Crete revisited, a Greek Odyssey: September 2018

Last month Steve and I revisited the beautiful island of Crete. Here is a small selection of his wonderful photographs which capture the spirit and essence of this magical place. When I think of Crete I can always summon up memories of that incredible light, with endless days full of hot sunshine, the splendour of the mountains and the bluest of blue seascapes and skies, with vistas of outstanding scenic beauty, colour and historical interest around every corner. 

Pretty town house in Chania with rooms available for rent

We decided to base ourselves in the beautiful town Rethymnon with it’s picturesque Venetian port,  primarily for it’s central location to tour the island. We stayed in an apartment in the Old Town within sight of the impressive ancient Fortress which dominates the landscape. On this trip we particularly wanted to explore the east side of Crete and in our second week we drove to Elounda, which is one of the loveliest and most popular resorts and stayed there for two nights so that we could take a ferry to the island of Spinalonga, a place that has long been on my bucket list to visit.

The picturesque harbour of Elounda

Two fine examples of the pristine churches which we found dotted all over the island

The Windmills of the Lassithi Plateau, Crete were a spectacular sight

The joys of al fresco dining late into the warm evenings was a highlight for me. Eating out and the price of food and drink generally was less expensive than the UK, apart from sparkling water which is very costly here as in most European countries. We enjoyed frappes every morning which cost 2 euros at most places and a large beer was 3.5 euros.

Moussaka is one of my favourite Cretan dishes and it’s on the menu in most restaurants

To accompany the food we enjoyed sampling the local Cretan beers which were always served in ice-cold glasses!