Another trip to Greece - Crete

Friends of mine from Canada were headed to Greece and I decided to join. This time I went to Crete which is the largest island in Greece. One of my friends had been there before so did all the planning. We started the trip on the east side of the island in Palekastro. 

In Minoan times the region was a centre of trade and we were staying not far from some Minoan ruins. The Minoan civilization was an Aegean Bronze Age civilization on the island of Crete and other Aegean islands which flourished from about 2600 to 1100 BC. Today, the area mostly relies on tourism and agriculture. What was nice is that it was really quiet and not over run with tourists. 

My hotel was in an olive grove and all you could hear was crickets!

This was a very low stress holiday that pretty much involved beaches, beaches and more beaches, including . . .

Chiona Beach which was down the street from us.

Another day we headed up the coast to check out Zakros. 

Mojito Time!

The most famous beach on the east side is probably Vai Beach probably because it's the largest palm forest in Europe - the sand and water are also pretty amazing!!!

The last beach we hit up was Itanos. There was a Minoan city at the entrance of the main beach and it was particularly powerful region during the Greek era. There was no shade or umbrellas so we just stopped by for a swim and a hike, well some of us hiked - the rest of us watched :) 

And after a stressful few days it was off to the west side!