travelerjan

KJa -- we look forward to it ... Can I suggest you start a new thread with "my trip details" or some such head... and in the intro paragraph you can reference this thread for those who want to read your acknowledgements, favorite things, and minor pet peeves. would make it easier for your fan base to get to the exciting details!

TexasAggie

So, so happy you had such a wonderful trip!! Cannot wait to read all about it!

TexasAggie

P.S. I had just about settled on our trip next year (1st week of June through 1st week of July). A couple weeks in "our spot" - Montepulciano, and then a couple weeks in Sicily. But now... Greece is calling... although I will need to look into temperatures as we've only been in April, May and June and this trip would be the final week of June and 1st week of July. Not that Sicily is going to be cool then either, I suppose, LOL

kja

@ thursdaysd: Exactly, not bad at all! A toilet with rim, but no separate seat, is, IMO, better than an eastern toilet and I, too, travel with a universal sink stopper, but golly gosh, I get to say what I didn’t like, don’t I? Even if those things are TRULY trivial (as they were)?!? Jeesh! ;-) FWIW, driving in Greece didn’t take bravery – it just took selfish greed -- I wanted to see more than I could have seen with public transportation.

@ travelerjan: Thanks for your advice, but the information I’ve provided so far are the things that I <b>most</b> want to convey. Moreover, these things provide a context that I consider to be critical for the details I choose to share in subsequent posts. So no, I’m not going to start a new thread. Trip reports are searchable, and I think I’ve been pretty clear that details are coming. I could easily be wrong, but it is my choice, and at least some Fodorites who know me will probably recognize and anticipate that I would approach my report this way. Although i am rejecting your advice, I hope you continue to follow along and find some interest in what I have to say.

@ TexasAggie: As you might understand, I, too, am glad that I had a wonderful trip! You’ve got a tough choice ahead – Sicily is spectacular, and its Greek ruins are stunning. And Sicilian wines – ooh, you’re going to have some fun testing them whenever you end up going! At least you can be sure that neither choice will be bad – just HOT.

Heimdall

Kja, the thing that appealed to me most when you were planning your trip was the well thought out itinerary, taking in parts of Greece that most tourists don't venture to go. I must confess that my sightseeing days are over, and now my trips to Greece are just to relax among friends. I will enjoy, vicariously, travelling with you through your trip report. You are off to a good start, so keep it coming!

thursdaysd

Of course you can say what you want! Just underlining that it must have been a really good trip.

kja

@ Heimdall: Thanks for complimenting my itinerary! Much of it was firmly on the well-beaten tourist trail, but I did get to a few other places, and of course, I reaped many rewards by doing so. I’m glad that you are following along vicariously, and hope you don't get as tired at points as I did!

@ thursdaysd: It was a <u>really</u> good trip – and that point deserves to be underlined!

kja

Turning to a more detailed description of my experiences....

<b><u>Chania and some other parts of western Crete</b></u>

<b>Day 0: Depart from the U.S. </b>
• My transatlantic flight was uneventful. Thankfully, I was able to sleep through most of it.

<b>Day 1</b>:

I had a brief layover in Vienna -- time for coffee (it wasn’t Vienna’s finest, but it wasn’t bad!) before my next flight.

I landed in <b>Chania</b> (or Hania, or Xania … and from now on, for any place I visited, I’m just picking one spelling and I’m sticking to it! – at least more or less… ;-) ) and soon hailed a taxi.
• I admired the views – OMG, there are snow-capped mountains (the White Mountains) out there! And such sparkling seas! And oooh so many other wonderful images!
• My friendly taxi driver left me off at the edge of the pedestrian-only zone in Chania. I was very close to my lodging, and my driver had given me very clear directions to the
• <b>Porto Antico</b>, and my stunning view over the harbor and out to the lighthouse. I loved this little place! I’m KJA3 on TripAdvisor, so you can find my review of it there, along with my reviews of the other places I stayed and most of the places where I dined.

I took a quick walk through the area just to get oriented (I almost always do that, and generally won’t mention it) and wondered,
• What is that strange looking tree, with what seems a perfectly straight trunk and symmetrical, upward facing, and incredibly straight branches, branches that look like they are upside down? I saw this tree in several places in Crete and in the Cyclades, and was given a different name for it each time I asked. Although they didn’t agree on the name, several people noted that it is one of the few trees that can survive the winds the sometimes batter the area. From what I can tell, it’s a type of Araucaria; I could be wrong, but I know it caught my eye.
• After freshening up, I took a long, leisurely walk through a bit of the Old Town,
• stopping briefly in Chania’s cathedral and the square in front of it, where various people had gathered for conversation, and
• then walking along the eastern edge of the harbor, enjoying the sounds and sights of seabirds and moored boats, and the quickening breezes that began cooling the area, and bits of conversation or laughter from people enjoying the many harbor-side cafes or climbing around the seawall, and the calls of men selling sponges and shells.

I eventually claimed an outdoor table at <b>Glossistas</b>, where
• I had a wonderful meal to celebrate my first night in Greece – tzatziki with pita and a green salad and grilled octopus (oooh, the octopus!) and some white wine.
• I watched the sun set over the harbor, behind the masts of fishing boats, and
• as I was raising my last sip of wine in a toast to celebrate my good fortune in sitting at this particular place, with this particular view, on my first night in Greece,
• My server brought a complimentary plate of two apples and an orange, a small slice of a very moist orange-flavored spongecake-like treat, and a little flask of raki.
• Oh, I am one very lucky person!

As the waterfront tabernas of Chania came to life,
- I walked back to the heart of the harbor, and then roamed a bit of the Old Town. (Translation: I thought I knew where I was. Wrong! But wonderful nonetheless. ;-) )
- I soon found my way back to my B&B, where I sipped a bit of its complimentary honey-and-herb raki (nice!) while looking out over the harbor and lighthouse.

It was a perfect opportunity to program my TomTom for the places I planned to visit the next day, so
• I pulled it out and plugged it in and OMG, oh no oh no ooooh NOooo! – my TomTom had NO maps of Greece. Not Crete, not the mainland, not one single road! Argh!
• In my very busy last few days before departing for this trip, I had been very careful to update my TomTom maps, but I had completely forgotten that the set I purchased did not include Greece. Oops!
• I confirmed that I could buy maps of Greece over the internet once I had access to a USB port, which I did not have. Sigh. Nothing more I could do that night!
• I turned my attention to much needed sleep.


<b>Day 2: Chania +</b>

I started my day with a truly delicious omelet at <b>Aroma</b>, a harbor-side restaurant and then
• Visited the small, but IMO excellent, <b>Archeology Museum of Chania</b>. I also enjoyed it’s setting – an old church, complete with a lovely little courtyard.
• From there, I walked around the harbor to the <b>Byzantine Museum</b>, also housed in an old church. This is a very small museum – just a room or two –with some pieces that I thought well worth seeing.
• Just outside: A field of blooming wildflowers -- glorious!

With the help of several kind people, I found my way to the corner where a pre-arranged taxi was to meet me to take me to the <b>Hertz</b> office in Chania.
• Having pre-arranged, and pre-paid, for my rental (thanks, gemut.com!), it didn’t take long to complete the arrangements, but
• Because I refused CDW (which is covered by my CC), a ridiculously high hold was placed on my account.
• To my pleasant surprise, they had a spare GPS unit, and the gentleman declined to charge me for it. How nice!
• I took possession of the car and, as I watched the man from the office leave for the day, connected the GPS system.
• OMG, it’s in German! For the life of me, I could NOT figure out how to change the language. Finally giving up on that effort,
• I managed – I hoped! (and in fact successfully -- but of course, it was some time before I knew for sure) -- to program it to get me the top of the Imbros Gorge, my goal for the afternoon.

<i>A few notes about <b>driving in Greece</b>:

• There must be some law that means drastically reduced speed limits in the ½ km or so before or after an intersection with an intercity route, and roadside signage did not always indicate these changes in speed limits. This GPS system did – it had been set to ring a VERY loud bell any time my speed exceeded the limit by about 5 km. How I hated that! But it worked – I learned!

• Another note: Many drivers ignore those reduced speed limits. Many drivers seem to ignore ALL speed limits!!! Slower drivers drive almost entirely on the road’s shoulder. Where I grew up, I was taught that shoulders were ONLY for emergencies because they don’t have sufficent structural support for sustained traffic, so I was initially quite disconcerted by these drivers, and I responded by giving them a VERY wide berth. It wasn’t long before I mastered the art of shoulder driving. ;-) (I wonder how Greek drivers manage the highways on which I learned to drive?)

• Many drivers passed in no-passing zones, even if they were not able to do so in their lane. Argh! Median lines, no passing zones, speed limits … all apparently viewed as suggestions, no more. </i>


As promised, I found parking at the top of the <b>Imbros Gorge</b> and began my 8 km hike.
• I had been a bit worried about this hike because of the aforementioned thigh injury; I did NOT want to jeopardize my ability to see other things on this month-long trip to Greece! But I hadn’t had particular difficulties with downward movement, and my understanding was that most of this hike would be downhill. In the end I thought I would regret not trying the hike more than I would regret any limitations I might face if I did suffer, and so, with a commitment to take it very slowly, and with just a hint of anxiety, I began my hike.
• And oooohh, I am so glad I did! To my delight, the hike was quite manageable. It was almost all downhill, and almost always gently so.
• I took my time, and not just to take it easy, but also because there was so much to see! There were different plants and flowers at each altitude, and different rock formations, and at least three different types of goats high on the cliffs, and an incredibly emerald-green lizard skittering under a rock…
• Apparently, most people hike this gorge in about 2 hours. I enjoyed every bit of the 4 hours I spent from top to bottom, and OMG, I was glad, as I approached the lowest point, to see a small café!
• There was a man at the café who would be happy to take me back to my car for a fee – just as I had been led to expect. He drove up a very, very steep, twisting gravel road (I’m so glad I didn’t have to climb that hill to get to a place from which I could get a ride!) and
• OMG my, the sudden views of the Libyan Sea were stunning!

And then began a seriously white-knuckled ride.
• This young man apparently had absolute confidence in his driving ability (the perception of invincibility at that age is, IME, widespread) and so he took this seemingly endless stretch of switchbacks at a FAR greater speed then seemed reasonable to me.
• I kept reminding myself that he probably knew when a car was coming the other way, because he probably knew what to look for on the hill above.
• I managed to cling to that belief for at least 4 or 5 switchbacks – right until he swung around a bend and
• nearly crashed into the pair of vehicles that had, apparently, just collided with one another!!! OMG!!! Brakes squealing, he brought his truck to a stop within a yard of the wrecked vehicles.
• He had to back up and drive VERY carefully and VERY slowly to pass the scene of the accident and navigate around injured people and shards of glass and metal debris.
• While breathing a sigh of relief, I silently added a bit of thanks that maybe, just maybe, this near miss would make my driver a tad more cautious.
• Not so! Quite in contrast, he seemed to want to make up for those lost moments! Omigod, OMIGOD, OMG!!!
• If he heard me ask him to slow down (I knew enough Greek to say “Please, much too rapid") or if he saw my obvious discomfort, he showed no sign of it -- or maybe they just intensified his desire to prove his mastery.
• I cannot tell you how extraordinarily grateful I was when he finally pulled in to the parking lot where I had left my car. I was shaking so hard when I stepped out of his vehicle that I could barely walk!

The taberna there was still open, so I had some juice and some bread and many deep, calming breaths….
• About an hour later, I felt sufficiently recovered to actually drive.
• And at that point I realized that I had left my prescription sunglasses at the café at the base of the gorge. Growl. Ah well, it could have been worse.

On the way back to Chania, I appreciated the many glorious wildflowers and the views of Crete’s incredibly inhospitable mountains. The word “punished” came to mind – so stark, so broken, such a testament to millenia of earthquakes and weather.

Once in Chania, I found street-side parking,
• declined the kindly insistent offers of a free apple from a street-side vendor (how nice of him!), and
• rounded the corner to the harbor and a GLORIOUS view of the White Mountains hovering above Chania.
• Too, I arrived just in time for an unexpected lowering-of-the-flag ceremony at the fortress, with a few uniformed men playing various instruments from a military band and a small group of men executing the the ritual. Perhaps not perfect, but an appreciated experience!

After a welcome shower and a glass of wine while savoring the views of the changing light of sunset (if not the actual sunset) from my room, I walked to
• <b>Tamam</b> for an excellent dinner.
• I took another short stroll (without getting lost!) before turning in for the night.



<b>Day 3: Chania +</b>

I began my day with another awesome omelet at Aroma – seriously recommended! -- and then returned to the Porto Antico,
• Where my host, Sophia, allowed me to use her computer for more than an hour as I attempted to purchase maps of Greece for my TomTom, but without success. From what I could tell, one or more security screens established to protect me from illegitimate purchases while out of the country were preventing the transaction.
• I decided to explore my other options (e.g., for buying a new GPS system), and so learned the location of a few electronics shops.
• I figured out how to change the voice on the Hertz GPS from German to English (thank goodness!), set a less jarring signal for exceeding the speed limit, and programmed it for this day’s plans.

Checking out and leaving my luggage at the Porto Antico’s desk, I stepped out the door
• Into hoards of Russian tourists from a cruise ship, filling every inch of the back streets of otherwise charming Chania. Poor Chania!
• Over the next few hours, I came to the conclusion that the number of cruise-ship tourists who were there that day came very, very close to Chania’s capacity for them, and maybe even exceeded it. Every table of every café in Old Town was taken; every shop was jammed; every street was packed.
• Such a difference from the rest of my time in this delightful little city! I am SOOoooo glad I didn’t encounter this cruise earlier!

Fortunately, few of these day-trippers seemed interested in the <b>Cretan House Folklore Museum</b>, with its pleasant courtyard and exquisite examples of Cretan embroidery,
• But I had to wait in lines behind crowds to learn that neither of two electronics shop could meet my GPS needs.
• After a brief stop at a post office to mail a few postcards (yes, I still do that once in a while!), I walked to
• Chania’s enclosed <b>Central Market</b>, with its mix of bakeries and butchers (with sheeps’ heads and skinned rabbits, among other meats) and leather shops and souvenier shops and olives and ceramics and more olives and hot food stands and gelato….
• I enjoyed a glass of fresh juice under some enormous old trees at an outdoor café before
• Roaming a bit more of Chania’s Old Town – the area around St. Nikolas and various excavations and some lovely gardens – and then through the harbor area again to the
• <b>Nautical Museum</b>, which I found quite interesting.

With a last few glimpses of the snow-capped White Mountains in the distance above Chania’s delightful harbor and Old Town, I returned to the area by the Porto Antico,
• Savored another glass of juice at a local taberna, and then
• Claimed my luggage and walked to my rental car. Time to move on!

Next up: Rethymno

xcountry

Great story about the white knuckle drive. I've driven in lots of places but I refuse to drive in Greece. Of course refusing to drive often means someone else is driving. A terrified driver or a terrifying driver. Pick my poison.

Waiting to hear more about Pension Dafni. I passed on your comments to my identical twin c....p...e.

yestravel

Enjoying your report--it's bringing back so many memories. I don't recall cruise ships in Chanda-too bad. They really ruin a place.

kja

@ xcountry: Oh, you are so right about the choice of poisons! Honestly, I found the roads in Greece generally quite manageable – with patience and defensiveness. Sometimes a LOT of defensiveness. The Pension Dafni has a LOT to recommend it – and I’m VERY pleased to understand that you passed the news on to your cousin. Thanks so much for letting me know!

tripplanner001

The gorge hike sounds like an excursion I would very much enjoy. But you had my attention on octopus!

travelerjan

You did this in May, as I remember ... and at that time the walls of Imbros Gorge are totally covered with THYME bushes ... I remember thinking as I hopped along (over those rocks, the size of soccer balls), why do I keep thinking of Roast Lamb -- then I realized I was in effect in an oven, roasting w. thyme ... Got quite hungry matter of fact.

kja

@ xcountry: Cousin? Where did that come from? Of course, I meant TWIN…. Sorry.

@ yestravel: Messages crossing in hyperspace! Yes, I was saddened to see the cruise ship in Chania. I had a brief conversation about it with my proprietor. She talked about the dilemmas they pose -- cruise ships can benefit some local businesses, but at what cost, and with what ultimate outcome? It was interesting to hear her comments on the matter, and her summary of the considerations of her fellow Old Town businessmen.

@ tripplanner: For my needs, the Imbros Gorge made for a perfect hike. Many people make a point of hiking the Samaria Gorge, and I wish I had felt up to it, but I thought it would be too challenging with my injury. When you go to Greece, I would encourage you to look into it to see if it would meet your needs. If you like octopus, Greece should provide some glorious moments for you, too! I savored it several times during this trip, and think I’d give the nod to Glossistas, but OMG, I’d welcome the opportunity to do a further taste test or two! I can assure you that NONE of my plates of grilled octopus were bad options.

@ travelerjan: Hiking the Imbros Gorge with a pervasive scent of thyme must have been wonderful – except, of course, for the ensuing hunger! Even though I hiked it in May, I’m pretty sure I missed the thyme, and maybe that’s a good thing, as I hate feeling hungry! Nonetheless, I saw some other wonderful blooms. And BTW, thanks for hanging in with me, despite our different views of trip report structures.

yestravel

I had similar conversations about cruise ships in Santorini. It's great for businesses, but overwhelms the town. That plus the damage it does to the seas and harbors makes it not so desirable to many residents. Oh well, it's an issue debated in many places.

stanbr

kja you have been one of the most entertaining poster here in years. I have followed your research postings from the beginning and responded a couple of times.

I just wanted to thank you for all those questions and now this entertaining report. I suspect you have caught the Greece bug and will soon be planning another trip to Greece.

kja

@ yestravel: The impact of tourism on Santorini is truly appalling, isnt’ it? At least Chania, for now, gets cruise ships on only SOME days…. One of my friends recently decided that cruises are her preferred means of seeing the world, and I’m finding it incredibly difficult to deal with that. She is thrilled to do the things that I think are destroying some of my favorite places. Of course, she isn’t personally responsible, and there are differences between cruise lines…. Still, I haven’t yet found a way to address the gap in our perspecitves, and at this point, we haven’t discussed it, which is, of course, driving a wedge into our interactions. Sigh!

@ stanbr: What delightful compliments – thank you so much! You did, indeed, respond to my planning threads several times – always with incredibly helpful information, and I remain in your debt, as I benefitted enormously from your wisdon! I’m glad to learn that you are finding my report entertaining – at least so far. I hope it won’t prove necessary, but I note that you are free to change your opinion as we proceed. ;-)

jwugg

Loving your report, especially this section about your time in my beloved Chania. I feel that you really got into the heart of Chania. So glad you enjoyed Imbros, it's my favourite gorge, as well as being just as you described, there is a huge benefit over Samaria - you are usually not walking along a crocodile of hundreds of other people, so you can stop to smell the flowers without causing a pile-up. That crazy drive back up - yep, that's what they do & at least you were inside the truck, imagine the 'fun' (& terror) sitting in the open back.
The driving on the hard shoulder thing... yeah, that's what we do here, tourists really need to learn this, so that others who are speeding can pass in a marginally safer way! You did your research well, chose good restaurants.

kja

@ jwugg: Thanks so much! I can understand why you consider Chania beloved – what a thoroughly charming place! It’s nice to know that someone who knows and loves it thinks I chose my restaurants well, and more to the point, that you think I got to the heart of delightful Chania. Awesome! I certainly enjoyed it!

And thank you, too, for your description of the ways in which the Imbros and Samaria Gorges differ. Much as I loved my walk of the Imbros Gorge, I wondered whether I was skipping something special by skipping the Samaria Gorge. You have made me feel so much better about my choice! But are you saying that you were in the back of an open truck when you rode from the base of the Imbros Gorge back to its top?!? OMG!!!

thursdaysd

Glad that Imbros worked out for you. As I think I told you, I hiked Samaria eleven years ago, the year before I turned 60, and even then my knees were screaming at me by the time I got to the flat. However, I did it at the end of April, when I didn't have to worry about getting cooked by the sun, and when "only" 300 people were hiking the same day. Since I was slower than everyone else, it really didn't seem crowded. I don't remember the drive back being especially scary, but I was on a nice big coach.

Very sorry to hear about the cruise ship in Chania. Dubrovnik has been consumed by cruise ship crowds, and of course it's a problem in Venice too. Both of them talk about limiting numbers, but they can't seem to actually do anything about it. I have been reluctantly considering cruising, but it's because of health issues, and if I have a choice of staying home or getting on a 4,000 person cruise ship I'm staying home!