Day #12
Now that was some good sleep! Obviously the night before we had reached the peak of physical exhaustion, because we both slept through the night (a rarity on most nights), and didn't even get up until 8:00am. Samaria Gorge had definitely left its mark on us, but nothing one night in comfortable Casa Leone couldn't fix!
We woke up and threw on some clothes and ambled outside our room door to the hotel lobby, where we had a fresh breakfast made for us at our own table when we sat down. We had fresh coffee and juice, fresh fruit, yogurt and granola, bread and jam, and an egg scramble. A wonderful, quaint meal making us feel like we were staying at a B&B (which for all intents and purposes, that's what it was). During breakfast, we met two of the other people staying in one of the four rooms, and got some pointers on what to see during our time in Crete. We exchanged some tips about Santorini, as that was where they were headed next, and they were excited to have some food suggestions for their next island.
After breakfast, we showered up and made our way through the main plaza (and the early heat) to the Agora Central Market. A hub for most locals, the market was enclosed in a large exhibit hall with two main drags that intersected in the middle. Among the tenants were local fishermen with the fresh catches of the morning, butchers with fresh meats of all kinds, and also random skinned animals, including skinned goat heads and hanging goats with the fur still on the feet. In addition to all the fish and meat vendors, the market was filled with herbs and olives and fresh fruits scattered about. There were also olive wood vendors, and many more "tourist" shops with the stereotypical monogrammed towels, Christmas ornaments, and of course, Angry Birds t-shirts.
Goat Heads!
We spent a good amount of time in the market, making a few purchases along the way (no goat heads, sorry folks), and finally decided to meander back along the harbor and game-plan for our next meal. On our way to lunch, we stopped by a harbor excursion boat and ended up
signing up for a snorkel tour later in the day. While we were there, we chatted up the snorkel tour guy and he ended up giving us a suggestion for dinner on the harbor that night at a place called Vasilikos. You could tell this guy frequented the place, because he could recite by memory the entire menu, and did us the favor of writing down on the back of our snorkel information page exactly what to order that night...down to the appetizers and wine. But that was dinner, back to our lunch decision...
After consulting with the LP Bible, we settled on a place called Kouzina E.P.E., which had stunning reviews, most notably of which was a comment about how this was a no-frills place where the locals turned out to eat. Bingo, real Greek cooking. Let's do this.
Kouzina E.P.E. is tucked a few streets back from the harbor and away from the main drag, in a small street with relatively no businesses around it. We found the sign and door pretty quickly, and as we set foot in the doorway, we were smacked in the face with a multitude of overwhelming aromas from the kitchen. Why was it so overwhelming? Because the seating area is basically an extension of the kitchen! We sat down and surveyed the surroundings, noting the gigantic chalkboard on the wall with the day's menu. Before we got too comfortable, a server came up to us and let us know that, in this place, the way you order is by walking up to the kitchen window, looking at the long line of food options, and pointing at which meals you want. Sounds simple enough, we thought, so we stood up and took about ten steps to where the food was. What we didn't realize is we were literally standing in front of three old Greek women in hair nets, toiling away making the day's meals, and in front of them was a line of 13 pots and pans with various dishes for us to choose from. Our server pointed to each pot and explained what was in it, and by the time he got to the end, we had to ask him to remind us what was in the first three pots. The options were unreal, from stuffed grape leaves to lamb to eggplant to fresh stews. Everything looked and smelled incredible, and we definitely had a moment of stress as we debated the merits of the options in front of us.
We finally decided on three of the options - marinated pork, stewed rabbit, and grilled octopus, with a side of rice and bread. The tough thing here is there is no way I will be able to describe this meal in a way that does it justice. The rabbit came in a wonderful stew with vegetables, and the rabbit meat had a wonderful seasoning of cinnamon and cardamom to balance the salt of the broth. While I housed this meal, Julie ransacked the freshly grilled octopus, leaving no tentacle left behind. It was the perfect combination of tender and chewy (some other places had somewhat rubbery octopus), and it didn't last long. And then the pork. Oh me, oh my, the pork. I wish we knew what this pork was marinated in. I ate my rabbit and told Julie that she would love it, to which she responded, "Just wait until you have the pork." And yes, she was right. It literally fell apart on the plate it was so tender and juicy, and all the flavors of the red-sauce based marinade just seeped through every bite. We were in absolute heaven, despite the fact that we were eating well more than two people's share of a lunch meal. But we didn't care, we were here to gorge. The combination of the wonderful cultural experience (eating with locals and seeing our cooks), and the incredible food made us just sit back and enjoy yet another wonderful moment on a trip ride with similar moments.
Gorged and full to the extreme, we made our way back down to the harbor to board our ship for our three hour excursion around two nearby islands, with two snorkel stops. We jumped on-board, grabbed some goggles and snorkels, and made our way to the top deck where we could enjoy the ride. As we sailed out onto the water, we first passed a small island that was home to the local goat that the locals call the "kri kri." We were told to keep a lookout as we passed by, as we were likely to spot at least 10-20 kri kri running along the hillsides. Well, we saw one...and just barely...from really far. Not exactly a huge thrill.
Leaving the harbor on our excursion
Searching for "Kri-Kri"
We stopped at two different snorkeling areas, one where an old World War II bomber had crashed (which was cool, but no fish in sight), and another area in the shallows of a rocky island where there were also very few fish. Although the snorkeling was something to be desired, the water was extremely warm and it was great to dive off the bow of the boat and enjoy the surroundings. And then after we got back on the boat, the remainder of the trip was spent taking shots of raki at the open bar on the boat, all of which were poured by an old, wrinkly deckhand that was shirtless and wore his jeans up to his (saggy) nipples. This guy made it his mission to get everyone on the entire boat hammered, and he did a pretty good job. And man, raki is not an easy drink to take down quickly. Firewater definitely burns...badly.
Enjoying the tour
We docked back in the harbor and went back to the hotel to shower. After watching another beautiful sunset and walking the alleys, we made our way to dinner at a place called Vasilikos, recommended by our snorkel guide earlier in the day. And trusting him with our dining pleasure, we ordered off of the piece of paper he had written on earlier in the day. And with that, we ordered: marinated anchovies, small fried fish, octopus, sea urchin, and graviera cheese. Yeah, we ate all that. The urchin was served in oil and was a great spread for the bread, and the graviera cheese was something we couldn't pass up after having it the day before. All the seafood was unreal. The anchovies were marinated in a lemon and oil sauce that was awesome, and we ate the whole fish. The fried fish were so crispy and cleanly battered that we peeled the meat right off the fish spine. God, we ate so well.
Last sunset in Chania
After a quick nightcap of raki and being surrounded by even more cats at the restaurant, we finally called it a night. The harbor was just starting to get hopping around 11pm, with people just getting appetizers and wine as they began their meals. But we were well past all that, so we made our way back to the hotel. And of course, we walked by the "untz-untz" club on our way to Casa Leone.
*Up Next* - We end our time in Crete, fly back to Athens, and have one more Greek dinner...
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