Day two of making it to Crete. We had to get up extra early since flying requires a hefty amount of preplanning. First, while it has nothing to do with flying, it still takes time. We had to get up 30 minutes earlier than we would usually need to just so we could turn on the water heater. The Greek are weirdly energy conscious when it comes to hot water. Everywhere we stayed, at the exception of hotels, we had to turn on the water heater, wait for it to do its function, then get a warm shower.
Anyway, when flying there’s getting to the airport, the buffer time for confused people going through security; this time around a man going through the metal detector with his phone, charging cable and keys in his pocket not understanding why the detector complained. Then there’s the semi-mandatory, one-hour wait before departure. Not forgetting that there’s the one-hour transit to get to the airport. So two and a half hours to then fly for fifty-five minutes. All that put together meant a 9:00 alarm. A terribly early time for vacations.
Now, early breakfast didn't mean skipping a good breakfast. We stopped by 📍72H bakery for a cinnamon roll each, a swiss roll for me and a feta cheese swirl for Karine. They were all excellent.
We made it to the airport and through security without issues, with the exception of the phone, cable and keys weirdo. That gave us a little extra time at the airport lounge (contrary to Air Canada, Aegean doesn't seem to have oversold access).
The flight itself was short and uneventful. The Heraklion airport is fairly small but they don’t trust us to cross a “road”. From the plane’s parking we were taken by bus a 100 meters to the doors, where we were allowed to enter the terminal. It took us a good minute to exit to the other side of the terminal and start looking for the bus.
There are a number of buses between the airport and the edge of downtown Heraklion. It’s less than a 15-minute ride and costs 1.20€ per person to ride and, during daytime at least, there’s a departure roughly every 10 minutes. One would think that should be the most obvious way to travel between the airport and the city center right? No! You’ll find huge signs guiding you to the taxi stands but no signs informing travellers of availability of buses. If you exit the airport terminal, cross the car rental stand, go around the taxi line, you’ll see, mostly hidden by trees, the single sign to public transportation. Now, I don't want to accuse anybody of prioritizing the revenues of the local taxi business over the collective good of public transportation funding, but, if I was, I would be looking at the local airport authorities very closely.
We found our Airbnb very easily and the self check-in was a breeze. Other than a floor numbering snafu, we got to our rooftop apartment for the next two nights. We also discovered that downtown Heraklion seem to have more restaurants than shops. No wonder it’s one of UNESCO's creative cities for gastronomy.
We went and grabbed the essentials for our stay on Crete (sunscreen and bodywash) and a couple of other things at the nearby supermarket and headed out to explore a little and daydrink.
First stop was Think Tank. Karine still wanted to confirm that Greek rosé is not a thing and oh boy did the place deliver. They didn't have much to offer so it’s not worth further mention. We decided to try somewhere else that specialized in mezze but while setup to receive patrons it didn't have anybody. We didn't escape the perception than an empty restaurant is a bad restaurant and found a spot to stop by up the street. With so many places open and busy there was a plethora of options. We had white wine and Dakos barley crouton with crushed tomato and feta. The wine was good and the toast too so we called it a win and went back to our airbnb to until dinner time.
Dinner was at 📍Ippokampos (sea horse). We were happy with their windshields all around their terrace as it got windy and cooler now that the sun had set. The temperature went down to 21°C; with the wind it felt much cooler. Nonetheless, we braved the cold and ordered a mountain of food:
- Zucchini balls (really grated zucchini patties with mint and a good quantity of cheese mixed in then fried)
- Grilled vegetables (onions, mushrooms, zucchinis, bell peppers, eggplants, onions, light carrots with half a boiled potato. All of it drowned in olive oil with some oregano on top)
- Fried cheese balls (self descriptive but had cardamom sprinkled in the batter for some unknown reason. To mess with the tourist maybe?)
- Grilled sardines in, of all things, an unadvertised mustard sauce)
- Fried anchovies (surprisingly exactly as advertised)
- Grilled grouper fish with a side of grilled vegetables. Exactly what it said on the tin (well menu, no tin was involved in the making of that fish)
We wanted vegetables and fish. Karine informed me that, some how, fried cheese is part of the vegetables. I know there is not a strict botanical definition of a vegetable but I would have guessed there was a line and that line was before cheese. Who knew?
In true Cretean tradition we were offered a small dessert who turned out to be two pieces of cake and grapes, and some jet fuel (also called Tsikoudia or Raki). They tell me that the jet fuel is a pomace brandy distilled from the residue of pressed grapes after winemaking. At 40% to 65% alcohol by volume and the taste I maintain jets run on that stuff.
Tomowrrow we’re exploring the city and it’s archeological museum before hitting the road the day after.
Places
72H Artisanal Bakery & Eatery Athens · Athens
Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.
maps.app.goo.gl
www.unesco.org
www.unesco.org
Ippokampos · Heraklion
Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.
maps.app.goo.gl
