Beautiful Isle of the Gods
Good day to all.
To begin with, I want to thank all the members of the forum, your feedback and answers helped me a lot during the planning of the vacation and the vacation itself on the beautiful island of Crete. My friend and I had a hotel in the village of Malia - Dessole Malia Beach 4 * (but I want to share my impressions of the island itself. Back in Kyiv, I thought out a recreation program. I wanted to visit Santorini, Heraklion, visit the cave of Zeus and the Lassithi plateau, also Agios Nikolaos,
about. Spinelong. Since we had only 9 days to rest, we settled on this list of attractions.
Due to the fact that I have almost no driving experience, we traveled around the island by bus (for those interested, I enclose pictures of the bus schedule from Malia). Our first trip was an excursion, which we bought in a Cretan agency for 35 Euro - Zeus's Cave and the Lassithi Plateau. The tour guide was good, everything was thought out and coordinated. But I am more and more inclined towards independent trips, somehow annoying is the limited time and the lack of time itself. The climb to the cave is quite tolerable, if you are not in a hurry, as it was with us - 1.10 for the entire excursion, a marathon run. The plateau itself is very beautiful, especially if you climb to the very top. The entrance to the cave costs 2 Euro. Cave of Zeus - not impressed, but pretty, but stalactites, but nothing else. On the way back, they brought us to a pottery factory, she made dishes from clay herself, by the way, for comparison, the prices for clay products were cheaper than in Heraklion. They refused to connect this excursion with the Knossos Palace - they wanted to go to Heraklion themselves.
The next day we had an excursion to about. Santorini - cost 125 Euro + 12 Euro transfer.
If I had known earlier that the catamaran on which we will sail leaves at 10.00, we would have calmly taken a bus for 3.80 Euro and did not pay for the transfer, but that is not the point.
Himself about. Santorini is simply MEGO impressive, it cannot be expressed in words, it must be seen with your own eyes - the volcano, the caldera, white houses, blue domes, they saw the bride and groom, who arranged a photo session - so romantic. We walked around the city of Oia - impressive, I want to live there for a couple of days; swam on Kamari beach, dined in a restaurant - very tasty - seafood, fresh orange juice. Emotions are overflowing even now, when I remember, one with a small dream came true.
Then we rested for a couple of days and lay on the beach, celebrating Easter.
They do it differently and even strangely. I'll tell you everything in order.
On Easter Eve in the evening at 11 at night we went to the church (our animators gave us big candles), there were a lot of people there. We went into the church, stood a little, but most of the Greeks were standing on the street near the church. Also, a scarecrow hung near the church - the so-called Judas, at which all the youth threw firecrackers (it is customary there), the feeling was that the war had begun, laying their ears. At 12.00 a priest came out into the street and lit a sacred fire, which everyone began to pass to each other. After that, they lit a fire and set fire to Judas. This is how Easter begins in Greece. The next day we rested in hotels, there were folk dances and fun.
One evening, my friend and I walked around Malia, found bus stops, photographed the schedule.
The next day we went to Heraklion on our own. A ticket there costs 3.80 Euros. Ride in a comfortable bus (we only travel abroad like this). In about 40 minutes we reached the bus stop, there was also a pointer to bus number 2, on which we drove to the Knossos Palace. Entrance costs 6 Euro. We looked, followed the groups with guides, listened to the story, and that's it. The ruins were not very impressive, but still history is history.
On the Internet I found a couple of routes around Heraklion, which are also highlighted on large stands throughout the city of Heraklion, and we went through the most interesting one. The Cathedral of St. Titus was closed, all the museums too (due to Easter), because of this we just walked around the city, walked along the embankment, the pier to the Venetian fortress (nice) and by 14.00 we started, going to go to the hotel.
The next day we ourselves went to Agios Nikolaos. We arrived in 40 minutes, the cost was 3.60 Euro. At the station itself there is a small agency where we bought for 15 Euro a voucher for
about. Spinelonga (30 Euro for two). We were given a map to take with us and explained how to get there. Walk literally 10 minutes and a beautiful panoramic view of the Sunken Lake and the promenade of Agios Nikolas opens up. (to get through, you need to go around the station, cross the road, on the right side you will have a hospital (hospital) and go straight along the street). The embankment is very beautiful, there are many cafes, and we walked all of it, almost to the yacht club, stopped to take pictures near the fin and monuments. We still had enough time left before leaving for about. Spinelonga, and we sat down in a cafe to drink something. I have long wanted to try their frappe, which Cretan men drink in unlimited quantities. Coffee lovers, I think you'll like it. Before boarding the ships, we were given an excursion program in Russian for our route. Everything is short and concise enough. At 12:30 we set sail. It was a pleasure to sail, beautiful landscapes, especially since we made a stop and swam in the open sea, the impressions are good. All about. Spinelong for a start we rounded, and then moored. The island itself is 850 m long, compact and pretty. Previously, lepers lived here, but now they organize excursion programs. From the island itself, a beautiful panoramic view opens up, from which it is hard to take your eyes off. The island left a sea of positive. Then there was the way back, which flew by very quickly, we calmly walked back to the stop, got on the bus, they run regularly and went home to Malia. By the way, there are inspectors on the buses, so don’t throw away your tickets until the end of the journey, they will come in handy. We spent the last two days in the "seal-party" mode. It’s only a pity that the way back on May 9 was overshadowed by the flight delay, due to the insane queue for passport control, there were 4 planes to Ukraine and two to Russia, we were the last ones on the plane!
The vacation flew by, but the impressions remained. I always wish you all positive, good rest and no problems!
