Wandering the Island of Crete

The last time I found myself on the island of Crete, which was in late 1973, John Riise and I had requisitioned the MAR's Honda 70 motorcycles and had set off into the interior on our own. Today, Concetta and I had to depend on transportation that was a world away from those trusty Honda 70s -- namely, a sixty-passenger bus that tended to fill the narrow lanes and village streets from curb to curb. Oh, well, what can you do? The morning's destination was the ruins at Knossos, Minoan King Minos' palace discovered in 1878 by Minos Kalokairinos, a Cretan merchant and antiquarian. Though the ruins have been "restored" to show you what some of the King's palace looked like in it's heyday, using rather modern building materials, it's still a fascinating place to learn about how these ancient peoples designed what was then a very modern dwelling using water and sewer construction methods that are largely unchanged today. This in a palace that was built some 3,500 years ago.

As you probably remember if you ever took a Greek mythology class in high school, Knossos is the location of the infamous labyrinth, an elaborate mazelike structure constructed for King Minos of Crete and designed by the legendary Daedalus (of wax wings fame) to hold the Minotaur, a creature that was half man and half bull and was eventually killed by the Athenian hero, Theseus. We touristas didn't have any luck stumbling on the entrance to the labyrinth, but we did get some cool photos which I hope to post on the blog here if I ever get my hands on a WiFi spot.

After Knossos, we once again loaded into the bus and took to the narrow mountain roads (where we tried not to look down to often) in search of a remote monestary full of centuries old religious frescos (not usually my cup of tea) and a great Greek taverna overlooking the Aegean Sea (now that's more like it). Stopping at the taverna gave me another chance to order that wonderful Greek beer called "Mythos" which I had sampled for the very first time just yesterday and am already crazy about. The taverna, since they have to deal with busloads of folks at lunchtime (six busses by the time we left), basically serve a "family style" lunch in an amazingly brisk, efficient fashion that fairly takes your breath away. We had the usual spanikopita and cheese pie appetizers, wonderful Greek salad (no lettuce in these babies), and bread with yoghurt sauce which was just incredible. Soon after arrived a hot dish of pork and potatoes which I skillfully put away as expeditiously as possible. The final course was fresh fruit and coffee, both of which were fantastic. I would have loved another half hour to sit and sip that wonderful coffee, but our guide was staring pointedly at his watch so I grudgingly had to leave it and reboard the bus.

During the time we were on the road our cruise ship had upped anchor and sailed due East from Herklion Harbor toward the town of Aglios Nikolaos where it planned to meet us as we finished up our day in the Cretan interior, including our stop at the Lassithi Plateau archeaological site of the Malia Palace. Though this second palace on our route was not nearly as impressive as our first of the day, Knossos, I did find it interesting for their use of a combination of volcanic, or igneous rock, and sedimentary rock in the form of limestone. The limestone had once been deposited on the sea floor in pre-historic times and had since been raised above see level due to the irresitable forces of plate tectonics which results when the African plate pushes northward against the Aegean plate. This process basically forms a "wrinkle" in the land under the Mediterranean, thrusting beautiful Crete above sea level and providing a wealth of easily-worked building materials. This process also causes the volcanoes that dot the Mediterranean, one of which we will be visiting tomorrow -- the island of Santorini. The last eruption at Santorini was just 85 years ago.

Since the ship was not in evidence when we pulled into Agios Nikolaos, Concetta and I went in search of -- what else? -- ice cream. I decided that I just had to have some ice cream and strawberries. Along with a double espresso, it sounded like a fitting ending to a pretty interesting day. After ice cream and a nice chat with several of our fellow passengers who wandered in for ice cream just after us, we set off into the town proper to do some window shopping and photography. I decided I needed a more flamboyant hat band for my sombrero (the one I nearly lost yesterday), one that might help me keep track of it better. After buying the hat band and some Ouzo for sons Robert and Jason, we headed back to the boat for a shower, a lecture on volcanoes and earthquakes in the Aegean, and a very relaxed dinner on the fantail of the ship with the twinkling lights of the harbor and nearby city to cast a romantic glow across our dinner rendesvous.

Thanks to everyone who has kindly wrote in on Facebook with compliments on the blog. It makes it easier to stay up 'till 11:00 p.m. if I know you're enjoying it. And, of course, if you have any questions about what we're seeing, don't hesitate to let me know and I'll try and answer them. Someone asked how I'm liking the food and I can say without hesitation that I'd rather eat Greek food than just about any other. My only major disappointment as far as the ship's food selection is that they have made no effort to stock real Greek yoghurt which I love and which is unlike anything you've ever tasted from a the dairy section of your super market. Concetta and I try to order it when we're on shore at lunch time.

The boat provides almost any food you can ever want at no additional cost with the exception of hard liquor items. Those you have to pay for. To encourage you to do just that, the ship has a daily "special" drink available which, to date, we haven't taken advantage of. You can have all the wine you want, which is what we usually drink anyway, so we're really set. I'm eating way, way more sweets than I normally do at home so I suspect that will have some work to do when I get home.

This is the first time I've been aboard a boat, of any size, since I left the MAR in 1974. The roll of the deck under my feet, the smell of the salt air, the velvety breezes off the sea, even the rumble of the diesel engines, all make me miss that time of my life tremendously. There's simply nothing like living and working on a boat. The oh so humbling feeling of sailing out of sight of land in a small craft with nothing between you and eternity but a few inches of wood cannot be easily conveyed. You simple have to try it to know what I mean. If you're out there and you're young enough, do it. You won't be sorry. Hell, if I was young again, I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Well, it's coming up 11:00 once again. I'll have to say goodnight. Ciao, tutti.