29/05/2023
Hello, lovelies! It’s been a minute since last I wrote a travel post, but I’m back, baby! Without further ado, let’s talk about Greece—Crete, if we want to be more specific. Opa! 🇬🇷💕🏝
Day 1:
I flew into Heraklion by way of Athens where “the two Allisons” (my cousin and my friend, each with the same name) whisked me away to the nearby village of Ligaria, about 20 minutes up the coast where our friend group was staying at a fabulous Airbnb. (Check out Villa Ligaria Pinnacle if you’re looking for a lux house on Crete with a pool that can sleep 8 with 4 bedrooms.) Upon arrival, I drank in the breathtaking view and a glass of Prosecco before my friends whipped up an equally gorgeous meal of roasted lamb, zucchini, and mushrooms with a fresh tomato-cucumber salad. (If you don’t have authentic Cretan olive oil and herbs from the village you’re staying in, store bought is fine.)
⭐️Pro tip—if renting a car on Crete, go ahead and spring for the SUV. The winding roads, while charming, require a little more oomf to get up into those steep, beautiful hills. Also know that an American SUV and a European SUV are not the same, particularly when you add luggage into the equation. Pack accordingly!
Day 2:
Start it off strong!! Half day sailboat ride to the island of Dia? Yes, please! ⛵️We parked right by the marina where our boat was docked and had a quick coffee and breakfast at the cafe right there on the water. Fair warning—the chocolate Nutella waffle here is a serious undertaking.
Side note: The island of Crete does not accept AmEx. Bring another card.
What a perfect day to be on a boat! The color of the water was a deep, vivid blue that brought to mind Meryl Streep’s famous Miranda Priestly monologue where poor Anne Hathaway’s cerulean sweater and dignity are shredded to pieces. The Aegean Sea was chilly and salt👏y👏, but that didn’t stop your girl from swimming ashore after a Charma beer or three. Dia island is no longer accessible by boat due to government protections, but you can swim to land if your boat anchors down nearby. It was a long-ish swim, but because the water is so salty, it’s easy to take a break and float, fully supported. Joseph, our skipper for the day, cooked us way too much food for our lunch on the boat —fresh prawn tomato linguini.
Like I said, the island is uninhabited, but it is still home to St. George’s church, visited by a priest once a year to put up a fresh coat of white paint. Before St. George’s was built there, however, the island was famous for a well-known mythical tale. According to legend, Zeus was raised by Almathea the goat 🐐in a cave somewhere nearby on Crete. His daddy Cronus wanted Zeus dead and sent a hungry sea dragon to attack. Zeus threw “a piece of bread” (ie a tiny island) in front of the sea creature to eat instead, so the monster veered away from Crete long enough for Zeus to summon a storm 🌩. Then presto-change-o, the sea creature and the piece of bread were changed to stone forever with a magical lightning bolt. (The island of Dia’s mountains look like a dragon’s spine, head to tail, emerging to the surface of the water, pointed straight at a smaller, round island as the piece of bread.) Pretty cool! 🐉
After freshening up, we found ourselves lounging at Liber Ligaria for drinks that turned into dinner. They have a picturesque patio with lots of little seating and dining nooks. I had a grilled octopus appetizer and a mushroom risotto that was to die for! Wine pairing: Karavitakis Winery’s Kompsos white blend of Vidiano, Asyrtiko, and Malvasia, all indigenous grapes! Floral white orchard blossoms and lemon zest on the nose with white peach, apricot, and salinity revealed on the palate.
Day 3:
After a lazy morning, we got ourselves together to spend the day exploring Heraklion. There is a beautiful Venetian stone fountain at the city center, surrounded by quaint bistros offering outdoor dining under umbrellas. We gave Phyllo Sophie’s a try for lunch—get it? Philosophy? (Gotta appreciate a good pun!) It had the best view of the fountain with the most shade. We all ordered a bunch of items to share, but their pastries were divine. My favorite was made from phyllo that looked like a bird’s nest! They also had a bottled mint lemonade that was very refreshing, but I can’t remember the brand.
We divided up for a few hours to mosey and shop, shop and mosey. I found a wonderful jewelry shop tucked in a cozy little open market about a 5 minute walk away from Morosini fountain. An old church (that used to be a mosque I think?) offered peaceful respite in between the hustle and bustle of tourists. Sitting there a moment among the splashes of watercolor light from the stained glass was a pleasant, serene moment.⛪️ I lit a few candles in honor of loved ones who have passed away.
At 6:00, we reunited at a bar called Bitters. Not much to say about the atmosphere (it was supposed to be a speakeasy, but was moreso tucked into the inner corner of what felt like a small mall). However, the cocktail menu was extensive, boasting lots of herbal shrub recipes with historic roots. My drink was called a Purple Clover (maybe?)—lavender and gin with egg whites for a silky texture. Delicious!
Dinner that night was back in Ligaria at a place we fondly called, “The Uncles,” but was actually called Kavourina. A few folks in our group who had arrived to Crete earlier than the rest ate here on their first night and said we absolutely had to go back. So we did! We never even had to place an order; they just sent in platter after platter of items to share, family style. My favorite dish was the roasted lamb with green beans, which went great with a bottle of Xinomavro Merlot blend. Notes of black cherry, bay leaf, vanilla, and toasted oak had a strong enough backbone to stand up to YaYa’s fall-off-the-bone recipe for a slow-cooked roast! There was also a white bean side dish of which I happily had second and third servings. Finish it off with a round of raki (Opa! See more on that below!) and two different kinds of honeyed baklava, and we all went home very happy campers.
Day 4:
Pool day/nap day! Really, our villa was pretty spectacular. A stray calico cat begrudgingly came to terms with our group’s existence after a little coaxing with leftover lamb bones. We took turns freshening up and went back into Heraklion for a FABULOUS night!
If you want one fancy dinner on Crete, get you a reservation at Peskesi and plan to go next door to their wine bar, Kelari, for a custom guided tasting flight of ALL CRETAN WINES! You heard me. At Peskesi, there were plenty of culinary showstoppers—from the olive oil menu to a smoked thyme pork chops (as in the thyme was sitting in a little clay dish that was lit tableside for you as the pork chops hung above, taking in the smoke bath). I had a delectable phyllo-wrapped something with a silky smooth legume purée. They also sent over not one, but two bottles of raki—the classic recipe and a strawberry rose-infused recipe.
Kelari was my time to nerd out on wine. The majority of Grecian wine producers do not export to America, so I was eager to taste and learn! Pictured is our flight of 6 bottles—1 white, 2 rosé, and 3 red. I most enjoyed the white selection and the final two reds of the series. My memory is admittedly a little fuzzy on details for this part of the trip, but I’ll do my very best!
(Silly story: The menu had a wine section labeled “Rare Babies,” which I later inferred to mean “youthful wines that are hard to get because they are from low production boutique wineries.” 😆)
Ok! The Kelari Wines:
White: Iliana Malihin Vidiano, young vines. A fragrant white wine that jumped out of the glass with lemongrass and floral notes to your nose, but also had substantial texture of creamy lees with lemon, grapefruit, and salinity. Would have been wonderful with seafood!!🥂
2nd Red: Sinadinaki’s Kotsifali Cabernet Sauvignon blend—my favorite of the trip!! Dark and complex—violet, fresh blackberry, and toasty oak on the nose, then the palate revealed blackberry jam, black currant, vanilla, and nutmeg, plus something slightly herbal…not mint or bay…perhaps tarragon? SO GOOD! Strong tannins, but not out of place. 🍷
***We also had a bottle of another 100% Kotsifali with dinner that was wonderful, but I didn’t get a picture!
3rd Red: Pi (insert long Greek word that I don’t have the letters for, but you can look at the picture of all the bottles lined up to find it) Mavro—rich and alluring. Stewed black cherry, baking spice, and dark chocolate. Smelled a touch oxidized at first, but it wafted away with a enough swirls. Strong flavor intensity was balanced by well-incorporated tannins. 🍷
Day 5:
We tried to go to the Heraklion Greek Food Festival, but the rain finally got us. We improvised and did some final souvenir shopping and bar hopping. Coffee is the real deal over here, and I was told a Cappuccino Freddo was the drink to try. It has about 2 inches of that thick-thick foam. I can’t say that I’m a fan, but I’m not the one to ask. I’m more of a tea drinker, myself.
We did end up darting into two very good bars: Parko and The Stone Project. Parko made my favorite cocktail of the week, the Aegean Smash, consisting of mastiha spirit (a cedar-honey profile liqueur made from the resin of a Greek mastic tree), elderflower, cucumber, basil, and lime with a sweetened egg white froth. Whoa, man, was it good or what?! Lots of outdoor seating with covered areas, attentive service, and great bar snacks. At the The Stone Project, I had a fun cocktail called The Garden, made with gin, lavender, and thyme. Floral, but balanced—sometimes I feel like adding floral herbs on top of a gin is the cocktail equivalent of church lady perfume. This was not that! The Stone Project had a bright, eclectic aesthetic with a “Don’t be an asshole” political vibe. We also saw one of our previous bartenders drinking here, so you know it had to be legit! 🍸🍹
Returned back to our villa for dinner at home to use up our leftovers. Again, mis amigos can COOK! What did they throw together? Oh, you know, just grilled lamb, a garlic lemon orzo, tomato-cucumber salad, charred zucchini, and sautéed mushrooms with the last few bottles of Assyrtiko and Aperol Spritzes. Real casual. No big deal. I picked wildflowers to put into shot glasses and set the table. We sang Happy Birthday to our dear friends Wes and Len, and enjoyed a surprise Black Forest chocolate cake that was a surprise to no one.
Oh, and if you’re interested in a Spotify playlist of the greatest country music songs of all time, let me know because the chosen topic of conversation for the evening was a heated 3.5 hour debate over a song-against-song 16-seed bracket. (For the record, Alison Krauss and Brad Paisley’s “Whiskey Lullaby” didn’t advance through the first round, and I’m still upset about it.) 🎶🎶
Day 6: Was I there another day? I think I was there another day. 😆 At some point, we stayed in and watched an important episode of Succession together. Some people broke off to visit historical sites like Knossos where the mythical Minotaur lurked in a labyrinth. It was still raining some, so I think I was napping. We reunited and went to dinner somewhere right on the beach in Ligaria, but I honestly don’t remember too much about it. I had pastichio maybe? Straight up comfort food.
Of course, every good vacation is punctuated by the fresh hell of packing up once more, but arranging for a taxi back to Heraklion airport the next day was relatively painless—outside of the God forsaken hour of my actual departure!
Which brings me, dear friends, to the end of my Cretan adventure!
Highlight: The Grecian wine flight at Kelari—our sommelier was so knowledgeable and passionate! I’m thrilled to have Kotsifali as a new favorite grape on my radar to enjoy! 🍇
Wine Nerd Moment: 🤓So of course I’ve heard of Ouzo before coming to Greece, and certainly enjoyed trying it. However, I had no clue what Raki was! (It’s fermented grape juice that is twice distilled—so take wine and then distill it into a stronger proof alcohol. Brandy, Cognac, Pisco…all in the same family.) Anyway, nearly every restaurant we went to sent over a round of shots to conclude the meal and said it was Raki, not Ouzo, leading me to conclude that Raki is more prevalent on Crete for some reason. Sure enough, a quick Wikipedia search revealed that serving Raki is a Cretan gesture pulled from Turkish tradition that means friendship and nobility. It is served unsweetened, while Ouzo is typically a little sweeter. They’re both a clear brandy, alcohol made from distilling wine further, and can sometimes be flavored with anise, which would make it taste kind of like a subtle licorice vodka.
Pleasant Surprise: Crete was not as beach-centric as I thought it would be. Much more of an off the radar mini foodie hot spot, especially when it comes to mixology.
Cultural Difference: Ok, weird thing for me to comment on…but…mean girls? I can safely say that many women working in the customer service roles I encountered in Greece were much more brusque than what I am accustomed to dealing with in American culture. That effervescent, happy-to-help-you vibe was missing for the most part in Greece, unless that customer service role was being performed by a man. In that case, my friends and I were given a much warmer customer service experience, by far. 🤷♀️ I suppose it’s kind of like going to a diner in Chicago—don’t expect sunshine and smiles, just git-er-done and NEXT. Effective, sure, but leaving something to be desired. (Let’s be clear—there’s nothing wrong with a woman choosing not to smile!! This particular disposition just seemed prevalent enough to chalk it up to a more widespread cultural difference.) That said, I think I would have liked to have been more prepared to encounter this dynamic the first few times so as not to take it personally.
Crete gets a 10/10 on being a fabulous vacation spot! Beautiful weather, plenty to do, LOTS to eat and drink. There’s definitely something for everyone, and I’d love to go back to explore other parts of the island.
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