| Submitted by: Mark NowakUnited States |
| Submission Date: 10 February 2005 |
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We dropped our luggage and took a public bus to the Palace at Knossos. We beat the crowds from the cruise ships but not by much. The place had been excavated and partially reconstructed by Sir Arthur Evans. Nick went over the myth of King Minos, Pasiphae, the Minotaur, Daedalus, Theseus and Ariadne and the different theories of the ancient Minoan civilization that lived there. We then took the bus back to town where we went to the Iraklion Archealogical Museum where a famous snake goddess figurine and numerous frescoes can be found.
Afterwards, I bought a black T-shirt which had the epitaph of Nikos Kazantzakis, the author of Zorba the Greek and The Last Temptation of Christ, written in Greek on it: I do not hope for anything, I do not fear anything, I am free. 'Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves' and 'Basic Instinct' were playing in the theaters. After lunch at a local place, Nick, Mary Jane, Anne, Erin, Tae and I took the public bus to Amnissos beach. This beach cost 200 drachmas. The waves were much higher and we could see planes fly over and land at the very near airport.
Although I didn't know it at the time there is a cave about a kilometer south of the beach that can be visited. It's known as the Cave of Eileithyia (Ilithia), the goddess of childbirth. It was used for cult rituals from the Neolithis era up to the 5th century B.C. and many idols of women in the act of giving birth were found there. Dinner at the Psaria Fish Tavern was excellent. I had swordfish. Anne and Erin never really could find anything among the Greek dishes they liked. They kept splitting a salad of tomatoes and cucumbers without olive oil and eating little of anything else. I wasn't sure how they were surviving.
Nick walked us to a place where he knew a dance club was. It was closed on Tuesday -- go figure. Museums and archealogical sites were closed on Mondays which was sometimes inconvenient. Nick was always trying to make sure everyone had a good time. Sometimes I think he tried so hard it turned the experience into too much of a chore for him. After we returned, Tae and I wwent to a cafe in the Platia Kalergon where he had a beer and I had some iced coffee.
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VORI, GORTIS, PHAISTOS, AGHIA TRIADA, MATTALA
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Tae's watch alarm accidentally woke us up at 5:30 AM. We got up later at 7:15. After breakfast, I went over to the local office of tourism to pick up some maps and some information on the Samaria Gorge, the longest gorge in Europe, which was on the opposite side of the island. I also found the local post office and bought some stamps. We then took a chartered bus across Crete, stopping a spot where huge boulders could be seen (according to myth these are the fossilized remains of the bread of Zeus), the Museum of Cretan Ethnicity at Vori and the archealogical sights at Gortis, Phaistos and Aghia Triada. Then we had lunch and swam at Mattala in the Lybian Sea on the south side of the island. I had a chocolate-banana milkshake for dessert. It was most welcome. This beach wasn't a pay beach, but they had umbrellas and beach chairs that cost something like 900 drachma to use.
On the way back to Iraklion we stopped back at Gortis because I reminded Nick we hadn't seen the Temple of Apollo which was nearby. Nick was glad we did because we were able to see modern Italian archealogy in action -- they were using jackhammers. Nick said he didn't know that the site was so extensive. We took Carol to the hospital because her foot wasn't getting better. Anne and Erin thought the place was a madhouse, but it didn't look so bad to me. They X-rayed Carol's foot and found it was broken. They put a plaster cast on it and told her to stay off it for three weeks. You gotta love socialized medicine.
Tae and I went to the Platia Kalergon for dinner where (as is typical in Greece) they have people inviting you in to eat at their cafes. We didn't get back in time to join Nick, Mary Jane and Luz for a free Cretan music concert, so we went cafe hopping instead. I had a beer at one and a screwdriver at another which was in a popular off the beaten path square. The people of Crete have a certain sense of pride in being Cretan that's a little different from being Greek. They have their own style of music and a slightly different lifestyle.
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MALLIA, KRITSA, PLATEAU OF LASSITHI, DIKTION CAVE
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Today we had a very full and enjoyable day touring the island by chartered bus. We drove by a Hard Rock Cafe in Hersonissou, but we couldn't stop for me to buy a Hurricane glass -- I collect them. We visited the Minoan Palace at Mallia, had delicious yogurt and honey in the town of Kritsa and visited a 13th century church with frescoes. Outside of the church I bought a little bag of almonds from an old woman who had apparently sewn the bag together from a piece of plastic. The bag of almonds cost 100 drachma -- less than 50 cents -- which hardly seemed worth all the effort she had obviously put into it. We also enjoyed a spectacular view during the ride to and in the Plateau of Lassithi where there are windmills everywhere, had lunch and entered the cold, deep and dark Diktian cave where according to mythology Zeus was hidden from his father Cronus until he was old enough to overthrow him. We had to hike up to the entrance up a hill. Donkeys were available, but we declined. Walking down into the cave was a little treacherous since the only light came from the opening high above and a few candles, and the footing was sometimes slippery. There was, however, a handrail for much of the way. It was cold and damp and very neat. I asked Frank how it compared to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico and he said that it didn't really -- that they basically have a sidewalk for you to walk on. We made a circuit in the cave and left, walking down the way we came. Nick explained how the ancient Greeks viewed a cave as a kind of womb in the earth. It was easy to understand why in the cold, damp darkness. Leaving the cave represented a kind of rebirth. Cults had used the cave in the past for their ceremonies.
The bus driver had brought along his son today, and wouldn't accept a tip at the end of the day. I guess he enjoyed being our driver. Nick told us that the drivers often get treated like dirt by tourists. We applauded our driver when he made an incredible turn in one of the towns we went through. Throughout our trip I was always being amazed at how well they could maneuver such huge buses through some very narrow, winding roads.
Back in Iraklion Nick, Tae, Mary Jane and I made arrangements for a hiking trip to the Samaria Gorge at the travel office of the woman who had met us at the port. The woman said Nick would have a hard time in the gorge because he wasn't as lean as the rest of us. We ate dinner at the same place we had on Tuesday. I had swordfish again. I asked the local Tourist Police if there was a Hard Rock cafe in town, but they didn't know of any.
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Up at 5:15, Tae, Nick, Mary Jane and I met the Adamis tour bus about a block away from our hotel in front of the Astoria Hotel at 6:00. We were the first people on, but we were soon joined by many others, mostly Germans it seemed. Our guide from Holland was a very fit blonde woman who could speak Dutch, German, English, French and Greek apparently fluently. I was impressed. We could have avoided taking a tour by spending the night in Hania or Rethimnon, but it just hadn't been practical. I think most of us napped a little on the trip across the island. At Omalos we were given a whole twenty minutes for breakfast and a trip the bathroom -- I hate tours, that cattle drive feeling. It cost quite a bit too -- 8100 drachma when we bought our tickets and another 2100 on the bus. I wasn't sure why the tickets didn't cost the entire amount. I'd do it on my own next time.
Although Crete had been conquered many times throughout history, when the Nazis took the island, they failed to take the gorge. The freedom fighters in the hills made that impossible.
Once we were in the 18 km gorge, which is a national park, we were on our own. It was about 10:30. We let just about everyone pass us, so we could hike in silence and enjoy the view without distractions. We started way up high (about 1000m) where it was actually quite cool and made our way down the canyon. The views were breathtaking, and we quickly warmed up. The descent was pretty steep. I think we dropped 700m in just the first few kilometers. Tae and I went on ahead and Mary Jane and Nick caught up with us when we stopped at a rest area to eat and drink. There were a number of tired looking people hiking uphill -- next time that's the way I'd like to do it. Donkeys were available for those who became injured.
It was definitely worth the effort. At its narrowest point the gorge thins out to 3.5 meters across. I took a neat picture straight up catching the steeply rising walls around me. At times the stream was above ground, at others below. It took us about 6 hours to casually make our way out of the park and walk the last couple of kilometers to the town of Agia Roumeli where the others waited at a restaurant and a beautiful beach beckoned. Tae went for a swim. I had a Coke. Mary Jane had a beer. Nick was disgusted with how commercial the tour was and how they had everyone meet at a restaurant. Nick was tired. This was his first time in the gorge, but he thought he'd make it an optional excursion on future tours.
We took the last ferry at 6:00 to Hora Sfakion. The views were beautiful. Pictures just don't do justice to the beauty of Greece. We stopped briefly at Loutro before getting off at Hora Sfakion where a bus took us back to Iraklion. It was about 10:30 when we were dropped off. We went back to the swordfish place where the others had already eaten. The cook was pretty much shutting down for the night, so I had to settle for a spaghetti dinner. I took another walk by the Tourist Police office to check on Hard Rock Cafe locations, but they were closed. It was after midnight and I decided to turn in after such a full day. I passed Anne and Erin at the main desk of the hotel. They asked me out. I said I'd go if it was to someplace fairly quiet where we could talk. Okay, so I'm easy.
We went to a cafe in the out of the way square, had drinks and talked. I had a screwdriver. After a while a waiter brought us all shots of something. He said they were a gift. The Blonde Effect -- and it was only beginning. We talked for a while longer and then went inside to pay for our first drinks. |
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