For our last day we had intended to visit the famous Balos beach. This beach/lagoon is primarily accessed via a ferry that leaves Kissamous, goes around a peninsula, stops for 1.5hrs at Gravamous where you can visit and old fort and a beach, then on to Balos. It’s an all-day event but is arguably (from the blogs) the jewel of the Cretan beaches.
Due to the unexpected long day travelling Elafonisi, concerns with wind – both for the ferry and for enjoyment once we were at the beach, and that it was our last day on the western side of the island we decided to skip Balos and spend time hanging out at the house. While I’m sure we missed something magic I think it was the right decision for us.
We spend the morning swimming in the ocean (the wind was down), building sandcastles, and rock hunting. Of note, it's likely the owner of the AirBNB was very confused with the number of rocks left on her back porch. We also managed to get a morning and afternoon swim in at the pool.
Fun at the Pool
We’d promised the kids a round of mini-golf, so on the way to dinner we stopped back in Plantanias for the top rated mini-golf course in the Chania area. In the future there will be no need to play mini-golf in Chania.
For the first time we headed into the old-port area of Chania. We are so happy that we did. I’d read briefly of the Venetian port that was built in the 13th century when Venetians controlled Crete for a brief time. It’s beautiful with a fortified sea wall that enables you to walk to the old lighthouse while getting a sunset view to the west and a view of the port to the south.
We had dinner at a Salis, a restaurant recommended by Christos. It was our first fine dining experience in Crete, and a welcome change from Taverna food. There was a delicious Octopus Carpaccio as a starter. Ruby destroyed a huge Pork Chop, Graham had pasta with Wild Boar sausage, and both Emile and I had delicious fish dishes. We also learned a new desert that we are all looking forward to trying when we get home. Mosaiko, which appears to be a Greek biscuit or cake.
After dinner we walked the seawall just after the sunset. It was magical. The kids were excited to be somewhere so old. To be able to climb and crawl over the walls as the sun dropped and see the bustling port made us realize we were lucky that we didn’t miss visiting this part of Chania.
Night out in Chania
Panorama Shots of Chania port
On to Heraklion
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