Next Stop: Chania & Rethymno (Crete)

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Nonii, mina olen jälle tulnud Starbucksi, et mekkida Gingerbread lattet ja jutustada teile oma reisikogemustest. Vaid 2 päeva peale Küprost ja paari prkatikapäeva kiirustasin elu-eest jälle lennujaama, et seekord võtta siht Kreeka suurimale saarele Kreetale. Kokku veetsin seal 5 (3 täispikka) päeva ning külastasin kolme põhilisemat linna, millest täna tutvustan kahte. So, let's begin! 

Asukoht:

Chania ja Rethymno, Kreeta 

Reisi kestvus:
Mõlemas linnas veetsin ühe öö.

Sihtkohta reisimine:

Chania: Kuna lennuk maandus kolmandas põhilises linnas Heraklionis (sellest täpselmalt juba järgmises postituses), siis tuli mul peale kesklinna saamist üles otsida bussijaama A terminal, kust lähevad kõik bussid saare lääne osasse (terminalist B lähevad bussid saare idapoolde). Bussijaam on vanalinna ääres, üsna sadama lähedal, üllataval kombel on seal isegi tasuta wifi. Kui Küprosel tuli kõik piletid osta bussijuhi käest, siis Kreetal tuleb osta need bussijaamast, pilet Heraklionist Chaniasse maksis u 15€ täiskasvanule, sõit kestis kokku 3 tundi. Kõikide liinide ajakava leiab SIIT.
Rethymno: Rethymnosse alustasin oma teed Chaniast, tegemist on linnaga, mis jääbki täpselt Chania ja Heraklioni vahele, seega mõlemast linna on sinna 1,5 tundi sõitu. Pilet Chanist Retymnosse maksis umbes 7€. Igast suuremast linnast peaksid kindlad bussid minema otse ka lennujaamadesse (Heraklion, Chania). 

Kohalik eripära: 

Kuna mina sattusin Kreetale jällegi hooajaväliselt (hooaeg on aprillist oktoobrini), siis paljud kohad on avatud kas poolikult või üldse kinni ning bussiliinid paljudesse väiksematesse kohtadesse ei sõida, seega oleks auto lausa hädavajalik, mida mul muidugi polnud ja nii jäigi mul osad kohad kahjuks nägemata. Sellegipoolest olid ilmad väga ilusad- enamus aeg paistis päike ning kraade oli kuskil 20 ringis. Minu jaoks olid Chania ja Rethymno väga sarnased linnad, sest nende vanalinna ülesehitus on põhimõtteliselt sama, siiski avaldas mulle rohkem muljet Chania. 

Majutus:

Chania: Appi, üks elu parimaid hosteleid, kus ma üldse kunagi olen olnud (neid ikka on natukene jagunud)! Mulle meeldis seal absoluutselt kõik- sisutus, mööbel, VANNITUBA (omg, omg, omg), asukoht (super lähedale bussijaamale ja vanalinnale), töötajad (isegi koristaja oli megasõbralik ja aitas mul mu kaduma läinud võtit otsida). Ühesõnaga nii palju kui mina seal olin (kahjuks ainult ühe öö), siis kõik oli megahea! Kui nüüd natuke vinguda, siis AINUKE miinus oli see, et reception suleti kell 8, mina jõudsin aga kell 9 õhtul ja ei teadnud sellest midagi, õnneks lasti mind uksest ikka sisse. Tegelikuses oli töötaja mulle juba varem meilile kirja saatnud tuppa saamise kohta (uks käis koodiga) ja jätnud mulle receptionisse võtme, ma lihtalt ei saanud tänu interneti puudusele seda e-kirja kätte. Ühe öö ööbimise hinnaks on 19€, tõsi sutsu kallis, aga see on seda väärt! Minu käest saab Cocoon City Hostel suured ja rasvased 10 punkti!!!  

Rethymno: Rethymnos oli mul üle tüki aja kinni pandud korter, mõni aeg enne sinna minekut avastasin, et ma poelgi kunagi reisi jooksul üksinda kuskil sellises kohas olnud ja tegelikult oli päris mõnus vahelduseks ka täiesti üksi kuskil olla. Peamiselt osutus Katrina House mu valikuks sellepärast, et ega väga odavamaid ööbimisi ma rohkem selleks ajaks ei leidnudki (öö maksis 25€) ja kui juba, siis võtta vähe viisakam koht. Ma ei tea, kuidas teiste tubadega, aga minu oma ei olnud küll nii uhke nagu piltidel näidatud. Siiski oli tegemist keskmiselt viisaka kohaga, mis sisaldas peale magamistoa endas ka kööki ja vannituba. Mulle meeldis väga, et kohe peale broneerimist saadeti mulle kohaselt emailile kiri kogu informatsiooniga (asukoht, uksekoodid jne), kuigi näiteks minu juhitses oli välisukse uksekood valesti ära märgitud, siis peale veidike pusimist ja koodide katsetamist sain õnnelikult tuppa (võimalus oli ka omanikele helistada). Niisiis oli tegemist viisaka (vanalinnas asuva), kuid täiesti tavalise kohaga. 10-st punktist annan 6. 

Vaatamisväärsused:

Chania: Nagu kõigis kolmes linnas, mida ma Kreetal külastasin, jäid peamised vaatamisväärused vana/kesklinna. Kuna mul kaarti ei olnud, siis mõnda aega jalutasin sihitult ringi ja nagu ikka jõudsin õigete kohtade juurde, hiljem leidsin tänavalt ka suure posterkaardi, mille põhjal sain oma vaatamisväärsuste nimekirja täiendada (kaart asus vana sadamas mošee lähedal). Chanias on üliilus ja mõnus vana sadam, mis näeb välja nagu väike veneetsia, pole ka ime, sest sadam on kunagi just veneetslaste poolt (ümber?)tehtud. Sadamas võib näha nii tuletorni, mõnusat promenaadi kui ka huvitava ja teistsuguse arhitektuuriga Giali Tzami mošeed. Vanalinn ise on väga hubane ja mõnus, kus leidub palju värvilisi maju ning kitsaid tänavaid. Ajaloo huvilistele soovitan minna ka arheoloogia muuseumisse, sissepääs sinna maksis 2-4€ vahel, siiski kui on plaan minna ka Heraklioni, siis sealt leiab enam-vähem samasuguse aga palju suurema ja parema muuseumi (hind on  talviti 5€ ja suviti 10€).
Rethymno: Minu joaks oli Rethymnos umbes poole päeva jagu tegevust. Ka seal on vana sadam, mis tundub pilteide pealt isegi ilusam kui Chania oma, tegelikuses oli minu jaoks vastupidine seis. Kõige huvitavam vaatamisväärsus oli minu jaoks vana kindlus, kus on keskmine vaade linnale ning palju vanu maju, kuna mul polnud sellel päeval tuju ajaloosse süvendega, siis kõndisin teabetahvlite juurest ruttu minema, kuid 4€ eest oli meelelahutust piisavalt. Kindlasti tasub ka vanalinnas ringi liikuda, sest seal on nii mõnigi huvitav kirik ja vana detail (nt linnavärav), siiski tänu Chaniale oli mul seal päris korralik deja vu tunne. Suurima pettumuse valmistas Rimond purskaev, kuidagi niruks jäi see asi. Üks mu lemmikkohti oli aga Rethymnost umbes 40 minuti kaugusel ja 500 meetrit kõrgemal asuv Arkadi mungaklooster, tegelikult on kohal pakkuda palju rohkem kui ainult ilus kirikuhoone, seal on näiteks ka muuseum ja kena tagaaed. Kuigi buss sinna läheb (peabussijaamast) hooajaväiselt vaid paar korda päevas ja edasi-tagasi pilet maskab u 6€, siis kindlasti soovitan külastada, sinnaminek päeva parim otsus! 

Söögikohad: 

Ka Kreetal kimbutas mind isutus, seega piirdusin mõlemas linnas peamiselt (bussijaama lähedal olevates) pagariäridest ostetud saiakestest ning küpsisest ja poest ostetud värksetest mandariinidest. Siiski on mõlemas linnas ka söögikohti küllaga, näiteks on mõlemad vana sadamad neid täis, ma eeldan, et tegemist on ka veidi kallimate kohtadega. 

Vaba aeg:

Chania: Kuigi veetsin Chanias vaid mõned aktiivsed tunnid, siis nende sisse mahtus ka külastus kohalikku munitsipaal turule, mis oli täitsa arvestatava suurusega, kuid üsna tagasihoidlik. Kindlasti soovitan suvisel ajal või auto olemasolul minna ka kuskile ilusasse randa, minu lemmikuteks olid Balos Lagoon ja Seitan Limania rannad, kahjuks pääseb mõlemasse (vähemalt talvisel ajal) vaid autoga, seega pidin nendest suud puhtaks pühkima ning leppima Stavrose rannaga, kuhu sõidab talvisel ajal buss (peabussijaamast) paar korda päevas (üks ots oli u 3-4€ kanti), sõit sinna kestis 1,5 tundi ja tagasi 40 minutit (tüüpiline Kreeka) ja kindlasti ärge magae oma peatust maha nagu mina, rand on küll viimane peatus, kuid peale seda hakkab buss kohe tagasi linnapoole sõitma (mida ma ei teadnud), niiet ainuke rand, mille juures on mägi ongi Stavros! Ja noh, kui mööda sõidate, siis saab alati järgmises peatuses maha minna. Kuna Kreetal on nii palju teisi imelisi randasid, siis kahjuks jäi Stavros üpris üksluiseks, aga vähemalt käisin kuskilgi rannas ära. 

Rethymno: Eeee, ausalt öeldes veetsin vaid mõned asjalikud tunnid Rethymnos ja peale seda sõitsin kohe Arkadi mungakloositise ja peale seda juba uude linna, niiet ega mul nö vaba aega ei olnudki. Ja ausalt öeldes ei näinud ma seal ka midagi huvitavat, kindlasti on kohti kuhu minna ja mida teha, aga oma kogemuste põhjal ei oska ma kahjuks kaasa rääkida. Minu jaoks oli tegemist pigem paari-tunni-peatuse linnaga. 

Kuigi tegelikult oli mul peal päris suur reisiväsimus, siis endiselt on mul hea meel, et käisin ka Kreetal ära. Järgmises postituses räägin juba Heraklioni hinnasüsteemist, Knossose lossist ja megaheast söögikohast!
Cheers! 

Chania: 

 Rethymno:

So, I am again in Starbucks, to try Gingerbread Latte (it's bad) and to share my travelling experiences. Only after 2 days of Cyprus trip and a couple of practice days I rushed again to Thessaloniki's airport to go at this time to Crete, which is the biggest island in Greece. I spent there 5 (3 full) days and mainly visited 3 big towns, two of them I am going to introduce today. So let's being! 

Destination:

Chania and Rethymno, Crete

Duration of Trip:

In both of them I spent one night. 

Travelling to Destination:

Chania: As my plane landed in Heraklion (the third town where I spent some time, I will speak about it in next post), then after reaching to city center I needed to find the A bus terminal (from there the buses are going to the west part of the island, from B terminal buses are going to east side), to go to Chania. The bus station was next of old town, near of the old port and surprisingly they had a wifi! When in Cyprus only the bus drivers sells the tickets, then in Crete the tickets are available mostly only in bus stations. One way from Heraklion to Chania costed 15€ (for adults) and it took 3 hours to arrive there. Schedules for all the buses are in HERE.

Rethymno: To Rethymno I went from Chania, it's a town, which is between of Chania and Heraklion so from both towns it tooks 1,5 hour to get there. One way ticket costes 7€. Also from all the bigger towns there should be special buses which are going straight to airports (to Heraklion and Chania ones). 

About Local Life: 

As I visited Crete out of season time (season is from April to October), then a lot of places were closed of opened in part time. Also there weren't buses to smaller places, so to having a car was pretty important, as I didn't had it, then I also didn't see some cool places. But the weather was very nice, it basically didn't rain at all and it was mostly around 20 degrees. For me Chania and Rethymno were very similar towns, because the old town looked kind of the same, just Chania was more beautiful. 

Accommodation:

Chania: Oh my God, really one of the best hostels where I ever have been and I have been in quite many places! I really liked everything in there- design, furniture, BATHROOM (omg, omg, omg), location (it was super close to bus station and to old town), staff (even the cleaning lady was super friendly, she helped me to find my key). So for me everything was super awesome! If there is something about to whine, then the only minus was that they closed reception at 8 pm, but I arrived at 9 pm and I didn't know that they are closed. Luckily one guest let me in (they door is with a code). Actually the staff send me an email (with a door code) before they left and also left me a key to reception, I just didn't get it because lack of Inetrent. One night in there costed 19€, but it was so worth it! So from the Cocoon City Hostel will get big and fat 10 points!

Rethymno: For Rethymno I booked an apartment, which I haven't done for a long time, actually it was the first one where I staied alone and this feeling was super nice, although I also like to share it with special people. The main reason why I choose Katrina House, was the lack of other cheaper places, so it was the best one what I found with that price (25€ per night). I don't know how the other rooms looks, but mine wasn't for sure so fancy as in the photos. But it was still a quite nice place, where I had my own bedroom with kitchen and bathroom. I really liked that after booking the owners sent me an email with all the details (location, door code and so on), although the door code was wrong. Luckily after trying some codes I managed to open a door (they also added their phone number so in worst case I could call to them). So it was okay accommodation place which was in old town, but  it wasn't nothing special, so from 10 I am giving 6 points. 

Sightseers:

Chania: As in all those 3 towns, which I visited in Crete, then also in Chania all the main sightseers were in city center/ old town. I didn't had a map, so I just started to walk randomly around the old town and like usually I found all the important places, later I also saw one map on the street which was near to old port and mosque, so with that I filled my list with some more places. In Chania there was a super nice old port, which looks like a small Venice, well no wonder, because the Venetians were the ones who owned the place for a long time ago. In the old port there's a lighthouse, a nice promenade and a bit differently looking mosque called Giali Tzami. Old town is very cozy with it's colourful houses and narrow streets. For the history lovers I recommend to go to archaeological museum, the ticket costs between 2-4€, I must say that in Heraklion there's also similar museum which is much bigger and better, but also the price is higher (5€ in winter and 10€ in summer). 

Rethymno: For me Rethymno was interesting only for a half of day. There's also a old port, which on the photos looks sometimes prettier then Chania one, but in real life it's the opposite case. The most interesting place for me was the old fortezza, where is a middle view to town and a lot of old buildings, as on that day I didn't had any mood for learning history then I skipped texts, but the 4€ which I spent to get the ticket were quite well spent. For sure spend some time in old town, because there's some nice places, like churches and city gate, but it all looks very similar to Chania. The biggest disappointment was Rimond fountain, it just wasn't nothing special for me. One of my favourite places in Crete was Arkadi monastery, which is from Rethymno 40 minutes away and 500 meter higher. It offers more than only a beautiful church, for example there's a museum and a very nice backyard. Although in winter time the buses are going to there (from main bus stop) only a couple of times per day and the both way ticket costs 6€, then I still recommend to visit that, really, going to there was the best choice of that day.  

Place to Eat:

In Crete I also weren't very hungry, so from both towns I just bought some pies from local bakeries (near of bus stations) and ate fresh tangerenes. But there's also a lot of eating places in both towns, especially near of old port, but I assume that these places are also more expensive. 

Free Time:

Chania: Although I spent in Chania only a couple of active hours, then I also managed to vist local municipal market, which was pretty nice, but nothing special. For sure I recommend to go to some beach, because there's a lot of pretty ones. In summer time there should be buses for them but in winter time the only change is a car, so unfortunately I couldn't go to my favourite ones (Balos Lagoon and Seitan Limania), so I accepted with Stavros beach, where in winter time buses are going for a couple of times per day. One way costs around 3-4€, it took me to get there 1,5 hours, but we came back with 40 minutes (welcome to Greece) and for sure don't miss the stop like I did! I knew that the beach stop will be the last one, but I didn't knew that the bus goes straight back to Rethymno, so when you see the beach with a big hill, then this is the one! And well, when you miss it, then there's always a next stop which isn't far from the beach. As in Crete there's so many wonderful beaches then I wasn't very impressed by Stavros, but at least I visited a beach in Crete.  

Rethymno: Umm, actually I spent only a few active hours in Rethymno and after that went Arkadi monastery and after that straight to new town, so I didn't had any "free time". And honestly I didn't see any interesting free time place in there, probably there are some, but I just didn't paid attention to them. For me it was just a city which doese'nt need more than a couple of hours to look around. 

So although I was still pretty tired from Cyprus trip, then I am still happy that I visited Crete. In next post I will speak about Heraklion's price system, Knossos palace and a super nice food place!
Cheers!