Friday 14 September 2012

Sun, Sand Sea and a shed load of cats

I've just got back from a wonderful weeks holiday with the lovely Scotty! Sorry for not blogging recently, but I've been spending time with my family (three days in London with my mum, more to come blog wise about this) and with my grandparents and Scott etc. But  I'm back on track this week and preparing/packing for university, as I leave for Leicester on the 23rd!!!
Here are a few of our holiday pictures I want to share with you from Crete. We stayed in Malia, which as i'm sure most of you re aware has a bit of a reputaion for being, well a bit skanky to be honest! (The inbetweeners movie was shot there) but we stayed in the lovely old town, full of beautiful pink flowers, white washed stone walls where a number of elderly Greek's like to sit on plastic chairs on the cobbled streets and watch the world go by. There is of course 'The Strip' full of touristy shops, clubs, bars etc, that is in full swing of the evening, but it was brilliant for the two of us as we had the opportunity to experience both sides Our apartment was nestled in the old town, and ran by two lovely Greek men, George and Nicolas who were father and son. They greeted us with a shot of Raki (kind of like a warmer nicer Vodka) and showed us to our simple but very clean room. I always like self catering as I like to pick what and when I eat etc, and enjoy cooking with the fresh local ingredients more than eating in a hotel, so we had lots of meals on the tiny little stove in our kitchen!  
 This was the view from out apartment, and where ewe sat for our breakfast and occasional evening meal. The pink flowers growing alongside the apartments were kept in beautiful condition by George. I'm not usually a flower kind of girl, I much prefer to grow fruit and vegetables but I have to say the flowers and vines that grow around Crete are so beautiful to look at.
  
I was loving the markets and fresh produce! The fish were so fresh and shiny, and the fruit was all so juicy and delicious. I particularly like the nectarines as they are giant but still full of flavour, unlike the hard unripe kind we get back home..
 
We ate in this quirky little restaurant in Heraklion, the food was great and the decor was just to my taste, and wouldn't have looked out of place in a trendy London street, but instead was tucked away down a Greek alleyway.

 We hired a quad bike, which was SUCH a good idea as it meant we could travel more freely and independently so that we could find quieter beaches and more tavernas! We can't hire a car until we are 21, so being 19 this was a bit of a pain! But the quad was so much fun and Scott had a great time whizzing along the roads with the crazy Greek drivers :P




 They freshly squeeze the oranges that they grow in and around Crete to make the yummiest orange juice ever! Tropicana eat your heart out..



 We had Ethel's tomatoes for breakfast (stewed tomatoes that my great grandma used to make, then my gradnma, mum and me etc make), ornage juice and tea. We took our own teabags with us because you can't beat a good British cuppa!!

 Greek Salad. Need I say more? We had a ridiculous amount of Greek Salad, both in restaurants and some that we made ourselves at the apartment. Here we made our own version which saved a little money but was equally as yummy!


Our other favourite breakfast was chocolate croissants. Oh My Word, they were awesome. I personally cannot stand the chocolate in pan au chocolat as it goes dark and burnt and never tastes the way I think it should, but these croissants we full of delicious soft Nutella which I assume had been injected after they were cooked to retain it's flavour and texture. We had them with chopped nectarines and more fresh orange juice :)


Below are these pretty cool Greek slippers which I really regret not buying now. They were 10 euros, and I was being stingy, bad call!



  


 There are tons and tons of cats in Crete it's insane. I was a bit obsessive with the cats, and was constantly feeding them tip bits at the table at the restaurants, much to the annoyance of Scotty! Some were really scrawny so I felt obliged to do so ;) 
  

We played several rounds of mini golf, something my family have always done on holiday. And I can proudly say I am reigning champion, beating Scott 6/7 times ;)



 When in Malia... We tried the infamous 'fish bowl' at one of the bars down the strip one night which we felt just had to be done!
 Here I am trying the de-shell the grilled king prawns for lunch, yum!



 They serve a shot of Raki, usually on the house at the end of every meal, here we had a small bottle given to us. Raki is a very tradtional Greek drink that they make up in the Crete mountains so they sell it all over the island!
 More yummy Greek salad.

 Scotty enjoying the pool.

 And Lastly our favourite bay in Sisi, a lovely traditional yet still a little touristy town  East of Malia which we went to a c couple of times on the Quad. They bay was beautiful with crystal clear waters and little fishes, and was our favourite swimming spot!
Thank you for letting me share our pictures with you ! And I can highly recommend Crete, even Malia as a wonderful holiday destination!!!

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