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October 2025

- A Bay Full of Memories -

There are many special things about travelling in a self-guided way. But the best of them are the insider tips from other travellers. "What, you don't know this beach yet? It's fantastic! Nice people, no stress, just wonderful. You'll love it." Sentences like these are like little sparks: you spontaneously change your itinerary and follow the promise of a new destination.

Recently, years after we met our fellow market trader Robert, we got talking about Crete. Robert raved: "Back then, I was in a great spot – in Plakias. A few fishermen's houses, a tiny restaurant with heavenly food. There was only one guesthouse. The rooms were small and the beds uncomfortable, but I didn't care. Because a little further on there was a small, completely secluded bay with a pebble beach – so beautiful that we went there every day. No matter how tedious it was to walk over the mountain. The sea, the people, just wonderful." – "You mean the Bay of Pigs?" Klaus interjected. "We still go there every year." Robert's eyes lit up: "Yes! That's exactly what we called it. Very calm, clear water. Can you still swim naked there?" We nodded – and smiled at each other as if we had just shared a wonderful experience together.

As we talked, we realised that we had all been there in the same year. I went during the spring semester break in 1978, Robert in the summer, and Klaus during the autumn school holidays. Plakias was considered an insider tip at the time. Many teachers from Berlin in particular stretched out their legs on Damnoni Beach and forgot all about school and pupils for two weeks of autumn holidays with ouzo and sunshine. Today, many things are different. The small bay is no longer a secret. And yet my husband and I have remained loyal to it – and now Robert too, who has been seized by the desire to revive old memories. Many of the places we once discovered through such insider tips no longer exist in their old form. Some have changed only slightly, others have been completely transformed. Fortunately, there are still no hotels on ‘our’ beach and the road leading there is still a sandy track.

Insider tips are like gold nuggets along the way: you can't search for them, you can only find them through chance encounters and conversations with other travellers. There are many beautiful places. But those special ones that bloom only briefly, like morning glories, are shaped by people. It is the feeling that gives a place its magic – and that is exactly what remains in your memory.

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