КРИТ - ОСТРОВ-МЕЧТА CRETE - DREAM ISLAND

We were taken to the Minoa Bay Hotel. It doesn't look like a very attractive hotel, but it's quite nice inside. On the Internet they write "a spacious restaurant with an outdoor terrace and a wonderful view of the sea, will treat guests to Greek and international cuisine. " But that's not the case at all. There was no view of the sea, the view was on the road and mountains. But the cuisine was really both Greek and international (on the last day of our stay, we were even treated to a chickenburger and french fries =) ). The Greek cuisine itself is just amazing. It was very tasty, you will lick your fingers. The "restaurant", as the Internet calls it, was not alone. There were three of them: on the veranda, in the hall and by the pool. Food is served wherever you want.
The owner of the hotel welcomed us very well. A benevolent man named Minos. He named the hotel after himself - Minos Bay. In the morning he treated us to a hot cup of Greek coffee. In the evening he treated me to Greek vodka =). Vodka, by the way, was quite tasty. There is no comparison with our Russian vodka ; ). And at the end, when we left the hotel, he gave us a bottle of this same vodka and a bottle of Greek red wine.
Our room was cleaned every day, but linen and towels were changed every other day. The room was clean and good, but there was one caveat: the water in the shower did not go away enough. The aunt who cleaned our room turned out to be respectable (although it seemed to us that all the Greeks there were decent people) - she didn’t even take the money that we left her from the table, but simply wiped the table with a cloth, without even touching anything. There is no comparison with Egypt, where they can take everything that comes into their eyes.

The room was comfortable. Second floor, sea view. You could even see the planes coming and going, because the village where we lived was 6 km away. from the city of Heraklion (the largest city of Crete), and therefore from the airport. At first, of course, it was not familiar, but then they didn’t even notice the noise of the plane, they got used to it. And then I liked it. . . Exotic =).
In terms of food, everything was in order. As it turned out, there were no Russians in the hotel except for us. There were Greeks and a family from Norway. It's so unusual, especially when you don't know the language at all, even English =). It was difficult to communicate, but then we got used to it... Gestures, facial expressions saved =). There was no buffet in the evening, because there were only us on the HB (breakfast-dinner) meal, and for the two of us it was useless to arrange a buffet (as we understood it) and therefore they cooked only for us personally. The food was not repeated: every day there was a new dish. Greek cuisine, I repeat, I really liked it. Only here you have to pay for the drink.
The owner and hotel staff taught us a few Greek words (good morning, thank you, etc. ), and we taught them Russian. They study well, but they say that it is difficult. But this is understandable, because the Russian language is the most difficult language.
The sea was nearby, 200 meters from the hotel. The beach is urban, large (km. 4), sandy, but there were stones and a few pebbles on the sand when entering the sea. In the village of Karteros there were 2-3 supermarkets, many cafes and restaurants. It was a long walk to Heraklion itself. You could rent a scooter (15 euros / day) and ride. Heraklion is a big city, you can see a lot of things. But you just need to be more careful on the roads: the roads are small, but they drive at great speed, especially in the evening.
In a word - super! All liked it. We wish you a pleasant holiday on the island of Crete. And one more reminder: the east side is not as picturesque as the west, but not bad either. Whatever you choose, you'll like it, I think everything =)