Ancient Olive Tree Cafe, Ano Vouves, Chania
The Ancient Olive Tree of Vouves is a World Heritage Site and the tree that sits with pride of place in the center of the small village has been scientifically tested to be over 3,000 years old. It receives visitors from all over the World and its branches have been used in the Olympic Games to make the wreaths for the Marathon winners.
With such a popular site you would think the small cafe that sits next to the tree would be expensive and awash with tourists, as is the case with many historic areas in the rest of the world...but you would be very wrong on both counts.
We stopped for a light lunch after spending another fascinating 30 minutes walking around the ancient olive tree and the associated small museum rooms. It's something we do quite regularly, especially when we have visitors over, but this time we were on our own and as we sat down the friendly little dog came over to greet us before waddling away to snooze in the shade.
We ordered a Greek salad, meatballs, bread and a 1/2 litre of local white wine to share between the two of us. The salad was very tasty and fresh with a nice thick slice of feta on top and the meatballs were lightly flavoured with spearmint that enhanced the great taste. We used the home made olive oil with the bread and its fabulous nutty flavour was a treat.
It was a great hour spent watching the visitors come and go and it is a shame that the majority come purely to visit the tree and do not stop for a bite to eat or even just a cold drink at this friendly little cafe.
The bill came to under 15 euros for the two of us and we were also given a complimentary dessert with pineapple that was very refreshing.
OVERALL
Stop and stay awhile when you visit the ancient tree and have a coffee and a slice of homemade cake. Take in the ambience of the place and search out the old style raki pit and olive press at the rear and side of the cafe. A great place for a refreshing pit-stop in the midday sun and well worth returning to.