A Week in Elounda
We managed to get the car into the alley just by our house in Chania and packed it for our get away. We fired up the GPS and headed to the National Road. It’s just over 200 kilometers to Elounda in East Crete.
We planned to do a couple of stops along the way so we stopped in Bali for breakfast. It is a lovely looking village with most of it perched high up in the hills overlooking the sea. It seems to be an ideal place to stay but there are lots of hills which make it unsuitable for us.
For our second rest stop we looked for a beach near the Minoan Palace at Malia. Unfortunately, despite several prompts from my navigator, I missed the turn and ended up driving through the center of Malia. The streets are busy, very narrow with pedestrians wandering along, with one-way streets and heavy traffic. We stopped in Malia and had a lunch beside the beach. Just a side comment, a Gyros Pita is an outstanding snack/meal. Why is a Gyros plate with all the same ingredients so lackluster?
We followed the GPS and it took us along the coast right to Potamos Beach which is the one we were looking for in the first place. We just walked along the beach and discovered formations carved out of sandstone rock. Is it possible this was the quarry for the Minoan Palace?
We arrived in Elounda about 2 PM and followed the directions to our VRBO called The Bolthole. It is actually in Kato Elounda so it is high up over the town and the walk up is steep and on a very narrow lane. We had little trouble finding it, however, to our horror, we realized the instructions on getting the lock box open were missing from the correspondence. Fortunately, the next-door neighbour was working outside and he had the lock box code and let us in.
The balcony has a view over the town and out to sea. The town is not big but caters to an upscale tourist population from luxury resorts nearby.
We had a very enjoyable dinner on the harbour at Vritomartes Greek Cuisine, including lamb fricassee with artichokes and grilled veg. We were treated to an extra glass of wine. We ordered dessert – which included baklava and a plate of honey balls that could have fed 6 people! Then the raki! We had a lot of fun with the servers.
We were not certain of the difficulty or the lighting for our return walk to the apartment. We found a taxi and headed up towards Kato Elounda. When we described where we were going the taxi driver stopped and said there was no way he was driving into Kato Elounda. He pulled over and charged 5 euros. He had driven us about 200 meters. Worst 5 euros I have ever spent. We were able to walk back up and discovered it was well lit and not too steep after all.
We did not have the internet code because we did not have the instruction manual that was in the missing instructions. Fortunately, Lolly found a piece of paper under the microwave and there was the code. The location of The Bolthole is ideal with great views and we spent a lot of time sitting on the balcony admiring the town and the ocean below us.
Next morning, we wandered around Kato Elounda village. There are many renovated homes but sadly there were an equal number of derelict buildings. Personally, I am fascinated with abandoned buildings in Greece. There is an aura of mystery and sadness with these buildings. I find myself wondering about the stories of the people who are now gone.
In the afternoon we walked around Elounda, scouting tavernas we might want to try. We also bought some supplies. Later Lolly had a rest while I went to the beach.
We noted a taverna on the waterfront that had lamb roasting on a spit, so that made the decision where to have dinner very easy. We arrived at Ergospasio Cretan Cuisine just in time to get the last portion of the day’s fire roasted lamb with baked potato. We ordered smoked aubergine with chickpeas and walnuts, and a pureed beet salad as sides. Excellent