The Thrilling Island Adventures of Crete: Days 1 and 2

Pulling into Crete on the ferry Wednesday morning

Day 1: Elafonisi Beach

Lisa and I hopped off the ferry, flagged down a cab, and arrived at the hotel at 8 am: Reneiris Hotel, on the northern coast of Crete in the western part of the island.  The receptionist was no where to be found. While we were waiting for him, I happened to notice an advertisement on the desk, saying there was an Elafonisi beach trip on Wednesday mornings. Elafonisi Beach was one of the top things on our list to do, but was a good distance from our hotel. We really lucked out: the hotel gave us our room early and offered us breakfast while the receptionist inquired to the tour company if we could join in on the trip. We started to get our things together when the receptionist called and told us the bus would be there in five minutes. We gathered what needed from our room and hurried to the breakfast pavilion to snatch some food, then ran down the flight of exterior stairs. Yes more stairs! The bus was waiting for us. We were on our way, hitting the ground running in Crete.

Our hotel up on the cliff

Elafonisi Beach is in the far southwest corner of Crete, and is recommended as one of the top beaches to visit. The roads to get there are single lanes through the mountains. The western side of Crete is called the Chania region (Hanya). It's mountainous, remote, and sparsely populated, with many dirt
roads and no highways. The roughly 65km trip was going to take about an hour and a half. Just like
in Italy, there are churches everywhere we go.

Now we thought we were on a bus just headed to the beach. However we soon discovered we had a tour guide and a few planned stops along the way. One stop was this place called the Cave of Angels. Our tour guide says that when the stalegmites and stalegtites meet time will end. We got to go into the cave and explore, with no restrictions. Climb, touch, see as much as you like! Then we continued on to the beach.

Cave of Angels 

I'll let these pictures show you how spectacular the beach is! One of the striking qualities that makes this place unique is that the beach has a narrow strip of pink sand just at the edge of the water line.

 

Elafonisi beach has a tiny island off the coast separated by some very shallow water. The island is only about a kilometer long and has sand, rocks, and some caves. There is a bit of sad history here. In 1824 on the day before Easter Sunday, the Turks invaded Crete at Elafonisi beach. During the
invasion, 600 women and children fled Crete and hid inside the cave on the island off Elafonisi Beach.  They were only discovered when a donkey was heard on the island. The women and children were captured Saturday. On Sunday morning, yes Easter morning, the Turks slaughtered all of them by slitting their throats. To this day, people believe that is why the sand is pink: it's their blood still washing ashore.

The cave

"This is the place where 600 women and children were slaughtered by Turks and their Egyptian allies on Easter Sunday the 24th April 1824

Day 2: The Safari

We had reserved this tour ahead of time, through toursincrete.com, choosing the Land Rover Safari Tour, thinking it would be a good way to see parts of the island we otherwise would not be able to.  The tour would take us to some of the most remote parts of the Chania region. Our driver, George arrived a half hour late, so late we were already thinking of alternative plans for the day, but we quickly forgave him after discovering his extremely amiable personality. 

Meet our friendly guide, George

Lisa and I soon found out, George was full of energy and a bit of a risk taker. He told us Greeks were
extremely sharing and giving. He just pulled over at one point early on and picked us figs off a farmer's tree (delicious!) He did this several times with all different types of nuts and fruits. He went on an on about how everything in crete is organic and pure with no chemicals. Then, in a touch of irony, he pulled out his cigarettes at one of our break stops.

Our first stop was at the oldest olive tree in the world, the olive tree of Vouves, approximately 3000 years old. This is the tree that supplied the olive leaves/branches for the Greek Olympic Games and each Olympics it supplies Greece's flag barrer with the olive leaves. They had a tiny museum at the stop, an old olive press and mill. The mill had three large round stone wheels that rolled to crush the olives. George said some English boys came to visit once and after seeing the mill decided to call themselves the Rolling Stones. We chuckled at that.

The Rolling Stones

One of the places we stopped was the entrance to the Samaria Gorge, the largest gorge in all of
Europe. We were planning on hiking the gorge the following day, and George was trying to talk us out of it. But he soon gave up and said with a huge smile, "ah, you're gonna love it!" So we saw the gorge from high above and had an amazing Greek lunch at the rustic restaurant perched over the gorge. All morning, George had been raving about his favorite dish: goat in a lemon sauce.  Lisa decided to give it a try while I had moussaka. I really enjoyed it, and Lisa thought the goat had pretty good flavoring, although it took a lot of work to get to the meat. 

Goat

Moussaka 

Greek salad

Throughout the seven hour tour, we learned a ton from George, who on multiple occasions called Crete "paradise." Lots of hometown pride here! Some interesting facts:

- no chemicals are used at all for farming. It's all organic!

-trees and power poles are painted with calcium to protect them from insects

- old tires are used as bee hives. The tires give off smell the repels the snakes that are predators.

-all beaches are free

-teachers get almost 4 months off in the summer due to the heat

-oranges and lemons are harvested twice a year on Crete

-green energy is very well accepted in Greece. Lots of windmills.

-Apple season is the same time of year in crete as in New York: September and October

-olive trees must be trimmed every seven years to keep them producing olives. A huge task considering there are 35 million olive trees on crete.

- olive trees only produce olives every other year.

-the one road leading to the Samari Gorge is paved every 5 years due to the harsh winters.

-some mountain roads are not allowed to be paved

-there are walking trails all over and even remote huts for over night stays

-3 meters of snow falls in the white mountains of crete in January and February, but down at the coast in some areas it never drops below 12 degrees Celsius (53 degrees Fahrenheit)

-no cows on Crete. The main animals raised for food are pig, chickens, and goat!

-very large white goats are endangered. Kill one and you get a very hefty fine and two days in prison.

-Italians and Greeks feel a bond to each other. George even told us about how letters were found from WW II, written by Italians who, as part of the Axis powers, were occupying Greece.  The letters had statements such as "why am I here, fighting my brothers?"

-tips for determining the quality of olive oil: you should not only be able to see the green tint, but a gold one as well. Unfortunately, manufacturers know this trick and started using bottles that aren't clear, so you can't tell.  The other way is to turn the bottle upside down.  You should've see many bubbles in the liquid if it's good quality.

-honey is the main sweetener on Greece and the best honey, according to George, comes from nectar from thyme leaves. Some honey producers will add sugar to the honey, which quickly crystallizes and gathers on the top.  So you want to get honey that doesn't have sugar crystals forming on the surface.

- All over Crete you can hear these noisy insects that sound a bit like crickets. George caught one and demonstrated how it can also be used as an electric toothbrush due to its fast moving legs.

The "chee chee " bug acting like an electric toothbrush (Side note from Lisa: Brad should be commended for being the only one from our tour group daring enough to try this. However, his first comment after sticking the bug in his mouth was, "I wish it hadn't been in George's mouth first [for the demonstration]!" Really Brad, that's what you were most concerned about??

Goat traffic jam.  They weren't happy that Lisa ate their brother.

Greek shoes, a run through history, and 2 kilos of cherries

Parthenon

Athens, Greece....like Rome, Athens was a more of an obligatory stop on this trip. Since we wanted to visit some of the Greek islands, we felt we should at least stop in Athens. And like Rome, I was pleasantly surprised.  The first thing Brad and I noticed as we left the airport on the metro was that the subway was pretty nice. I know Athens was pretty dumpy for awhile and they did a lot of revitalization work leading up to the 2004 Olympics. It certainly paid off!

View from our hotel balcony

Brad did a great job of finding us a hotel right in the central part of Athens.  We could see the Acropolis from our balcony...pretty cool! Seeing as that was one of the main attractions we were interested in, we headed there after getting settled into the hotel Monday afternoon.  With just over 24 hours in Athens, we knew we had to plan our time wisely.

I wish we had been able to get a guided tour of the Acropolis but the guides office right by the entrance was empty and after a few minutes of waiting, we gave up.  During the few minutes we were waiting, I had a good laugh when a dad and his two sons (they sounded American) walked right by me, talking about how hot they were (the sun is brutal here!!). The younger son, about 8, was saying, "yeah, I'm all sweaty and my underwear is really bunched up..." So I of course had to chime in from a  few steps away, "that sounds pretty uncomfortable!" The kid looked mortified and said nothing as he kept walking by. Sorry kid, but it happens to the best of us.  Thanks for the laugh!

Walking up to the Acropolis

The main attraction... The Parthenon

We spent over an hour wandering around the Acropolis, seeing the Parthenon, among many other ruins up on the hill (which is the acropolis) and below.  A quick history lesson: The wall up on the hill that currently surrounds the Acropolis was built by 1200 BC. By 480 BC, several monuments were in place in the Acropolis, including the original monument for Athena (for whom Athens is named) and the foundation of the Parthenon.  However, then the Persians came and destroyed quite a bit. The original Athena monument was gone, and in less than a decade, they built the Parthenon, in tribute to her.  Around the city, tons of other monuments were also built and worshipped.  However, if you remember from history classes, there were a lot of wars, and a lot of other peoples came in and destroyed the temples over the next 2000 years.  They literally hacked off beautiful pieces of art and looted or destroyed them.  Many were buried for hundreds of years and as a result, are in better condition than they might otherwise be. So anyway, as impressive as the structures are now, it's unbelievable to think of what they were like then.

After a great Greek dinner Monday night, Brad was interested in dessert so while I waited for him to get something, I chilled out in Monisteraki Square and people watched for a bit. The guy next to me, who I later found out was a life-long Athenian, started up a friendly conversation by asking, "where are you from, Italy?" Haha nope, but almost!

Delicious breakfast at the hotel

Greek yogurt in Greece is amazing!

We had plans Tuesday night to catch an overnight ferry that left the port at 10pm. So we knew we had to plan our day wisely.  Brad was in desperate need of new sneakers and I had heard about this guy, Stavros Mellissinos, the "poet-sandal maker of Athens." The family-owned sandal-making shop has been around for like 85 years and the grandson has continued on with it.  He is the last custom-made, hand-made shore artisans in Athens and dozens of celebrities, including the Beatles, Jackie O, Sarah Jessica Parker, etc, have been customers.  I was interested, and the shop was just a few minutes from the hotel. I chose from 30 or so different designs, and they took a sample pair in my size and then custom -fitted the leather to match my feet. For 32 euro, it wasn't bad at all.  Brad, meanwhile, found a pair of Adidas sneakers for 130.  I think I got the better deal here....

My Greek sandals 

After that we made our way to the  Panathenaic Stadium, another must-see.  Built on the site of the ancient Olympic Games, this stadium hosted the first of the modern era of Olympics in 1896. It's also the only stadium in the world entirely made of marble. It was 3 euro to enter and you got a free audio tour, which was fascinating. After the tour, despite the sizzling heat, I decided to get in a short workout on the track, realizing this was an opportunity that probably wouldn't come again and I needed to run anyway.  So I did! It was pretty awesome. The track, by my measurements, came out just over 400 meters, but the straightaways are about 185m, so those are some tight turns! The surface was pretty decent, too.  During the entire time we were there touring, not one person ran on it, but once I started, a bunch of others did a lap or partial lap for a photo op. Several hours later, on our away to dinner, a guy we were passing recognized me from running on the track earlier! Cool fact: the distance of the straightaway measured one stade, a unit of measure, and that's how the word stadium got its origin.

The rest of the day consisted of some more historical sights, the acropolis museum, which was pretty cool, dinner, and heading to the port for our transport to Crete. On the way we stopped at some fruit vendors to pick up some fruit for the ride. Brad and I each went to a different one and each requested a bit of cherries, which went for 1.69 a kilo.  I guess they didn't want to try to figure out the math, because the smallest they would give each of us was one whole kilo! So now we have two kilos of cherries to eat up. That's a heck of a lot of cherries! Good thing the fruit in Europe is so delicious!

All in all, Athens was great, a notch above Rome. I'd give it an 8.

Acropolis Museum

Dinner Tuesday night: souvlaki and "stuffed hamburger" with cheese inside...and no bun

Heading toward our ferry as the sun was setting

Proud to be an Italian

My impressions of Napoli:

Just over a week ago, on our last day in Lucca, Sarah and I ran into to a guy from California that we had previously met in the Lucca market, who was staying in the city for few weeks. He asked about our trip and I listed off the places I would be going post-Lucca. When I mentioned Napoli, he immediately cut in, saying, "Don't waste your time in Napoli." I pointedly responded, "My family is from Napoli!" And he wisely didn't say anything further on the subject.

Arriving in Aversa, 104 years after my great grandfather left

However, despite my defense of the city, I wasn't entirely sure of what to expect, as except for the pizza, Napoli doesn't have the best reputation. Well, I am happy to report after spending several days here that Napoli is definitely worth a visit! As in any urban area, there are of course some not-so-nice areas, but there are many different things to see and do and lots of picturesque views.  And the freshness of the food is unlike anything I've had! If I had to sum up Napoli in one word, I would use the word "character." Napoli has lots of character!

Here's the verdict on several key components:

THE PEOPLE:
-many Neapolitans do seem a little rough around the edges at first, but all the ones we have talked to have been very nice. And when I've mentioned that my family is from the area, their faces immediately light up! Best of all was meeting Guiseppe D'aniello outside his photography shop in Naples. He was thrilled to hear my name was also D'Aniello and he insisted we take multiple photos together. If we traced the family tree back far enough, we'd probably find we're tenth cousins or something like that!

-Neapolitans are so proud of who they are! It's actually been fairly amusing at how much regional pride there is, not only here, but all throughout Italy. Nino talked about how you could spend a few weeks in Napoli and not run out of things to do, and added, "I don't know why anyone would want to go to Rome for even a week."  He was curious about my opinions of Milano, as based on what he pointed out, every single thing was better in Napoli than Milano.  Nino also mentioned how the Royal Palace of Caserta was built to look like Versailles, and many say this is nicer. He couldn't say, though, because he'd never been to Versailles. "Why would I go to Versailles when I have this beautiful palace right here??" He did make one concession, though, admitting that while Neopolitan wine is good, the best Italian wine is in Toscana.

-there used to be hundreds of different dialects spoken across Italy, but in the last century, through the invention of mass media and in attempts to further unify the country, one official italian language was proclaimed. This is the language that I've been attempting to learn.  Well, Nino informed us that just a few months ago, a second national language of Italy was announced: Neapolitan! I couldn't help but groan inside, thinking, "should I attempt to learn that language too??" After all, this is where I am registered as an Italian citizen.

-while I did not come across any rude or aggressive men, some stereotypes did prove to be true....particularly the one about italian men and their moms.  We thought it was funny to learn that not only did Nino's sister live next door, but his mother lived downstairs.  When I asked Nino to use his washing machine, there were a bunch of clothes in it. He had Pascuale go get the grandmother, as she was the one who had done the laundry, even though she had her own machine downstairs.  "Sometimes she washes my clothes," Nino explained with a smile.  Then, when I asked him how to use the machine, he looked at it for a moment and then admitted, "I don't know, my mother always washes our clothes!" Luckily Nonna was around for him to ask!

View of our balcony from the room in Nino's place

-one other thing I found to be particularly entertaining was when I went for my run on Friday. I planned a basic 3 mile loop, wrote down the directions, but of course got lost, with less than a mile to go. The lack of street signs and constantly changing names did not make it easy. So I kept stopping to ask for directions (silently thanking the Italian audio CD I listened to that really focused on direction-asking!) and probably asked 8-10 people as I went along. Now remember, I was within a mile of where I needed to be, and the majority of Italians have spent their whole lives in the area they live.  Well, not one single person knew where I had to go. I began to feel like I was in a comedy routine, unbeknownst to me. I would see someone that looked nice, stop and ask, "dov'e via Giovanni Pacoli?" (Where is Giovanni Pascoli Street?) And every single person would repeat, "Via Giovanni Pacoli? Hmm...uno momento!" and they would walk over to someone else and repeat my question. This happened close to 10 times! And I think a lot of the responses were incorrect, because I definitely got turned around. So I ended up asking at most street corners to ensure that I was on the correct route.  There was even one time when I saw a guy in his 20s in the front yard of a house and I said, "Questa e via Cavour?" (Is this street Cavour St?" The guy turned to the lady behind him and said, "Ma, e via Cavour?" (Mom, is this Cavour Street?) He didn't even know his own mother's street! (For all I know, he could have lived there, too!)

THE PIZZA: while all the food was excellent (even the gelato seemed consistently better than other cities). Napoli is of course known for being the birthplace of pizza. Before this trip, the best pizza I'd ever had was Sally's in New Haven, CT.  As a fourteen year old, I ate nine slices there in one sitting.  So I was excited to see how Napoli compared.  Brad and I got pizza for dinner both Friday and Saturday nights, at two different places Nino recommended. Both were fantastic! What really caught our attention was the flavors, so fresh and vibrant! While the pizzas are all cooked in brick ovens, they came out still soft, so it was kind of like eating the pizza on naan bread. They were great, of course....but, I am a big texture person, and I love the crispy dough of Sally's, so I think I might have to go with New Haven pizza on this....maybe Napoli will prove me wrong next time!

THE HISTORY: I hadn't realized how fascinating the history of Naples was. Between all the castles, the underground tunnels, the eruptions of Mount Vesuvius, and the sites of Pompeii and Herculaneum (Ercolano), there is so much to take in.  Nino encouraged us to visit Ercolano over Pompeii, as the civilization there was much better preserved after it was covered in the eruption of 79 AD, plus it is a lot smaller than Pompeii, which takes a full day to see on its own. So our final day in Napoli we toured Vesuvius (the kid in me couldn't help but excitedly think, "I'm perched on the edge of a real live volcano!) - the last eruption being in the forties so they are probably due for another soon - followed by Ercolano, which was preserved so incredibly well. It was an amazing sight. Another cool thing I hadn't really thought about...Neopolitans originally came from Greece, thousands of years ago. So it makes it fitting that Greece is the other country we decided to explore on this trip!

This woman and her dog absolutely cracked me up

Vesuvius from the distance

Ever hear of this Neopolitan song? It was written for the cable car that used to go up Vesuvius.

Ercolano (Herculaneum) 

Ercolano was buried under 50-60 feet of lava that turned into fertile ground.  The civilization wasn't discovered until the 1700s when some guys were trying to build a well.

The coolest part of Ercolano, in my opinion, but also the saddest.  The ancient shoreline used to be much further inland and the grass you see in this photo was ocean. These are the boathouses of the people of Ercolano.  They weren't discovered until 1980 and hundreds of skeletons were found inside of people who had been trying to escape.  If you look closely, you can see some of the bones by the door openings. 

I was disappointed not to learn any more about my family while in Napoli or see the address where my great-grandfather was born, but without a car and so little time, it just wasn't doable on this trip. I will surely be back, though.  The Italy phase of this adventure is officially over, as I am writing this from the plane to Athens.  Using my Italian passport at the airport and communicating with the check-in guy fully in Italian, I couldn't help but feel so proud! Yes, I am a citizen of this wonderful country!

Final gelato count: 121 

Now that I've toured Italy, here are my views on the cities I visited, on a sliding scale of 1-10, 1 being definitely don't go; 5 being it might be worth a look for a couple days but if you don't make it, don't stress; and 10 being you must visit and spend as much time as you can there!

Milano: 5

Venezia: 9 (definitely a place to visit, but probably just for a few days)

Lucca: 10 (yes, I am biased. If you love big cities you might get bored here...but it was just perfect for me)

Firenze: 8

Cinque Terre: 10

Roma: 7 (the massive amounts of tourist prevented this from being higher)

Napoli: 8

So long for now, Napoli!