... the long-awaited Crete was special. Unfortunately, it was colored by the sadness that was going on at home and we are sadly returning home at the end of some period in life. But this is unfortunately life, unpredictable, beautiful and at the same time it can also hurt a lot in an instant. It is not the place to write about my feelings here, so I will summarize our Crete, which we nevertheless tried to carry out in such a way that the little traveler did not receive all the worries, anxieties and sorrows.
Crete is beautiful, mountainous, really varied, perhaps even more so than Sicily, although the islands are similar in relief as a relief. Roads in Italy are undeniably better, here in Crete there are macadams, roads and highways and “like” highways. Otherwise there were no problems on the road, we are used to "crazy" drivers and we have to be careful, not too fast, otherwise it is the same everywhere. In principle, there were no problems with parking anywhere, we parked practically everywhere for free, which was always fine along the road, without any problems and with the car.
The food is good, but you can also tolerate it. Gyros pie, meat in all ways, lamb, pork, burgers, everywhere next to Greek yogurt or tzatziki, a mandatory side dish are baked potatoes and fresh vegetables. Good, not overly expensive, reasonable prices, but it is true that you survive cheaper if you cook alone, which is possible here, because in practically all rooms, apartments and hotel where we were, we had a refrigerator and a small kitchenette. Unfortunately, we have not tried everything, but something still remains, as we will still come to Greece.
We did a little more than 1000 km around Crete, Chania - Elafonisi - Balos - Agios Nikolaos - Spinalonga - Enagron village (Axos) - Heraklion - Amoudara - Preveli palm beach - Rethymno - Stavros. Seen a lot, the beaches are beautiful, where I may be bothered by sunbeds and umbrellas, but really crystal clear sea, not too cold water, in short great.
The people are really friendly, they are in good spirits everywhere, they speak good English everywhere, and they are very helpful. They cleaned our rooms every day, even washed the dishes and folded our clothes. The cleanliness was excellent everywhere. Virtually everyone offered information, they are sincerely friendly. Proverbially, the Greeks are supposed to be lazy, but from what we have seen, this is not the case. I would venture to say that in Sicily people were much more “comatose”. In Sicily, between 1 and 4 pm, when it's like a siesta, you couldn't find an open bar practically anywhere. It’s not here, everyone works and works really hard all day. One shopkeeper has a shop in Rethymno, she is there every day, she works alone from 8 am to 10.30 pm, every day, without a break in between. And let someone else say they are lazy.
So in the end we say efharisto (thank you) Crete, Greece will still see us .... the memory of Crete will be not only the pictures and this travelogue, but also one more star in the sky that will watch over us.