3 days in Chania is enough time to get a real sense of this city, not just photograph the harbour and leave. Most tourists spend their first afternoon wandering the old town, realise there is far more here than they…
The Sariki Cretan headscarf is one of the most recognisable symbols of Cretan male identity, and in Chania you do not have to look far to find it. Old men wearing it in the kafeneion. Younger Cretans putting it on…
Cretan honey Chania is one of the best food souvenirs you can bring home from a holiday in western Crete, and also one of the most misunderstood. Tourists walk into shops along the harbour, pick up a jar with a…
Cretan festivals in Chania give you a window into something most tourists never find: the actual life of this place. Not the postcard version. The real one. Villages that seem half-empty in the afternoon come alive after dark. Church squares…
The Cretan Lyra is the soul of traditional Cretan music, and if you spend more than a few days in Chania, you will hear it. It comes out of taverna back rooms, village squares, and wedding celebrations. It sounds like…
Traditional Cretan knives are one of the most authentic souvenirs you can bring home from Chania, and one of the most misunderstood. Walk through the old town market and you will see them everywhere. Rows of blades hanging in shop…