October 26, 2009

The Virgin Traveler: Mama Greece

add to kirtsy










October 16, 2009

The Virgin Traveler: The Raki Riot

add to kirtsy


Missed tweets/Facebook status updates during Final Cretan Adventure:


Surrounded by orange trees!



Back in the Fiat and on to Theriso.





Wild mountain goats in the road!


We are surrounded by Cretan men.

Back on the road to Omalos. Windy mountain roads again.





Beans for dinner!








He saw us.







Some of these pictures are by Jen! Thank you Jen!

October 15, 2009

The Virgin Traveler: Last Day in Crete

add to kirtsy







October 11, 2009

The Virgin Traveler: Shiny, happy people.

add to kirtsy







October 9, 2009

The Virgin Traveler: The Real Creta

add to kirtsy










October 6, 2009

The Virgin Traveler: Markets and Gyros

add to kirtsy



The Virgin Traveler: Take me to Creta.

add to kirtsy





October 4, 2009

The Virgin Traveler: Because it's all about the food.

add to kirtsy

Greetings from the Old Port in Chania, Crete! I have been so busy the last few days. Mostly eating the incredible food here. A lot of lamb, feta, goat cheese, olives and yogurt. The thick, creamy, mild Greek yogurt that is so pristine and beautiful, topped with sticky honey or served with tender lamb for dinner.

The first night we were here, we ate at a restaurant on a sidestreet, away from the waterfront, which can be overcrowded with tourists and is like walking through the gauntlet, as the hosts of each restaurant stand out on the sidewalk and try to persuade you to eat their food. "Please, we have very good food." Or like one gentleman: "Please, don't be like the 65 year olds. Come, listen to what I have to say before you walk away, please. You can't just walk off like that." But we did, we walked away like the 65 year olds.

At the restaurant, while watching the musicians that looked like that Tony guy from that dancing with celebrities show, I ordered the fried lamb - I thought it would be an interesting take on fried chicken. But it was more like braised lamb - in olive oil, I think, served with french fries. It was good though, the lamb was incredibly flavorful and fell off the bone and the french fries only got better when sopping up the juices.

The next night we went to a very popular restaurant in Old Town, called Tamam. We got there before the dinner rush (around 9:00 at night) so we were able to get a table easily, though packed against the wall.

They brought us bread and olives and a disk of butter with chives, garlic and pimentos in it. So incredibly delicious. I must remember to make some of that when I get home.

Jen and I ordered a Cretan salad to start, along with some saganaki (fried cheese). The salad had delicious creamy goat cheese on it and potatoes that were boiled in broth or something very flavorful - these potatoes, you can eat on their own, with no dressing, butter or anything. I must figure out how they cook them!

For my main dish, I had stewed lamb over yogurt and served with pita bread and fresh herbs dancing a bit in the sauce on top. This is easily the best meal I've had here, so rich and dense with flavor and heavenly.

Saturday night, we pushed our bedtime and hung out in Old Town, eating dinner at 10:00 and watched the young people head over to the clubs. It is an incredible skill to maneuver in 3-inch heels on cobblestone, but they do it and they don't fall. Even though I did. Yes, flat on my face on the cobblestone, even though I was wearing flats and had not had anything to drink.

But anyway, we sat at a corner table on the waterfront, eating a huge plate of appetizers, including Cretan pies, boiled potatoes, grape leaves, tomatoes, fried eggplant, hummus and tzatziki. We watched a group of kids, dressed in jeans and bejeweled t-shirts from a nearby club get into an argument, yelling, and pushing, but never punching. Police, nowhere to be seen. We were anticipating a big fight, but it never happened. And then, we were tired from all the anticipation and walked back to our apartment around 11:30 and went to bed.

I found a cooking class to take, hopefully this week, at an old Cretan farmhouse outside of town. I'm so excited about the possibility of tasting cheese and olives and cooking Cretan food all day. I have also determined that I'm going to go snorkeling or scuba diving or something. Oh! And also. I'm going to buy some hiking shoes and hike the Samaria Gorge. I know. It seems like I'm a different person, wanting to do all these outdoorsey things. Well maybe I am.

October 2, 2009

The Virgin Traveler: I discover I am a sunbather.

add to kirtsy

I have always thought laying out in the sun was fairly boring. And painful. Especially when you don't apply sunscreen prior to exposing your pale, white skin to the world. But today, I sat on a beach chair on the roof of our apartment, reading a book for a good two hours. Because how could I not. Look at the view. I'm in heaven. And I didn't even burn myself to a crisp. Yet.

The Virgin Traveler: Where I discover that I do not, in fact, hate history

add to kirtsy

So first of all, I just have to show you what I am looking at right now as I am writing this. I'm sitting at an internet cafe on the waterfront in Chania. Here is the scene from my chair on the patio. It's about 75 degrees and breezy. Life could not be more perfect.

On Wednesday, my sister Chelsea and friend Amber flew in from Sweden to meet up with us for our Cretan adventure. The ferries only leave at night, so we had a whole day to explore Athens. We ended up taking a bus tour, where you could hop on and off of the bus at the different sightseeing spots. I was mainly interested in seeing the Parthenon, because it's probably the only chance I'll ever have at seeing something like that.

So we hopped off the shiny, red tourist bus and walked up to the Parthenon. I have never liked history all that much. Never really appreciated it. But getting up close to such a building - one that was built without all the computers, machinery and automation that we have today. It's seriously unbelievable. The mass alone is overwhelming, the structure and intricacies of the design are amazing. And by the time we got done hiking around the building, I had a headache from forcing myself not to cry.

It was breathtaking and thinking about the ancient Greeks building the same building that I was standing near... crap. Here come the tears again. I can't believe I am here!

After that, we stopped at a sidewalk cafe for some late lunch. I ordered Moussaka. A dish with potato on the bottom, a lamb and tomato filling, eggplant and a cheese topping, served in a little casserole dish. It was sweet and tangy and had just a touch of cinnamon. Warm and filling, I was ready to sleep.

Unfortunately, we had to be on our way. We picked up our luggage and dragged it onto the Metro in the midst of a communism protest in the middle of Athens and made our way to Pireaus, the port where all the ferries leave.

The ferry was huge and spacious. The Greeks smoke like nothing I've ever seen, so much that their cigarette smoke filled up the huge and spacious ferry. We sat near the open end because otherwise we couldn't breathe. Fabio was sitting near us. A big, muscular Greek man with flowing hair and a sharp nose and eyes I could fall into. Beautiful.

We arrived in Chania at 5 in the morning and hung out on the ferry for a couple of hours, since we couldn't check into our room until 11. We had a little breakfast and then made our way to Old Town Chania, where we are staying.

It's a beautiful part of town, with crumbling buildings painted bright yellow and the glistening water, clear as a window, Greek music playing everywhere and the peace and calm of a relaxed life. Suddenly I want to know how all this came about. How the town was built. Where did the people come from. What did they do. Because it matters. The history of all of it matters. And making it part of my history is what I can't wait for.

October 1, 2009

The Virgin Traveler: All-night ferry rides make for a long day.

add to kirtsy

I have so much to tell you and show you from the last couple of days! We saw the Acropolis and toured Athens, then took an all-night ferry ride from Pireaus to Chania last night. We finally crashed at our apartment this afternoon. So tired! But I wanted to post a few pictures from the beautiful city. I am so in love with Old Town Chania that I might never leave. Oh. My. Gosh.

The views from our apartment.

The gorgeous Greek guitarist making beautiful music during dinner.

Old Town Chania at night. Isn't it a dream?