On a whim, I decided I wanted to go to Greece. I looked up RyanAir flights from my mom's apartment in Vicenza, Italy to Greece & found one flight that went to the island of Crete. I was set. I told my mom & she found a bed & breakfast. I booked the hotel & flight & we were off. We left on a Thursday. We arrived a little after midnight in Crete & waited over a 1/2 hour for the car to pick us up, which was set up by our B&B, but it never came. We then asked a cab driver to take us there, but he was unsure of where it was so he called the number that was listed in the email that was sent to me. The owner of the B&B made a mistake & thought we were to arrive the next day at midnight-honest mistake. So my mom & I arrive at the B&B & the owner, Vicky, couldn't have been more apologetic & nice about the whole situation. The next morning, we had breakfast, & it was just me & my mom in the entire room since you can call to have breakfast made at any time of the day. Breakfast was served every day of our trip & we ate outside by the pool, which was decorated to look like paradise, hence the name, Paradise Hotel.
Mom & I explored the Old Town since we decided to rent a car. The rental was cheap & quite necessary since the B&B is in the middle of nowhere. The next day we visited 2 monasteries (one of them is pictured above), which had amazing views of the ocean & old historic paintings & writings. Mom & I also picked some beans at the monastery off the tree & kept calling them "holy beans." Come to find out, the beans smell like garbage when they ripen & are fed to pigs HAHA.
We connected so well with the Paradise Hotel staff that we felt like a part of their family. The staff consisted of Vicky, her son, & 2 stepsons, & her husband. What a friendly & welcoming bunch of people to say the least. They told us so much about the Greek culture as well as recommend great restaurants & even sent us to Vicky's husband's mother's restaurant where they gave us free dessert. Everyone on the island of Crete was so warm, welcoming, & are willing to speak English to anyone & find out a bit about the person. Also, even the tourist trap restaurants have amazing food & I am not one for tourist traps. If you ever have a chance, visit Crete & stay at the Paradise Hotel in Stavros on the island of Crete!
Until next time... ciao 💗
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