Crete – not just another Greek island

Crete, Greece

In the past three years, we have been to over 50 Greek islands. Just a drop in the bucket considering there are more than 6,000 (of which around 200 are inhabited). But the moment we arrived in Crete, we knew that something was different there. This was not just another Greek island; it was more like a completely new country.

We spent 10 days touring Crete. By Greek island standards it is huge. In fact, it is the largest Greek island and the fifth largest Mediterranean island. At 160 miles long and between seven and 38 miles wide, with tall mountains (over 8,000 feet high) and strong winds, it is not especially cruising friendly. But there were places to leave Berkeley East, cars to be rented, and excellent roads. So we drove, and drove, and drove, to see the beautiful island.

Crete’s history goes back 4,000 years prior to any other civilization in Europe. After the Minoan society was devastated by the Santorin eruption, Crete developed an organization of city states, then successively became part of the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, the Venetian Republic, the Ottoman Empire, was an autonomous state, briefly occupied by the Germans, and now is a state of the country of Greece. As we drove around the island, we saw remnants of these periods in the architecture. We also visited some of the sites from the ancient Minoan times and were very impressed with finds in the Archeological Museum of Heraklion, one of the best in the world.

One of the displays included figurine’s of the Minoan “poppy goddess,” a 1400 – 100 BC terracotta figurine found throughout Crete, with raised hands and seeds of opium poppies on her head.

In addition to exceptional archeological sites Crete has it all: stunning scenery, wonderful beaches, delicious and unique food, wonderful wine, excellent hiking, interesting towns, and did we mention the roads? Greece must have spent most of the money lent to them by the European Union on the roads in Crete. The mountain network was better than any we had seen on other Greek islands, and the new national road was a superhighway, with only two lanes but shoulders wide enough for cars to pull aside to allow for faster vehicles to pass. This made for very fast travel, as long as there were no cars stopped in the shoulder lane.

Cretan food is truly distinct from other Greek dishes. The essential ingredient, olive oil, is grown everywhere on the island. In fact, 30% of Greece’s olive oil comes from Crete. It is organic and pressed at the monasteries. The freshness of the other ingredients, fish, snails, fruits or vegetables, makes simply prepared dishes taste outstanding. And then there are the herbs; Cretan recipes use more fresh herbs than we have found in any of the other Greek islands. We had some great and unique meals, including one of fajitas, from a Mexican restaurant in Herkilion.

From the palm beach in Vai (surrounded by the largest palm tree forest in Europe consisting of 5,000 trees); to the throwback, hippy-vibe beach of Matala; to the massive white sand beach at Elafonisi on the south west corner of the island, Crete had some of the most unique and beautiful beaches in Greece.