A 2-Day Cultural Immersion Experience on Crete
For Small Groups of 2 to 4 people, Central and Eastern Region

This is an extraordinary opportunity to spend time in the countryside where olive oil and wine has been produced for over 4,000 years. You’ll explore regions steeped in history in the company of local historians, superb chefs, organic vintners and mountaineers. The program is designed for you to experience as much of Crete’s culture, cuisine and nature as possible in a short period of time. CCS is an internationally acclaimed program for best practices in Responsible Travel.

Highlights:

• An exciting series of cultural experiences for 2 full days (from 9:00 AM to about 5:00 PM)
• Private, guided tours to historic sites, an excellent boutique organic winery, peaceful
villages and tavernas in the countryside.
• 3 nights at a Relais & Châteaux hotel on the northeast coast
• All guide and entrance fees; scheduled transportation and meals with local wine in moderation
are included

Day 1: Arrival in Crete and Travel to Your Relais & Châteaux Hotel in Elounda, Crete

Today is reserved for you to travel to your hotel at your leisure and relax. Your base is in Elounda, Crete. Elounda is in a gorgeous region surrounded by a protective bay and majestic mountains. The area has been inhabited for over 4,000 years and there are many historic sites to explore. The small but vibrant fishing port exists somewhere between the old and new worlds.

Day 2: Traveling Back in Time: The Palace of Knossos, Organic Winery Tour and Tasting

In the morning, we’ll pick you up at the hotel and travel to the Minoan Palace of Knossos for a private, guided tour to discover Crete’s intriguing past and the Minoan’s zest for life, the arts and cuisine. The surrounding area is still a noted olive oil and wine production region. We’ll visit vintners at their superb boutique organic winery to learn about traditional and modern wine production and, of course, taste a selection of their fine wines along with light meze. Afterwards, we’ll travel to a nearby village for lunch at an excellent taverna. We’ll return to Elounda at about 5:00 PM where you can relax and enjoy a quiet evening under the stars.

Day 3: Lassithi Plateau, Hike to Zeus’ Cave-Sanctuary, Meze in a Mountain Village

The stunning Dikti Mountain range and Lassithi Plateau is encircled by small villages and a patchwork of farms. Breathtaking vistas welcome us along the way. In the company of a local mountaineer, we can choose from the many historic sites we’d like to explore today, ranging from ancient settlements to Byzantine chapels. There are also a few interesting traditional trades and shops to visit, including my favorite bakery. We can explore the fantastic cave-sanctuary where Zeus was raised. It’s a 30-minute hike up an ancient stone pathway at a leisurely pace. The pathway is lined with an amazing array of wild flowers and herbs. Mountain air and country walks are an excellent appetizer. Our friends at a taverna overlooking the valley await us with delicacies from their gardens, prepared in their outdoor wood burning oven. We’ll stop for coffee or herb tea at a village with natural springs and a magnificent ancient plane tree, where Nikos Kazantzakis and other famous Cretan writers met for symposia. We’ll arrive back at your hotel at about 5:00 PM. Your evening is free to soak up more starlight.

Day 4: Travel Day
Your room is yours to enjoy until check-out time at noon. The gracious hotel staff can make arrangements for your taxi to Heraklion airport, depending on your travel plans.

Note: Seminars are for adults only. Includes hotel room on a B&B basis, scheduled transportation with a professional guide and driver in a standard car or minivan, scheduled meals, wine tastings and product samplings, all specialist expenses and additional information about Cretan cuisine. All menus are pre-arranged traditional Cretan family style (meze), including, local wine in moderation (2 glasses per person), bottled water, coffee and fruit. Guides will join the group for meals during excursions.
Not included: Transportation not listed on scheduled program; any meals or non-local beverages or alcoholic beverages aside from wines with meals; incidental personal expenses. Any additional food or beverage requests by visitors is their financial responsibility. Schedule subject to change due visitor interests, weather or other unforeseen conditions.

Program Costs Per Person for groups of 2 to 4 people (main building, sea view, May to early June, and late September and October, not high season):

Single Twin Room: 2050 Euros

2 People, Sharing Superior Twin Room: 1720 Euros

2 People, Sharing Double Bedroom-Suite: 1810 Euros

Itinerary 2:

If you have more time to linger in this gorgeous region of the world, we can explore the area together for a few more days:

Day 4: Private Tour of an Ancient Island Fortress, Seafood Lunch on the Coast

The ancient island-fortress of Spinalonga has undergone a fascinating and tumultuous series of historic events. We’ll meet a historian in the morning for a private tour to avoid the crowds. From a small fishing port, we’ll take a short boat ride to the island and explore its layers of cultural and architectural influences. The island is a labyrinth of stone walkways, narrow corridors, imposing ramparts and buildings now occupied by fig trees. Just across the bay, our friends await us for lunch at their excellent taverna perched on the edge of the sea. A very fresh selection of seafood is ours to enjoy, straight off the family’s small fishing boat. The tiny village has a few shops and a beautiful rocky beach. There are also vistas above the bay for great photo opportunities. We’ll take our time and explore the area before returning to the hotel at about 3 PM.

Day 5: Cooking Demo at Despina’s Home

Our friend, Despina, lives in a lively traditional village tucked into a mountain pass in northeastern Crete. Olive groves blanket the region in all directions. The magic Despina creates in her tiny kitchen is indescribably delicious. Today she will prepare her renowned seasonal specialties for us. This may include hortapitakia (wild greens tucked into delicious homemade pastry); wild mountain snails with cracked wheat; luscious slow roasted pork or lamb with potatoes; fresh grape leaves wrapped around aromatic rice; and a wide array of vegetable dishes such as braised artichokes with legumes and herbs. A Cretan table is empty without local cheeses, good fresh bread and mounds of seasonal fresh fruit. A Cretan feast is not simply a meal, but a social event. Here, we’ll savor Despina’s priceless delicacies, as well as the company. Lunch with Despina requires a long nap afterwards, in true local style. We’ll arrive back at the hotel at about 3 PM.

Day 6: Travel Day, check out of your room as stated above

Note: Level of physical activity: We’ll be enjoying light to moderate hiking when we explore the countryside. Comfortable clothing and skid-proof, durable closed-toed shoes are required. Adjustable walking sticks are provided (which are very helpful). Historic sites and rural areas of Crete are typically located on rocky hillsides, blanketed with plants, including thistles in certain areas. Our outdoor adventures are suitable for people that enjoy long walks, including stairs and hills. The pace is relaxed and there are no competitions to finish lines. Attire is always very casual.

Extended Program costs for 4 full-days of exploration and 5 nights at the hotel (based on the same guidelines as the 2-day program):

Single Twin Room: 4120 Euros

2 People, Sharing Superior Twin Room: 3660 Euros

2 People, Sharing Double Bedroom-Suite: 3810 Euros

Itinerary 3:

CRETE … UP CLOSE WITH NIKKI ROSE

Four daylong programs provide plenty of opportunity to understand and appreciate the culture of Crete.

Getting to know the people of Nikki's village

Elounda is a vibrant fishing port that exists somewhere between the old and new worlds. We'll focus on the beauty of rural life here and introduce you to people devoted to preserving traditional trades, which includes sharing great fresh food with anyone who asks.

The Staff of Life: Day 1

We'll walk along the causeway to Kolokitha island (which means zucchini) and visit the tiny 2nd Century Byzantine chapel. We'll pass the old Venetian salt flats that now host a few flamingos and electric blue kingfishers.

We'll walk through the port and up the hill to the old quarter of Pano Elounda, with steep, winding stone pathways. We can stop here for meze (a snack) or iced coffee at Zambia's kafeneo, which she has operated for the past 50 years. If Mihales is spinning his gorgeous thyme honey in his little shop next door, we must stop in to say hello. Then we'll travel along the coastal road to nearby Plaka and take a private boat trip around the bay and see the ancient fortress of Spinalonga Island. Later, we'll meet friends back in Plaka who own a fantastic seafood taverna and enjoy the catch of the day along with seasonal meze.

By then, it will be time for a siesta, so we'll take you back to your hotel to rest. The pace of life here revolves around rural activities and the weather. People try to rest in the afternoon and during the warm summer months, no one leaves the house until the sun sets and the air is cool.

We'll meet again after sunset to have dinner at Thanassis' Porto Rino Taverna on the port. Thanassis is a fisherman, fantastic cook and a delightful host.

The Staff of Life: Day 2

Dakos has been a Cretan staple for centuries. It is a robust, crunchy, wholegrain bread that is baked twice in an outdoor communal oven. Dakos has a long shelf life and is softened with olive oil and grated tomatoes when ready to serve. Similar styles of this bread-cracker have been made throughout the Mediterranean basin since the days of the Silk Route.

We'll visit my friend Yiorgos in his village (population 200) to participate in the first stage of preparing the dough. Then we'll head to the hills of the Lassithi Mountain range to visit several villages and stop along the way at a Byzantine chapel, Minoan site and a gorgeous taverna in the mountains. We'll have a coffee in the village of Krasi, where Crete's famous writers, including Nikos Kazantzakis, once held symposia in the trunk of a 2,000 year-old plane tree. Conservationists long ago stopped this activity, but the lovely, cooling tree is still there for us to enjoy. Depending on the season we will also visit a cheese maker, beekeeper, olive oil producer or winemaker along the way.

The Staff of Life: Day 3

In the morning, we'll return to Yiorgos' place to see how Dakos is baked. Then we'll have a little meze and rest the remainder of the afternoon. In the evening we'll travel up the winding mountain road on the northern coast to Agyro's taverna, overlooking the sea. Agyro is a sweet woman and an excellent chef and gardener. Her chickens roam freely amongst the olive groves out back. She will share her specialty dishes with us. Everything she makes is special, so we'll narrow it down to five or six – and we won't forget to try her special omelet with homemade graviera cheese. Agyro has five daughters and their husbands are all great musicians. If everyone stops in for dinner, it's an instant party with a music jam of traditional Cretan rizitiko music "of the people of the roots of the mountains."

The Taverna

We can hike up the foothills to visit our friend Stelios, an organic olive grower, and learn the details of organic production. Kostas can show us what's growing in his sustainable organic garden and give us an overview of seasonal ingredients and cultivation methods. If Yiannis and Despina are making cheese, we can stop by and see the action. We can visit Mariana, who collects medicinal herbs from the mountains and makes soothing teas, oils and lotions. Then, we'll see what's cooking at Mrs. Tassoula's taverna, which is in a lovely village overlooking the sea. We can join her in the kitchen if we like, to find out more about the ingredients and cooking techniques in traditional Cretan cooking.

At the taverna, we have a large number of subjects to explore:

Organic olive oil tasting and details about quality
Olive oil and its proper usage in cooking
Traditional horta preparation and recipes (Horta is a dish of wild greens, one of the key ingredients in healthy Cretan cooking, and I just love it, not because doctors say I should).
Modern methods of preparing horta in the American kitchen (my take on the subject)
Additional simple but flavorful and healthy dishes that can easily be replicated in the U.S., such as grilled fish, dolmades (grape leaves or zucchini flowers filled with aromatic rice), fava (a puree of fava beans or yellow split peas), briam (roasted eggplant, potato and tomatoes) or other delectable vegetable and bean medleys.
Organic wine tasting with Andreas Dourakis, our favorite winemaker.