Carnival in Rethymno, 2010

When I planned this weekend trip to Rethymno for Carnival, one of my prime motivations was to finally meet up with Albert from the CIC and enjoy the festivities with him and his crowd. Alas, it was not to be. Despite him stopping by my hotel twice to leave a message with the front desk as to where he would be and when, I missed him in the crowd each time I tried to find him. Unfortunately we didn't have each others mobile numbers.

Despite that failed connection I had an excellent weekend.

The hotel Civitas was gorgeous, and the service I received was the most personalized I have ever experienced. Aspasia Sfakianaki and her son Nikos run the place, and I had a chance to spend some quality time chatting with both of them and with Ria, who was in charge of reception and guest services. Over drinks and meza with Nikos and Aspasia I found out that Nikos and I both attended Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale, VA. Aspasia enthusiastically expressed her adoration for the DC area several times over the weekend, telling me that when she had to leave there to come back to Greece, she cried. She's over it now, of course, but asked that when I go back that I remember how much she loved it there. This "small world" experience was followed by another when they told me that Nikos' first job in DC was at Bread & Chocolate, the bakery/cafe owned by Ted Manousakis, who also happens to own the vineyard here in Crete that I had hoped to intern for this past summer. They know the Manousakis family well, and it was fun to realize that we had acquaintances in common.

Sunday was just plain crazy all around, as the festivities had really kicked into gear all over town and everyone was in major party mode.

I watched the main parade for a while that afternoon, and when I'd had my fill I wandered back towards the center of the old town where it was a good bit more quiet. I passed by a lavishly decorated Irish bar a couple of times and made a mental note that I might want to stop in for a beer later in the afternoon. When I finally made my way to it, there were a couple of gentlemen sitting outside drinking a bottle of white wine, and they invited me to join them.

One of them was Christo, who owns the bar with his Irish wife, Geraldine. The other was Apostoli, and it was with him that I ended up spending hours talking. Having lived in Philadelphia for 20 years, and having worked in the merchant marines, his English is perfect, and it was a wonderful opportunity to listen to a Cretan native with a worldly perspective. He tapped into my recent interest in the WWII period in Crete when he told me that his father was killed by the Germans three months before he was born. It was a fascinating conversation, and when we had finished the wine and I explained that I thought I should head back to my hotel for a siesta, we agreed to meet up later that night at the same place for a drink.

When I returned to the hotel, my nap was hijacked by Nikos, who insisted I join the staff for shots of his uncle's honey raki. I had tried some the previous night, and it really is very nice raki (notes of caramel and cinnamon) so I allowed myself to be talked into it. The hotel's restaurant was really hopping by now, revelers enjoying themselves on the patio and in the lobby bar. Despite being incredibly busy serving customers and ringing up receipts, Nikos and Ria kept me company and we chatted and did shots whenever there was a lull. I finally excused myself to my room to take that nap I had promised myself, knowing that if I kept drinking I would probably not make it back out to meet Apostoli later.

I was too keyed up to sleep but did manage to rest and actually felt halfway human when I headed out at 9pm in search of a meal in a quiet restaurant, if one was to be found. I was beginning to doubt the viability of finding anyplace that wasn't overrun with loud, drunk people in costumes when I stumbled upon La Renza in the old town. Here I enjoyed a very nice, quiet meal in the company of the owner and his son. I was the only customer when I arrived, and during the next hour or so only two other parties wandered in. The owner's family is originally from Istanbul; they came here during the population exchange between Greece and Turkey. Both he and his son spoke fluent English, and we discussed many different topics during dinner, including one of my favorites, wine. They both knew a good bit about the subject, and treated me to several glasses of a dessert wine made from an indigenous variety from Patras, Mavrodaphne.

I might have stayed there talking with them for a good deal longer but I realized I was already running late for my meet-up with Apostoli so I thanked them for their hospitality and they pointed me in the direction of the Irish bar.

Apostoli had already left by the time I got there, but Christo called him and I chatted with Geraldine while I waited for him to return. Two Metaxa brandies, several cigarettes and a couple of hours later, I hit the proverbial wall. Apostoli walked me back to my hotel, and we exchanged numbers, agreeing that one weekend in March I would accompany him to his family's village in the south.

The hotel was shut up tight when we arrived around 2am, but fortunately there was a night person on staff to let me in.

The following morning I slept late in my extremely comfortable bed, then gathered my things and headed down to check out with the intention of heading directly to the bus station to catch the noon bus to Chania. Aspasia insisted that I take time to just have a little coffee and some cake, and while I was enjoying that Nikos came by to tell me that they were preparing my breakfast. My weak protests that I really needed to leave to catch the bus were met by his much more stalwart insistence that I should stay for the meal, and I happily acquiesced, realizing that the 1pm bus would get me there just as well as the noon bus. I relaxed and enjoyed the bread, cheese, cucumbers, tomatoes, and the most awesome taramosalata that I've had since arriving in Crete.

Afterward we all said our goodbyes, Ria and I promising to get in touch via Facebook and Aspasia reminding me of how much she loves Washington, DC.



Pictures from Hotel Civitas, which I highly recommend to anyone visiting Rethymno.





Various street scenes from around town.







And most importantly...the people I met. I've included one of me in my party mask, which I purchased upon arrival but never wore outside my hotel.





And finally, in keeping with my food fetish - breakfast at Civitas on day one.