Tag: Europe

We spent our 13th wedding anniversary quietly, beginning with a visit to a phyllo studio, one of only 5 left on Greece where phyllo pastry is handmade.  Paraskevas has taken over from his father who opened the shop 60 years ago and makes traditional phyllo with his son. 

He takes a piece of dough, spins it in the air until it forms a large flat disc then lets it float down to the table, trapping air underneath forming a bubble.

It is then slowly stretched to cover the table, covered with burlap to allow the phyllo to breathe and another sheet prepared on top. Once dry, it is cut into squares and boxed up.  

To make kantaifi, the liquid dough is poured through tiny holes onto the hot spinning bronze plate which dries and crisps it into thin hair-looking strings. We didn’t see this being made but here is a photo and the machine.

Needless to say, we came away with some to take home, especially when we were told it would last for a fortnight … no chance!

I went for a walk all the way round the outside of the fortress while Chris sat in a cafe taking snaps, then we returned and spent the afternoon at the pool. 

Early evening, we took a gentle walk to the port for our anniversary boat trip, a sunset cruise on the Captain Hook pirate boat round the bay. 

Once we left the harbour the sea was certainly a bit choppy, but it was just a short trip.

We entered the calm waters of the Venetian harbour to take pictures …

… and then returned to port.

The hotel had very kindly left us a celebratory bottle of fizz in our room …

… which we sipped by the pool before heading out for dinner.

Castello came well recommended …

… and we sat on the first floor balcony surrounded by warm buttery stone walls and climbing plants with the starry sky above. 

We started sharing a mushroom carpaccio with parmesan sauce and an amazing greek salad, followed by courgette stuffed with rice, mushrooms, herbs and lemon sauce for and caramelised pork belly with smoked aubergine puree and feta mousse.

All the food looked and tasted amazing and the bottle of Pink Blackbird was delicious. Such a lovely meal – the ambience, the food, the friendly waiters and obviously the company! 💕💕💕

The next day was our last and we began by visiting a workshop where three generations of the Stagakis family have been making handmade Cretian lyres in Rethymno. It was explained how important the wood selection is to the final sound of the instrument, with the front panel made of ancient cedar of Lebanon reclaimed from supporting beams  of old local houses. The instruments take around 10 days to make and and here is Manolis playing. 

They also sell other Greek instruments and played a couple so we could hear the different sounds. 

We spent the rest of the day relaxing by the pool, and reflected that Rethymno has really ticked all the boxes for our trip, which is great as we’ve never stayed for so long in one place.  Not only have we been especially lucky with the weather, which has been far warmer than we expected, but the hotel has proved a perfect oasis.  The steps are deliberately down, (26miles in 10 days) but with regular icepacks, Chris’s ankle has coped admirably.

The last ice cream was coffee for me and pistachio and biscuit for Chris, eaten in the square overlooking the minaret.  

In the evening, we took the remains of last nights fizz in a flask down to the sea and watched the Captain Hook take a turn round the harbour. 

We bumped into Nikolina and Rebecca, the girls from Switzerland who had kindly taken photos for us yesterday and like us they have had a great trip and are off home tomorrow.

Once dark, the harbour looked quite magical with all the twinkly lights.

We ended as we started, in Rakodikio in the shadow of the minaret, for a delicious dinner of mezzes – zucchini flowers stuffed with feta and mint, vine leaves filled with rice and herbs, spiced cheese dip, baked potatoes and mushrooms stuffed with smoked pork, onion and cream. 

After eating, we got chatting to Christian and Sinje on the next table and as the waiter decided we were getting on so well brought extra raki to celebrate!

The boys bonded over football and we were even invited to Cologne for a match, lovely but chilly in the winter so we’ll see!

Rethymno has been perfect, with plenty of rest & relaxation, time for recuperation & rehabilitation, as well as reconnoitring & recreation leaving us refreshed & restored!  It doesn’t matter what the R&R stands for … we’ve done it!

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The fortress dominates Rethymno,, built at the end of the C16th by the Venetians to provide defence against Turkish pirates. 

While it provided an adequate garrison for troops, it was not strong enough to withstand an attack so was easily conquered by the Turks in 23 days in 1646. Few buildings remain inside the walls …

… but there is a small mosque … 

… Ekaterini church …

… and some good views from the walls.

Back in the centre of the old town, The Archeology Museum is housed in the church of St Francis which was part of a Venetian monastery until the Ottomans incorporated it into the mosque, but there is still an arch supported by Venetian lions outside …

.. and an impressive doorway. 

Quite small, the collection contains a huge range of items found in the local area …

… but the most striking were the especially well preserved clay larnakes, chest shaped coffins, found at the Minoan Cemetery at Armeni.  

I loved the striking designs of squid and plants that decorated them …

… as well as this Minoan goddess.  

During our visit, the guide mentioned the site where these tombs had been excavated was only 15 minutes drive out of town, so we decided to take a cab and have a look.

We enjoyed exploring the little visited site …

… wandering between the scrub oaks …

… and being able to descend into several of the tombs. 

A deep sided passage or dromos led from the steps to the entrance, which would have been sealed by a large stone. 

Inside, most were just a small semi circular space where the remains had been found laid on the ground, but a couple of the larger tombs were rectangular …

… with a low bench along the walls and even had a pillar.

We were so pleased we made the effort to visit – it was very atmospheric actually standing in the tombs which were so old (1300BC) and carved out by hand using bronze tools. As an extra bonus, we stopped at a viewpoint on the way back and got a birds eye view of Rethymno.

One way to get a look at the countryside without hiring a car is on the Rethymno City Tour, aka the Hop On – Hop Off bus.

It begins by driving round the outside of the old town while telling its history, then heads off into the hills. We got off at each of the stops beginning with the Panagia Chalevi Monastery, now just a church dedicated to the Holy Virgin surrounded by a garden and the ruins of monastic buildings. 

Next up was Myli Gorge and on another occasion we would have been up for hiking the 3 mile length, but this time we just walked a short way. 

Some 30 mills worked the waters of the Mili Gorge from the C17th, supplying flour to the whole area but today the buildings are all in ruins, overtaken by the abundant greenery, and very photographic!

There are several churches along the route and the first of these, Agios Antonios, is built into the rock face. 

In the hamlet of Pano Mili, a small enterprising café has a terrace offering a view back across the gorge …

… but it doesn’t take long to see why the gorge wasn’t up to the rigours of modern industry when we saw the cafe supplies delivered in a crate by zip wire across the valley!

We walked on to a viewpoint beside another church …

… then retraced our steps and had a coffee before getting back on the bus.

The last two stops were the Military Museum, housed in an old Venetian summer villa …

… and the C14th Monastery of Aghia Irini which had become dilapidated but was restored in 1990 as a nunnery.  The foundations may be old, but everything else is new, including the icons and murals in the church which had been painted by the nuns, but which we couldn’t photograph!

Back to Rethymno, tomorrow is a day for celebration …

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Our hotel is as lovely as the photographs suggested and has charmed us both, remarkably tranquil despite being just a few steps from the bustling main street of the old town.

The building was originally home to one of the oldest public primary schools named Athena for the goddess of wisdom, but has since been transformed over three generations into a hotel. 

Our downstairs room is large, cool and decorated in calming neutrals …

… and opens out onto a tree filled courtyard where breakfast is served in the morning.  The attention to detail is excellent, with fresh orange juice, chunks of watermelon, Cretian baked treats and a thoughtful egg menu providing plenty of choice. 

The staff have all been very welcoming, friendly and helpful and regular entertainment has been provided by the antics of a very feisty kitten who may look cute but most definitely isn’t sweet!

Sunloungers around the pool provide a perfect retreat from the heat which has surprised us with most days reaching 30° at midday. 

The pool is perfect, just large enough to swim several strokes before turning and capable to reducing your body temperature in moments! 

The town beach is just a short walk …

… with lovely soft sand, warm sea and comfy loungers where the convenience far outweighed our desire for somewhere more picturesque.

The promenade was a good place to get some steps in, and I walked a couple of miles before returning.

It took a couple of days to settle and find our way around the old town, with its maze of streets and alleys filled with tavernas, cafes and shops.  Browsing did provide dividends though, as I have a new dress, a couple of bikinis and some stocking fillers for Christmas.

The sun starting to cool was the cue to go in search of our afternoon ice cream.  Meli was our first find, with homemade icecream made from local goats milk and amareno, pistachio and bitter chocolate all got the thumbs up.  Feeling we should spread the love, we tried Gelato di Nona, where we found out the ice cream was made by her grandfather in a nearby village. He also makes desserts including Portokolopita or Greek Orange Pie, a traditional cake made with dry leftover filo which is crumbled instead of using flour.   Orange Pie ice cream had to be the pick of the day – amazing … and a piece of the cake, when we found it, was pretty good too!  Cow’s Cream was needless to say screaming for a visit, but the ice cream was much softer and melted too fast, so after that, we went full circle and returned to Meli!

Having chosen our icecream flavour for the day … the next highlight was to choose where to eat in the evening and we have been spoilt for choice.  Soon realising that the menu was similar in most of the tavernas, the ones that caught our eye most were often down a backstreet where serving a meal involved the entire family. We tried a different one every night, enjoying how each serves their own twist on local favourites.

We found a great cocktail spot overlooking the harbour called Drink N Roll where we tried several of their Greek inspired cocktails, and favourites were Nostos with raki, passionfruit, gardenia and lime and Aegean Twist with raki, masticha liquer, fig and lemongrass.

This makes it sound like all we did was lie around and eat, but the mornings were spent exploring. As we walked the streets of the town, from the Venetian Harbour to the Fortezza we took snaps, browsed the shops and popped inside the odd church.

The harbour is quite a gem, built in the C14th by the Venetians, the port has been a busy hub for trade and commerce and is still used by local fishermen who bring in their catch, adding to its charm.  We walked down to the lighthouse that sits at its entrance and took photos back to the tavernas and cafes round its edge.

There is also a larger marina filled with swanky yachts …

… and a statue of two dolphins which was adopted as the symbol for the town. 

The Ottoman Neratze Mosque in the centre of the old town, was originally constructed as a church by the Venetians dedicated to Santa Maria …

… and like the smaller Kara Miss Pasha Mosque is now used for cultural events but both look a little unloved.  

Other highlights include the Venetian Loggia which was originally a meeting place for town officials but seems to be going through restoration  …

… the Rimondi fountain, named after the Venetian governor providing a must-have snap of the town …

… and Porta Guora, the main entrance through the Venetian city walls that protected the city of Rethymno.

Outside the gate, the new church of the Four Martyrs was built in 1977 to honour four local Christian farmers who were beheaded by the Ottoman Turks in 1824 for not converting to Islam and were later sainted. 

Next up, exploring a little further afield …

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A strange year for us without travels as Chris has been recovering from an ankle replacement since May and still has to take it easy.  After a summer with more cloud than sunshine, we were eager to escape for some warmth before settling into winter.

We have chosen Rethymno on the north coast of Crete as the days should generally be warm even if it’s cooler in the evening, and are staying at the Pepe Boutique hotel, in the heart of the old town with a sunny courtyard around a small pool, just in case we fancy a dip!  

Everything is right on our doorstep including a scattering of museums and churches, the Venetian harbour with its promenade and a selection of tavernas so we can keep walking within limits.  If we decide to hire a car, we can explore a little further afield, but the plan is just to take each day as it comes and enjoy.

Roaming the town …

Revealing the past …

Riding the waves …

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