Showing posts with label Ippokampos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ippokampos. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

2017 - Greece Summary (Crete)

Duration: 3.5 days (Wednesday afternoon to Sunday morning)

Highlights

Samaria Gorge was a definite highlight. I know that we don't normally go hiking much, but this experience was definitely worth it and highly suggested.



Monastery of Arkadi was a nice stop since we were driving to Chania for Samaria Gorge. I can't say that it is worth a visit if you aren't in the area though since there isn't much else nearby.


Venetian Harbour (either in Chania, Heraklion, or Rethymo) are worth visiting for the nice views. They are all a bit different, but all are very nice to look and be at.




Lowlights

Nothing disappointed me in Crete.

Food Suggestions

Central Park Cafe has a very large menu and the food that we ordered was great.



Paralia which is by the water serves fresh seafood



Ippokampos also by the water and serves fresh seafood.



Tips

Our first time driving here and we noticed that if you are slow, you should drive on the shoulder to allow other cars to pass. The same applies for when you drive behind a slow car, they will usually drive on the shoulder which means they are allowing you to pass. I noticed that the solid line rule did not really apply here.

Final Thoughts

Crete is significantly larger than Santorini and I can see why people say that even one week would not be enough depending on what you like to see and do. I think we had a good taste of what Crete had to offer and if we could rejig some days, Crete would have gotten some more time.

Thursday, June 15, 2017

2017 - Greece - Day 8 [Crete]

Today, we head back to Heraklion and have some stops along the way.

Kydon Breakfast
Kydon Breakfast


Kydon Breakfast
Kydon Breakfast
Kydon Breakfast
Kydon Breakfast
Kydon Breakfast
Kydon Breakfast
Kydon Breakfast
Kydon Breakfast
Kydon Breakfast
The breakfast Kydon was very good, a large buffet similar to the previous hotels but of better quality. No issues suggesting Kydon as a place to stay. Coordinating to get out of their parking lot was a bit tricky and I can see why they chose to valet park it since it is a very small parking lot in the back. Included with our stay was two welcome drinks and overall, everyone was very helpful.

Big sea turtle we saw at the harbour
Chania harbour
We wandered the Chania harbour before heading to Kounis Lake. Kounis Lake was mentioned by the car rental person that helped out when we rented our car in Heraklion. Kounis Lake is a nice lake which is slightly off the highway and is away from most tourists it seems.

Chania harbour
Drivers pull into the shoulder to allow cars to pass! What a country!
Our chariot the past two days
While at Kounis Lake, we had lunch at the local tavern where we ordered the boiled greens, tomato soup, and lamb which came out to 24 euros. The food was good and I would suggest it if you are in the area.

Lamb on top, tomato soup top right, boiled veggies bottom
A short walk away, you can rent a paddle boat and you pay by time, costing us 10 euros per hour at the time. We only did 30 minutes since we were a bit tired from the hike the previous day and we paid 5 euros at the end. There are supposed to be lots of turtles and goldfish in the lake, however, we only saw one turtle and one goldfish. Before you begin, make sure to ask them where to go to see wildlife. The water is fairly shallow and you can see the bottom for most of it.

Kounis Lake
Turtles! At Kounis Lake
Included with this is a 10% coupon at the local souvenir shop and a free orange juice from the tavern that we ate at which was a nice surprise for us.

Monastery of Arkadi
Monastery of Arkadi
After that we went to the Monastery of Arkadi which is a fairly nice place. It cost us 3 euros to enter. We spent about an hour there, your time spent is dependent on your interest. You get to walk through most of the place.

Rooftop pool at GDM Megaron
Next stop, Heraklion! We made it to our next hotel, GDM Megaron which is a very nice looking hotel and the staff probably thought we didn't belong since everyone was very well dressed inside. At the reception, they have a lot of homemade cookies, so enjoy!

Ippokampos bread
Ippokampos grilled veggies
Ippokampos  May fish
Dinner was at Ippokampos where we ordered the local special at the time, may fish, and grilled veggies which came out to 25 euros. It was a nice dinner and the bread that we got was actually very good and we took them home. Note, bread normally costs you money, ranging from 0,50 euros to 1,00 euros for the most part, and it is normally very ordinary and something we would get in Toronto for free.

We went back to the hotel to rest due to our long day in the car. Tomorrow, we visit Knossos.