Here we are! 3 days have passed faster than I thought! Much sunbathing, some travelling by car and… hunting for amazing beaches and Greek specialties. Contrary to popular belief it’s not that easy to find decent food here – I mean, Crete is a resort visited by millions and there is a tonne of food places around here, but usually the kind of stuff that’s authentic, homespun and delicious is hidden behind loads of tourist-oriented places that serve mediocre food at high prices. But we’ll keep on looking. However, we already managed to find something… (ATTENTION: if you’re hungry, stop reading now ;))
After visiting beautiful beach in Balos (which we will probably show you tomorrow!) and a standard, yet pleasant one in Bali, we decided to go and visit ELAFONISI that holds the prestigious title of one of the most beautiful beaches in Europe! Blue water, white and pink sand (!), reportedly it’s amazing! There’s quite an unpleasant story behind the pink sand, though – reportedly in 1824, Turkish army killed more than 600 women and children here and it’s their blood that made the sand pink.. Doesn’t sound too good but all legends are only partly true so let’s hope this isn’t that part and go see it!
Elafonisi is quite far from our place (we live near Rethymno) – approx 140 km one way! Anyway, we decide to go and see it!
views on the road – near Vathy
Crete is quite alright when it comes to driving around. However, I got unwell because of the mountain roads we had to pass on our way to Elafonisi. Curvy roads, hairpin roads, up, up, up and then down to the lagoon through more hairpin roads! My stomach seems to squeeze in all directions on such occasions and I’m ready to leave the car anytime. Fortunately, Maks is asleep – he does not suffer from motion sickness but his not a fan of curvy roads either. But the views we see when we approach the beach make the trip worth it. It’s absolutely beautiful. Amazing!
The beach is crowded but it’s still worth it! Water at ankle level, looks like perfect conditions for a little one! Maks can play in the water as much as he likes, swim in his inflatable crab, build castles and run. No way he’ll get himself underwater!
like in the Caribbean
look, I’m swimming!
joy and easiness
the big blue
Unfortunately we had to leave Elafonisi faster than we planned – while we were there, the wind became so strong, that it made Maks run and hide into the water as the seeds of sand hurt him and he cried he’s in pain. The constant fight against the wind was tiring for us too so we left and went along!
You should definitely visit Elafonisi, since the beach looks absolutely breathtaking! It looks like from a Caribbean fairytale and it’s hard to comprehend that such wonders are located on Crete. However… I liked Balos much more, but I’ll tell you why tomorrow 🙂 If you get hungry after playing in the water on Elafonisi beach we got a great place for you! 🙂 You can eat some poor snacks on the beach too – I saw a “pizza” that looked like a big bun with tomato sauce – didn’t look like a real pizza at all. Near the beach, on the road leading to it, you will find mostly tourist-oriented tavernas but after a short drive inland, towards Chryssoskalitissa Monastery there’s a modest little place with a not-so-Greek name SUNSET.
There’s a parking lot with some shade on it, tables on the terrace with beautiful view and some lazy cats marching around. We weren’t expecting much after our experiences from two previous days. “Let’s just eat some Greek salad and calamari to share again in order to satisfy the first hunger!” – that was our approach. We looked at the menu – short and simple – finally! In other “tavernas” it took us an hour to go through the list of meals! Here we made our choice quickly: Greek salad (5.5 euro), grilled feta cheese (3.5 euro) and pork souvlaki (6.5 euro). We ordered some extra bread (on Crete they usually charge extra for it – here 50 cents per person) and tzatziki (2.5 euro). Despite the menu being short, we managed to find something for Maks as well – noodles with tomato sauce. Perfect!
After seeing the menu and the service we expected the food to be simple and homemade without unnecessary complications or any cheating. And that’s how it was! It was delicious! Grilled feta cheese with tomatoes and peppers tasted great, especially with bread with olive oil! Even Maks liked the olive oil bread, even though he didn’t want to see olive oil before. We got some baked potato slices, grilled capsicums and aubergines to go with the shashlik instead of a pile of tasteless and greasy French fries they serve in other restaurants! We left happy, satisfied and ready to go further… Ready to see more of Crete! 🙂
perfect Greek salad with real and delicious feta cheese
bread with olive oil that Maks fell in love with
hail to the simple!
pork souvlaki – a pork shashlik with some tasty companions
healthy dessert from the owners:)
PS. In the evening we found another fantastic place – this time in Rhetymno! So many cool things in just one day? 🙂 A place that’s completely different, with more sophisticated Greek cuisine, served in an surprising way with the best feta cheese and sweet figs I have ever eaten! Purely WONDERFUL!
0 Comments