We flew out of Athens southward towards Crete, passing a different island every few minutes.
Santorini below!
Someone told us that there are over 5,000 islands in Greece ( most not inhabited ). The water was a very deep azure colored blue. The water along the coast is so clear. Quite a contrast to the beaches of Oregon, which although beautiful in their own way, are not good places to swim or work on a tan.
We touched down in the city of Iraklion ( Heraklion ). Here we noticed some differences from mainland Greece. It's more relaxed, less frenetic here. It's also sunnier but paradoxically cooler due to a steady ocean breeze.
We rode a bus from the airport into town. Due to a miscommunication with the driver, we got off in the wrong spot. We pulled out the map and started making some educated guesses about how to get to our hotel. Alas street name markings are sparse in Greece. We made our best guess and wandered up a hill until we came to a small bookstore specializing in poetry. I stepped inside to ask directions. Inside were Nikos, the proprietor, a kindly yet somewhat intense Greek; Noah, an american comedian traveling through Europe on a quest of self-discovery, and a Brazilian scholar who had come to take an intensive course in the Greek language. Two minutes later, raki ( raki: deadly local drink ) in hand, we were sharing stories, reading poems, and pondering the deep questions of life: what do we love, are their limits to imagination, is there a God, and what will happen when I reach the bottom of this glass? (The glasses were small, but Nikos had an apparently inexhaustible supply. ) Two hours later we had directions to our hotel, and we set off refreshed and lighter in heart, having experienced some very genuine Greek hospitality. Io Nikos! May your heart always be light.
Our hotel was right next to the harbor. Yet another Venetian fortress on the left, backing a small marina. The ferries pull in to the right. We're on the fifth floor, in a room half the size of our house, with a large wraparound balcony that overlooks the harbor. We immediately set about festooning it with freshly hand-washed laundry. The hotel restaurant is just one floor up, with an equally great view, and we watched the ferries come and go while we ate.
We came to Iraklio to see two things: the Minoan palace of Knossos and the Archeological Museum of Crete.
The Knossos site is about 5 kilometers south of Iraklio's city center -- really, just past the edge of town. (The University of Crete is about 500 yards up the road.) The palace ruins sit in a small bowl formed by small hills. In ancient times, two rivers ran past either side of the palace complex, although both have dried up over the centuries.
We joined a guided party for a one hour tour of the ruins. Irena, our guide, led us through the palace, showing us columns ( which although tapered had the thickest diameter at the top ), frescoes of religious rituals and processions, the king and queen's quarters, the clever plumbing and drainage system.
The Minoans made heavy use of alabaster in the palace. Thus, as Arthur Evans excavated, he had a problem on his hands. Alabaster is very soft, relative to marble, and erodes ( nay, disintegrates ) when wet. Now that it was exposed, it had to be protected and quickly. His solution was to shore
up structures with modern concrete and build simulated wooden roofs to protect the alabaster surfaces and frescoes from the rain. Evans has been criticized for these moves, but I think perhaps a bit unfairly. Who among us hasn't had to make tough choices with limited time and more limited budgets? I can say that Evans' preservations and reconstructions make it much easier to imagine what the palace looked like in its heydey.
There was never a place where we could get a clear view over the palace ruin as a whole. The building(s) span a couple of acres. Perhaps from the air? But here are a few photos than will give you the flavor.
Some reconstructed frescoes.
Evans thought this was the Throne Room. Now this is a matter of debate:
Wall decorations in the Queen's Quarters:
Later that afternoon we visited the Archeological Museum of Crete, which is where the artifacts from Knossos and other Minoan sites like Phaistos, and Gournia are exhibited. The Museum is undergoing a major renovation, which will be Done Real Soon Now, according to the government. ( Scheduled for reopening in 2009, it shows no sign of being ready ... such is the way of government projects. ) In the mean time, the highlights of museum collection are on exhibit in a small corner of the basement.
Dang. I guess we'll just have to come back when the museum reopens ... and we did get to see the artworks we wanted to see Note that everything you see here is at least 3,500 years old and some of it is 500 years older than that. .First, some frescoes ...
A depiction of a male figure ( in red ) leaping over a bull's back. The two white figures are females, on the right, one has completed her jump; on the left, another woman is preparing to jump. Bull leaping, we were told, was the major sport of the Minoans, and one that was quite deadly, just as modern bullfighting is.
A fresco entitled "La Parisienne", thought to be the depiction of a priestess:
The mysterious Phaistos Disk ( uncovered at the Minoan city of Phaistos ). The inscriptions have never been deciphered and greatly puzzle archeologists.
The very famous Bee Pendant:
The very, very famous Minoan Snake Goddess:
The Bull rhyton ( libation vessel ):
Today we decided to kick back in an internet cafe because our internet connection at the hotel was highly unreliable. And honestly, we've done an enormous amout of monument crawling and site visiting in the last 10 days ... time to sit, sip, and watch the world go by. As we type, there's a Greek soap opera playing on the telly. It's the hot part of the day and folks are starting to wander in for the mid-day break.
Our plans for the evening are to walk along the sea wall at the harbor, possibly check out the fortress. In the morning, we're taking the hyrdofoil to Santorini. Santorini has a couple of very interesting archeological sites, but it's also got some great beaches and great tavernas. Looking forward to some swimming, sunning, and relaxation over the next few days.
John & Carrie
Santorini below!
Someone told us that there are over 5,000 islands in Greece ( most not inhabited ). The water was a very deep azure colored blue. The water along the coast is so clear. Quite a contrast to the beaches of Oregon, which although beautiful in their own way, are not good places to swim or work on a tan.
We touched down in the city of Iraklion ( Heraklion ). Here we noticed some differences from mainland Greece. It's more relaxed, less frenetic here. It's also sunnier but paradoxically cooler due to a steady ocean breeze.
We rode a bus from the airport into town. Due to a miscommunication with the driver, we got off in the wrong spot. We pulled out the map and started making some educated guesses about how to get to our hotel. Alas street name markings are sparse in Greece. We made our best guess and wandered up a hill until we came to a small bookstore specializing in poetry. I stepped inside to ask directions. Inside were Nikos, the proprietor, a kindly yet somewhat intense Greek; Noah, an american comedian traveling through Europe on a quest of self-discovery, and a Brazilian scholar who had come to take an intensive course in the Greek language. Two minutes later, raki ( raki: deadly local drink ) in hand, we were sharing stories, reading poems, and pondering the deep questions of life: what do we love, are their limits to imagination, is there a God, and what will happen when I reach the bottom of this glass? (The glasses were small, but Nikos had an apparently inexhaustible supply. ) Two hours later we had directions to our hotel, and we set off refreshed and lighter in heart, having experienced some very genuine Greek hospitality. Io Nikos! May your heart always be light.
Our hotel was right next to the harbor. Yet another Venetian fortress on the left, backing a small marina. The ferries pull in to the right. We're on the fifth floor, in a room half the size of our house, with a large wraparound balcony that overlooks the harbor. We immediately set about festooning it with freshly hand-washed laundry. The hotel restaurant is just one floor up, with an equally great view, and we watched the ferries come and go while we ate.
We came to Iraklio to see two things: the Minoan palace of Knossos and the Archeological Museum of Crete.
The Knossos site is about 5 kilometers south of Iraklio's city center -- really, just past the edge of town. (The University of Crete is about 500 yards up the road.) The palace ruins sit in a small bowl formed by small hills. In ancient times, two rivers ran past either side of the palace complex, although both have dried up over the centuries.
We joined a guided party for a one hour tour of the ruins. Irena, our guide, led us through the palace, showing us columns ( which although tapered had the thickest diameter at the top ), frescoes of religious rituals and processions, the king and queen's quarters, the clever plumbing and drainage system.
The Minoans made heavy use of alabaster in the palace. Thus, as Arthur Evans excavated, he had a problem on his hands. Alabaster is very soft, relative to marble, and erodes ( nay, disintegrates ) when wet. Now that it was exposed, it had to be protected and quickly. His solution was to shore
up structures with modern concrete and build simulated wooden roofs to protect the alabaster surfaces and frescoes from the rain. Evans has been criticized for these moves, but I think perhaps a bit unfairly. Who among us hasn't had to make tough choices with limited time and more limited budgets? I can say that Evans' preservations and reconstructions make it much easier to imagine what the palace looked like in its heydey.
There was never a place where we could get a clear view over the palace ruin as a whole. The building(s) span a couple of acres. Perhaps from the air? But here are a few photos than will give you the flavor.
Some reconstructed frescoes.
Evans thought this was the Throne Room. Now this is a matter of debate:
Later that afternoon we visited the Archeological Museum of Crete, which is where the artifacts from Knossos and other Minoan sites like Phaistos, and Gournia are exhibited. The Museum is undergoing a major renovation, which will be Done Real Soon Now, according to the government. ( Scheduled for reopening in 2009, it shows no sign of being ready ... such is the way of government projects. ) In the mean time, the highlights of museum collection are on exhibit in a small corner of the basement.
Dang. I guess we'll just have to come back when the museum reopens ... and we did get to see the artworks we wanted to see Note that everything you see here is at least 3,500 years old and some of it is 500 years older than that. .First, some frescoes ...
A depiction of a male figure ( in red ) leaping over a bull's back. The two white figures are females, on the right, one has completed her jump; on the left, another woman is preparing to jump. Bull leaping, we were told, was the major sport of the Minoans, and one that was quite deadly, just as modern bullfighting is.
A fresco entitled "La Parisienne", thought to be the depiction of a priestess:
The mysterious Phaistos Disk ( uncovered at the Minoan city of Phaistos ). The inscriptions have never been deciphered and greatly puzzle archeologists.
The very famous Bee Pendant:
The very, very famous Minoan Snake Goddess:
The Bull rhyton ( libation vessel ):
Today we decided to kick back in an internet cafe because our internet connection at the hotel was highly unreliable. And honestly, we've done an enormous amout of monument crawling and site visiting in the last 10 days ... time to sit, sip, and watch the world go by. As we type, there's a Greek soap opera playing on the telly. It's the hot part of the day and folks are starting to wander in for the mid-day break.
Our plans for the evening are to walk along the sea wall at the harbor, possibly check out the fortress. In the morning, we're taking the hyrdofoil to Santorini. Santorini has a couple of very interesting archeological sites, but it's also got some great beaches and great tavernas. Looking forward to some swimming, sunning, and relaxation over the next few days.
John & Carrie
Wow! What else can you say to the wonders you both have seen. Thank you so much for sharing this grand adventure with those of us stuck "stateside."
ReplyDeleteFrom your photo I was struck at the style similarity between the ancient "La Parisienne" and the modern(relatively speaking) Picasso.
Santorini for sun, beaches, wine & olives - total bliss - enjoy!