Heraklion

Justin and I distinctly remember learning about the Minoans, Minotaur, and Knossos in our ancient civilization classes in middle school. This was going to be one of our cruise excursions right outside Heraklion, and with the cruise cancelled, figured we’d go ourselves. Plus, as our ferry to Santorini leaves from the central capital of Heraklion, I decided to book a hotel near the port. The drive from Chania to Heraklion can take up to 3 hours and with only one high speed ferry leaving at 8 am daily, figured this was the safest choice.

So after breakfast and checking out, we drove a little less than 2.5 hours east from Chania on the northern coast to the Heraklion metro area. Some pics of our drive:





The ancient city of Knossos, is considered the home to the very first civilization of Europe, the Minoans. The first excavations were undertaken in the 1870s by Minos Kalokairinos, a Cretan himself and then by a Brit named Sir Arthur Evans in the 1900s. Due to the fact that cement was used to restore the ruins, the site cannot be considered a UNESCO site, but as our tour guide said, Evans did the best that he could.

We learned, although it’s commonly called the Palace of Knossos, it was technically not a palace. Through continued research and archaeological theory evolutions, this was the economic and social center and not the residence of the Minos, or local leader.

Furthermore, the corridors and the labyrinth was actually above ground, but due to volcanic eruptions, the area was buried and initially believed to be below. We learned about the nearby aqueduct and the cisterns used to store water and their drainage system. The many frescoes and original columns are now at the Heraklion Archaeological Museum which we didn’t opt into as we were feeling a bit tour fatigue. Some photos of the ruins:













Here’s the Throne Room…







They also stored various items in large jars and apparently these are original:





Here’s the Grand Staircase:



What was believed to be initially the Royal Apartments:



They also revered the bull as it was the age of the Taurus and they could see that constellation vividly. Furthermore, there was the legend of Poseidon sending a bull, and the Minos leader’s wife, Pasiphaë mated with it birthing a half bull man called the Minotaur. As the Minoans conquered the Mediterranean, young girls and boys were sent as offerings to the island and people believed they were eaten by the Minotaur who lived in the labyrinth, but really they became local slaves.

Here’s the famous bull fresco:





Then our tour ended at the square-ish theater:



Throughout our visit, you could hear the squawking of very loud peacocks as it was mating season:





After the tour, we drove north to a village called Archanes - a view from our drive:



Google Maps led us into some tiny alleys, so we parked the car and walked to the central square. We ultimately decided on Taverna Spitiko where we shared pork mezze, zucchini fritters, and a salad after running into the same Aussies that were on our Monday olive oil tasting tour:



We filled up the rental car with gas, and drove about 20 minutes into Heraklion where we checked into the GDM Megaron Hotel, and then dropped off the car across the street. We previewed where we need to be tomorrow morning as well.

After some naps, we checked out the rooftop bar for some harbor views influenced by the Venetians:



The front desk associate told me that we would be able to see our Seajets ferry after 6 pm:



We then walked into the town center which was very cute. We first stopped at the Venetian Loggia which is now the Town Hall with a cool courtyard:





We also passed by Lions Square and Morosini Fountain:



Nearby, we ended up at Ritz Heraklion where we shared pizza, shrimp pasta, and chicken paccheri and continued to test my basic Greek language skills:



For dessert, we walked downhill back to our hotel with chocolate frozen yogurt. We got to see more of Heraklion than if we were on our cruise!

Chania

There’s lots to do in Crete - beaches, hiking, and sightseeing. There’s a World Biosphere Reserve called Samaria Gorge and my friend Jamie has mentioned a hike she loved.

I had also researched some cute villages, the 3rd largest city - Rethymno, and a famous monastery called Arkadi which is celebrated for the Cretan resistance movement against the Ottomans where the villagers after being overpowered, decided to ignite the stored gunpowder instead of succumbing.

But as Justin said, “no more monasteries” and I think we were impressed with the resort from the moment we arrived. As such we had lazy mornings including an outdoor workout, beach walk, and buffet breakfast, and enjoying the sunbathing and being private poolside.











We Airplayed to the TV, Korean videos explaining the Minoans and Knossos Palace for Mama Kim and enjoyed lunch as part of our half-board.

Also, when we arrived at Chania airport, we immediately noticed the fighter jets. They were so loud - in Googling, we learned that Souda Bay Air Base is nearby for both Greek and US forces and recently increased activity often taking off from Chania International Airport. There was one even flying over while we enjoyed our lunch - burrata salad, poké bowls, and lemonade:



Our only agenda today is a wine tour at Manousakis Winery. The vineyard is on the mountainside, but we got a tour of the casks, bottling, and orchard while hearing about the rags-to-riches Greek-American family story:





After the wine tasting, we headed to Chania town and saw the new and old before and after dinner. The island was under Venetian rule for ~400 years, and you could see it in the architecture and harbor:









For dinner, we had reservations at Salis where we had octopus carpaccio, mussels, spaghetti with shrimp, corbus fish (a Mediterranean croaker), chicken thigh, and Belgian chocolate ice cream. As part of their hospitality, we were comped a semolina dessert. Food collage below:



What a nice way to enjoy our last night in western Crete and Chania!

Delphi

After loading the car, we had breakfast omelettes and Greek breakfast at nearby Apollon Restaurant. We then headed to the Delphi Archaeological Museum to meet our guide, Georgia who I booked through Athens Walking Tours. Most folks come up from Athens for a day trip with transportation, but we just needed a local guide which was surprisingly a little hard to find that didn’t charge outrageous prices.

As we reminisced about what we learned about Delphi in school, we explained to my mom the famous Oracle and this was considered the center of the world.

Despite it being the center, once Christianity spread and landslides covered the area, a town was built over the ground. Only after paying the villagers to relocate, did they start excavating in 1892. The museum houses artifacts as well as photos of the excavation.

Here’s the Sphinx of Naxos, that stood on a column in front of the Temple of Apollo:



Fragments of reliefs from the Siphnian Treasury - treasury houses lined the Sacred Way to the temple storing offerings from different cities:





Excavated Kouros of two brothers:



A bowl showing Apollo with a lyre as he was the God of Music:



The Charioteer made of bronze - there were very few bronze statues left as they had been melted and taken away:



A model of the site:



We then transitioned to the site itself. Here’s the Agora or marketplace:



The Sacred Way:



The only reconstructed Treasury House which was for the city of Athens:



The actual Temple of Apollo and where the Sphinx column was:













Here’s a stone with holes that laid on the temple floor - the various gases wafted through which led the Oracle to get high and make her “predictions”:



Nearby, was the replica of the Serpent Column which was originally part of a victory tripod, dedicated to the Sanctuary after the Greek victory over the Persians in the Battle of Plataea in 479 BC. The original which we saw in Istanbul was taken by Constantine the Great in 324:



While Mama Kim rested and after saying our goodbyes to Georgia, Justin and I climbed the hill to see the theater…







We also made it up to see the gymnasium which you couldn’t actually enter, but was a relatively newer area to visit as they built steps to make it more accessible - there were a lot of steps!



We descended and met Mama Kim and climbed into our rental car. We drove through a cute town called Arachova and it took us about 2.5 hours to Athens. A photo of snow capped mountains and the road:



We checked into our hotel, Moxy Athens City. Normally, we would drop off luggage and my mom and return the rental car together. But instead, we did a quick pit stop and then headed south to the edge of the mainland peninsula to Sounion which takes about 90 minutes.

As part of our canceled Greek cruise, when we returned to Athens there was an excursion to visit the Temple of Poseidon as it is near the southern cruise terminal of Lavrion. (FYI - There’s also another terminal west of Athens called Piraeus). Since we were no longer cruising, figured we could take advantage of the rental car and see the temple ourselves.

The Ancient Temple of Poseidon on Cape Sounion is dedicated to the god of the sea and looks over the Aegean. When we arrived, it was super windy, so we only took a few snaps and enjoyed some hot drinks in the cafeteria.







We essentially made a big U when we drove down to the Cape and back to Athens. My mom likened it to us going out to Montauk, but I said it reminded me of squeezing in the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa with Amanda - as they are both peninsulas and taking advantage of the car rental. Here’s Justin driving on the western part of the peninsula:



We did the usual when returning the rental car - Justin pays for gas, I sweep the car for stuff, and my mom cleans the windows with the gas station squeegee. I don’t know why, but I burst out laughing while she was trying to clean the windows.

We successfully returned the car to a center city Hertz and ordered an Uber which called a city taxi to a restaurant called Pharaoh. Originally, I booked for Saturday, but our Acropolis tour got moved to the afternoon and the restaurant has no reasonable availability tomorrow. Apparently, the Acropolis has a free morning and our tour company advised it would be insanely crowded.

In my rebooking, we got shifted to kitchen counter seating which was fun but also warm. The restaurant is known for charcoal cooking and organic and natural foods highlighting traditional Greek cuisine. It was really engaging chatting with the cook who gave us tips on how and what to eat and the service was great!



For our “poly nostimo” meal which means “very tasty”, we ordered signature dishes like the Grilled Wild Greens with Manouri cheese, Dolmades, Red Snapper, beef steak, and for dessert - Galaktoboureko or a Greek custard pie. The cook explained that Phaorah’s pie is made with clarified butter and you know it’s good when after a bite, Justin just says “good cake”. We were also comped bread with bottarga and crème caramel with lemon salt. They seemed to like us!



We conked out early from the long day after our short walk back to the hotel. We are very excited for our Athenian Adventures!