Crete - September 2019

10/9/19

After the obligatory Wetherspoon’s, and by the way the app which enables you to order at your table is amazing, we flew from Birmingham to Heraklion, Crete. It’s a 4 hour flight and is Greece is 2 hours ahead of the UK we arrived at 9.45pm, the airport was very busy, but didn’t take too long to get through to our awaiting taxi. It really is a home from home for us as we’ve been coming almost every year since 2000. Unfortunately, as we booked our flights last minute are normal apartments, Amazones were full. So we stayed just down the Beach Road at Thisvi Hotel. Our room was small, but adequate for our needs with a great balcony and sea view. After dropping off our bags, we headed to Amazones to have a drink with Billy the barman. There were a few familiar faces around the bar, so we had a couple of Mythos to get us into the holiday mood.

11/9/19

After an excellent night’s sleep we headed down for our complimentary continental breakfast which was served overlooking the sea. We then strolled to Amazones to have a coffee with our good friends, the owners, Dimitris and Natasha. Then it was off to the beach. We had a lovely lunch at Edem beach bar, before an afternoon of complete relaxation. Back to the roof top pool at Thisvi for a Mythos before going back to our room for a shower. The plan was to have a quick drink at Amazones before dinner, but it was Kleftiko night, so we had a mezze of Greek salad, tzatziki and cheese pies with our drinks. As we were then quite full we went for a long walk along Beach Road and shared a delicious pizza at Marino’s. Gin and Tonics in Whisper Bar and a catch up with George, Elena and Anatasia before bed.

12/9/19 As this holiday is all about R & R, we had a leisurely breakfast overlooking the sea, before a stroll around the headland. After our stroll it was time to hit the beach again to snooze and read. Greek salad for lunch, followed by more relaxing on the beach. Dinner was at Yannis Golden Heart, an old favourite. This is a lovely traditional Greek Taverna next door to the church in the town square.

13/9/18 Woke up to an unusually overcast day in Crete. So we decided a pool day was in order as rain forecast for this afternoon. Sea so rough there was surfing in Stalis Bay! Nice leisurely lunch at Amazones before a little siesta. Storm still threatening, so we decided to stay local and after a few drinks had a mezze dinner at Pelagos next door to our hotel.

14/9/19 Still a little overcast and the sea still rough this morning, so we strolled down the Beach Road towards Malia. It brightened up by lunchtime so we headed to the beach again. Tonight is the weekly Amazones BBQ, so good food and good company to be enjoyed.

Afterwards we walked into town for a coffee to help our dinner go down.

15/9/19 Normal service resumed in Crete, woke up to a gloriously sunny Sunday morning. Spent the day on the beach, got a bit exciting when lifeguards had to rescue 3 people who had underestimated the power of the waves. We watched from the comfort of the bar whilst eating our lunch. Pre dinner drinks in Diamond Beach Bar and Amazones. Dinner at Maria’s House in town. Great food served by a Greek version of Jason Momoa!

16/9/18 Penultimate day, so down to the beach again. You might notice that this blog is not quite as interesting as my usual travel blogs! This is because Crete really is like a second home to us, we don’t feel the need to explore, just completely relax and chill out. After pre dinner drinks at Amazones we walked right to the top of town to Katerina’s a lovely family run taverna. It’s one of our favourites, but in the height of the summer heat often too far to walk. This is what makes the September weather in Crete, mid to high 20s, with evenings around 23 degrees.

17/9/19 Last day, we leave at 7.30pm, so have arranged for a late check out. We have to move rooms, as new arrivals have requested room 12, but not a problem as we just need somewhere to shower and change after a day at the beach. After a very hot and sunny day we said goodbye to the staff at Edem. Once we were showered and packed we popped up to Amazones to say goodbye to Dimitris, Natasha and Billy and had a quick snack to keep us going. Flight was on time and we got back to Birmingham just after midnight. However, bit of drama with a medical emergency on board, so we were delayed getting off plane, whilst paramedics boarded.