Living with the Greeks
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Living with the Greeks Travel Passports passport. Your flight ticket is non-transferable and Please ensure your 10-year British Passport is not non-refundable. No refund can be given for non- out of date and is valid for a full six months used portions. beyond the duration of your visit. The name on your passport must match the name on your flight Baggage Allowance ticket/E-ticket, otherwise you may be refused We advise that you stick to the baggage boarding at the airport. allowances advised. If your luggage is found to be heavier than the airlines specified baggage Visas allowance the charges at the airport will be hefty. Visas are not required for Greece for citizens of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. For all other With Easyjet your ticket includes one hold bag of passport holders please check the visa up to 23kg plus one cabin bag no bigger than 56 x requirements with the appropriate embassy. 45 x 25cm including handles, pockets and wheels. Greek Consulate: 1A Holland Park, London W11 For more information please visit 3TP. Tel: 020 7221 6467 www.easyjet.com Labels Please use the luggage labels provided. It is useful Tickets to have your home address located inside your Included with this documentation is an e-ticket, suitcase should the label go astray. which shows the reference number for your flight. EasyJet have now replaced all their airport check- Departure Tax in desks with EasyJet Baggage Drop desks. UK Flight Taxes are included in the price of your Therefore, you must check-in online and print holiday. out your boarding passes before travelling. Checking in online also provides the opportunity Transfers for you to pre-book seats, if you wish, at an On arrival at Heraklion Airport please collect your additional cost. luggage and exit the luggage area. You will find the Tour Manager situated just outside the Online check-in is available 30 days prior to travel arrivals area, holding a Travel Editions sign. using the reference number provided. Please see the enclosed e-ticket for more information or visit; Special Requests www.easyjet.com If you haven’t done so already, please notify Travel Editions of any special requests as soon as Please check that the details on your possible to allow sufficient time to make the documentation are accurate and that all names necessary arrangements. are spelt correctly and match the names on your Accommodation Istron Bay Hotel When ordering fish in Crete you will find the price Our base for this tour is the friendly Istron Bay on the menu relates to a cost per kilo. Don’t be Hotel, which is a five-star hotel with a private put off by this. You are expected to go into the beach situated in a lovely position overlooking the kitchen, choose the fish you want and then it will bay of Mirabello. be weighed in front of you so you know what you The hotel has 2 restaurants, a beach bar and a will pay. lounge bar. The rooms are all en-suite and have a sea view and include private bathroom with Nearly all tavernas sell their own ‘open’ wine, shower/bath, air conditioning, private balcony, known as village wine. It is something of an satellite TV, hairdryer and safe box. acquired taste, but it goes well with the local food. The Greeks are very proud of their wine and nearly The half-board restaurant serves traditional Cretan all Cretans make their own. The white is usually style food as well as international dishes. always very drinkable, but the red varies quite a lot. If you are unsure you can always ask if you can For more information visit the hotel website: try the wine before you agree to it. Prices of local http://www.istronbay.gr/ ‘village’ wine are usually between 3 and 5 euros per half litre. Dining Local drinks are ouzo, raki, metaxa and, of course, Although all evening meals are included in this Greek wine. Raki is the local firewater! This is holiday, there will be the occasion to eat out at distilled from the residue of the grapes after other times when you will have the opportunity to making wine. You will probably find you come choose for yourselves some of the local cuisine. across this whether you want to or not, as it is very often served, complimentary, at the end of a meal. The standard of food in Greece is excellent and offers a remarkable variety of freshly prepared Meals included in your holiday and very tasty dishes, many of which use locally grown products and locally produced olive oil. Half board although one dinner will be arranged in In Greece, and particularly in Crete, the locals a local taverna during your stay. nearly always eat ‘Mezedes’ style. This generally means ordering several dishes, starters and/or main plates, whatever takes your fancy, to put in the middle of the table for all to share. It’s a very sociable way to eat and a great way of tasting lots of different dishes! Don’t be shy in the amount you order, or if you only find yourselves ordering starters – any combination is acceptable. Destination Crete local’s place amidst the tourism of the town, which Crete is a fascinating destination for a cultural and gives it a very authentic atmosphere. historic tour with its wealth of sights reflecting its There is an archaeological museum in Agios ancient Minoan culture that dates back some Nikolaos but, due to renovation work, this has not 3,000 years, but it is also an island with a fantastic been open for the last 3 years. It may be open nature, some wonderful and diverse scenery and when you visit but please check with your tour an authentic traditional culture, which very much manager or the hotel reception before planning to encompasses the local cuisine. The Cretan diet is visit. reputed to be one of the healthiest in Europe with its abundance of locally grown high quality olive A little information on the places visited: oil, pulses, fresh fruit, vegetables, wild greens (horta), rich red tomatoes and, of course, a glass of Cretan Olive Farm wine produced from local vineyards! Situated in Agios Nikolaos, the traditional Cretan Olive Oil Farm is definitely worth a visit. Agios Nikolaos To satisfy both your taste buds and your curiosity, Agios Nikolaos is a medium-size all-year-round take a guided tour around the small, family-run working town with a small-town feel. You can walk Cretan Olive Oil Farm to learn the history and around it easily and can get to know it and feel processes of oil pressing and see exactly how olive familiar with the place very quickly. oil is produced. The town has ‘three faces to the sea’: The Lake There will be an opportunity to take some tasty and port, Kitroplatia beach and the Marina. The treats home with you. You’ll find a range of oils, lake is a folklore-inspiringly deep body of water olive pastes, sun-dried tomatoes and honey which is connected to the sea by a narrow inlet. It available to try and buy in the farm’s gift shop. is surrounded and overlooked by cafes and restaurants - a busy gathering place for local Kavousi residents and visitors alike. An historic village in Eastern Crete, meaning “water source” in the Cretan dialect. The village is The beach at Kitroplatia, on the east side of the located in the northern foothills of the Thripti town, is one of the few in Crete to provide that mountain range and claims to have discovered town-centre-by-the-sea beach location, together many archaeological sites in the local area. It also with its own original tavernas and cafes and a boasts a magnificent view over the Gulf or handful of hotels and apartments. Mirabello and the Isthmus of Lerapetra. A stroll south from the port, up to the square and down the other side of the town, brings you to the Mochlos marina, where the extravagant….and quite often Mochlos is a small picturesque fishing village far less extravagant, boats are moored. located in the gulf or Mirabello in Eastern Crete. A main feature of Mochlos is the island of the Many churches can be found scattered within the same name that is only 150m from the shore. It streets of Agios Nikolaos - including the small was probably still connected to the 'mainland' in church which lends its name to the town that is Minoan times and was a significant harbour. The found close to the St Nicholas Hotel. site is still being excavated. There is a good choice of shops with original items on offer, from woven fabrics, to cups, mugs and Monastery of Saint George Selinari china wear and a miscellany of clothes, house The newly founded, male monastery, of Saint decor and local food products and delicacies. George of Selinari and its small old chapel are Agios Nikolaos - apart from being a summer draw situated inside the homonymous gorge, just off for visitors – is, for the most part, open in winter the new National Road connecting Heraklion and and so remains, winter and summer, very much a Agios Nikolaos. The first monastery was built during the second Dinner is buffet style and consists of many mouth- rule of the Byzantine Empire in Crete (961-1205 watering Greek dishes that must be tried. AD), but was completely destroyed by the pirate There is no better way to experience traditional Barbarossa in 1538.