Deanna and Mack in Italy and Greece: Calamari

On Day 13 we began our first full day in Chania by having breakfast in our hotel. The breakfast spread in the SanSal Hotel is pretty good. They had a wide assortment of sweet and savory pastries, meats and cheeses, eggs, yogurt, veggies, coffee bar, and so on.

After breakfast we went back to our room and got ready to go swimming. We went down to the lobby and picked up our beach towels and headed out. We walked across the street from our hotel and down the road towards the entrance to the waterfront. There is a stone wall and waterfront area where people can go swimming. It even has a breakwater wall in front of the bay to keep the water calm. There were several groups of people swimming nearby as we arrived. We set our towels on the wall near the rocks and went in for a dip. The water was very clear and we could see little tiny fish swimming around and also the rocks along the bottom of the sea.

Swimming Area Across From Hotel

We waded out into the water slowly along the slippery stone walkway and out into the water. The water was cool and refreshing. We both swam for a few minutes and relaxed enjoying the view. Just when I thought things couldn't get any better I was shocked by a very odd pinching feeling on my lower back. I jumped up and may have even squealed a little in surprise. "Did I just get bit by something??" I asked Deanna who was swimming near me. I was starting to freak out, not understanding what had just happened when Deanna also reacted shockingly to something that just took a swipe at her skin as well. Fish were biting us! lol. We both decided we had enough and got the heck out of the water for now.

We went up to our towels and dried off. Nobody on shore even noticed what we were talking about or cared. We decided to go back to the hotel and get some lunch and relax for a bit. The first thing I did was google "biting fish in Crete" and "biting fish in the Mediterranean". Well it turns out that the fish biting swimmers isn't uncommon in the region. The tiny fish, usually sea bream, like to nibble on skin tags, wounds, sores, etc., almost like they are cleaning you. I guess in some situations they can be larger and bite harder, but what we experienced was mostly just shocking, not painful.

We ordered a couple pizzas, salad, and beers from the hotel. The pizza wasn't bad, but they did mess up our order once and had to fix it.

After our meal and rest, we decided to go try swimming at the Nea Chora beach which was back over by the Manos restaurant we were at the night before. We went to a public space on the beach and made a pile with our towels and bags. We both waded into the water and immediately noticed all the fish again. I asked someone swimming if the fish bite over here and they confirmed that they do.

We swam out about 20 feet from shore and not long after that I felt a little hit on my arm. It was much softer than the bites from the other swimming area, but still not enjoyable. We swam a little longer and made a point to thrash about constantly to avoid any fish nibbling opportunities. We gave up after 10 minutes and went back to our room to freshen up for dinner.

For dinner we went to another recommended place, called Neoria Fish Tavern. We walked out of our hotel and headed East toward the Chania marina area and restaurants. We took a moment to enjoy the amazing vibes and views that this part of Chania holds. It's so lovely at sunset.

The restaurant is located beyond all the main tourist stops and at the end of the line where the boats are docked. We passed full restaurants along the way and really big crowds. The closer we got to the restaurant the less busy things became. That felt promising as we approached our restaurant.

We sat down and ordered our food. We got a bottle of Chardonnay, stuffed squash blossoms, steamed mussels, fresh fried calamari, shrimp spaghetti, and the mixed seafood grill for one. While we waited for our food to come out we enjoyed watching the cats wandering in and out of tables trying to look cute without begging too hard.

The squash blossoms were not like I was imagining they would be. They were stuffed but then covered with like a tomato based sauce. They weren't bad, but just not what I was hoping for. The mussels were very good. The fresh fried calamari was pretty good, but they could have been fried a little longer. Deanna liked her spaghetti, but all of the shrimp had full tails on and they were not cleaned. Unfortunately this is very common in Greece. This was a bit of a turn off for her appetite, so she didn't eat all of it. I also don't love having to clean my own shrimp, or even peel them. The mixed seafood grill came out and I immediately regretted it. It was much more than one portion and didn't look great. The french fries were not that crispy. The fried fish were a bit too large for my liking. When I tried eating them they were very bony and tough to get down. I ate a few. There was also a whole grilled calamari. The calamari was not seasoned at all and was very dry and just char grilled. It smelled burned. I also had a side of fried shrimp on the plate as well. These were smaller shrimp that were unpeeled just like Deanna's. I tried eating a couple of them, but they were falling apart in my hand. I think we were expected to eat them whole, but that's also not my jam. At the end of the meal the waiter brought us a bottle of Raki, a nice cake, and ice cream for dessert.

We took a leisurely stroll along the marina as we went to back to our hotel. Chania is a lovely little place and has such amazing views in the day and night. We passed by the Maritime Museum and snapped a few pics also.

Our first day on Crete was complete.

Remember all photos will be linked here: Full Photo Dump

On day 6 we woke up and had our coffees and started getting ready for an excursion.

Right down the hill from our hotel is the ferry pickup and drop off dock. The ferries here are serious professionals at dropping off people at these tiny points in the middle of rock hazards and waves. They pickup every hour from the dock below us, so we watched as boat after boat went by while we got ready.

When we were ready and had our day bags packed we went down the ticket office and bought 2 tickets to Monterosso and proceeded to the dock to wait. There was quite a line of people waiting to board the boat. When the boat pulled up it started filling up fast. Luckily another boat was waiting right behind the first boat. We got on the second boat and were able to find a nice seat as well.

Our boat trip made a few stops along the way. They stopped at Manarola, Vernazza and then our stop at Monterosso.

As we exited the boat we noticed a large amount of jellyfish in the water at the Monterosso harbor. They were cute little small ones, but not fun to swim with nonetheless.

We wanted to find an umbrella and chairs to rent so we started walking through a tunnel Northbound to the other beaches where those chairs were. Most of the places we stopped at had a sign that said they were full. We decided to stop and just eat before really trying to get a chair and swim. We ordered a pizza, bruschetta, tuna salad and caprese salad. We were hungry!

This pizza was good, but kind of misshaped.

After eating I talked to the umbrella attendant and asked if any umbrella chair setups have become available. He indicated they did have some. Score! So we paid him and followed along as he lead us to our chairs. We were only a few rows back from the beach.

For the next couple of hours we swam, drank beers, drank aperol spritz, had a fritto of calamari and just relaxed. It was perfect. The beach is pretty busy there, but fun if you can get a home base of chairs and umbrellas to relax in.

We finally had enough beach lounging and made our way up to the train station. I bought tickets online using the ticket app called Trainline. We walked up to the platform and waited with the big group of beachgoers as our train pulled up. We stopped at Vernazza and then Riomaggiore. This time we only had our small backpacks, so the hike back to our hotel room wasn't as bad as our first arrival.

We freshened up and showered to get ready for dinner. For dinner we again walked up to the town center to look for something to eat. We found a place called Ristorante Centrale and waited to be seated. There was a group of 3 waiting ahead of us but a 2-top opened up and we got seated first. Score again!

For an appetizer we ordered the mixed fried fish plate that came with anchovies, shrimp and calamari. One thing I'm not loving about the shrimp here is that they come whole. I kind of hate having to peel shrimp when I'm eating. Also you have to clean their poop out too. A bit gross when having a dining experience.

For main course Deanna had a pesto pasta and I had linguine with clams. We enjoyed all of this meal a lot. Even the little fried anchovies during the appetizer were tasty.

As we walked home I stopped and picked up a gelato with pistachio and stracciatella scoops. A delicious and sweet way to end the day. We also stopped to take in a little of the folk festival in the square above the town center. There was quite a crowd gathered and it looked like everyone was having a lovely time.