Vai
Vai, the renowned palm beach of Crete is truly a paradisial spot with beautiful palm trees and white sandy beaches had it not been for the many umbrellas and deckchairs. To be perfectly honest; Vai is not for me as I truly find it hard to believe why people would travel miles and miles just to see a few palm trees, pay 3 or 4 euro for parking and to lie on a beach as little sardines in a box. The locals prefer to go to the nearby beach of Itanos, which has a gorgeous beach and a parking space free of charge. When you’re in the area of Vai, a visit to the impressive and beautiful monastery of Moni Toplou should not be missed. It is built high on a rugged plateau on the way to Vai, and its architecture resembles a fort due to the fact that throughout history it had to defend itself from bandits, pirates, and invaders. Moni Toplou literally means "Monastery with the gun", and today it functions as a museum of Byzantine icons and engravings. There are also rooms with historical exhibits, which reflect the monastery's role in the historical events that formulated modern Greece. In fact much of the destructions on its buildings and slaughter of the monks were caused by the direct involvement of the monastery with the organized resistance against the Turks, and more recently against the Germans in World War II.
