Greece-y falafel

Why are flights always at 6am? Don’t airlines realise that means people have to leave their houses at like, 3am? We were jetting off to Crete on a family holiday, having booked ourselves into an all inclusive hotel ( the royal and imperial Belvedere) near the beach for some sun and sea. But first we had to get there. Naturally, the excitement of it all meant I didn’t get any sleep, not a wink. I literally didn’t sleep at all, despite going to bed at 9pm.

Emerging onto the crowded plane, I was hungry. A 6 am Falafel? Yes please, however, I was disappointed to discover they don’t offer a Falafel for breakfast on Jet2 Airlines (they did have penne arrabiata however, but hey ho). Eventually we made it to our hotel, not before both children had pooed themselves through their trousers on the flight of course.

Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be for a few days into our trip that I managed to wolf down a Falafel.

Our hotel was all inclusive, and did a variety of vegan foods at every meal time, including lots of fresh vegetables and fruits. However, there was very little protein and after a few days I found myself craving a deep fried chickpea ball. I pounced on the manager ( who had already got to know me quite well by this point) and asked him if the chef could possibly rustle up some Falafel. He agreed, and we waited in eager anticipation. As always, we were bitterly disappointed when a plate of very tasty fried courgette was plonked onto our table that night with a triumphant flourish. It was tasty, but it wasn’t Falafel. So we went to a Falafel shop the very next day instead.

It wasn’t good. Limp flat disks of Falafel – like substance (we weren’t sure if they were actually Falafel) , incredibly dry and with quite curry-like flavour , which is odd). The chef was very friendly and the price was right, however, but Crete, the Falafel let down an otherwise perfect holiday.