We Are In Greece!

So I really thought I would catch up on my blog after we parted ways with our friends in Kotor, but after a short burst of ambition and coming close to closing the gap I became a complete sloth. We have not been adventuring near as much we have throughout other places in Europe but we are putting in a lot of beach time. In retrospect, had I put some money into purchasing a new lightweight tablet with a keyboard rather than lugging my ancient (2013) Mac Book Pro around the world I would be way more productive. Wait. This may be a lie. While I would never drag my heavy Mac with me to the beach I know I also wouldn’t want to risk damaging a new and expensive piece of tech by having it anywhere near the sand. Okay, never mind. Regardless, I have fallen way behind. As I write this we are in Naxos which is our 5th stop in Greece in 23 days. We arrived in Chania on the island of Crete on the 30th of September and will be in Greece until October 29th when we fly into Asia. So let’s talk about Chania (pronounced han-ya).

Water, Food, and Other Essentials

In Croatia the tap water (or pipe water as they say) was drinkable, but you had to buy it everywhere you ate. In Greece the tap water is only drinkable on some of the larger islands like Crete. The nice thing here is that they actually provide you with water when you’re dining, and it’s free! What a novel idea. What they do charge for in many restaurants is the bread they automatically bring to the table but that’s only around a Euro so I don’t see the big deal, although we have read many reviews of people whinging about it on Trip Adviser and other forums. Some people even referred to this as “Greek scams”, which is super over the top. Really you are getting charged like a Euro and a half for the bread but you are actually getting beautiful fresh bread, water, dessert and more Raki than you (meaning I) would want (a tiny jar of about 5 ounces) so I think people are being ridiculous. Yes, that’s right, every place gives you a little dessert after your meal, no matter the time of day, and Raki.

We also soon discovered that they really want you to eat all of your food. All of it. Our first waiter (Costo) said we would not be allowed to leave until we had finished everything. Then he brought us the dessert and Raki we had not anticipated. So not only did we not finish all of our first meal but we also didn’t finish our unexpected lemon cake. We did have the Raki, which is the same as the Croatian Rajika. Just when I thought I’d escaped this little treat that supposedly kills anything that ails you (as well as your taste buds) here it was in front of me.

Costo didn’t look too upset that we didn’t clean our plates. I think he let it slide since he found us amusing. Andre had called him over during our meal to show him a picture of actor Peter Gerety who looked just like the owner. Soon all the wait staff was over taking a peek and laughing. We ended up eating at Manos regularly. Their food was excellent, they were right on the water, and close to home.

Speaking of water. When you go to flush the toilet you cannot put any paper in it. Since I have the worst memory ever and pee about 40 times a day I decided to make myself a little sign to put up over the toilet paper roll at our place. I secured my “Stacey, do not flush paper!” sign over the roll with a bandage since we had no tape. I was not going to be responsible for plumbing problems and although we have travelled to many places where this is the norm, old habits die hard. I won’t lie, on more than one occasion I have forgotten this rule and then reluctantly retrieved the paper from the bowl followed by a scalding hot, soap filled, aggressive scrubbing session that removed the better part of my epidermis. I envisioned that if I had flushed the paper the toilet would instantly overflow, or blow up, or something along these lines. It’s the same solid type of logic that prevents my from starting a BBQ or being anywhere near automotive jumper cables. After telling Andre about my past “fishing” incidents he looked at me like I had a third eye and said “You know nothing will happen, right? There is no way in hell I would put my hand in the toilet. Are you kidding me? Just to retrieve ass wipe? It melts in there.” He’s an engineer so I believe him. That information would have been useful years ago.

Andre’s Facial Hair and Other Obstacles

So Andre decided to have a go at growing a beard. He has done Movember before but this was next level. He started growing it sometime in Ulnij and it honestly looked really good but I just couldn’t cope with it near my face. Just a smooch or two and I looked like a chick at 3am sitting outside the club with her red lipstick painted on like a clown, or Courtney Love after a big night out. It is not a good look and it hurts. So during our stay here I spent a great deal of time trying to convince him to shave it and then taking it back because he looked so handsome with it.

Fish. I love fish. I love a fillet of fish that is pretty much boneless. In Croatia, Montenegro and Greece almost all fish are served whole. I have never eaten a fish this way in my life. Yes, I know I am sheltered… and lazy. I don’t want to work for my food. Don’t even get me started on shrimp that are not peeled. As Andre has learned I am often resistant (I prefer the words suspicious or cautious) when it comes to new things, but I thought I should give it a go. Our delightful server Antonio offered to de-bone it for me but I decided to put on my big girl pants and do it myself.

Greek People are the Best (And Albanians)!

It turns out it’s really not that hard and Antonio was impressed with my work. He was such a great guy. Turns out he is Albanian. We had met him the evening before while walking around scouting out places to eat, right after we had finished dinner. What better time to think about food than while burning off the calories you just ingested? Anyway, we had a good chat with him and decided to head back there the following day. Once again Antonio was all smiles and stories. You would never have known it, but he had been up until an ungodly hour partying (at the restaurant) after we had met him and had made it home for a few hours of sleep before having to return to work. He was almost late for work because he couldn’t find his keys. He tore the house apart and checked his clothes but no keys to lock the house. He said he finally gave up and decided to leave it unlocked and as he closed his front door he saw the keys in the lock. I don’t know how he was functioning as a human. I had a flashback to our recent night out with Joeleen and Morgan where I didn’t get out of bed until 4pm the next day and here this guy was working.

This photo sums up Antonio well. Be Happy. This rose liqueur I saw behind the bar was 20 years old and homemade, of course.

So far in Chania the people have been some of the friendliest we have met. Every shop we’ve been in, every restaurant we’ve eaten at or even walked past, have been full of smiling faces and warm welcomes.

 

More About Food

Everything we ate in Chania was good. It seemed hard to go wrong here. Although we had many delicious meals one of my favourites was at a place in Chania Town called To Maridaki. I had shrimp saganaki and an avocado salad that were amazing. I have had shrimp saganaki at other places but it was far better here because it wasn’t as heavy on the cheese, the tomato sauce was wonderfully fresh and seasoned, and they offered to serve them peeled! Any time I don’t have to become a cave woman and tear apart my food with my hands I will take it. Outstanding food. I also loved their dessert offering which was a tiny panna cotta and a much smoother Raki.

The only down side to this restaurant was their washrooms. This should really be under the heading “Other Obstacles” but we’re here now. So I went down the stairs where the W/C sign pointed. I then noticed that there appeared to only be one door which was open and unlabelled. The only other door looked like a closet. A lady and her little girl were behind me and they seemed unsure as well so I went in and then saw the two labelled stall doors. One men’s, one women’s and so I waved them in. After I had used the facilities I went to the sink, the lady behind me went into the stall, and her daughter waited nearby. I pumped out the soap. All good. Then I searched for a way to turn on the water. No lever, no sensor. I had no idea what I was missing and stood hopelessly with my hands full of soap. Maybe there were sensors that I just couldn’t see so I started moving my hands around the place like some sort of manic magician or interpretive dancer. Finally the little girl stepped in. She spoke no English but pointed to the ground where there was a foot peddle. Thanks kid. Then I turned to the towel dispenser that very clearly had a hand waving on it. Okay, now we’ve got the motion sensor. I don’t often have success with these. It’s like I’m a ghost. Well, I waved. And waved. And waved. I was over this bathroom and ready to admit defeat and leave with my wet hands but my tiny helper came to my aid again and pushed a button above the waving hand visual and voilà. I thanked her for her assistance by doing my best karate kid bow and then wondered to myself how I had managed to keep myself alive all these years.

I have never been a dessert person, but Andre loves sweets. I am more inclined to crave something that has been deep fried and loaded with salt. Miss Vickie’s Sea Salt & Vinegar chips are my kryptonite. But we had been told about a unique dessert that we should try in Chania and Costos had told us the best place to get it was at Bougatsa Iordanis.

Bougatsa is a pastry made of phyllo and filled with either a custard or a soft tangy goat’s cheese and then dusted with icing sugar. They offered both at this spot so we decided we should try each of them. We both preferred the cheese filling. They were quite good, but I’d still take an order of deep fried pickles everyday over these.

Chania Town

The Bougatsa place was in Chania town which was about a half hour from our beach accommodation. While the area we were staying in was relatively quiet there was a lot of action in Chania Town. Full of restaurant, shops and markets. Tons of leather sandal shops. We even walked by a fridge magnet shop. I had to stop and send a photo to my mother who collected fridge magnets from every place she went when I was young. I remember that our entire fridge was covered top to bottom. When they eventually had to buy a new fridge and my mom realized her magnets wouldn’t stick to it she was so sad. I was elated. I thought they were terrible. I urged her to pitch them at this point (along with the spoon collection – sorry mom, I know it was cool then) but I knew she squirreled away some of her favourites in the basement in a bag somewhere. They happen to be renovating the basement at the moment and her response to my photo was that she thought it was funny and was also happy to report that they had bought a new fridge for the basement which she was able to stick her decade old stash on. Looks like the long game paid off. Well played mom. 

Oh, and just randomly, I saw a really clever little invention while we were walking threw town. A guy was pushing a double stroller and attached to the back was a little standing platform with wheels for the older kiddo. This way when he got tired he could just stand on it and hold the handles rather than have a crying meltdown. Genius. I’m sure many parents know of this but I’d never seen it until know so I thought I’d share. You’re welcome.

92 days in…

Next stop is a short bus ride away to Rethymno.