Iraklion Prefecture Day 4

Day 4

 Our 4th day on Crete will play out something to the effect of this:

7:00 a.m. Gortys -Hike the Acropolis Kastros to get a bird's eye view of the area. 

 10:30 a.m. Phaestos -Visit the archaeological site.

2:00 p.m. Matala - Swim and visit the "Hippie Caves" of  the 70's where I hear Cat Stevens hung out during the Hippie Movement. 

 5:00 p.m. Agia Pelagia -Walk the beach and swim/snorkel.

7:00 p.m. Fodele -Explore birthplace of El Greco then dinner at Domenico Bistro. This taverna can be found on Facebook at Domenico Bistro Fodele Village Crete.



We will consistently pack the same gear as the day before. 

Rethymno Prefecture (District) Day 3

 Day 3

 
The Perfecture of Rethymno is steeped in Venetian history. We won't have time to go see the Rimondi Fountain but if I should find a gap in our day, I want to hop over to the town of Rethymno and see this treasure! 

One of the most beautiful sites is the Rimondi Fountain.
 

 

Day Three will go something like this:

 7:00 a.m. Kourtaliotika -Hike and view the waterfall, St. Nikolaos ruined church and perhaps see a terrapin. 

 11:00 a.m. Amari Valley/Village -View oldest frescoes and have lunch.

 1:00 p.m. Mt. Idi -View but not necessarily hike it, visit Idaian Cave home of Zeus.

 5:00 p.m. Agias Galini -Relax and enjoy. 

 7:00 p.m. Agias Galini area -Eat dinner and go to the nearby beach.
 

9:00 p.m. Head back to apartment. Sleeeeeep.

The Chania Prefecture Day 2

 Day 2

Last night I stayed up and studied the map of Crete until I could come up with a logical way to see everything, in a short amount of time. The best way to cover all that we want to do would be to travel and tour by prefecture. The Island of Crete has four prefectures Chania, Rethymno, Heraklion and Lassithia. We arrive in the middle of the day on our first day. This being our first full day we will try and cover as much of Chania as we possibly can. 

 On this day we plan to take off in our rental car from Iraklion and head west to the prefecture of Chania. The day will go something like this:

6:00 a.m. Falasarna -The best beach to snorkel on the island.

10:00 a.m. Chania -walk amongst the Venetian historical sites, shop, eat lunch at Semiramis.

 1:00 p.m. Algyroupoli -If we don't like Argyroupli we'll go to Imbros Gorge.

1:00 p.m. -Option instead of Almyrida, Imbros Gorge. 

6:00 p.m. Kournas -Explore the only freshwater lake on the island.

8:00 p.m. Georgiopolis -Eat dinner at Poseidon Taverna, roam the village.  PHONE: +30 28250 61026

 9:00 p.m.  Iraklion -Head back to apartment and set up for next day's adventure...

We'll take our knapsack filled with bottled water, snacks, wet wipes, camera, bathing suit, sun screen, sunglasses, water shoes, visor, towels and beach mat snorkel mask. 

Building Stamina For The Greek Trails Day 1 (half day)

 Day 1

Today I went for a 3 mile walk on the country roads to help build up my stamina. I want to be able to breathe for the duration of any hike that we may go on while on the island of Crete. Some of the trails and gorges have Greek men on donkeys to assist you if you fail to complete the hike. It's real important that I get myself breathing strong before this trip. No way will I be photographed out of breath, slumped over a donkey!

 I've got my carry-on bag pretty much packed. We'll be gone for eight days and this what I have fit into a tiny suitcase:

1 long cotton white skirt
1 short cotton white skirt
1 short length ivory stretch lace sundress 
1 maxi sundress w/matching stretch cami 
2 hiking cargo shorts
1 walking flat front shorts
1 pr running shorts
6 tees in various colors to wear with skirts and shorts
2 bathing suits
1 dark grey capri pants
1 grey Greek style summer top
1 hooded sweatshirt
1 pair plain flat black thong sandals1 night tee
1 2 pc. summer pj set
1 2 person beach mat
1 beach towel
lingerie for 8 days

I got all that in my carry-on. Now I'm working on my personal bag. I plan to wear my sneakers and a pair of jeans to save space in my carry-on. 

The rest of my travel gear will go into my personal bag. I'm so ready for this trip. Can't wait till travel day.  

Noon: Crete -Arrive in Iraklion (can't wait till we land on the island of Crete).

12:30 p.m. Apartment -The apartments where we will be staying.

12:35 p.m. Apartment -Climb the stairs to our apartment.

 12:40 p.m. Apartment -Arrive in room, it will take me five minutes to get up the stairs because the view behind me as I climb will be so distracting. This is what our living room in the apartment should look like...we'll see. We will take about 20 minutes to get settled.

 1:00 p.m. Apartment -Even though we'll be jet lagged and we'll want to nap, we won't. Because, we've got places to see. Let's go!

Day One on the island will be a half day with us arriving on Crete around noon. We plan to get ourselves situated in our apartment and then go explore where the base (air station) used to be. Then we'll head to Chersonisos to walk the beach and have dinner. We'll venture out just enough to see this:

1:30 p.m. Iraklion Air Station. It doesn't exist anymore. We hope to get photos of what it looks like now. 

 2:00 p.m. Kokkini Hani -Drive by old apartments that we used to live in 25 or so years ago.

1985, The living room of the second apartment we lived in. We sold everything before coming to the states. The only thing in that picture that I still have is the ballerina and the Greek-made doily that she is sitting upon. Oh, and I still have that round mirror. Scotty and Penny Watkins bought it for us for a wedding gift.

 2:30 p.m. Gouves -Zorbas Taverna for lunch. Located on the sea front of Gouves.

 5:00 p.m. Old Chersonissis -Beach.

7:30 p.m. Old Chersonissis -Dinner at Georgio's Place. By the Village Square, Old (Pano) Hersonissos, 70014 Chersonisos Facebook: Georgios (George's) Place Taverna in Old (Ano) Hersonissos, Crete, Greece


9:00 p.m. Relax at apartment visit with locals.