Back we go to Crete, where we enjoyed a warm, sunny holiday in October 2024. This time we’re in Chania, which looked picturesque in the brochure photos.

We land at the small airport and descend into a balmy, sunny evening. Arrival is quick and easy with a quick perusal of passports and the luggage comes with no trouble. Greece has yet to adopt the new, digital scans etc due to wanting lots of British tourists!

Out in arrivals, we’re soon identified and join just one other couple in a minibus- a vast improvement on the unwieldy coach of last time, which took us all down and back along narrow lanes it couldn’t manoeuvre, for hours and got us to our hotel at midnight. This time it’s only half an hour to our hotel, a smallish, four storey, nondescript building on a corner at a crossroads.

After check in, we go to our second floor room, which is, to say the least, snug. There is a small wardrobe, a bathroom with a minute shower cubicle, some shelves and a fridge [which is, at least, cold] a TV, twin beds and a very narrow balcony with two uncomfortable chairs and a little table- all only just fitting and with no sun. Our room and balcony overlook a car park. So far so unimpressive then…

Nevertheless, there’s enough time left int he day to explore a bit. Outside the hotel and to the left, down a short road, there is the sea, together with a few very promising bars and restaurants, some still bathed in late afternoon sun. It seems churlish to waste the evening so we get a drink at an outside table then decide we’ll eat here. Greek salad- lovely salty feta cheese on top of fresh salad greens in an olive oil dressing. Hooray! This is a reason to visit Greece- delicious fresh food in the sunshine.

Back at the hotel, there’s a small bar and some extremely uncomfortable furniture. A large screen is showing…football. It’s quiet and a little lacklustre and I wonder what the barman can find to do…

The hotel does breakfast only, which suits us fine, and better still it goes on until 11.30am, which is great. We don’t need to hurry down to the dining area on the ground floor. Again, breakfast is adequate, although there’s tinned fruit to go with the [delicious] yoghurt and we are to find the cooked items are a little repetitive.

After breakfast we decide to get some sun and a read by the small pool, which does have a few sunbeds. It soon becomes too hot. The pool is surrounded on three sides by tall concrete walls.

It’s time to explore the town and the famous Venetian Harbour. Another advantage of the hotel is that most places are in easy walking distance- which is good news as I’m only just walking again after months of being barely mobile. Today, the sky is blue. There are scarlet Jacarandas tumbling over rooftops and when we get to the quayside, smart motor cruisers lined up in their moorings on the azure blue of the harbour. Little wonder the Greeks have adopted blue and white as their trademark colours.

The holiday stretches ahead of us…

Novels by Jane Deans [Grace]: The Year of Familiar Strangers and The Conways at Earthsend. Visit my website: janedeans.com