Olympic Ii Hotel

small private beach close by

by Jawnuta

August 2006
There is a small private beach east of Georgioupoli we like to go to.

The beach is great if you are staying in Rethymno and you don't like crowded city beach. It is only 15 min drive away.

In order to get there you have to look at my GoogleEarth picture where I tryed to "dot" the very anrrow road to the beach from National Highway.

We love that tiny beach because the water is great, the sand is nice, view is fantastic (you can see the whole Georgioupoli to the west). There is only several umbrellas and a small taverna serving casual greek food. There is also small gazebo with a bar and a very nice Bulgarian bartender. The bathroom are always clean and there is always plenty of parking space. The town of Georgioupoli with all the hotels and tavernas is also close by.
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July 2007
We went to our beach again and we could not recognize it. It was totally different beach. Supposedly winter storm did so much damage to it, the owner rebuild few buildings and made few changes.
Our Bulgarian bartender was not there anymore.
Beach was more crowded and larger ( I man greater distance between water, your bed, and cold beer!).
One positive change....the food was fabulous!!!
We had fantastic fried zucchini of a size and color of 50 Euro Cents.
Great home fries, and nice size greek salad. Beer was colder than last year.

So, YES it is still a nice beach. You should still go, and park your car and eat nice lunch, but the beach stretches for miles, so you can walk and find your own favorite beach chair and umbrella......

Rethymno

by Aitana

Rethymno is the third city of Crete. It has been inhabited from the Minoan period. Venetians settled here (as well as in the rest of the island) and left their stamp. Also the Turkish domination is still visible.
The Venetian Fortress (Fortezza) dominates the city. There are four bastions and three gates. There is a mosque (Ibrahim Han) inside the walls. Other buildings are the Rector house and the warehouses, but unfortunately, all of them were closed. There are also two small churches. Coming down, you can see the Archeological Museum and the Venetian port.

In the city centre, don’t miss Rimondi fountain.
The Lotzia houses a shop of art reproductions.
Neratze mosque is the best preserved of the Ottoman buildings. Today, it houses a school of music and a concert hall. Unfortunately, it was closed!