Unlike the long, slow ferry ride that took us from Athens to Santorini in Part 5, the trip from Santorini to Crete via hydrofoil was fast and uneventful. The hydrofoil is more like an airplane than a ferry: you can't go outside on deck, and you wouldn't want to if you could. There's nothing to see between Santorini and Crete anyway, just an unbroken expanse of grey waves.
Crete is way down there: broadly speaking, you can't get any further south and still be in Europe. Arriving in Iraklio at dinnertime, we checked into our hotel and headed out to the main square in search of dinner, finding, first, this red-clad marching band playing the universal music of the world: Abba, of course. At dinner, at an outdoor restaurant of course, we had our first taste of raki, the national Cretan grapeseed hooch that's served free after every meal. Not bad at all!
But more on raki later. We'd come to Iraklio mainly because it's near Knossos, the site of one of the great ancient Minoan palaces. Knossos certainly didn't turn out to be the most enjoyable of our visits to ancient sites. It was deadly hot, and jam-packed with big tour groups. Also, I think we'd simply had enough ancient ruins by then, even if these were some of the oldest of all.
A reconstructed piece of the palace at Knossos
The artwork and the sheer age of the site couldn't help but make a spectacular impression, though, and the associated Archaeological Museum back in Iraklio showed an amazing array of beautiful and fascinating art and artifacts more than three and a half millennia old. We were actually thankful that the main museum was closed for renovations, with the cream of the collection housed in a temporary, smaller space; even this subset of the riches of the Minoan palaces was nearly overwhelming.
A visit to the Venetian fortress took us to the harbor of Iraklio, which is utilitarian but from certain angles picturesque, especially the fishing boats:
But there isn't an awful lot to see there, so onward. A bus trip westward along the spectacular north coast of the island also afforded views of the majestic mountains of the interior, which we have to hit on a future hiking visit—that's right, Crete is definitely on my list of places to come back to.
Article comments
1 - Christine
Wow, one of the places I have always wanted to go; Greece! Maybe because my last name is Greek. Still holding out hope!
2 - Lynette Yetter, author of the novel "Lucy Plays Panpipes for Peace"
Wow! What a beautiful Edenic courtyard! Thank you for sharing your travels with us, Jon!
3 - Ingrid
Wow did we follow each other. I loved Santorini and Crete and will return again. I did however find the Greeks very rude but that aside loved every minute of it. I have so many photos - the same as yours actually. Everyone should visit there, its fasinating.
4 - Jon Sobel
Thanks for your comment, Ingrid! I didn't find the Greek people to be rude. Rather laid-back, for the most part. But most of the people we met were pretty friendly and helpful. I totally agree with you... everyone should try and visit Greece some time in their life.
5 - Bi
well, it stands to reason that the resorts of Greece are outstanding and worth visiting. but at present I'm very much concerned about the political state of things in the country. as far as I know, people are almost constantly striking there and this surely affects the tourism( who knows when this will end and everything will be calm and stable again.