Deadly serious

After such an exhausting but wonderful day it was very disappointing to find a cockroach on the floor as we entered the room. It ran as I went for it so we went down to reception to get some help. Someone came up to help but we couldn't find it. Once they left we also left the room with the lights off. After 10 minutes I returned and found the cockroach by the curtain. I chased it up to the curtain rail and then sprayed it with some deet. It fell and I caught it inside an upturned bin. I left it to the guy from reception to dispose of. Unfortunately it took up all the time I'd dedicated to this blog which is why this is all now so late. 

And this was to be the conclusion of Tuesday, our first day in Crete, a meal of the finest meat in the whole region, according to the owner of the restaurant from the night before. And I couldn't deny it was the best meat I'd ever tasted. Cooked slowly for up to 4 hours (sometimes even 8 hours) this lamb simply melts in the mouth. Parts of the meat I never thought were edible became rich and succulent. We could order in kilo portions but kept it small. It was easily sufficient. Of course we also enjoyed the traditional free melon and brandy at the end. Definitely worth the slow tired walk across town. 

We often joked that you cannot get to the end of a road in Heraklion, no matter how short, without making way for a car and moped. It was a rule rarely broken. Roads are narrow and labyrinthine with few pavements but drivers are always polite. 

As the sun set on route to the restaurant we caught this view of Stroumpoulas, a sacred mountain which has a pyramid shape when viewed from Heraklion. I'd loved to have climbed to the top but not on our current schedule or remaining energy. It can be seen from all over the town and has held a special religious significance for a very long time. 

Already exhausted by our visit to Knossos and the museum in Heraklion, we had a brief rest and then kept our promise to the restaurant the night before and walked the kilometre to another restaurant we were told served antikristo. On our trek we continued to meet more cats and found this kitten dipping its head into a bag of pizzas. 

After walking the ground floor exhibits, almost wishing it would get boring because our feet were very tired, we found the stairs to the second floor where they displayed the original frescoes and some later Greek and Roman artefacts.  No, this is not Disney, but a partial reconstruction of a fresco from Knossos. If you look closely you can identify the original fragments.

There were quite a few of these documents. Those in the script of Linear B we deciphered in the 50s. The earlier Linear A script we still don't understand. These on display were older to the Romans as the Roman tablets found recently in London are to us. 

And who doesn't recognise these expressions of piety. And I've no idea how these survived destruction, even in burial chambers. I wouldn't trust these five minutes on a mantlepiece. 

They have so many artefacts they even pile up a whole load of old swords. The chipped edges are actually from use, not rust. 

And this is a board game from about 1600BC. On the right are playing pieces. So much really hasn't changed.

On the left is not a bathtub but a coffin. Bodies would be forced into a foetal position like the one in the that that was stored in an urn.

Jewellery, 4-5,000 years old, and in immaculate condition. Who wouldn't feel royal wearing these today? 

The museum contained an enormous range of pottery. The double jug has one side for wine and the other for honey, a drink that is still familiar in these parts today. The top right has pottery dating back 4-6,000 years. The large metal container is a cooking vessel with clear signs of usage and, finally massive urns used for storage. We know so little about the Minoans but so much is so familiar and needs little explanation. 

This is likely to be a trowel for finishing plaster (how familiar is this!); a figurine, broken but the repaired by drilling holes and probably tied together; a small box with dog motif; and following these 4,000 year old items a 6,000 year old figurine in a rare realist style.

Starting from the top left: a magic spell written on a spiral from the inside; an offering to the gods, people would create clay replicas of their physical conditions; a lion's head but the nose and eyes are missing; a bull fully entact and restored on the far side but even the near side is stunning. 

After returning from Knossos we were exhausted from the heat and after looking into options for tomorrow we eventually made our way to the archeology museum of Heraklion, looking forward to seeing  all the artefacts originally found in the palaces across Crete. This is a wooden reconstruction of the Knossos Palace. We soon recognised much of the layout. It's quite a sight despite lack of any ornamentation. And now please forgive me for a load of posts on what we saw. It's difficult to slim down any further. 

We finally brave the heat and join the long queue in the central courtyard to enter the throne room. Again there are doubts about the actual use and even those who believe it to be a throne room don't think it operated in a way we would recognise as such. We were shuffled through in the queue and only got to see it briefly. It made for a fitting end before we left to get the bus back to Heraklion, slightly dumbfounded by what we had seen. It's so hard to appreciate while you are there but hopefully it will help to add a dimension when I come to read up some more on this ancient civilisation. The building technology was clearly far from the sophistication of anything Greek or Roman but in some ways that makes the scale of the achievement even greater. And of course the even more ancient civilisations of Egypt and the Near East had built huge structures we are very familiar with, but the significance here is in how it feeds into the whole story of Western civilisation.

There was a huge queue to enter the actual throne room so we wandered some more and finally made some sense of the tiny free map they handed out. This area, oddly named the theatral area, is a bit of guesswork, the layout of the stairs is the only indication it may have been used as an area to make speeches or performances. There are some doubts about that. Whatever the case they are clearly original and that makes them quite a pleasure to see.

This interior two stories above the central throne room is clearly a reconstruction. In fact the whole third storey is a reconstruction. However, it again gives a wonderful opportunity to imagine what it must have looked like inside. The hanging frames are copies of frescoes that would have originally been painted into the plaster.

In among the ruins there are occasionally bird nests. This family with hungry chicks drew even more attention than the ruins around us.

This fresco depicts an athletic event, leaping the bull. Such festivities indicate the sophistication of Minoan society and may have even been procursors to the Greek olympiads. The pale skin is supposed to represent women and dark skin the men. However there is no consensus on what it symbolises, which is quite common of a civilisation so lost to us. The clearer image is a replica currently in the site of Knossos and the fainter one the original now in the museum. You can also see which fragments they have and where they have had to fill in. All the same just think these frescoes have survived almost 4,000 years of the elements.

These pits in the ground would have contained large urns that stored valuables or armory. Although there are some large pieces of pottery on the site, most items have been removed to the museum in Heraklion. And they have a large volume of finds, which I'll post later.

This partial reconstruction gives a strong indication of the grand appearance of some of these facades. There were many palaces across Crete and each supported a different King. Minos, here at Knossos, was supposed to be the most powerful. But men didn't rule a simple patriarchal society. Here the mix of duties across genders was much more complex. The greatest deities were female, women were respected for their intellect and had important duties in the royal courts. They certainly figured very prominently in the murals.

These bull horns used to line the top of all the roofs, apparently. The bull is an important symbol here. Hence Minoan, Minos, Minotaur. This pair of horns is clearly not original.

And this is possibly the most confusing aspect of Knossos. The reconstructions. The original archeologist, Sir Arthur Evans, who excavated this site over 100 years ago made many questionable judgements about the structures and then proceeded to reconstruct in the way he felt it would have been. Reconstructions can be great, like the Stoa (covered arcade) of the Greek Agora in Athens, but here it's almost completely random and without a tour guide it's had to tell what is as it was originally found and what has been built up since. The general rule we followed is that anything that looks newer, or freshly painted or has complete columns, is not the original. Nevertheless the slight reconstruction does give you a chance to imagine so much more when you gaze into these underground rooms, even if it might be a little inaccurate. 

One of the first things that strikes you about Knossos is the multistorey structure. Even at Pompei, which I should stress is almost 2,000 younger than this site, most structures are single story, much having been lost in the volcanic eruption. The reasons for Knossos's destruction range from volcanoes and earthquakes to internal disputes. Whatever the cause the Mycenneans took over Knossos once the Minoan civilisation had died out. The Mycenneans are the people of the Iliad and Odyssey and preceded the classical Greek civilisation. So to see such structures from a civilisation that preceded the people that preceded the people that preceded the Romans is mind blowing. But a word of warning, most fully entact columns have been reconstructed. More later...

The last few days of our trips often pile up and this holiday is no different. It will take at few days to finish the blog entirely. I'll still try to keep clear which days are which. 

And so here we were finally at Knossos and, 4000 years ago, at the centre of European civilisation. This site, the largest of many palaces across Crete was first built around 1750BC on top of many previous centuries of habitat. It's an extensive site and more like Pompei in the extent of the structures that remain, but as a single palace site doesn't have the same more ordinary homes. This is a single massive structure to house the royalty and administration. 

We originally bought a hop-on-hop-off bus tour this morning, but when the first bus arrived it was full so we returned to the hotel and got our money back. The local bus service seemed more practical and in any case scheduled bus tours are not our thing. However waiting in the queue to enter Knossos I'd realised, after the change of plans, I'd forgotten to take out cash to pay entry. It was a pleasant surprise that as an EU student Katarina again has free entry to the site. It was a long queue and we spoke briefly to an American couple, who were touring across Europe, comparing airlines. 

We took the bus for the 9km journey to Knossos the ancient capital of the Minoan civilisation that first developed here between 6000-3000BC. The palaces eventually developed after 2000BC. I've wanted to see this place for years. It's probably the first civilisation of its type in Europe. Staying hydrated is key to visiting any archeological site in 30 degree heat. 

Our first visit was to be the local archaeological site, the largest Minoan site on the island. Our stroll down to the bus station gave us many great views at every turn. No two buildings look the same and together they create a maze of narrow streets lined with cars and mopeds with an occasional view out to the Mediterranean. This island I think is the birth place of the legendary labyrinth. 

Cats have such dignity. With dogs we have stripped them bare. And yet the animal on the left has greater intelligence. Clearly you can't judge an animal by its cover. 

The hotel room was warm and humid overnight so we were tired waking up. The air conditioning is loud but ineffective. It's a business class hotel and they tend to be of very mixed quality. Fortunately they tend to have the better breakfasts, which was certainly true here. Today we've planned to remain local and visit archeology. This is the harbour.  

So that was it. Our first day, Monday, in Crete. It felt like two days with it starting in Athens. I love days that begin in one place and the end far away (not that Crete is that far away). Still you can easily detect a sense of pride that Cretans have that mark themselves out from mainland Greeks. I suppose each of the many Greek islands have a strong identity.  The date of these blog posts will be all over as I'm trying to catch up. But I'll try to signify where each day begins and ends. 

Yes, cars are everywhere but then so is the scooter. Clearly people here don't bother dragging themselves around in all this heat. Instead everyone is driving something. It's the tourists who walk. And people walking their dogs in the evening. 

We returned to the fortress on the way back, it was right by the hotel. It had cooled a bit (maybe 28 degrees and a breeze) so it was great to cool a little. The air conditioning in the hotel here is weak. Katarina was even feeling a little cold, I kid you not! She's clearly got a stronger Mediterranean genome than me. 

A favourite pastime of dogs here is to lie in a pile of dog food and eat without getting up. It happens a lot. This one was doing it in the middle of the path as an incoming bin lorry approached. I tried to move the dog on but it was uninterested. The driver simply pulled over and collected his rubbish without bothering the dog. On this occasion the dog won. 

It's always hard walking around tourist centres trying to find a good meal. So much is thrust in your face and so few do I trust. I normally ignore those that approach but one guy seemed to have a certain sincerity in his voice so we entered. Sitting at the back I was slightly mesmerised by the mural that blended in with the furniture. It played with your eyes. We ordered gyros (a bit like kebab but much better) and meat on a skewer, starting with a Greek salad. It was all great. The salad was so fresh and full of flavour, the meat was barbecued and just what we needed. I wanted something local, something simple. But the meal became really special when we were served, for free, a plate of melon, some Turkish (or Greek) delight and about four or five shots of local brandy. It was a great finish to the meal and they were so kind to us. This is just what we were looking for. 

We didn't really have time to wait for sunset as we needed to get something to eat. But the glow of the sun was already dominating everything.

The strip of landing leading to the fortress made for an excellent wave breaker. Some were deliberately standing in the path of the splash. Others, like us, were content to just take some photos. 

So this was our bonus evening and we still had plenty of time left. We walked down a long thin stretch of land to an old fortress, last built by the Venetians, who ruled these parts for many years and left a huge mark on the architecture all around the town. Sadly it was closed for renovations. But it was still busy with people watching the waves. 

Our arrival at Heraklion was as efficient as leaving Athens. Except here it was all even closer. Taxi was an option but with the town being closer than the length of the runway that seemed excessive. In any case we found the bus quickly and the walk,  even with our bags, from the drop off was only 15 minutes, through a town centre bustling with an early evening crowd. We were at the hotel within an hour of landing. This hotel wasn't quite as luxurious as Athens or Pafos but look decent. We quickly unpacked to get out and explore. 

We came by the metro so we returned by it. The station, under the Parliament, was only a 10 minute walk and then it was 40 minutes until we were there. Check in was very quick and we were soon ready to leave. It was after all only an internal flight. Then just as we were about to taxi to takeoff they announce a passenger is missing and they have to remove the luggage. Fortunately that was quick and so was the flight. We barely had time to sit back before the the seatbelt lights were back on to land. 

We saw this wine menu in the small bar by the hotel. But it's too late to give it a taste. It's surprising how many times we've seen the name even though locally it's Pavlos. We even had one stall holder confused when I said Paolo. He kept saying despite it being written on the cover of a book, as the apostle Paul. 

We've not visited anything newer than the Roman era but we walked past this little lonely church every morning. We never looked inside and I never even caught the name but it was as much a part of our visit as anything else. 

One things we realised very quickly here, and the same was true of Cyprus, is that cars are more prevalent than people. Drivers are quite polite, stopping as you approach, but you can barely move for the volume. Everyone seems used to it and rarely do you sense any rage.

For most connections this holiday we have afternoon flights. This gives us an extra morning to relax and explore before we have to leave for the airport. This morning we ate breakfast late and wandered around the shops and very some postcards. Breakfasts have been good at our hotel in Athens. And the pancakes delivered to your table as soon as you sit are a nice touch. The view of course is great, although, as we realised, not unusual. 

Found a cockroach in the room and spent ages catching it so no time for the blog tonight. Hopefully the beach tomorrow so time to catch up. 

I've not had time to catch up on this blog so will continue one day behind. Monday will hopefully appear on Tuesday evening, or maybe during the day. 

And to finish off the evening we visited a patisserie and bought these two gorgeous treats. The photos do them no justice. We gorged on them in our hotel room, as we contemplated our last evening in Athens. What an amazing two days. I feel like we've been here a week. But it's only Sunday night. Tomorrow, Monday, we fly on to Crete. 

And I couldn't help including this collection of photos of just a small fraction of the cats we encountered. It's the Athens underworld.