053 – Heraklion, Crete – Just A Taste

After such good luck with the Blue Bullet and the Lemonborghini (Ref. Blogs #048,049), our expectations for our return trip to Heraklion were high, but the decrepit old mini van that our contact booked us didn’t quite reach the benchmark.

The tires were running about 15psi, there were no car seats, the ‘Check Engine” and gas lights came on as soon as we fired the thing up,

And when I DID put 10 euros worth of gas in it, the needle didn’t budge.  Nonetheless, we made do and got comfy.

And, lo’ and behold, we were astounded to watch as the gas needle along with the electronic “distance to empty” readout continued to climb agonizingly slowly over the next 41km, before they eventually peaked at an eighth of a tank, and began moving in a more intuitive direction.

Reviewing our Lonely Planet as we rolled into Heraklion on fumes, we were pleasantly surprised to discover that the hotel (“Lato Boutique”) our guy in Chania booked for us was the top pick.

Ciel was more than a little excited about her elevated digs.

“Daddy, let me show you how you use the ladder (for the fourteenth time).”

Truth be told, Taz and I found her bed pretty cozy, too.

After a long day of travel, we couldn’t resist “Brilliant”, the restaurant in the hotel lobby.

(Another LP top pick).

Yet again, the gong show-ish nature of our dinners out impeded any timely food photos, and the shots we took of the menu were a grainy mess, but highlights included:

Feta saganaki in phyllo crust with black sesame,

Mushrooms and Cretan “apaki” (smoked pork with herbs and a touch of vinegar) in a fresh cheese sauce with aged balsamic,

Goat cooked with ripened tomato and finished with grape molasses. Served with homemade pasta and toasted “athotyro” (local hard salty cheese).

Ciel’s smooth talking also scored us a free "soft citrus lemon torte", and herself a massive package of Fimo modeling clay.  Another couple additions to the long list of free stuff (juice boxes, desserts, bakery shop cookies, stick-on tattoos, activity books, etc.) that she’s spontaneously charmed out of a string of generous Cretans. 

The next day, we hit the streets to give Heraklion a quick once over,

(Morosini Fountain)

And garner a little culture at the Archeological Museum.

Exhibit B - Pagan goddess holding impish babe. Flesh and bone with cotton vestments. Cambridge and Toronto. (1978-2012 AD)

But, the big highlight for Ciel and Taz was our devil-may-care frozen yogurt lunch.

That is, until the ice cream headache struck.

 

The evening yielded a return trip to “Brilliant” to sample the other half of the menu:

Spicy sausage with “htipiti” (Greek feta and roasted red pepper spread),

Crispy flaky phyllo rolls with “kefalograveira” (hard-salty sheep Greek cheese), with a touch of basil and tomato sauce,

Lamb bites wrapped in vine leaves, baked with graviera (Greek yellow salty cheese), sun dried tomato and fennel.

And, yes, it is impossible to find any dish (appetizer, salad, main, dessert) anywhere in Crete that does not incorporate some kind of cheese… awesome. We’re gonna miss that.