Monday, 4 August 2008

Greece - Crete

Well I will make Crete my first review as it is the freshest trip in my memory.
TOTALLY KID FRIENDLY
We spent 1 week in the small village of Sissi, a quaint fishing village about 40kms east of Heraklion. The perfect village to take a kid to, lots of families and not too many partying teenagers.

Crete felt really safe, the people are very family orientated and love kids. So we felt right at home lugging her around. We took our buggy and a ring sling. The buggy was usable round the big cities but we definitely needed our sling as some of the smaller towns had pretty rough streets.

We stayed at Hotel Maria as part of a last minute cheap package. I probably wouldn't recommend the place for it cleanliness but the hosts were very friendly and their children were around a lot. They did provide us with a portacot but again it wasn't the cleanest. The pool was good fun and they did have a blow up thing G could sit in which allowed us the parents to swim. So some brownie points there.

We spent many hours down at the "beach". We mainly swam at the harbour. We at first found this a little disappointing in terms of what we were expecting, but in the end it proved to be the safest beach for G. Sorry I don't know the name of this beach but it is the only sand beach in Sissi itself. I promise from now on I will make sure I get the names and proper directions for these places.
We decided to head down to Bufos Beach, a good ten minute walk away from where we were staying. This was good fun for G first thing in the morning but as the tide came in the beach became a little unsafe for her. But they did have some kids swings, a trampoline and a pool so that kept her occupied for a while. We decided to rent 2 loungers and an umbrella as we wanted to make a day of it if possible. It cost 8 euro so not too bad for some comfort and shade.
We went to another couple of beaches but I cant remember the names. Be prepared for lots of rocky beaches and waves in Crete. I think I kind of imagined long white beaches that G could spend hours playing on but in reality we had to keep a very close eye on her.

I will mention a few places that we ate at that were extra kid friendly, but everywhere else was great too. Most places had highchairs
The Pink Flamingo had a great outside kids playground. G spent many hours there playing while we had a beer or two, or a meal. They have a kids menu with most items about 5 euros. The host were very friendly. They are English so the menu was in Greek, English, German and French also possibly.
We ate breakfast at a very local cafe. we spoke no Greek and she spoke no English but we managed to survive. She makes the best local doughnuts with honey and cinnamon. They had some great tables outside to watch local village life go by. I have no idea of the name of the establishment but it is on the main road just down the road from Hotel Maria and opposite a small supermarket.

I think I'll add to this as time goes on and I remember more. For now I have just spotted some blisters on G's hands and feet, what does foot and mouth look like?????

6 comments:

Esther said...

He he. Now you blog too! I won't tell Nulla!! Are you going to post about your other trips?

Summer said...

Yeah thats the plan. But who knows uf anyone reads it! How did you find this????

Nikki Elisabeth said...

*stalk* *stalk*

I do!... now

clea said...

Oh I'm so jealous - Crete is one of my favourite places, well actually pretty much any Greek island would do me. When we lived in UK we went often and our now 3.5 yr old son has been twice, well sort of. First time I was 5 months pregnant which is maybe where he got his enduring love of olives, humous, feta and all things meze. Second time he was 8 months and while a bit more limiting still awesome. Like you said the cretans were friendly and totally into kids. We stayed in Chania and it was lovely - wish we could just pop over there for a wee break from all this wind and rain! Looking forward to hearing more about your other trips.

Esther said...

Come on missy...Time to add some more locations.
Scotland? Paris? London?
Update, update, update!

Unknown said...

Hi, I was you waiter at the Pink Flamingo, pleased you all enjoyed your time with us.

best regards

John