Scenes from a visit to Chania, Greece (May 2023) part 2 of 2

This post is a bit of a grab bag of the last day/night in Chania. We did take a tour with a potential provider out to Elafonissi beach and through some mountain villages. Scenery was cool. I only snapped one real picture:

Unfortunately the tour was mostly a disappointing endurance exercise. Started off okay with some of the general intro and background info you'd hope for. But soon enough our guides revealed themselves to be like a Greek Beavis & Butthead tag-team, alternately complaining about the Greek government and trying to one-up each other in their efforts to flirt with my colleagues. Steady stream of corny, lame, bro behavior.

Back in Chania the rest of the time was split visiting some hotels, browsing some of the touristy sections of town, browsing some of the less touristy sections of town, and ultimately winding down with a glass of Cretan red wine. I'll start with the hotels ...

This one is from the rooftop of SanSal Boutique Hotel. Sharp, contemporary option just a few minutes walk from the heart of old town.

Snagged a few from Casa Delfino, where I was digging some of the funky furniture. Very nice place in a great location.

Also saw a roomy, refined suite at the Ambassador's Residence.

Took a few slice of the ordinary shots while wandering around the edges of old town.

Window shopped a bit, appreciating the pottery and other crafts. Liked the ducks. Found it interesting that the plastic woven bags and metal chickens are very, very similar to what you can find in Oaxaca and Michoacán.

Had to spend some time venturing beyond the touristy zone. Outside the old town there are layers of regular small city life happening with both generic and interesting retail happening. Combo architecture of economical design, old stock, newer buildings. Signs of hustle all around.

Was digging these housewares in the window. Seems like you can track them down online at the Morris.gr website if you're interested.

And I'm always going to duck into a supermarket to browse the snacks. Didn't grab the peanuts. Would have bought a t-shirt with that peanut logo, though. Did buy the two 'Tasty' options. Didn't love them.

Did a bit of a walkabout in the evening as well. Nicely-lit streets, plenty of inviting places to eat and drink. Or pick up souvenirs deep into the evening. Very pleasant place to visit.

As I was strolling I noticed a familiar evening activity around the plaza in front of the main church. The very limited video slice below hints at it, but what I saw were families and kids out playing, running, kicking balls around. Aka, something you see all the time in plazas around Mexico, from Coyoacán to Morelia to Pátzcuaro.



Also grabbed some evidence of visiting the harborfront in the evening, where you can clearly enjoy a meal/beverage and some people watching until 11/12pm. Lively, but not rowdy.

Pleased with my strolling I allowed myself a nightcap in the room before an early flight onward the next morning.