A month on Crete

My wife, Nancy, and I visited the Greek island of Crete for a month in 2014. We flew into Heraklion, the island’s largest city, picked up our rental car and took a one-hour drive to the small village of Panormo on the central north coast.

Our home for the month was Lucy’s Pension (Panormo, Mylopotamou, Rethymnon, Crete, 74057, Greece; phone +30 6976241414, www.lucy.gr), owned by Lucy Andonaki. Our top-floor penthouse condo, one of four condos in the building, included a kitchen and a grand deck overlooking the Mediterranean. The price was listed at $200 a night, but for an extended stay like ours the price was $120 per night.

Panormo had a small bakery, where we got bread fresh out of the oven each morning, and there was a fish market in the nearby village of Perama. We often went to Bali, a village just 10 miles away, for swimming and lunch. Fantastic beaches were plentiful; we drove to beaches all along the coast.

Many old monasteries, where we often were hosted by a monk, could be found on the island and were worth visiting. One main superhighway in the north ran the width of Crete, east to west, so it was easy to drive to the other major cities of Chania and Rethymno, where we found wonderful small shops and restaurants.

We often drove into the mountains, where small villages each had their own flavor and sights. Lunch was always a treat, with friendly hosts. Shops usually had goods that had been made by the shopkeepers or their families. 

One place we enjoyed was the Lassithi Plateau, where farming is done in a lush valley. At one time, many windmills pumped water to the fields. The windmills are still there but are no longer used.

My wife likes to hike, so she took a bus to a national park on the west side of the island, where she hiked the Samariá Gorge for four hours.

If you’re looking for a place where you can choose to be either active or inactive, Crete is a wonderful choice. During our visit in mid-September to mid-October, there were few tourists. By mid-October, the weather started to have a chill in the air.

We welcome questions c/o ITN.

DAVE BRUELS

Seattle, WA