We just got back from a week in Northern Crete with about a dozen close friends, where we rented two villas in the tiny village of Plaka. Needless to say, it was an amazing time. We went sailing, winetasting, “stormed the castle,” explored Chania, played games, enjoyed inexpensive, yet wonderful meals, partied all night, and made countless new memories together.

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Andy and I arrived in Chania a day early, so we spent that time exploring the area before heading to Plaka…

We woke up to this view, from our hotel, right on the eastern side of the Chania harbor…

We saw fishermen weighing that morning’s catch, then had our first meal of little fried fish, local wild greens, Greek salad and tzatziki.  Afterward, we explored the narrow streets of old Chania, wandered into a wine shop, and stopped for a frappe to cool down…

We stopped by the famous covered market, to pick up some olives, sesame cookies, cheese pies, olive oil, feta, and other goodies for the villas…

We even did a little shopping on the leather street, picking up some cheap sandals, sunglasses and a new bag for Andy.

Chania is a lovely place to visit, and one I would recommend to anyone. In fact, of all the places I’ve traveled, Crete is one of my favorites. It is rustic and unspoiled, it doesn’t feel too contrived and it doesn’t try too hard to impress. Yet, it is beautiful at every turn, the food is unfussy and delicious, and (once you get there) it is not expensive at all. The most money we spent for a big meal with plenty of wine was 20€.

I’m sure I will be back again some time. And soon.

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There were just too many photos to post for the entire week of our trip,  so I’ve decided to parse them out a bit.

Stay tuned, for there are many more to come! This blog may be overtaken by the island of Crete for a while.

I must admit…all in all, I’m a tad disappointed with my pictures. (This is a blog, after all, I am allowed to divulge once in a while.) When I really think about it, half the time I spent there either getting into or out of the pool. Or the Sea of Crete. Or dancing around the pool. And since my silly Nikon is not waterproof,  I just missed some shots.  Maybe even many shots.  And, if I wasn’t in one of those swimsuit-wearing occasions, I was probably elbow-deep in feta and tomatoes, cooking. Or sitting around with my dearest friends laughing, playing and telling stories until dawn. To put it simply, I was having too much fun to take photos.

And I am okay with that.

So, even though I probably didn’t capture the most precious moments or the funniest, or most ridiculous. I hope you enjoy the photos above. And the ones to come.