Chania, Crete – Discover Greece Blogtrotters Trip: Five Senses, One Soul @DiscoverGRcom #BlogtrottersGR

Kach and I were invited on a press trip to Chania on the Island of Crete in Greece, where neither of us had set foot before. However, Kach had to go to Atlanta for a conference, so I decided to invite Lubos, our wedding videographer. After all, a professional video would be a great addition to the trip with Discover Greece!

Thanks to AEGEAN air, our flight to Greece was seamless and comfortable. AEGEAN air is Greece’s largest airline that offers short and medium haul services. They are proactive in promoting Greek tourism and is named the Best Regional Airline in Europe at the Skytrax World Airline Awards. Even the long wait we had in Athens was relaxing with access to the Business Class lounge!

For most of us, we know Greece as that ‘postcard perfect’ destination where all travellers dream to go to at least once in their life. But there’s quite a lot more to it. Greece is actually at the intersection of Europe, Asia and Africa. While it is popular for its stunning beaches and shorelines, it is important to note that Greece is 80% mountainous and semi – mountainous, so there’s much more to see in this country than just beaches and clear blue water.

GTravel Gurus – Chania Crete – Five Senses, One Soul

For this particular trip, we stayed in Crete, the largest island of Greece where one of the earliest civilisations, the Minoana, once lived. We were taken to the beautiful city of Chania, which boasts a unique charm to its visitors. It is also known to be the multicultural place in Crete as the Romans, Byzantines, Muslims, Venetians, Ottomans and a whole lot more came here and left their own piece of culture behind.

I was excited to start our journey because the trip was designed to stimulate and use our senses to showcase the best of Chania and the local area. With our well-thought of an itinerary, our senses of touch, sight, smell, taste and hearing would definitely all be stirred up!

Day 1 – Sense of Smell, Taste and Touch

Morning at the Botanical Park & Gardens of Crete

We arrived quite late the night before, and we were exhausted from the travel. However, the beauty of the gardens immediately refreshed our senses. Adding to that was an amazing lunch made only with local foods and ingredients from the garden. In here we found medicinal herbal tea, Dittani (king of Crete herbs), sage, marjoram and Thyme honey, where the bees in the gardens pollinate the plants.

GTravel Gurus – Chania Crete – Five Senses, One Soul

The fire in 2003

13 years ago, a fire totally burned 100k olive trees. After the fire and with the progress of modern life, many people lost their relationship with the local nature. That’s when some of them thought about how they could live closer to nature, just like the old days. That was the birth of the garden wherein its main objective is to teach people about nature, food, plants and herbs. It opened to the public in 2010 and is unique in Europe for the garden’s medical edible plants.

We explored the three different microclimates where they grow tropical, Mediterranean and even alpine fruits, herbs and vegetables, all in one small piece of land! Let me give you an idea on what fruits and plants grow in different microclimates.

• In valleys where it is considered a tropical zone (citrus, avocado, mango)
• In slightly higher areas where it is considered a sub – tropical zone (olives)
• In higher areas where there is an alpine climate (grasses and bushes)

The Creta Diet

“In Crete, they eat even when the animals stop!”

The Creta diet is known to be one of the best in the entire world and is believed to give you a longer and healthier life. They say that you can live more than 100 years old if you integrate this diet to your lifestyle. They see healthy diet as a philosophy. They eat the leaves, the roots, flowers – EVERYTHING!

Local and seasonal products are very important. There is plenty of wild green vegetation and olive oils, which I would say are the ‘staple’ foods of Cretans. In fact, one person can consume more than 50 litres of olive oil per year in Crete. Meat is a part of the diet and these days people eat a lot more of it, but traditionally it would rarely be eaten.

Oh, and let’s not forget Raki. They say that drinking Raki can cure everything.

GTravel Gurus – Chania Crete – Five Senses, One Soul

The culinary influences

There are a lot of culinary influences to embrace here. They have the Turkish, Arabic, Ottoman and local Cretan cuisines.

There is even a dish with a name, but ‘no recipe’. They call it Sibeterio / Vriam. The reason for this is that they use only whatever ingredients are available at the time. Hence, it has no standard recipe.

Afternoon Break at the Minoa Palace Resort & Spa

After such an amazing experience at the Botanical Park & Gardens of Crete, we went back to the hotel to relax and freshen up.

GTravel Gurus – Chania Crete – Five Senses, One Soul

Minoa Palace Resort & Spa is a luxury 5 – star beachside hotel located in a cosmopolitan area of Platanias, Chania, Crete, Greece. It is only 30 minutes away from the Chania International Airport.

If you want a relaxing place to stay with amazing views all over, then this is a highly-recommended property. You can see the countryside, White Mountains and of course, the golden beach of Platanias.

You can choose rooms and suites from their Main Building & Bungalows and from the Imperial Beach Wing. The latter is connected with the main building with an aerial bridge. One may enjoy rooms with sea view and rooms with private pool! And in just two minutes, you can quickly reach the beach front.

There is so much to do in Minoa Palace Resort & Spa, and it is perfect even for travellers with kids. Here are some of its facilities.

-Gardens with local flora
-Free parasols and umbrellas at the pools and the beach
-Four outdoor swimming pools (2000 sqm)
-Two open air Jacuzzi
-Two children’s swimming pools
-Vip lounge
-Beach with fine sand and pebble
-Mini Club for children (4-12 years old) from 09:00-17:30 daily
-Children’s outdoor playground
-Fully equipped gym (free of charge for our guests over 16 years old)
-Jewelry shop
-Mini market with foreign press, tobacco and small gifts
-Little Chapel
-Fully equipped Conference Center
-Tennis & Mini Football court with floodlit
-Spa with large variety of treatments
-Wi – fi

Evening at Verekinthos Arts & Crafts Village

We went to Verekinthos Arts & Crafts Village where we witnessed local traditional crafts and skills up close. We even had our own pottery class!

GTravel Gurus – Chania Crete – Five Senses, One Soul

The pottery workshop is great not just for adults, but also for kids. So if you are tagging your children along, don’t miss this fun and educational activity. There are other artists to see here as well, and you can learn different crafts such as painting, drawing, shoe making among many others. It is not your usual touristy artisan market, but a place where you can see real artists making, selling and teaching.

Dinner kach.howe@gtravelgurus.com

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