Our Getaway to Greece

Greece has been on our bucket list since before we moved to Germany, so when we had the opportunity to go on a last minute trip to Crete with our friends, we jumped on it! After 2 short flights and an overnight stay in the Thessaloniki airport, we arrived to the island of Crete.

Our hotel was just a 2 minute walk from the beach. 

Our hotel

View from our balcony

Once we got settled in to our hotel, we drove to Vamos and explored this quaint countryside town for a little while.

There were so many cats roaming the streets of Vamos. They were so calm and not phased at all by us. Chris almost stepped on the tan cat pictured below because it didn't even move when he went to walk up the steps!

We then went to our Greek cooking class. The class was held in an old cold stone olive press facility. We ended up learning how to cook 6 traditional Cretan dishes including stuffed grape leaves, zucchini fritters and an eggplant dip.

The boys in their aprons!

Some of the ingredients

Our instructor, Koula Barydakis, is a well-known Greek chef who has published a cookbook about the traditional recipes of the Cretan people. Before the cooking began, Koula talked to us about the Cretan diet and the important ingredients they typically use. Olive oil was the #1 ingredient. She even said some people take a shot of olive oil every day to stay healthy and youthful!

Koula putting the lamb in the olive oil

Melissa and I had to squeeze the shredded zucchini to remove all the water from them. This was then combined with feta cheese, bread crumbs and fresh herbs to make fritters.

Chris was instructed to mix all of the stuffing ingredients for the grape leaves.

Melissa and I were hard at work filling the grape leaves with a mixture of rice, mint, lemon juice and a variety of other fresh spices.

All the stuffed grape leaves

We then roasted some eggplants to make the eggplant dip.

Then Koula showed us how to roll out homemade phyllo dough. The special thin rolling pin she used is essential to get the dough paper thin!

Then we all took turns trying to roll out the dough. She made it look so easy!

Then we cut out circles from the dough and filled it with a mixture of ricotta cheese, eggs and mint.

Eggplant dip and stuffed grape leaves

Greek salad

 After all the food was prepared, we all sat at a long table and enjoyed our feast. There were other people in our class from all over the world, including Malaysia, Belgium and Norway. It was great to get to have a casual conversation with so many different people. We had a lot of differences, but one thing was the same....we all loved cooking and eating!

The food kept coming and coming. Everything was so fresh and flavorful, it was hard to pick a favorite dish!

Zucchini Fritter

Lamb and green bean stew

Kalitsounia Pie

For dessert, Koula made us Halvas, a semi-sweet dessert made with semolina flour, olive oil, cinnamon, cloves and raisins.

Our hotel had a great breakfast spread, including an entire table of local Cretan products. I had fresh olives and cheese every morning for breakfast!

Then we took a 2 hour road trip to visit the lagoon at Elafonisi Beach. All of the roads on Crete have crazy hairpin turns and the drivers make up their own rules. We learned that in order to let cars pass you, it's acceptable to drive on the shoulder. You also had to be careful, because around any sharp turn you could encounter goats right near the road!

There must have been a smudge on my camera lens, because none of my photos from the lagoon were in focus! But we had a great time relaxing with crystal clear water, a constant breeze and great company!

To get a better idea of how beautiful this lagoon really is, I found a few photos online that really capture our experience.

On our way back, we stopped in the city of Chania, the second largest city of Crete.

We stopped for lunch at this restaurant that faced the harbor.

Chris and I split 2 amazing dishes: authentic gyros and grilled calamari.

After lunch we all toasted with raki, a traditional Greek spirit similar to ouzo.

Our view from the restaurant

After lunch, we spent a little time wandering the streets of Chania and doing a little souvenir shopping at the plethora of shops.

The sunset at the harbor was beautiful, especially with all of the buildings lit up.

The next morning at breakfast I had to have some yogurt.....I couldn't say I went to Greece and didn't have any authentic Greek yogurt!

We spent the morning and afternoon just enjoying the beach by our hotel and relaxing in the pool.

Our hotel offered lunch, so I ordered a Greek salad. The ingredients were so simple, but it was so fresh and delicious.

After cleaning up from the beach, we all headed out to downtown Rethymno, which was the town right next to our hotel.

The Rimondi Fountain was built in 1626. Water runs from 3 lions' heads into the basins below. This ancient fountain is now surrounded by modern stores, so it's hard to grasp that it's almost 400 years old!

Everywhere we walked, there were beautiful flowers everywhere, especially growing on the outside of homes and businesses.

We walked up to the Fortezza of Rethymno, a Venetian-era citadel, and enjoyed drinks with a spectacular view!

For dinner, we made reservations at To Pigadi, which translates to "the well". The restaurant is located in a courtyard of large Venetian 16th century building that was used for watering and keeping horses.

The well

We ordered a trio of cheeses as an appetizer.

Chris' entree was a grilled lamb chop with a thyme honey sauce and raisins flavored with fresh mint.

I ordered a salmon wrapped in vine leaves with an avocado mousse.

Another thing we had to try before leaving Greece was baklava! So since we were still so full from dinner, we got the tasty dessert to go and enjoyed it back at our hotel.

We are so grateful that we had the opportunity for one last trip before we leave. Greece was everything we expected it to be and more, and we can't wait to plan our next adventure back to this wonderful country! We loved making memories with our good friends Steven and Melissa, and their 3-month old Emma. We've spent the last 3 years with each other here in Germany, and this trip was a much needed vacation shared with lifelong friends.