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Greece Chapter 6 - The Cruise Part II
22-July-2000, Saturday
Up at 6 AM for our first port of call, Heraklion, Crete, and the Palace of Knossos. The Palace site is quite large. Considering the age in which it was built it is easy to imagine people of the time getting lost amongst all the rooms and staircases and hallways. Most buildings of that time only had one or two rooms. The Palace would surely have gotten the reputation of being a maze. It was often referred to as the Palace of the Double-Headed Axe because this symbol was carved into the walls everywhere. The Double-Headed Axe had religious significance and was used in the ceremonial slaying of bulls. By the way, the Axe, in ancient Greek, was called 'Labyrus' (or something close) so the Palace would have been called the 'Labyrinth'! A lot of history and mythology (King Minos, the Minator, Daedelus and Icharus, etc.) comes from this location.
The Palace of Knossos
The tour bus dropped us off in downtown Heraklion where we wandered around for a while, then got back on the bus & returned to the boat around 11AM. We had a buffet lunch on the boat & then got ready for the lifeboat drill at 2PM.
"Don't you dare click that... damn."
At 2:30, we went to a slide presentation by the ships' resident guide on Crete, Santorini, Rhodes, Patmos & Kusadasi. It gave us some useful information on what to see and where to go on our upcoming stops.
After the show, we went up to the Sports Deck (above Lido Deck) to watch our arrival at Santorini. The anchorage at Santorini is a huge caldera and the area is still often disturbed by volcanic activity. (None while we were there.) There are 3 methods of getting up to the town which is perched on the rim of the caldera. Climb the 600 and something stairs (not recommended) ride a donkey, or take the cable car (both cost 1000 drachmas each way per person). L wanted to do the donkeys but J pointed out that she didn't have a "treat" for the donkey, & that the cable car was faster and more comfortable (and didn't require treats) so......
Is that white fringe snow? No, it's Santorini
Once arrived on top we discovered the streets were cobbled with small oval shaped beach pebbles placed on edge and cemented in place. Many places had designs done with different colours & patterns.
J and our ship, walls impregnated with lava rock, beach pebble roads
The streets were about 2 J & L couples wide, some narrower (usually going either up or down and there was lots of that!). The houses were mostly painted white, with blue trim and the views were magnificent.
Santorini views
About the time that our legs and feet were screaming "Stop!" we found a small tavern for snacks. A cold beer, grilled sausages and a plate of calamari accompanied by the usual basket of bread and some tzadziki. It was a terrific rest stop.
L at the tavern table
Several up and down streets later J heard a baklava calling his name and managed to scarf down a huge piece of it. We slowly made our way back to the cable cars (donkeys slip going downhill on the pebbles) and caught the launch back to our ship.
Deciding we were full of sausage and squid, we skipped the formal supper, but made our way to one of the several lounges for a drink and a couple of hands of cribbage. (J wishes it to be known he won both games.) We moved lounges determined to take in the magic show but were driven to our cabin early by the band's "music", and the fact that L had perhaps, had one too many.