Chania Harbor, Crete

Chania Harbor

Stairway as Display Case at Chania Harbor

After concluding our visit in Madaro, we drove back into Chania and headed to the beautiful harbor for lunch.

It's not at all hard to understand why Vasilis called this his personal paradise.

During his Greek Navy career, he had spent twenty years in the megalopolis of Athens, and that was enough for him.


 

Chania Lighthouse

Chania has plenty of great dining and entertainment plus friendly citizens and beautiful surroundings. We told Vasilis we'd love to have him visit us in California, but he said he had no desire to leave Chania.

Boats harbored in Chania

Walking past delicious wafting aromas emanating from inviting restaurants on this sunny day was a treat in itself.

Despite the fact that we had already had three meals that day, we stopped at a corner sidewalk cafe featuring our Greek favorite, souvlakis.

Once again, this gyro pita sandwich was delicious accompanied by Mythos Hellenic Lager.





 

Shopping area by Chania Harbor

After lunch, the under-25 set headed out to explore the shops while Vasilis and I sipped our beers and solved the world's problems, with Julie sipping a Diet Coke awed by our wisdom. If only the world paid as much credence to our musings as the ancient world paid to Socrates and Plato, although maybe we would have been considered to be like Bill and Ted to them.

By the way, if you know Julie, you understand that she might have expressed a few opinions herself, couched in the humility of Athena.

Chania Dig It?

In the summer of 2007, our family went on one of my all time favorite cruises. Traveling with extended family and friends always makes a trip extra special, and in this case, we had the added enrichment of returning to the home of my gorgeous wife's grandfather. (I was referring to Julie as gorgeous, although I don't intend to imply that old Nick wasn't a Greek god in his own right when he set out for America as a young man.)

With a full day on the isle of Crete, the idea was to rush off the ship, snag a cab and head to the hillsides above Chania to see Grandpa Nick's village and find some long lost cousins. As it turned out, they never made it to the village, but they enjoyed a generally enjoyable day touring the countryside of Crete.

I won't say I had an Oracle's premonition that they would not meet their cousins face-to-face, but I had a feeling it might meet with some frustration, leading me to join my oldest daughter Gina and brother-in-law Rollie exploring the ancient Minoan ruins of Knossos near Heraklion. Our jovial trio had an amazing time.


Reunited with the others back on the ship, we celebrated throughout a great evening.

While we enjoyed highlights literally every day, Julie was disappointed to have not met her cousins, and we vowed to return. As luck would have it, this coming season Royal Caribbean announced that the incredible Navigator of the Seas will dock in the village of Chania on her seven night voyages in the summer of 2011, and our die was cast.*

Here's the amazing itinerary visiting some of the greatest places in history with prices starting at just $749 per person:

15-May Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy 5:00 PM

16-May Messina (Sicily), Italy 10:00 AM 7:00 PM Docked

17-May Cruising

18-May Piraeus (Athens), Greece 7:00 AM 6:00 PM Docked

19-May Kusadasi (Ephesus), Turkey 7:00 AM 5:00 PM Docked

20-May Chania, Crete, Greece 6:30 AM 3:00 PM Docked

21-May Cruising

22-May Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy 5:00 AM

*As my brain works, I wondered how the word die would be spelled in the phrase, "the die is now cast." According to my research, when Julius Caesar acted to bring his Legion across the Rubicon River into Rome in violation of the law, he said, "Iacta alea est" which means "the die is now cast," referring to the singular of dice. In other words, he had now gambled by throwing the dice, and as any craps player will tell you, there aren't do-overs until the bets have been paid. This seems most likely, but some say the phrase is "the dye is now cast," meaning the dye or ink has been thrown in the water and it has thus changed permanently. If the Latin translation is correct, then the former must be true, although the latter also makes sense. In the case of what I meant, it is more like throwing the dice. We would like to go on that cruise, so I set up a group, gambling that perhaps, if we go, perhaps you would like to join us.

I went with the least expensive date, with inside rooms starting at $749 per person and balconies from just $1199 per person, but if more people could go on a date other than May 15, 2011, we can look into an alternative roll of the dice. Would you like to join us on an amazing voyage from Rome?