#rethimno

[absolute-1nsanity]

Ηλιοβασίλεμα στο Ρέθυμνο

[krisi-panikou]

Όλοι κοιτάμε τον ίδιο ουρανό πίνουμε από το ίδιο νερό

Δε με ενδιαφέρει τι αμάξι οδηγάς πες μου πού φτάνεις για αυτά που αγαπάς

Δεν ξέρεις τα βήματα για να χορέψεις απόψε μαζί μου το Last Dance

Γι' αυτό πες μου πες μου πού φτάνεις για αυτά που αγαπάς;

Λεξ - Πουλιά

[dora-crete]

[giorgos-posts]

our language in Cretan

[maryoooo]

Cancer on Ceratonia siliqua (carob tree) in Northern Rethimno

[bbourbonkid]

[sarpidonas-777]

[lenapanag]

[pwlanier]

Emmanuel Tzanes (1610 Rethimno, Greece-Venice, Italy 1690), Christ blessing, 17th century. Oil and tempera on canvas, 45 x 55 cm. Museo Correr, Venezia

Courtesy Alain Truong

[travelena]

Greece 🇬🇷

Day 1 - Crete

Stayed in Chania near the port, it is so calm and beautiful in the mornings before things open up. Well worth a walk around in the mornings but don't expect restaurants to open until ~10.

Drove to Elafonisi Beach - the water was so gorgeous and blue. It is famous for pink sand but the sand wasn't that pink in real life. Still so worth a visit. We swam so much, make sure to walk all around including past to the other side of the sand dunes. We had an amazing dinner at Taverna Stomio on the way back, it had such a cute outdoor area with animals in the courtyard. The food was so fresh and it was clearly family run. Of course they followed customs with a shot of ouzzo after dinner and they brought lots of complimentary watermelon for dessert before we left.

Some good places in Chania that I researched: Bohéme (bar), Pallas (good rooftop fancy restaurant), Tamam (restaurant), Pulse vegan, Adespoto Music Taverna, The Well of the Turk, Salis, Chrisostomos, The Five Restaurant, Matzénta kuzina del sol, Maiami, Thalassino Ageri

Day 2 - Crete

Spent the day at Falassarna Beach - felt like more of a local vibe. Gorgeous clear water with stunning views of surrounding rock formations. Then spent the evening enjoying Chania including shopping at the markets and leather stores, walking around the water/old venetian port, getting drinks at Bohéme (cute garden bar), and enjoying a really nice dinner at Pallas on the rooftop.

Day 3 - Crete

Samaria Gorge hike! This was a doozy. We woke very early to start our hike when the park opened around 8AM. Very steep steps down for the first 1.5-2 hrs. About 1/2 way through the hike once in the gorge my mom fell twisting her ankle, which ended up being broken. The only options are hiking your way out or getting donkey to carry you out; they go twice a day. She ended up hiking her way out another 5 miles! Then we ended the hike at a very nice black sand beach Agia Roumeli with super blue water. Logistically pretty hard to coordinate because you need to reserve a ferry from the end of the hike (Agia Roumeli) to another town (Sougia) where you can catch a KTEL bus (from Sougia-Omalos) to the start of the hike and then we drove back in the dark which was treacherous because there were so many goats sitting in the road without any lights! A very crazy day. The gorge itself was nice, but we learned after the fact that people get very hurt there and someone ended up needing their leg amputated due to a rock slide crush injury. You should book tickets on the ferry and bus ahead of time because you don't want to be stranded!

Day 4 - Crete

We spent this day driving from Chania to Heraklion with a stop in Rethimno along the way. Could've spent more time exploring Rethimno, especially the Venetian Fortezza Castle! However, in terms of the old town and vibe I preferred Chania, Rethimno felt too touristy. There was a cute Rimondi Fountain there and a nice Neratze Mosque. Once in Heraklion we went to the Heraklion Archaeological Museum where they had the famous cuneiform tablet. We had a great dinner at Ippokampos near the water in town (Kastella next door also looked good).

Day 5 - Santorini

Caught a morning ferry from Heraklion to Santorini which took ~2h. Then got dropped off at our lodging in Fira. We walked around Fira a bit and then caught a bus to Oia where we walked some more, had a nice lunch and cocktail and caught a gorgeous sunset. Beware, people start lining up for sunset 2-3h early in Oia and the streets are mobbed.

Day 6 - Santorini

Had an absolutely perfect day in Santorini starting with the Fira to Oia walk which took a few hours and had gorgeous views throughout. Then we ended in Ammoudi Bay at Ammoudi Fish Tavern where we had a very fancy fish lunch where you pick out your whole fish and they cook it for you. Very much for the experience. This is the bay in Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants where Lena draws and jumps in and also gets caught on the wire in the sea. I loved every second of it!! Then we took a donkey up the stairs - they call it Santorini Ferrari! Then we caught a bus back to Fira and enjoyed sunset on our balcony that had a great caldera view and a restaurant nearby with live music that floated up to us during the experience. There truly is no bad view in Santorini. However, the crowds and prices in Santorini are insane. There are cruise ships that dump hundreds of people every day who mob the streets.

Day 7 - Santorini

Woke up to see the sunrise from our balcony - sooooo nice! Then had some breakfast and coffee at Volkan on the Rocks which had a nice view and plays Mamma Mia nightly at their outdoor theater which I totally would've done if I knew! and want to the port to catch our ferry to Milos. unfortunately, the seas were very rough and our ferry was delayed by >3hr and was almost canceled. Thankfully we made it on but the seas were very rough. Ate at Nostos Seafood Experience

Day 8 - Milos

Wanted to go on a boat trip to Kleftiko to see the most amazing rock formations and swim in the bright blue water. However, the water was predicted to be very rough and after the ferry journey the night before we decided to forgo this trip. There is a hiking option there but my mom's ankle hindered us from doing that, we also heard there are venomous snakes on that hike. So we went to Venus de Milo (statue of aphrodite of Milos) and then walked around Klima at the bottom which was colorful and cute. Then we went to Sarakiniko beach which felt like we were on the moon!! It was so cool. Hard to hike up to the top parts though without sneakers. It was also super windy - I wished it was calmer so I could do some cliff jumping. Then we went to Firiplaka Beach which was so gorgeous and shallow with nice waves and red rock backdrop. Then we went to watch sunset in Plaka - the best place to view sunset is from is the back balcony of Church of Panagia Korfiatissa. Then we went to dinner at O! Hamos! which was one of the most memorable dinners. It was clearly family run and everything was very fresh. They gave a really nice submarine dessert at the end which was so cool, like a sweet taffy-like thing submerged in a cup of water.

We stayed at Santa Maria Village Resort & Spa and really liked it - had a great breakfast spread

Day 9 - Milos

Woke up and went to Firopotamos with very cool ruins of a doorway and super clear blue water. Then we went to Mandrakia where we could walk on the little boat ports that individual families have. Then we went to Paleochori Beach which was nice to swim in but got deep pretty fast and had bigger pebbles, but the sand had underground hot spring pockets which was such a cool natural feature. Then we had to catch a ferry to Athens. Once we got to Athens we had dinner at ***.

Day 10 - Athens

Spent the morning walking around the Plaka neighborhood and around the Acropolis. We didn't enter the Acropolis since there was so much construction but went to a lookout with the view of the main columns in the back. We also walked around the outside of Hadrian's Library. Could definitely spend more time exploring the ruins of Athens and more neighborhoods. Then headed to the airport.

Tips:

You MUST stay on the Caldera side when visiting Satorini

Bring zofran or motion sickness medicine if choosing the ferry option between islands. Beware of rough seas and cancellations/delays, allow extra time in your itinerary for logistic changes and consider flying instead but know that all flights between islands stop in athens which is so inconvenient

In Santorini it would be fun to go to an outdoor movie at Volkan on the Rocks at night!

Definitely go to O! Hamos! in Milos, there will def be a wait in the summer months but it is worth it for sure

Would have tried to go to some other famous Crete beaches such as Paralias Plaka,

[absolute-1nsanity]

Ρεθυμνοο

[krisi-panikou]

"Στιγμές περνάνε και φεύγουνε, το ένιωσα, το είπα

το έζησα, το είδα, τη γνωρίζω την παγίδα

ζω για το χαμόγελο δε θα γυρίσω πίσω

έχω μια ολόκληρη ζωή και πρέπει να τη ζήσω."

Εσύ και εγώ - 12ος Πίθηκος

[erasmia249k]

hahaha my father place rethimno crete language

[dora-crete]

[giorgos-posts]

[modern-greek-history]

Cretan women gather olives in Rethimno, Cretan State, 1911 by Fred Boissonnas

Κρητικές γυναίκες στο μάζεμα της ελιάς | Πρέβελη Ρέθυμνου, Κρητική Πολιτεία, 1911 του Φρεντ Μπουασονά