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Welcome to West Crete and

'The Good Life'

A Holiday born of the love of Crete and the desire to share it
Find a different pace of life

• Explore country and village ways

• Evening yoga for quietness and calm

• Healthy Cretan food crafted from local produce and green olive oil

• Time for relaxing and sunbathing

• Health treatments and massage – wellbeing extras

• Stay right by the beach

• Family run hotel with a pool and yoga space

• This holiday brings you the good things in life.

Your holiday includes...

On five days, after breakfast, there is a country walk or village exploration led by Stelios or Angela. The local countryside is riven with shaded gorges where birds of prey soar from lofty crags and villages nestle. These and the coastline form the backdrop of your morning excursions. Stelios was born in West Crete and knows the area well and the rural customs that shape it. One day he will take you to his village, you meet his family. This is pure Cretan hospitality.

Next comes lunch at one of the many traditional village tavernas – Stelios picks the best for you, after all he owns a taverna too. Enjoy Cretan village food in fresh air near the bleat of the goats.

The afternoons are yours to relax, enjoy the beach, pool, or swim in the clean sun-warmed sea off a beach that stretches for miles. A little stock of books and a mini market is there for anything else you may need.

In early evening there’s yoga with Juliet, a qualified, experienced and, most importantly, a yoga teacher to inspire you. This is when you find the good life is also within you. Yoga may be new to you, no problem: here it is supportive with the emphasis on respecting and easing your body. Learn how to breathe deeply and find a new rhythm. After a full relaxation the yoga ends and you’ll wonder where an hour and a half can have gone.

With a renewed appetite it’s time for dinner and a short walk along the sea front road to Stelios’ taverna, where he will be waiting to feed you.

You eat with the sound of the sea lapping on the rocks as the evening sky turns peach coloured in the after glow of sunset and then to that beautiful dark ultra marine blue as stars appear. Oh and the food is the Cretan menu for long life – and mouth-watering!

Then is the time for a ‘volta’ a walk along the promenade and it may be time for a cocktail before sauntering along the lit road and home to bed. Your hotel is where town and the fields meet. The best of both worlds.

On Friday we turn things around a little so in the morning you can see Kastelli, visit its local museum for its wealth of cultural items and enjoy café life. Today lunch is not included to enable you to try one of the many restaurants in the 'lanes'. In the afternoon we take a ride out and then walk to Falassarna and its ruins.

Here, the sea is turquoise and clear, fabulous for swimming and snorkelling. The beach is soft with white sand. There are lots of sunbeds and umbrellas. Juliet will meet you there for yoga on the beach, an hour of informal practice as the sun goes down into the sea. A sunset meal follows at a local taverna where you can watch for that special moment when the sun finally melts into the sea.

Saturday is completely yours - see below for ideas of how to spend your day

You may wish to explore a little further one day or just relax on the beach, settle into a book or have a health treatment. Some of the things people do and fondly remember:

Walk the Samaria Gorge it’s an all day excursion ending by boat – and an epic walk

Day cruise to Balos Bay and Gramvousa Island - exquisite turquoise sea and a white beach flecked with pink

Chania - historic city where you see Venetian palaces and harbour – and you can shop at the same time

On this day you can choose to eat from the many tavernas in the area, all within walking distance, or stay in Chania for the vitality of the harbour scene. There is no yoga that evening.
 

2011

To your Health – we listen to you

Sometimes people come away on holiday to ‘get better’ and see their holiday as a time of recovery from the knocks of life. To aid that process Juliet offers you Aromatherapy massage where the oils focus on whatever your health issue is, or just for sheer relaxation. Lymphatic massage is there to relieve anything from swollen ankles after flying to gentle aesthetic work.

Juliet’s partner, Dave offers Kinesiology and therapies to help whatever may trouble you. He finds the cause of things – and it’s sometimes a surprise. Then he treats you. If you want to address how to change your way of being from a culture of stress to a strategy for coping, he’s the friend to guide you.

These treatments are special and you find yourself treated as a whole person. Often Juliet and Dave work together – so if you don’t know which treatment suits you best, just ask us. We can also meet you informally because we enjoy the beach too!

Your hosts – looking after You

Stelios and Angela formed Strata Tours to help promote this wonderful walking area where picturesque villages retain old rural ways.

These physical and cultural strands were a step back in time which Angela, from England, could see and which Stelios, native to this area, could explain. She was a Cretan holiday representative and they met 20 years ago.

Stelios owns one of the oldest established tavernas in Kastelli, the town of the district of Kissamos. He serves special Cretan food each evening, fit for the gods.

Juliet and Dave formed West Crete Holidays after a visit from their British yoga teacher who told them that he could run a yoga holiday in their house, a former Olive Mill.

To augment the yoga they qualified in the therapies which they found helpful when settling into their new and different life in rural Crete.

In 2003, Juliet qualified to teach yoga.

Both Juliet and Dave not only moved far from their previous lives in the UK; their daily yoga practice moves them into a deep sense of compassion, trust and stillness.
 

Rooms and prices

Sunny Bay is a medium sized hotel situated on the seafront beside the beach

Rooms are spacious and en-suite with bath tubs and showers and hair dryers

All rooms have balconies and air conditioning.

The hotel has wifi if you need it and the rooms have direct dial telephones

Choose either twin bedded room to share or pay a little extra for a single room

Everything is Easy

So you can just get on with enjoying your Good Life Holiday, we, your hosts make sure that the holiday is as perfectly organised as possible so that you really can switch off, put your feet up, take your decision making hat off and just enjoy!

We look forward to welcoming you here and letting you discover the good life that West Crete and your hosts can offer you.

Our aim is for you to go home feeling refreshed – and with a true sense of well being

For more information please email us at:   Free Spirit Travel   or call us on:  01273-564230