Heraklion to Chania - October 25, 2023

Today we left Heraklion to drive to Chania (the "C" is silent) west along the northern coast of Crete.  We passed through some mountainous areas and by beautiful beaches. We stopped for about an hour in the town of Rethymno…a popular tourist beach destination with a Cretan population of about 30,000. The city dates from the Minoan civilization but grew when the Venetians arrived around the 12th century. We spent our hour there strolling through the narrow Medieval and cobblestone streets lined with shops and restaurants admiring the Venetian era buildings...see pictures below.

We then met up with our driver to continue our trip to Chania. We arrived there about 90 minutes later and he dropped us at our hotel…the Porto Veneziano, right on the old harbor.

After we checked in and deposited all our stuff in our room, we headed out to explore the area. We walked along the old stone barricade walls designed and built in the 12 century AD by the Venetians to protect the port from Aegean pirates and Ottoman invasions, and then walked further along the waterfront.  

Our hotel is on the left

Eventually we headed back to our room to get ready for our especially reserved 6 pm dinner at a nearby village restaurant that serves traditional Antikristo style roasted meat (especially lamb), a rural type of preparation that Dimitris had recommended we look for and try out if possible.  

It is the very old rustic style of Cretan grilled meat where the lamb is slow cooked on a rack over an open wood fire…see picture below. The entire flank of muscles just beneath the ribs are hung and cooked. They start roasting early in the day and our lamb was ready about 6:30 pm, not long after we arrived by taxi. The owner/chef took us into the kitchen so we could observe the process…thus our pictures.

Meat Grilling over wood fire

When we first arrived they brought us a small carafe of Raki…a local liquor made from the residue of grapes after they have been pressed for wine. Much like the Italian Grappa, Raki is generally 30-40% alcohol by volume. I had tried it at a previous restaurant and wasn’t going to drink it again…must be an acquired taste.  

The waiter was a young man…probably in his early 20s who had just arrived from Pretoria, South Africa a couple of months ago. He left because he felt living anywhere in South Africa was too dangerous nowadays. He has a cousin living here in Crete so came to live with him and got a job as a waiter at To Antikristo.

We ordered a Greek salad to start with that we shared, and local red wine that was a blend of Merlot with another indigenous Crete grape.

When our antikristo arrived, it was served with a mixture of bulgar with scallions, some potatoes and corn on the cob.  We throughly enjoyed our lamb, using our hands to make sure we devoured it all.

The owner called a taxi for our drive back to the hotel and as we were waiting for it to arrive, we chatted with him and found out that he wasn’t Greek-born, but rather a Serbian who has been living in Crete for 25 years.