Yassas!
Although I'm aware that this is the Plakias forum I thought that one or two of you people might be interested to hear how life is in a simular place like Plak.
After not being able to sit on the beach because of the wind for 15 days of our 30 days holiday in july/august last year we had big doubts about where to go this year so I did a lot of research on other destinations on Crete. I scanned the whole southcoast with Google Earth and first thought Mirtos might be a good alternative. One of you good people (I think it was Graeme) spoke very highly of Mirtos so at first we thought to give it a go but decided not to because it was perhaps a bit smallish for a 4 weeks holiday. We actually went there this year for the day and were glad we did not go there. It's a cute little place, very pretty but indeed to small for our liking, not much of a beach either. So I scanned on and ended up in Makry Gialos (meaning long beach). From the air it looked very much like Plakias so I did some more research and found a Makry Gialos forum (nothing much, just a Tripadvisor thing, nothing as unique as this Plak forum) One thing I noticed was that people speak of Mak in a simular away as people do about Plakias, very good atmosphere, very laid back, people going there year after year, the feeling that one stays with family rather than just renting an apartment aso, aso. ( and much more important: far less wind than in Plak!) So Mak it was and believe me, we had one of the best holidays of our life. Only 2 1/2 days of strong wind!! Other than in Plakias the first row of buildings is right on the beach (apartments, bars, restaurants) and the road is behind it. Makes a big difference, one walks out of the building and is right on the beach, very fine golden sand, ideal to build sandcastles, very shallow sea so ideal for children (you must like them little buggers otherwise this is not the place for you!) Once you rent an apartment you have beds and umbrella free of charge and if one is not in an apartment right on the beach all the bars and restaurants have their own beds so one just orders a drink and the beds are free of charge! Nice little harbour just a bit bigger than in Plak, unfortunately some motorized watersport but strictly a good 100 yards from the beach....plenty of restaurants to choose from and an atmosphere very simular like Plakias. There is no far end for people that like to bounce balls on the water but plenty of secluded bays in de direct vicinity. Instead of the far end there is a big all in Swedish resort but it's not disturbing at all, they all stay there and some of them just come out in the evening to eat in one of the restaurants being fed up with the all in food I suppose Population: at least 50 % Greek families, 40 % British, a few French, German and Dutch and no East Europeans at all!
Enough to see and do in the surroundings, Sitia is a pretty place with remarkebly few tourists (dissapointment for the misses, no shops to speak of, very local) but with a beautiful boulevard. Going west, Ierapetra is not very interesting, a bit ugly bit of coast really, too many plastic greenhouses, yuk.
We stayed at Villa Plori apartments, I reccomend highly! We did our shopping in the little supermarket nextdoor and the lovely people there gave us a present EVERYDAY!!! 1/2 litre of their own oliveoil, two beers, 2 cokes, a packet of figs, a meze dish, a raki bottle and 6 glasses, more oliveoil, 2 icecreams on the day that Poppy their daughter turned 8 and on and on, amazing and very moving, aahhh! Crete!!!
Enough...just see....oh and remarkable thing, people love fancydress parties, see photograph, they have special parking lots for people in fancy dress:)
And ofcourse I have to mention Dimitri and his wife Hara of the Olympio bar, great place, great people, snail race every tuesday, very exciting! visit their website and you get the idea.
Bless you, Chris H.
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