Moin everybody! “ Crete and return please! “ – that would be great right? I did it! Not that spontaneously, but I did it. Three weeks in advance I booked this trip together with my girlfriend. And this trip brought a lot of positives but also negative experiences with it. But there has just been one negative thing which you will read about soon… But first:
THE SERVICE
The L’tur service at the airport Bremen was great! We talked a lot and the staff told me about their own experiences in Crete. One of the employees even contacted the hotel to check if we could get a renovated apartment. That was a pretty cool thing – during the booking they checked if they could generate some vouchers so the costs get reduced a little. That worked, since I’m registered online and a birthday voucher was still valid!
The L’tur service at the airport Bremen was great! We talked a lot and the staff told me about their own experiences in Crete. One of the employees even contacted the hotel to check if we could get a renovated apartment. That was a pretty cool thing – during the booking they checked if they could generate some vouchers so the costs get reduced a little. That worked, since I’m registered online and a birthday voucher was still valid!
THE HOTEL
Let’s talk about the only negative experience Elif and I had to make.
The Hotel Troulis Apartments s****d to be honest… The ones who followed my stories on @chorengel a little, already got a small impression. The first thing was the bed – two single beds instead of a double bed, uncomfortable and not fixed, so the single beds had to be pushed together several times. Not suitable for a couple. The kitchen furniture spreaded a terrible smell when opening the doors – we didn’t want to use the glasses and plates accordingly. The bathroom was pretty small what is not the problem on first sight. Even smaller was the shower with it’s huge curtain (at least it should’ve been a shower cabin). But I have to say it was clean! Wifi or general connection didn’t exist in our room – I mean it’s not the most important thing in your holidays to have Wifi, but somehow it’s still annoying. Another horrible thing was the breakfast. Bad variety, bad quality and presented very loveless. So everyday we had bread, olive oil, eggs and Feta. The cucumbers and tomatos were more or less acceptable.
Enough with the negatives…
BALÍ
The small village Balí, where we stayed for one week, was small but cute. It’s located very good between the big cities Chania and Heraklion and offers four beaches. All of them are reachable by walk if your not having problems with a little „hiking“. Our thighs and butts are strong like never before! In Balí exist very traditional but also modern taverns where you can eat excellent. And all the staff members are super friendly and corteous.
The small village Balí, where we stayed for one week, was small but cute. It’s located very good between the big cities Chania and Heraklion and offers four beaches. All of them are reachable by walk if your not having problems with a little „hiking“. Our thighs and butts are strong like never before! In Balí exist very traditional but also modern taverns where you can eat excellent. And all the staff members are super friendly and corteous.
ACTIVITIES
If you’re planning to visit Crete, you should definitely rent a car for at least 3 – 4 days. Don’t invest too much money into a big car, since you’re only allowed to drive max. 120/130 km/h and many parts have a max. of 90 km/h. We rent a Fiat Panda at were happy with it!
If you’re planning to visit Crete, you should definitely rent a car for at least 3 – 4 days. Don’t invest too much money into a big car, since you’re only allowed to drive max. 120/130 km/h and many parts have a max. of 90 km/h. We rent a Fiat Panda at were happy with it!
On our first day with the car we headed to Chania. Chania is a very beautiful city, not too big and not too small with a lot of possibilities. In the small port of Chania you can find a lot of taverns – some of them try to „catch“ you, some of them don’t. A little more in the center you can find cute little shops and also modern shops for shopping and everywhere you find these small alleys where you can take a lot of pictures. #instacity
On our second day we wanted to start the day more relaxed, but in the end of the day we’ve been even more exhausted than the day before. I guess the height meters are the reason for that. First stop was Balos Beach. You can reach Balos Beach by boat or by car, but I`m pretty sure that it’s more exciting by car. By car you have to drive up to a montain – the last 8km have to be solved with 20 km/h, since it’s a very rocky road. Already the views from this rocky road are worth the 2 hours drive in total. Sometimes goats pass your way too until you arrive the beach. On the mountain you can find a free parking place – from now on you have to hike! If you have the possibility to bring solid shoes, do it! Elif made the way in flipflops though. I think there is no need to describe Balos Beach itself, just look at the pictures. #paradisebeach
Same with Elafonsi Beach – getting there through the serpentines is also very exciting!
Day 3 was a mix of citytour and beach day. We started the day pretty early to drive to the capital of Crete – Heraklion. A big city, very modern, maybe a little bit „too modern“. It’s missing the charme which we liked in Chania. Still Heraklion has a beautiful center with a lot of shopping- and food possibilities. Against our plan we left Heraklion after our lunch to go to a beach located between Heraklion and Balí.
THIRD WAVE COFFEE
My favorite café in Bremen is definitely the YellowBird – cool staff, cool variety of food and drinks, cool people who come there and it’s simply a cool location. In total it’s pretty cool. One day the founder Daniel recommended to check out the Third Wave Coffee Map before my next trip. If you check this map out, you can find three spots on Crete. Elif and I visited all three cafés and have been impressed three times. In Chania we had our coffee at „Coffee Lab“, in Rethymnon at „Brew Your Mind“ and in Heraklion at „Think Tank“. As already said, all three coffee shops were great, very good coffee/espresso, nice staff and consulting and top locations. Especially the „Think Tank“ was amazing. it has a area in front of the café, a backyard and a rooftop – all areas equiped with olive trees and other plants – simply DOPE!
RESULT
Don’t miss to visit Crete – a breathtaking island with a lot of sights and possibilities. Rent a car and discover the island. But I recommend to book a very good hotel including breakfast. Lunch and dinner in Crete’s taverns is great.
Don’t miss to visit Crete – a breathtaking island with a lot of sights and possibilities. Rent a car and discover the island. But I recommend to book a very good hotel including breakfast. Lunch and dinner in Crete’s taverns is great.
GENTLEMAN’S WORD
Try to learn some important words and frases of the country you visit. It’s very respectful against the natives and you’ll receive the same respect back.
