Not sure if this is of any interest to other members, it being outside the UK. If not Part 1 may be all there is.

Anyway, spent two weeks in Crete in July this year, first time on a Greek island for 21 years. Had two kids since then, now aged 19 and 14!

We were the only people on our plane staying at Almyrida, so we got a taxi transfer rather than a coach. Sounded good, but taxi driver was Sonic the Hedgehog with constant mobile calls and driving 2 inches from the bumper of the car in front for the whole 30 minute trip.

Anyway, we arrived intact, and were welcomed into our apartment by the local owner. Well nice! Superb views over the village.



Spent the first two days enjoying the small beach, gently sloping with lovely clear blue water, with small fish swimming around you. A constant breeze at the beach meant that it was always comfortable, despite the 30C plus temperatures.

Small place, hardly any commercialism. Time practically stood still. Very hot, but not humid. In the first few days we kept out of the sun between 1:30 and 4 pm.







The place was so small that a whole two weeks there would have been too much, so we hired a car to discover more of the island. Turned out to be a Fiat Panda. Perfectly small to negotiate the tiny streets and mania that is Greek roads. Engine size was very small, so the odd trip into the mountains proved challenging...... 1st gear for all the hairpins.

Tended to spend the mornings on the beach at Almyrida (mornings were the best time of day to enjoy the sun), had lunch nearby and drove to another destination (with aircon) when the heat was at its hottest.

The hire car, parked under the olive tree outside the apartment:



Spent an afternoon getting to grips with car and Greek roads. Drove uphill above the village to Plaka. Lovely vista of the bay below (Souda bay):



Too hot to eat in the evenings until after 9pm. Watched the sun go down from the apartment for many evenings drinking the local beers, either Mythos or Amstel:



All in all, Almyrida is a fabulous place for people who want a quiet resort to stay at, with good beach and water facilities. Anyone wanting to get a busier experience or explore Crete, will need to hire a car, or stay elsewhere.

There were watersports opportunities including kayaking, windsurfing and more.



Three lovely Tavernas too, all equally as good as each other, and all right next to the beach/sea. I can recommend the Sea Bream from any of them to anyone who visits. Here is one of the restaurants - Dimitri's:

This looks lovely, Snowey - I prefer the quieter resorts. ALL foreign cabbies are psychos - nothing to worry about there. Fiat Pandas seem to at least LOOK better than the ones I remember! :lol:

Only gripe - you've posted this in the wrong section... :whistle: :lol:

:lol:

Doh!

Maybe I had a hunch it would be a time waster!

Stephen!

:ohdear:

Was a lovely lovely place.

I wanted to stay forever in that routine....... beach, lunch, beach, dinner, bed

for about 3 months

Never been to Crete (or any Greek Island for that matter), but Mrs R works for a travel agent, and has already been instructed to bring home some brochures! :)

Nice one Snowey. Going to Crete on Tuesday, a villa near Chania.

Good pics, I'm counting the hours down.

Tuesdays is the day UK planes go to Crete.

Chania is a really nice town to wander around.

Old town and harbour are very picturesque.

Very hot after about 2pm. Very little breeze.

Driving there is fairly challenging, especially at night. Unfathomable one way system, cars and motorbikes emerging from nowhere etc.

If you do get around, I can recommend Almyrida, Kalyves, and Stavros beaches; all within 30 minutes drive of Chania.

Enjoy. Easy place to chill out.

It's looks like a wonderful spot for a quiet relaxing vacation and I am glad it worked out for you. Hope you were treated OK on the planes, to and from, with a minimum of hassles and lost baggage. Nice going.

Nice pictures, glad you had a good and relaxing time... makes me long to get back there.

I was lucky enough to live in Crete for about six months (Rethymno) and it is my fav Greek Island ~ of which I've been to about ten, I think there are just over 70 with permanant inhabitants and i'm ticking a new one off every year. Two this year, Hydra and Dokos at the end of this month. :applaud:

What's the food & restaurant situation like? Are there places that arent too crowded that serve the cuisine developed there?

The menu's of the Tavernas we went to there served Greek food exclusively. Nothing "international". There are also Taverna practically everywhere, noone will ever not have the opportunity to eat out in Crete! Generally, the better the taverna the busier it was. There was one place at Almyrida we tried once that was pretty bad. And as the two weeks went by we noticed that it was less busy than the other three we frequented.

Traditional favourites are:

Greek Salad (Feta cheese, tomatoes, cucumber, onions, green pepper, and olives with a drizzle of olive oil, and oregano)

Souvlaki - Meat kebabs

Stifado - Meat stew with tomatoes and onion ( Beef, Pork & Rabbit variations were common)

Kleftico - Another stew, mainly consisting of lamb.

Fresh Fish - At the time we went Sea Bream and Red Snapper were the primary offerings (quite expensive - but freshly caught that day). They grill Sea Bream to perfection. The fish we were eating were about 400g - monsters. All you really needed was a salad garnish:



Shrimp Saganaki - stew with shell-on king prawns in it.

They also did starters and dips for the fresh bread you get served when you sit down. Tzaziki, and garlic sauce (this was actually a small plate of crushed garlic!) were the ones we chose. Some starters I liked were:

Stuffed vine leaves (vine leaves stuffed with fragrant rice)
Meatballs in tomato sauce
Various shrimp concoctions (all actually huge king prawns)
Stuffed tomatoes

The first time I ever went to Greece, we had snails in a tomato sauce. They were lovely. I had some once in Crete, and they were rubbery and gritty, and in a sauce I couldn't place. Not at all nice.

Generally the food was very nice, but after 2 weeks I was hankering for something else....

You didn't finish your salad!

I hear that certain Greek restaurant owners are in collusion with a little Norfolk landlady - you had a lucky escape! :lol:


{sorry to be flippant, but couldn't resist! }

:lol:

if you look closely you will see that the other half of that fish is still waiting to be eaten.

And eaten it was!

(and the salad)

A lesson you will NEVER FORGET (young man)!



:devil2:

Those canaries are still alive

:o

:lol:

...and the incontinence sack is still at the ready! :sick:

Look's like mortimer got his fish supper after all.
The thing I remember were the 'Meze's' little snacks on pieces of bread, to soak up the Ouzo and/or Raki.
The various cafe's would compete for who had the best.

Way back in 1983 after I finished Uni, Me and the now Mrs Snowey spent the summer on Greek Islands.

We took the train (3 days) and the ferry boat from Piraeus.

Spent 2 weeks in Kythnos, two weeks in Syphnos, and two weeks in Paros.

Also been to Skiathos too which was nice, and Zante, which was OK.

Spent a day in Rethymno. Very nice. Wandered around the harbour and old town streets; had some lunch and waded around the Venetian fort in the afternoon heat! Retreated to an air-conditioned coffee shop afterwards to rehydrate!

^_^

Beaches noted Snowey, cheers.

Glad you had a good holiday snowey.

Went to Crete in 2001 and 2004. Piskopiano both times. Lovely spot. Will go back once the kids are a bit older.

Looks fantastic Snowey. I've just returned from a tour round Italy. We passed through Switzerland in both direction but didn't see any of those Marmite thingies you're always going on about. Grease For Roads Junior was gutted. ;)

Marmites usually don't populate areas under 8000ft, so I'm not surprised.

:D

Well we were expecting urban Marmites and gaily dressed Swiss hunting Marmites on cowback. All we got instead was cheap petrol and Toblerone. Disappointment doesn't really cover it.

Well perhaps they should! :huh:

The place has clearly gone to the dogs

:cry2:

But its no good just passing through the place on the Motorways....

Its about fresh air, altitiude, mountains and snow.

Whacking through with the air con on wont get you any benefits.....

Get into the valleys and mountains. See the real Switzerland, and see real Marmites. Real ones.

You owe it to GFR junior, you know you do.

:D

There is no air con in the GFRmobile. :D

Note the complete absence of any Marmites in the photo.

Cool motor!

What route did you go through Switzerland?

Did you go the lakes in Italy?

Cheers!

We'd driven down through France then crossed into Switzerland at Basel before staying overnight in Zurich. From there we went via the Austrian Tyrol down to Venice, then on to Florence, Rome, and Pisa. On the way back we stopped in Geneva. I've hardly spent any time in Switzerland or Austria over the years and I'd definitely like to investigate them in more depth at some point.

That route avoids the most picturesque parts of Switzerland.

I can recommend the Jungfrau region, and also the Rhone Valley and valleys that flow north into it (from Saas Fee and Zermatt). The latter tends to get the drier summer weather.

I've only been to Austria once, and that was in the Zillertal valley of the Tyrol.

Also very beautiful but perhaps not quite as picturesque as Switzerland.

If you like Mountains and lakes scenery, The Swiss Alps will blow you away.

Which gives me the excuse to peddle this thread

http://z1.invisionfree.com/forums/thefall/...pic=16840&st=25

:D

Cheers for that. I'll look your recommendations up when I get round to doing it.