[June 2025] We were on summer holiday in Agios Nikolaos in eastern Crete, Greece, and the next day was decided to be a beach day.
We headed to Almyros Beach, said to be the best in the area.
Google said it was about a 30-minute walk from town, so we decided to walk.
This turned out to be a foolhardy decision.
I was imagining a walk similar to the one we took to the beach in Nafplio a few years ago, but we ended up walking mostly on a busy main road, which was extremely uncomfortable.
And with my slow pace, we couldn’t even get there in 30 minutes.
The weather forecast for that day wasn’t “sunny” or “cloudy,” but “windy.”
It was a clear, cloudless blue, but there was definitely a strong wind.
We arrived at the beach around 11:00 AM.
The cost of a parasol was a steal at just €10 for the whole day.
At first, it wasn’t particularly hot, so we just lay around in our swimsuits.
But we started to feel hungry, so we decided to have an early lunch.
There was a kiosk right behind our parasol, and we bought sandwiches and milkshakes (my husband got orange juice), for a total of €21.
In the afternoon, we tried dipping our feet in the water, but it was so cold!
After walking along the water’s edge for a while, we got used to the cold a little and were able to submerge up to our knees.
The beach had such fine sand that we could walk without sandals.
The water was so clear and beautiful.
Just the water was too cold for us to get in and swim, which was a real shame.
Of course, there were people swimming in the water too.
They were probably German or Scandinavian.
The people on this beach seemed to be mostly British in the morning, but by the afternoon, it was a diverse crowd.
I also heard what sounded like Russian, which reminded me of the two fur shops on Agios Nikolaos’s main street that were open, even in summer.
We asked someone at another shop where we shopped, and they told us that the fur shops cater to Russians.
We asked if Russians still came there given the current geopolitical situation, and they said it was Russians with dual citizenship.
I see.
Since we could not swim, we lied there for a while longer and finally pulled up around 4 o’clock.
We called a taxi for going back.
I discovered when I got back that I’d gotten really sunburned, because I’d forgotten to put on sunscreen at first.
Not only were my swimsuit marks clearly visible, but my chest was bright red.
After about a week of stinging, my skin started to peel.
It had been a long time since I was in my early twenties that I had had such a tan.
I was completely astonished at myself.
