Go with the flow
Occurred around August 2007
I've learnt that the trick to happy traveling is to adapt to changes quickly. Years ago I'd booked a trip to Canada only to find that a snow blizzard had closed my destination airport indefinitely. The airline was happy to change my booking and I went to Hawaii instead which turned out to be a great holiday.
Nothing quite so drastic happened during our time in Greece recently but after two days in Athens enduring temperatures hovering around 40c (over 100 Fahrenheit!) and air pollution doing strange things to my throat it was time for action. We were spending more time than usual in the lobby bar mostly because it was cool and luckily met Chris and Dale – a young couple from London. They had just returned from their honeymoon on Crete and showed us their photos on the camera monitor. One place that immediately grabbed my attention was Chania which I'd never heard of before. Dale nominated their accommodation at Chania as possibly the best she'd ever had.
We took advantage of internet in the lobby to check the hotel. Casa Leone is a 600 year old house in the historic Venetian quarter of the town, with views directly across the harbor. Chris gave a commentary as we navigated through the site and within 15 minutes we'd decided to spent the rest of the week at Chania and leave a full exploration of Athens for another (cooler) time.
To its credit the hotel we were staying in agreed to our request to cancel our forward booking with 24 hours' notice and even assisted in arranging a flight to Iraklion. We booked four nights at the Casa Leone.
Chania is west of the capital on the north coast which is full of interesting coves, rugged headlands and surprisingly good beaches. The town itself is fascinating and has Venetian and Turkish influences in its architecture. Casa Leone was everything that Chris and Dale suggested – perfectly located on the waterfront inside the old town with its fascinating winding streets and stunning buildings. Our room was more than we imagined with two levels of comfort and its own balcony through French doors. And while it was still hot the sea breeze swept the room and at night the air-conditioning kept us comfortable. In the morning we walked to the beach (about 10 minutes) for an early dip before returning to the hotel for a lovely breakfast overlooking the harbor.
Sometimes flexibility is the key to having a good holiday.
Submitted by NK - Nevada - 06 Aug 2008