It was an amazing experience living in Vryses.
We spend 40 days there. The house is small but comfortable, and you get a front yard where you can eat, or just use it as your living room, so, at the end of the day, it was perfect. It has all you need, it is clean, and you even get a washing machine. Elena is always available to help you with anything you need.
You are surrounded by olive trees, fig trees, etc... if you love cats, it is the perfect spot, and there were also a few chickens in the neighbourhood too :-).
Vryses is a great place. Elena's house is just 2 minutes from the centre. In Vryses you get everything you need, supermarkets (a "Festos" supermarket is just a few steps away), bars, restaurants, ice cream, baklawa, dentist, hair salon, pharmacy... if you are there in the summer, you may get wild black berries (so many you will believe you landed in the blackberries' heaven) figs, etc.
Vryses is well communicated with Chania and Heraklion. Buses drive by every hour, although the buses tend to be late. You can even go until Sfakia with the bus from Vryses.
The nearest beach is GiorGioupoli, you can go there with the bus. In GiorGioupoli you can rent a car by Mike’s Rental Cars. They can even pick you up and drive you back, so you do not need to take the bus to close the deal… A delight.
The locals are lovely, we made a great acquittance with Giorgo and Vula, they own a bar called Café Perasma, or simply Ninos bar, It is very close to Elena’s place, and they are lovely people, and in addition you can get the best Greek coffee in town.
Another great spot is “la Luna” Café, the owners, Dimitri and Andonia are also the best of their kind. From there, you get a great view of the life in Vryses, and, on the backyard, they have a lovely patio.
The opening times in Vryses are wonderful crazy: the Festos supermarket opens every day (7days) from 8h until 23h, and Ninos bar opens from 6:30 until maybe 22h (I never saw it closed).
We also met Elena’s family. Elena and her family are just great, helpful, nice, fun, polite… We went once with Elena and her son to Rethymno to have dinner, and it was a lovely experience.
I definitely recommend her place. Actually, my family and I, we have a YouTube channel where you can see the house and our time in Vryses. It is called “Explorers of Emotions”.
Miquel