Crete--History and Hiking
Itinerary (7 nights) and Notes
Chania, Crete 1 day/2 nights Exploration of Old Town and Port
Lovely town, we stayed mainly on Old Town Center and Harbour; a bit touristy: restaurant near hotel excellent!
Paleochora Hike Samaria Gorge 16 k to Agia Roumalis (6 1/2 hours); ferry to Paleochora, overnight, then half day at beach; bus back to Chania
Hike was 95% downhill on rough rock surface; a "quad" killer; really felt it for the next few days; too many tourists; bus ride was exhilarating with all the windy bends; driver had traditional Greek music playing; boat to Paleochora enjoyable; the town itself was not much but had some nice beaches; sun came out so we felt obliged to go for a dip in the Mediterranean; nice hotel and an excellent, well-earned meal nearby.
Chania Overnight
Same hotel, nicer room, owners (two brothers) lovely people.
Heraklion 3 nights, walking exploration of Old Town, Museum of Archaeology, Food and Terroir of Crete Tour (wine and olive oil tastings); visit Palace of Knossos; Len gets sick!
Fabulous hotel overlooking harbour; followed tourist map walking sugggestion; nice pedestrian-only Old Town Center; food and wine tour with Pierre (a "foodie" from Belgium); us and two others; 2 wine tastings, an olive oil tasting, and a gourmet dinner...WOW! Palace of Knossos underwhelming; Len gets sick (food poisoning? Unknown cause but not from wine tour); Len recovers in bed while Laurie explores Market :)
Photos
- Chania, ancient harbour tower
- Beautiful but rocky trail down to the bottom of the gorge
- The walls of the Gorge are closing in
- Caught in the middle of French and German tour groups, but the scenery is stunning!
- The Gorge "narrows" and the river goes underground....
- IMG_2924
- Paleochora skyline...not much there, but a few nice beaches and a ruin of a fortress
- Following the creek in the gorge
- IMG_1438
- Chania harbour
- At the start of the Samaria Gorge
- Vista down the Gorge--its along zigzag down to the bottom!
- Are you kidding? You think those sticks will stop gravity?!?
- We crossed the river too many times to count
- The walls are closing in!
- Almost there'
- OMG there's snow on the mountains of Greece...and we're headed up there Ina a few days!
- Len on the hill fortress in Paleochora
- Beautiful juxtaposing of beauty and decay
- View from ruins of fortress above Paleochora
- The Greek Salads are HUGE!
- Winos in the vineyards of Crete
- Passionate olive oil producer--tasting olive oil is a strange experience
- Greek woman pouring Greek wine--we never knew how good Greek wine is until now
- Our tour group--Len and I, and a couple from Chicago on their honeymoon
- An amazing lunch to top off our tour
- Proprietor of the restaurant we lunched in---nice fellow with good English to explain his marvellous feast
- Palace of Knossos in Heraklion--an underwhelming experience
- This was the best moment of the Palace of Knossos site.
- Beautiful Minoan jewelry 1400BC--displayed at the Archaeological Museum in Heraklion
- Pottery dredged from t he ocean floor at the fortress in Heraklion.
