A Travel Blog
Walking back from dinner, we stumbled on a beautiful sunset. A tiny white chapel across the road from our rental house, which I had initally assumed was abandoned behind its rusty gate, shows signs of life at night with candles flickering in the only window.
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On this trip, we did something we’ve never done before while travelling — we rented a car. I usually find driving more stressful than enjoyable, especially in another country, but Astypalea is a small and manageable island with only a few roads. And without a car there’s no convenient way to visit the more out-of-the-way sights.
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Pera Gialos is a small port adjoining the main town (Chora) in Astypalea. It used to be the primary port for the island, but now the larger ferries dock at a separate port several miles out of town. Pera Gialos is a former fishing community, and it retains a quieter feeling, with small shops and restaurants surrounding a concrete pier and a sandy beach.
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After winding our way up through the heart of Astypalea’s Chora, we finally found ourselves in the stony castle (aka kastro or castro) that dominates the top of the hill. Entrance was through an arched tunnel, where we also found some signboards with information about the history of the castle.
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Despite being in Astypalea for a while, we couldn’t resist climbing up through the steep, winding streets of the Chora to see the castle at the top on our very first day.
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From Athens, we took a short flight to the small island of Astypalea (also sometimes spelled Astypalaia, a bit closer to the Greek Αστυπάλαια). Shaped like a butterfly from above, the island’s main town (or Chora, from Χώρα for “town”) is located in the gap between the two wings of the butterfly. The town features whitewashed Cyclades-style buildings ringing a steep castle-topped hill, spilling down to a small sea port.
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Our final destination in Crete was the capital city of Heraklion (also spelled Iraklio). We used the city as a base to visit the Palace of Knossos before flying back to Athens to begin our journey home. Heraklion is the busy capital of Crete and it doesn’t get a lot of love from locals or tourists, but we found it an easy place to spend a couple days.
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Rethymno may be smaller than Chania, but its Venetian Fortezza (fortress, aka castle) is much more impressive than the Firka in Chania. We’d been warned the Fortezza might be closed due to recent rainy weather, but we wandered up anyway, if only to take some photos of the outside.
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The town of Rethymno (also spelled Rethimno and Rethymnon) is a town on the northern coast of Crete, roughly halfway between Chania and the capital city of Heraklion. We took a public KTEL bus there from Chania, a journey of just over an hour.
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Tabakaria is the former tannery district of Chania. It sits on the waterfront, a little east of Koum Kapi and south of the wealthy suburb of Halepa.
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Chania’s old town surrounds the Venetian Port. Remnants of the original Venetian fortification walls can still be found in some places, along with the typical narrow streets and old stone buildings common to historic centers across Europe. The area also includes the Firka Fortress, now home to the Maritime Museum.
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Koum Kapi is a stretch of the Chania waterfront just east of the Venetian Harbour. It’s a low-key, lined with modest cafes. The waves come in harder due to a lack of a breakwater and it makes for some great photos.
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