Blog redesign !!!!

Hi Friends,

Isn't the summer wonderful? In Bremen, we have been really lucky with the weather and it makes the long school break bearable ( rainy days inside with a toddler are the worst!) . Anyhow, the gorgeousness of the season made me decide to change up some things around here.

So, I have been working on a great new blog design with the wonderful, talented and extremely patient Noor Al Qahtani of Blog Me Pretty.  Her work is so modern, minimalist and still warm, which isn't so easy to find. 

The new blog design goes up on the 1st of September and I will be celebrating with an online launch from a fabulous, design fueled location. 

While I'm away, here are a few images that have been inspiring me lately. See you at the launch !

Photo by Julia D. Lampe

via SLM

via Justina Blakeney

Crete - Eating in Plaka and Almyrida

My family loves to eat. I would almost go so far as to say that we live to eat but perhaps I should exercise a little restraint... Anyhow,  getting to eat all the great Greek dishes was a major factor in our choice of destination.  Generally, the food in this region gets a big "thumbs up" from me because I could happily eat fresh bread, olives and lamb chops all day, every day.  We didn't take any pictures of our meals because...I guess we were too busy eating and I always feel weird about taking pictures in restaurants but trust me, you wont be sorry if you eat in these restaurants.

While all the Tarvenas near the village square in Plaka will deliver good food and a gorgeous atmosphere, Elpis gets our vote for lunch and early dinners. They have the best freshly baked bread and their chicken (served with honey and oranges) and lamb chops are so well marinated and moist without being over cooked. Also tried and approved are the liver with apples and onions that blew my husband's mind.  You can always tell when things are freshly made and with good, natural produce. They also have a great garden and playground so we could watch our daughter burn off some of that "toddler high" while we waited for our dinner. The service there was excellent and the owner, seemed to know everyone by name and by the 2nd night we felt like regulars.

Our favorite place to have breakfast in all of Plaka and Almyrida is Francoise ( by the beach in Almyrida). From the name, you can rightly guess that they aren't exactly serving Cretan food but my goodness, the french toast is amazing !!  You could get a good english fry up with baked beans and tomatoes or a simple yet strangely addictive croissant, both with huge freshly squeezed orange juice and fantastic coffee. The owner, Mira was lovely with our daughter and brought her a special kiddie plate and high chair.  You also have free Wifi and an english language library so I got to catch up on all the in-depth UK tabloid reporting ( don't judge, tabloids are great on vacation anywhere). Francoise is also great for sandwiches, smoothies, cocktails and all round chilling out in the evening.

We tried a few other places but kept coming back to these two. What can I say, we know what we like.

Visiting Crete - Plaka & Almyrida Edition

Kalimera guys !! That's good morning / good day in Greek.

We are here in Crete and its beyond wonderful, I want to say its "amaze balls ". The water is so unbelievably blue and the views ? Breathtaking.  At times like this, I curse my inadequate photography skills...(shakes fist at sky) and I wish you could see how really beautiful the Atlas mountains look from my bedroom window.

This morning, we jumped in our little rental car (standard here = compact in the US) and went in search of breakfast and the local supermarket.

Plaka is a pretty small village located uphill from the seaside town of Almyrida and its the perfect place for a quiet, beautiful beach vacation. The village square is the center of the social life in Plaka and most of the restaurants are located around it. There's also a pretty good supermarket but all the real amenities are 5 minutes away in Almyrida.

Almyrida is rather busy and has many tourist amenities but in a good way. So, no Starbucks or McDonald's but many locally run small cafes and restaurants.  There is a also a pharmacy, butcher, laundromat, bank and large supermarket so pretty much all you need for a self catered holiday.

The town also has a lovely beach within walking distance.

Great for swimming

Or digging,

Or just paddling around,