venetian Archives

Chania, a beautiful port town in Crete

Chania is a city on the northwest coast of the Greek island of Crete. It’s known for its 14th-century Venetian harbor, narrow streets and waterfront restaurants. I have visited Chania 3 times. From where I live the distance is very short and the price is quite cheap! We got a direct Ryanair flight to Chania from Paphos which cost us around 65 Euros return. When you arrive at Chania airport, if you’re a group it’s worth taking a taxi to the center which is around 15 EUR or take the bus which is around 2 EUR. Stay We stayed at the Kasteli Studios & Apartments in the 3 bedroom house. It was wonderful. The house was clean and cozy. It's a nice traditional place with a garden, an amazing place to sit and relax since it’s quite. Better to stay here than any other luxury hotel. The owner, Mr. Alexis welcomed us and provided us with drinks and fruit. He also answered any questions we had regarding the place and provided us information about places we can visit. Our rooms were cleaned and tidied every day. The location of Kasteli Studios is near the port and the Chania center; you only need to walk 2-3 minutes to get to the old port. I would totally recommend the place and will come back for sure when we are in Chania again. I also stayed at Elia Daliani Suites right in the center however during the night the street is very noisy due to the fact that there's a lot of bars in the same street. Booking.com Eat & Drink Every morning we had breakfast in Aroma at the old port. You can get a coffee and a ham & cheese sandwich for 3-4 EUR. The best food we had in Chania was at Tamam and Ta Chalkina. We visited Tamam, near the old port, during lunchtime. I would totally recommend you to go there if you are in Chania and have the Tamam salad and the Iranian rice, awesome tastes. Both restaurants provide you with a nice atmosphere and great food. Some [...]

Murano & Burano: The Venetian lagoon Islands

Visiting Murano & Burano Islands is the best way to spend your time away from Venice’s busy crowds during summertime. I’ve heard of these two islands of the Venetian lagoon, but never thought I was ever going there until now that I visited Venice. We got the Vaporetto (water bus) from Venice early in the morning and firstly got off at Murano and then moved on to Burano Island. With a €20 day ticket you can use the Vaporetto as much as you wish for 24 hours so this was a good opportunity to take a trip to these two islands. There’s no point to pay for a private tour on these islands or take a private taxi to get there. The Vaporetto is the cheapest solution to take you there. You’ll need to half a day in order to visit both. To be honest, we went to the kiosk shop to purchase a Vaporetto ticket and the owner advised us to get the 24 hour ticket and visit first Murano, have lunch in Burano and take the Vaporetto via Lido to come back to Venice. Murano – the island of glass Murano is famous for glassmaking and until today it still preserves the secrets of antique glass manufacturing. The skilful techniques and skilled hands have produced some amazing pieces. As soon as you get of the Vaporetto you will see factory glasses and many shops selling glass. You can’t miss Campo Stanto Stefano spot with the abstract blue glass sculpture in the middle of the square. It’s Large enough to amaze you. We didn’t have the chance to visit a factory glass since they are closed during summer because of the hot weather (in order to manufacture glass they use heat) which makes it unbearable for the workers. Authentic Murano glass is very expensive but it’s beautiful. We entered some shops displaying and selling Murano glass sculptures and jewellery and they were stunning. We were amazed. Be careful when buying Murano glass and have in mind that authentic glass holds a trademark ‘Vetro Murano Artistico’. Avoid buying cheap glass from souvenir [...]