Eat: Unfortunately I don't have many pictures of food (I was more into taking videos of the food, possibly because of how much there would be on the table), so instead I will list out what I think are the foods you must try if you ever go to Crete or Greece:

• Moussaka - This was my absolute favourite dish to go for. Traditionally it is layers of minced lamb, aubergine, potatoes, tomato, onion and then topped with béchamel sauce and cheese. The best ones are served in a little clay pot.
• Tzatziki - Okay so technically this is not a meal, but a dip, pair it with fresh bread and you'll have finished the dip in no time.
• Greek Salad - I know what you're thinking "eurgh salad", but no, think again! Normally consisting of tomatoes, olives, cucumber and topped with feta cheese, drizzled in salt, pepper, olive oil and vinegar making it the perfect refreshing side dish. Before this trip I wasn't a massive cheese fan but I have now been converted.
• Gyros - This was one of the main-lunch staples, quick but messy. Meat cooked on a rotisserie and then wrapped in a thick pitta bread with chips, onions, tomatoes and tzatziki sauce.
• Souvlaki - Grilled meat, usually chicken, lamb or pork with chips, tzatziki and some salad.
• Fried Snails (Chochlioi Boubouristi) - I have to say I'm not a massive fan of snails but after trying one of the fried snails in Crete I couldn't stop! They are coated with flour and fried in hot olive oil, then drizzled with wine or vinegar. 
• Raki - One of the many things I loved about Crete was the free raki and desserts that came after a meal, the Greek hospitality is honestly so warm. Raki is Crete's national drink, a strong spirit ranging from 40% - 65% alcohol by volume. You can imagine how strong a shot of it would be but when in Greece, yammas!

Side Story - One of a kind Landlady: I had just moved into my apartment in Crete, it was about 2 days in and on that evening I heard a persistent knocking on my door. This was around 10pm so I was a bit perplexed, who on earth would be knocking on my door at this time and especially when I didn't really know anyone yet. I opened my door and there stood my landlady with a plateful of porkchops. Yes, cooked porkchops. "Hi, Michelle! Welcome to the building! I made too much so here take some, NO, take more". Turns out my landlady owned a jeep excursion company where they provide lunch too and on this day she had a lot of leftovers so she was going around every apartment and handing out porkchops, which I found both hilarious and sweet. I was grateful as that was 2 of my meals sorted and it was tasty. She actually was a really sweet old lady, but she didn't speak English very well so our conversations were always somewhat limited.

Do: The area that I stayed was Amoudara, which is a 20-minute bus ride away from the centre of Crete (Heraklion/Iraklio). Amoudara is a fairly quiet area, although it has many cafes, restaurants and tourist shops, they also have a lot of places that have closed down and not been taken up by new tenants. The thing I loved most about living there was the fact that I was just 5 minutes walk away from the beach and on this (7km long sandy) beach, were several tavernas with their own section of sun-loungers; my favourite taverna was Lotos. If you order a drink (and/or food) you can stay on their sun-loungers for as long as you wanted, staff would come out and take your order if you set-up in one of them. After my daily dose of vitamin D, I would go inside the restaurant for some lunch, as their food was really good too. Then on some occasions, on the walk back to my apartment I would stop at the cafe, Oompa Loompas for their amazing froyo, they also served other desserts such as waffles and ice-cream. Another taverna I frequented with friends, was Heaven Beach, which has a very hip modern design with a mix of food from the traditional grilled meats to baos and even an afternoon tea! They also have some beautiful cocktails.



Side Story - Bear: Me and the bestie G.C were tanning at Lotos, I was lying on my front to tan my back when about 10 minutes in I felt a gentle bop on my head. I knew for sure G.C was still on her sun-lounger and couldn't reach so far, so did this mean a stranger had just come and bopped me!? I heard G.C laughing when I looked up and was caught by surprise, I was indeed bopped on the head by a living being but it wasn't a person, it was a stray dog. He or she was a gorgeous black labrador (I am guessing) and I think he actually enjoyed my shocked face because I could have sworn he was smiling. It was just adorable! Normally they come over when you have food but we didn't have any so I think he was just feeling playful. This same dog also walked me and my colleagues back to our apartment from the bus-stop after one of our team events. I was scared he was going to try come into the building but the good dog just sat at the front door and then started cleaning himself. I did name him Bear and I say he was a stray because the very first time I saw him on the beach was when I was eating in Lotos and he didn't have a collar on then.


Another pro to living in Amoudara was the fact that we had a beautiful hiking trail (I say trail loosely, I got lost a few times but it was all part of the adventure) and I ended up at Almiros Gorge. I wanted to go further but as I was by myself and there was no footpath to go round just a road, I decided not to risk it. However, my friends did go further ahead and even hiked up the mountain. If you do decide to do these routes please make sure to wear suitable footwear and have water with you.
An activity in Amoudara, which only pops up in summer is the open-air cinema at Technopolis. Technopolis is a cinema (and so cheap compared to London) with many kids-areas so it wasn't really a place I spent a lot of time in but I was excited for the open-air cinema. The movie I got dragged to watch, thanks to my friend S.M was 'Mamma Mia 2', I had never even seen Mamma Mia 1 but the sound system at Technopolis was amazing and I couldn't have imagined a better way to enjoy this movie, I ended up loving it. When I got home I watched the first movie on my iPad and funnily enough, it just did not have the same effect.

EAST CRETE 
First up in East Crete is Vai Palm Beach, which is famous for having the largest natural palm forest in Europe. You can get the bus/coach to Vai from Sitia but we decided to rent a car and drive there which was a 5-hour round trip from Heraklion. You can see from the photos below, it was pretty busy with various sun-loungers on the beach (aside from the classic ones, they also had a 'luxury range' which is the sun-lounger with a cushion) however the price they were asking for was ridiculous so we found an empty spot on the beach and set our towels out instead. I'm not sure it was worth such a long journey to get to as there were other beaches that were closer to me and nicer too but the palm trees are a nice background for photos.
Next is Agios Nikolaos, a coastal town 1-hours drive away from Heraklion. It was a cute little town to walk around in, filled with colourful buildings, boats and of course various restaurants and little shops.

Side Story - Fluffy Friend: I don't know if you spotted the little dog in one of the pictures above but he followed us from a place where there were all these old boats parked on land and joined us in our walk up the stone stairs and along the coast. When we stopped to admire the view and take pictures, he also stopped and admired the view through the gap of the walls. One of the saddening things about Crete is the amount of stray cats and dogs there are. I asked my Greek friend about it and she said the government are trying to help these animals but there's just so many of them, that it's impossible. I got to say, I love cats too but some of the cats in Crete were terrifying especially the 'bin gangs', the group of skinny stray cats that would hang around the bins all day, you wouldn't want to mess with them.

Another pretty place for walking and taking in the views is Sissi. They have little water spots and beaches you can explore but if you're not one to get into the water, they also have a walkway filled with flowers and colourful hammocks. Further ahead there is a restaurant which we went to for lunch but be prepared to wait awhile for service and for food, also the amount of mosquitoes there. Mosquitoes in Crete seem to be so much more venomous than the ones in UK, that I actually had to go doctors to get antibiotics for all my bites. Always spray on repellent if you know you get bitten easily.

When it comes to olives there are 2 types of people, ones who love them and ones who absolutely cannot stand them, I belonged to the latter. However, my friends wanted to go to the Cretan Olive Oil Farm in Agios Nikolaos and since Crete is known for their olives, off we went. When you go in you are greeted by the friendly owners, then you start your journey with a short video on how to make olive oil using the traditional methods and distinguishing what olive oil you should buy based on the acidity levels. They also have tours and hold classes in cooking, pottery and cheese-making. We decided on a self-guided tour which was €3, we followed the path, saw various animals, then went to the gift shop where you can taste the different olive oils and raki they had to offer.

There were aspects of Malia that did not please me but it is a good place to party once you've found a club with the type of music you are looking for and there are some friendly people there too. One of the managers of the hotel we were staying at, Kastro Apts (decent price, clean and at the end of the strip so you can work your way up) got my birthday started in the right way, with a colourful sparkling cocktail and a group photo. S.M also surprised me with a birthday cake to be placed in our hotel room, which was so sweet. In the daytime Malia is almost unrecognisable and they have a pretty decent beach too. I'm sure I took the photo of that 'Nisos Beach' sign because of the quote below it, which reads, "The tans will fade but... the memories will last forever...".

When you think of partying in Crete, another place that comes to mind is Hersonissos, which is a town with many restaurants, cafes and shops but also a classier place to party. Hersonissos doesn't have as many bars and clubs as Malia but the main ones are New York Beach Club and Palm Beach Club. I have to say, I personally preferred Hersonissos to Malia. In the daytime, the place I frequented most here was Star Beach, which is a huge resort with a water park but they also had a themed party it seemed, every week. It was a nice place to chill by the many pools, with a drink in hand.

One of the excursions that we sold in Crete was a trip to the island Koufonisi and we were lucky enough to be booked on one of these trips. Me and my colleagues were picked up by the coach at Creta Beach Hotel in Amoudara and normally the drive from Amoudara to Makrigialos is 2 hours but since we had to make other stops (to pick up other people and a 'quick' toilet-break, it took much longer). Once at Makrigialos you will board the pirate ship and sail around for about 2.5 hours, this includes lunch and a swimming stop too. The coastline is absolutely beautiful and the water was the most clear and blue I've ever seen. As the ship is too big to dock at Koufinisi, there is a small boat to take you to the island, you can imagine this can take awhile especially when there is only one small boat making the rounds. I think we had about an hour on the island, it was nice because it was empty but it wasn't really comfortable walking bare feet as there were so many little rocks on the sand. All in all, I was happy I could tick the place off my list but I wouldn't have been devastated if I never got to go, it was one long long day. But please look how beautiful it was below.