We'd always wanted to visit Crete and we had the opportunity of a time sharing exchange so we did it.
Being loyal to the Star Alliance and United Airlines we flew to Frankfurt and then on to Athens and then on to Crete by an Olympic Airlines propeller plane. Crete is due south of Athens and was new territory for us. We flew over lots of islands, some not inhabited, all rather rocky and none with airports.
We had been to Athens some 8 years ago to a food meeting. At the time the airport had essentially no security, not even a fence! So we were happy to see a new airport and world class security.
Crete had a modern airport and we were soon in our rental car, headed for our resort approximately 1 hour east. No particular problem as signs are generally in English and Greek. However there were some tense moments when we didn't see the resort on account of the unclear directions at the end, but it all worked out.
The Leoniki Resort was a Greek operated apartment hotel that is largely time sharing, with a sales staff to meet anyone that isn't an owner to sell on time sharing for next year. The design of the hotel was interesting in that there were multiple buildings, each with two floors of apartments all with large outdoor dining spaces. It was easy to meet and speak with your neighbor if you chose to. The beach was across the road and there were several pools at the resort. We swam in the sea and the pools; the sea was calm and a little cool it being May.
The staff was very helpful as we settled in. We were immediately impressed with the restaurant prices which were ½ the US prices and the local wine was 1/10 of US prices. And the food was great, especially the lamb and fish.
After we settled in we did some exploring. This is a very old part of the world, generally as old as Egypt in the sense of being populated. So there are lots of pre-historic ruins now deserted. We visited some of the ruins. They were only stone foundations and basements after the 100s of years empty. But you could see what were shops, workrooms and public areas. They were all in a very compact, even crowded complex, no doubt for security reasons.
Crete has been conquered by at least the Phoenicians, Romans and Turks before being attached to Greece only 100 years ago. Lots of wars. Lots of hatred for the Turks for their cruel rule of the island.
There are numerous museums depicting the past and exhibiting the local objects of art, which are very beautiful.
Crete is very mountainous, which make for slow driving and getting lost. Probably it was great for the freedom fighters over the years.
To that point we visited a monastery high in the mountains which is still in operation. We saw monks' cells, an art museum, a chapel (of course) and an amazing display of skulls. We were told that the monastery served as a refuge for the freedom fighters more than once. The monastery is being modernized.
Our trip through the mountains showed us that Crete is self supporting for food and somewhat independent of the necessity of tourism. We saw lots of olives and grapes for wine, some of which is exported.
Adding to our pleasure the hotel had several nights with Greek entertainment which we enjoyed.
All in all a great trip!
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