TRAVEL: Crete, Greece - swim, eat, relax, repeat

I'm typing up this blog from my private balcony overlooking the calm and inviting waters of the Sea of Crete. Honestly, there's no better place from which to blog. My location: the Radisson Blu Beach Resort in Milatos, Crete, an all-inclusive resort with more pools than I can count, but more on that later.


An easyJet flight from Luton (officially named the UK's worst airport) brought us to Heraklion, the main airport on the island. After wandering around the airport for a while, we finally found our transfer driver who seemed not to have realised he was taking us to the hotel in spite of holding a sign with our name on it in one of his hands... An hour later and we arrived at the coastal town of Milatos. By this point, it was dark outside meaning there were no views to be admired but that left something to look forward to in the morning.


The rooms at the resort vary from standard hotel rooms, to those with a beach-view balcony like mine, and some with their own private mini pools (I told you there were a lot of pools here). It's a very expansive space too, and I was pleased they'd given us a map or else we would have undoubtedly gotten lost walking around in the hot Grecian sun. And yes, in spite of it being late in the year it's still over 30'C here with glorious blue skies and sunshine. A nice break from the Autumn rain back home. Plus, since the kiddies have now gone back to school, the only sounds I can hear is the water lapping at the sides of a nearby pool and the tapping of my keyboard. Pretty nice.
 

Day one started with breakfast in the Mosaic restaurant in the main lobby building. With the 'Ultra All Inclusive' package we're on (your other options are Bed & Breakfast or Half board), breakfast, lunch and dinner are included, as are snacks, ice cream, drinks and a small selection of drinks available in your mini bar. With this much on offer, it's easy to take advantage of it all but I'm trying to pace myself to ensure I still fit into my swimsuit by the end of the week!


We made our way around the resort for a while (with map, of course) before heading over to the 'Adults Only' pool on one of the upper levels. One benefit of sun-seeker resorts like this is that guests seemed to be more interested in soaking up the rays rather than swimming, which meant that while there were only a few loungers left, the pool was completely abandoned. And yes, blissfully cold and refreshing for a mid-morning dip.


I headed down to one of the many pool bars down by the beach to grab some nachos and (free!) ice cream before settling down with a good book for a few hours. At 3pm, we bee-lined for one of the resorts organised activities - Greek cooking. Well, I say cooking but it was really more assemblage of a snack called Dakos, literally hard bread, tomatoes mixed with olive oil, and feta. Nice and all, but absolutely no cooking involved and took literally 30 seconds to assemble.


The afternoon continued with more swimming, eating, and relaxing, as well as a quick trip into one of the nearby towns, Milatos to check out life outside the resort. In the evening, I headed to my second activity of the day - crystal healing. I hadn't a clue what this involved but thought it sounded exciting! It turned out to be an introductory session to what crystal healing is, and how natural stones can be used to activate our different chakras like heart and intuition. As the sun began to set over the island, we headed for a buffet dinner at Mosaic which offered a variety of Italian, Greek, Asian and American cuisines. Somehow a busy un-busy day trying to get into the swing of resort life!

The following day started earlier for yoga with Dmitry at 8:30 down by one of the pools - quite a gruelling session but I was glad to get a bit of exercise in! We raced for breakfast before it finished at the Pool Front Restaurant which had slightly less of a selection than Mosaic but a nicer and quieter atmosphere.


Our first swimming location of the day was the gorgeous Cretean Sea which changed from lovely clear water close to the shore to a deeper blue further out. It was surprisingly pretty freezing but a pleasant change from pacing up and down in pools. Plus, there was a small selection of fish circling below the surface which you (hopefully) wouldn't see in any of the resort pools!


After lunch and a Nutella filled crepe at the Olivia snack bar, we decided to leave the safety of the resort (shock horror) and walk along the road to the closest village, Sissi, about 5km away. The heat was at times pretty uncomfortable but the hillside route offered some lovely views and the town seemed to have some good options for coffee and Greek restaurants - one of the downsides of being all-inclusive!

Once back, I couldn't wait to try out the water park where splashing straight into a deep pool at the end offered a huge relief from the heat. I don't think I'd ever visited a water park before either, so it was great to experience some good old childhood fun.

Dinner was at On The Rocks, a BBQ Grill overlooking the sea. We decided to head down slightly earlier than our 7:30pm booking to catch the sunset, and I was glad we had as I got a wonderful timelapse as the sun set right in front of us with stunning colours filling the sky. I'm a sucker for sunsets. Dinner was pretty good too, with a large selection of salads and hot foods as well as having whatever meat or fish you fancied grilled up on barbecues right in front of you.

I decided to forgo yoga the following morning to save my energy for a later session of TRX which is an exercise class based around those large elastic bands - I thought it sounded interesting. However, after a rushed breakfast to make sure we were there on time and waiting a further twenty minutes, it became clear that no instructors were going to turn up. It transpired that the activities sheet we had been given was incorrect and TRX was not occurring on that particular day which I found mildly annoying - what else was wrong, or what had we missed if it wasn't printed on our sheet?


After plenty more swimming and relaxing, we headed down to the pool bar close to the shore for an activity we hoped would be on - Greek language lessons. I love foreign languages, so this was something that I really enjoyed and thankfully picked up very quickly. Whilst being based in a resort meant that I couldn't see myself using my new skills in the near future, I guess it gives me reason to come back and practice!

 We continued our Greek day with dinner at the resort's Greek restaurant, Ariadni. They certainly don't let you go hungry here, and dinner consisted of a variety of starters brought to our table including dolmides, Greek salad (mmm, fresh feta...) rabbit, lamb and squid; followed by a main course of skewered meats and grilled vegetables; and finally a selection of Cretan desserts. Mid-dinner entertainment was also provided in the form of a kids disco occurring in the mini amphitheatre below the balcony we were eating on. Who doesn't love a bit of limbo to accompany dinner?


We had big plans for the following day, and after breakfast, began a 5km walk to Milatos Caves. I'm sure anyone who passed thought we were mad to be walking in the heat (and to be honest, we were but hey, you have to make sacrifices when you don't have a hire car). However, the (sweaty) walk did provide an opportunity to walk alongside pretty olive groves, typical Greek houses and little statues of churches that lined the route.


After an uphill struggle we arrived at the cave (my mind had convinced me that we'd be going DOWN to get to a cave, but no, it turned out it was at the top of a hill). The generator didn't seem to be working on this particular day, so I was glad for my mobile phone light to guide the way through the cave. Inside, I was surprised to find a small chapel which looked out through a large hole in the rock to provide pretty panoramic views. What a place to hold mass! The cave was pretty much free to be explored as much as you wanted, and I wiggled my way along some of the cavities to marvel at the way the rocks had broken and joined together. A much more pleasurable experience than my last time caving, where I squeezed through holes no human should fit through in the Yorkshire Dales.

The return journey seemed quicker, probably because we knew how far we had to go, and that it was mostly downhill. We decided to make things even quicker by taking a shortcut around the village.


THIS IS WHERE IT ALL WENT WRONG.


As we walked along the rough surface on the shortcut, I lost my footing, cutting my hands and legs. Although only about a kilometre from the resort, it was a painful one at that. Eventually we arrived at reception and I was given first aid by a guest passing by who so happened to be a doctor, including having a stone extracted from under my skin (ouch!) and getting everything bandaged up. Worse than the pain though was the knowledge that I wouldn't be able to go swimming for the rest of my time at the resort. Now that hurt.


However, the Radisson staff, and in particular Customer Relations Manager Danai, made sure that I was well looked after, and we were offered lunch in the resort's Italian restaurant as opposed to one of the snack bars, which I thought was very kind of them. I spent the rest of the day moping by the pools and wishing I was in them, before we headed back to the Italian for dinner. Again, no one was going hungry as we were served a selection of antipasti followed by a second starter of risotto; followed by meat, fish and pasta; and then brownies for dessert. Calories don't count on holiday, right?


We took our final breakfast of the holiday back down at the pool bar which felt a bit less chaotic than Mosaic. I headed back to reception to get my bandages changed and be told I still had stone fragments in my hand (why?!) but would be allowed to paddle in the sea as the saline water had the potential to help healing (yay!). Before that however, I wanted to try out a new activity - Greek dancing. Unfortunately however, no other guests showed up to the activity, and my injuries meant that I couldn't join in so the activity was cancelled. A shame, as I think that would have been good fun.



After lunch at the Italian again, complete with the freshest fresh pizza this side of Italy, we took our second Greek lesson of the week. Some newbies meant we had to go through the basics again, but a bit of reinforcement was no problem at all, and we then moved onto some more advanced vocabulary. I'll be doing my Greek GCSE in no time I'm sure.


My favourite activity of the week occurred afterwards - Mandala stone painting. This involved painting lotus flower designs onto rocks. Extremely relaxing, and a lovely souvenir to take back home with us (along with my standard snow globe that I collect from every destination). In fact, it almost made me forget about my injuries - that is until I went to see the doctor who told me my hand had become infected (noooooo) and would require antibiotics which we could only get with a hefty medical bill in order for her to prescribe it. I felt awful! Not the way I'd wanted the holiday to end, but hey, these things happen.

After a final yummy dinner at Mosaic (try the Asian station - they know how to cook up a mean stir fry) we got into the transfer bus to take us back to the airport (via the pharmacy) to head back to the colder shores of England. Barring the post-accident days, this was a pleasant and relaxing holiday. I'm not sure how much longer I could have spent chilling by the pool, but I can't say I don't feel refreshed after it. The Radisson had all we needed, and most importantly, friendly staff who dealt well with mishaps and know how to make their guests feel special. Thank you, Radisson staff - I'm sure we'll be back.


My tips for Greece (well, more for resort life): If the resort you're staying at offers activities, take advantage of them. It'll provide you with an opportunity to do something different from relaxing, and you might learn something in the process, be that a new form of exercise or cultural skills. If, like me, relaxing isn't your forte, I'd recommend considering a hire car, or looking into public transfer to take you away from the safety of your resort. For instance, the ancient ruins of Knossos were in our vicinity but out of walking distance, but I would feel like I could more say I'd 'done' Crete if we'd gotten out of the resort more. Finally, although this is easier said than done, relax. That's what you're here to do and you deserve a break. Enjoy yourself!

Have you visited Crete or Greece? I'd love to hear all about it - let me know what you got up to on Twitter @CiarasCountry! I'd love to hear your thoughts on this blog too, so feel free to leave a comment below and I'll get back to you as soon as possible!