Days 30-35: Visit Crete! Our Time in Rethymno and Agios Nikolaos

Let me cut to the chase: we loved our time in Crete.  I know, I know: we also loved our time in Budapest (days 8, 9, and 10) and Croatia (days 11-14, days 15-19, days 20-21, and days 22-25) so maybe I am a soft touch.

BUT I’m still going to make the case for Crete, especially if international travel seems a little daunting to you. Or maybe, on vacation you want to do a few historical tourism-type activities but mostly you just want to go to the beach.  Go to Crete!

(Disclaimer: I’m totally not getting paid by anyone for this post but  I can be bought.)

Day 30: Travel to Rethymno

If you don’t use public transportation at home and the idea of catching a bus in a country that does not speak your native tongue gives you hives, Crete is exactly the right starter country for you.

For 13.60 euro for two tickets (~$15 ), Rich and I jumped on a bus in Chania and jumped off the same bus an hour and a half later in Rethymno.  Our AirBNB was 500 meters from the bus stop, and our sweet AirBNB host Maria let us check in early.

As I shared in our First Month Abroad: By the Numbers post, we have really cooked a lot while traveling.  Cooking is almost always less expensive than eating out.  Also, after so much eating out, even when the food is delicious, we just kind of feel sick.

We were still recovering from hiking the Samaria Gorge so we decided we would stay in our first night in Rethymno and do it up!

We hit up the grocery store a block from our apartment where we spent next to nothing on two eggplants, an onion, four potatoes, garlic, and fresh dill and then a few dollars more on cheese and tomato sauce.  The tomato sauce was slightly more expensive than expected because the sign I thought said 1 euro as the price, really said 1 euro off the price.  It was all Greek to me.

And then I made a valiant attempt at re-creating the delicious eggplant dish I had eaten out in Chania, which was basically eggplant stuffed with cheesy mashed potatoes and topped with tomato sauce.  I was super proud of myself for peeling the potatoes with a knife (no potato peeler in the AirBNB) and baking the dish in a toaster oven.  It was 100% the most involved meal I had prepared while we have been away, and it turned out not half bad.

Bon appetite!

Day 31: Rethymno Is Great

Our AirBNB is Rethymno had a great little balcony so we enjoyed coffee overlooking the street with a little sea view.  Then we wandered through the Old Town to make our way to the beach.  The beach was huge and sandy, the water was the perfect temperature for swimming, and Rich and I both had great books to read.  Perfection.

After a couple of hours at the beach, we walked the mile back to our apartment to blog and plan.  The sun really took it out of us though and we were just so relaxed…so we napped for two hours.  Oops.

We woke up from our nap, got ready for dinner (best hair dryer award goes to this AirBNB), and made it out the door just in time to catch a stunning sunset by the water.

 

 

We picked the highest rated restaurant on TripAdvisor with just one $ (i.e. the most affordable), and enjoyed a great meal at a little taverna in town.

Some days of the trip carry a little more responsibility– this was pure vacation.

Day 32: From Rethymno to Agios Nikolaos, Crete

To get from Rethymno to Agios Nikolaos, we took two buses, each about an hour and a half each.  Our next AirBNB in Agios Nikolaos was really a small family owned hotel.  The room was a little rough- and without a kitchen- but we had a view overlooking the sea, and it was only $ 41 a night.   To be clear, that is significantly less than what we spent on our tent in Iceland per night.

The speed of Agios Nikolaos, Crete was just right.  The town is on the sea, and then Lake Vousimis is the middle of town with even more restaurants and sights along the water.

On our first night, we ate outside at Pittes Gourmandes ,a small pita restaurant with a twist: all of the recipes were inspired by cuisines from around the world. Rich’s pita was the Palestine, and mine was the Cyprus.

The food was delicious, and the atmosphere was even better.  A major beach volleyball tournament was underway a block away.  Once families finished eating, the kids would get up from the table to all run off and play with each other.  There were swimmers in the sea until after dark.  Everyone around us just seemed so content, relaxed, and full.  No cell phones or stress in sight!

Day 33: Agios Nikolaos, Crete Continued

More vacation mode with a little bit of work time.  We walked around the corner to the beach to read our books and swim, then came back and wrote our month in review post, and then showered and went out for calimari and pizza.

Traveling v. Vacation

A friend asked recently how all of this traveling feels different from vacation, and my honest answer is that we just have to think about money more.  When we had steady income streams and went away for two weeks in the summer, splurging felt right. Now saving and making small sacrifices feel better.

A few examples: renting beach chairs cost 3 euros a piece.  That is the equivalent of about $4.  Having a beach chair is infinitely more comfortable than sitting on the ground. If you are on vacation, you rent the chairs.  But if you know that you want to go to the beach fifty more times over the course of the next eight months (the idea of that much beach makes me giddy just typing it), you sit on the ground.

Example #2: For dinner out, we ordered calimari, a half liter of wine, and a pizza.  In Greece, when you eat out, they are forever bringing you little free surprises with your meal.  This night, these on the house treats included bread, hummus, a cheese plate, and a small dessert. We made it through half of our pizza and realized we were full so we saved the other half a pizza for dinner the next night.  Would we take leftovers home when we are at home?  Absolutely.  Would we take leftovers home on vacation?  No way.  We would eat everything in sight.

Day 34: Even More Agios Nikolaos, Crete

We went into town for coffee in the morning and enjoyed the most incredible view of the lake as well as a delicious chocolate nutella crepe.  There was a group of older Cretans that grew by the minute in the cute coffee shop we were in.  Again, people seem to really enjoy being together.

We went to the beach in the afternoon, then did some indoor napping, then went for a run, and then ate our leftover pizza for dinner.  We walked around a bit in the evening but mostly kept it pretty low key.

Telling you about Heraklion (next post!) will only build my case on why Crete definitely belongs on your travel list.  What we found throughout the time on the island is that is is a place where people are really able to enjoy being together.  Find someone- or lots of people!- you like, and bring them along!