Bologna - Rome / Rome - Athens / Athens - Heraklion and the same on the way back.

Practically a day of travelling, but it made it possible for us to stay where we'd planned: 8 days in the West and 6 in the East, booking an apartment in advance for each area and doing day trips that weren't too long, so as to return to base each time. Apart from the flight, for the rest (apartments and car) we relied, via the internet, on a Cretan agency that works mainly with Italians, with Italian-speaking and above all very helpful staff: RETHYMNO TOURS sof. Venizelou n.64 - 74100 RETHYMNO - Greece. Mr Spyros is very kind - tel. 0030-2831022480. On arrival at 15.00 at Heraklion airport our car awaited us, a Multipla that would faithfully accompany us to the end of the holiday. From there the journey towards the west coast began, with a stop at Mr Spyros's agency, who gave us some very useful directions and the addresses and little maps to reach the booked apartments.

At 19.00 we finally unloaded our suitcases in our studios at Villa Eleana in Stavros, about 14 km from Chania. The first day, as we're still tired, we take to get to know the immediate surroundings. Stavros beach is only 1 km from where we're staying and is famous because the final scene of the film "Zorba the Greek" was shot here. It's a beach you can also reach by bus from Chania so at the weekend it can be a bit crowded, though it has to be said that on the west side of Crete the crowds on the beaches are never excessive. The beach slopes gently and there's a small pier from which the children dived all morning. In the evening we visited Chania for the first time. It's delightful to lose yourself among the little shops selling objects of every kind; in this area the artisans make leather goods, so prices here are the lowest in all Crete.

We then wandered into the little alleys with a still Venetian atmosphere and ancient 16th/17th-century buildings, now turned into very nice restaurants you can enter just to look or to take photos. For our first day trip we decide to go to FALASARNA. Not yet familiar with the roads, we couldn't get onto the motorway to avoid crossing the city of Chania and unfortunately it took us an hour to do 15 km. Along the way we passed through Tavronitis, which didn't convince us at all, so we continued to the "Moni Gonia" Monastery, which gave us wraps for our shoulders to visit the church and the monastery itself, and lemons to keep the children busy in the car, who invented "Lemonful", a sort of vegetable soap opera.

We then went on to Kastelli Kissamos, where we had a refreshing swim in the town's little beach and, after lunch in one of the various tavernas on the beach for about 7 euro each, we booked through an agency the boat trip for the next day to Gramvousa and Balos. Continuing west we finally reached Falasarna. Arriving from above you glimpse a beautiful, pinkish beach but fairly busy, and we chose to stop in a little cove on the right-hand side of the beach, much quieter and with small pools of very clear, shallow water, perfect for the children. After doing the "beached tuna", determined to enjoy the afternoon to the full, we stayed until sunset, which, with its colours, inspired us to try to imitate Roberta in a yoga exercise called "the sun salutation" and made it even harder for us to leave such a beautiful place.

It's eight in the evening!! We have a 2-hour drive!! We fill the children's hunger with an ice cream and then..... home...dinner...shower...bed!!!! Tomorrow morning at 9 the boat trip to Balos leaves and we have an hour's drive (if we find the motorway) from Stavros to Kastelli Kissamos. On waking, after breakfast and after those 7 or 8 U-turns along various roads where the signs are after the junction and not before..., we reached the boarding point. First we go to the island of Gramvousa, an ancient Venetian fortress, and here comes the advice. If you're keen on walks or rather on climbs, then when the ferry drops you off (around 11.30 - 12.00) head on up towards the fortress at the top of the mountain, but: DON'T GO UP IF YOU'RE WEARING FLIP-FLOPS, and ask Roberta why, since for the rest of the day she had to wear "sock-style flip-flops".

The view of the Balos lagoon from up there is wonderful, but hold the children tight because it's full of unmarked holes and arrow slits. If, on the other hand, you're not into Cri-Cri-goat-style scrambles, then while everyone heads off to conquer the fort, treat yourself to a refreshing dip in the little beach in front of you, in splendid transparent water, before going back to lunch on the boat. The food was good but we'd assumed lunch was included in the price and instead....!!! Anyway it was better not to stuff ourselves because at 14.00 they dropped us at the Balos lagoon. Joy for the eyes, the ears, for every sense... The lagoon can also be reached by car from the top of the mountain and with a 40-minute but very tiring walk; I wouldn't recommend it. Every day two boats of tourists are dropped off and the place is so large that you don't feel at all in a crowded spot.

You can sit or lie down in a vast area of water about 10 cm deep and naturally warm, or you can dive into a blue, transparent sea with waist-high water for hundreds of metres, or launch yourself into the void in the open sea. Over two hours of swimming and sun with the only drawback (sometimes, though, a necessary one) being the wind, which was a companion of our holiday, at times a bit too intrusive. Conclusion: a Caribbean afternoon!!! After a day like the one at Balos, the next morning was one of relaxation on a little beach not far from Stavros, called Hora Fakion in Kalatha Bay. It's very pretty and since we arrived quite early we grabbed some lovely spots in the shade of one of the beach's two trees.

Dinner in Chania, a bit of shopping and then........the funniest moment of the evening, that is us in the car, map in hand, trying to get our bearings by sending Fabiano to read the street names up close during stops at red lights... "DOMO S F A A T I K A A T I R O V".... it's like saying "O N E W A Y S T R E E T ". The next day we set off towards the south-west coast, crossing the White Mountains. The route is very beautiful but really long; we stopped at Vrisses, we had a nescafé frappé