Crete

Crete is a beautiful island, situated in Southern Europe, in the

Mediterranean Sea. Although it is the fifth biggest island in
this sea, it is very intimate and quiet.
It has a Mediterranean climate, with hot summers and not very
cold winters. Its vegetation isnt colourful and pretty but you
can find olive trees and dry bushes everywhere you go.
Although Crete is a part of Greece, its people, sea, food and
hotels are very different than those in Greece. It is really
another world. People in Crete are very proud of their
country and rarely call themselves Greeks.
There are three big cities in Crete: Chania, in the north-west,
Rethymno, in the north-center and its capital, Heraklion in
the north-east of Crete. Each of these cities stand up with
something: the first one has a remarkable Venetian lighthouse,
the second a lovely Venetian castle and near the capital is
Knossos, a well-known archaeological site. All of these cities
are near the sea and are harbour cities.
The sea there is extraordinary. Its very clean and clear and
little fish swim right next to you. It has a lot of colours, from
light blue to turquoise to blue as the ink. Sometimes you cant
even tell where the sea ends and the sky begins.
You can find all kinds of food: from the classic old pizzas and
pastas to fish, beans and what we, Romanian people, call
sarmale. But the most important thing is the ice cream. The
best ice cream Ive ever eaten is a caramel one in Crete.
Usually there arent big hotels, but small and intimate ones
where you feel at home. Most of the times, they are near the
beach.
Because they have very many kilometres of nice and sandy
beaches, wherever you go, there arent more than twenty
people on the beach and ten in the water.

Crete has a lot of small villages and the most popular name for
a village is neo hori. That means new village.
There are many islands near Crete. Gavdos is an example. It is
the southernmost place in Europe. Another very popular
example is Thira. You may know it as Santorini or the
supposed Atlantis. Santorini is surrounded by a number of tiny
islands. There is an island called Thirassia, which was formed
about fifty years ago. There are active underwater volcanoes,
ready to erupt. So who knows is Santorini will still exist in a
couple of years?
In my opinion, Crete is the best place on Earth.

By Radu Catinca
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