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Knossos
This is the palace here. Sir Arthur Evans reconstructed a lot of it, so that's why the paintings are in such good shape. Well, Dennis realllllly wanted to fight the Minotaur here at Knossos, so I said OK, and here we are in Crete! Certainly the biggest Greek island of them all, really long, really busy, and very Venetian!
We arrived in Iraklio last night, and its very metropolitan. Much like Athens, but with less English speaking people. Graffiti, people everywhere, crazy drivers, and definitely a big city feel, over the low key atmosphere of the islands. The ferry ride here was quick (1 hour, 45 min) because we took the high speed ferry. Our last ferry! Ahhhh, I can't say I will miss them, Dennis doesn't mind them as much, but I just think I am a car or plane person. Even the buses here, whew, I do NOT like them, or at least, my stomach doesn't! Especially the last few in Santorini... windy roads, up and down, too much wine tasting... ohhhh tummy!
Our hostel is very clean, immaculate, as our Lonely Planet book says, but.. veryyyyy tiny! The "big" beds are not much more than a super twin, and our shower.. well, it certainly leaves something to be desired, as in.. water! Haha, I took the first shower
Tasting Raki for the first time
They give you this drink all the time in Crete after dinner, here is our first try... last night, and the water was NOT coming out.. it was a bit more than a dribble. Apparently, there was a pinch in the tube, and Dennis says it worked better for him, so I guess I will see tonight. But its a place to stay, and right in the middle of the city, so its close to almost everything.
Oh yes, and last night? We had a FABULOUS dinner, Dennis had lamb (again), and I had essentially 3 huge slabs of bacon for dinner. But we were both full, and I guess our waiter noticed, so he brought us some drinks to "soothe" our stomachs. Well, if by soothe he means incinerate any food left in our stomach with the STRONG alcohol, he was right. Ohhhhhh goodness, it was like Absinthe or something, so strong, and our pictures will attest to that. We hit the hay, but both of us had bad sleeps on account of overheating, and then freezing.
But we were up and at 'em this morning so Dennis could go fight the Minotaur! That's right, we headed to Knossos to search for the legendary monster. It was an interesting bus ride, our driver was
so relaxed that he could talk on his cell phone AND smoke while driving through rush hour traffic. Which seems to last all day here. So we got to Knossos, which for everyone who doesn't know, is an ancient palace from the Minoan civilization approximately 3000-1500 BC. It had the first drainage systems, first flush toliet (by using your hand to toss water down), and also several staircases that rival our own. It was massive, and there were tour groups EVERYWHERE which we got caught in the middle of a few times. Unfortunately, much of the palace was closed off for restoration because of tourists, so we did not get to see most of the famous parts, like the Queen's apartments (Dolphin fresco) and the King's apartments. But we did see the throne room so that was tres cool.
Next we headed to the Archeological museum. No wait.. it's CLOSED for renovations. Heavy sigh, ok, next choice, the Battle of Crete in WWII museum. Ooh we found it! Nope... closed too! Alright, what about the History of Crete museum. Ok that one was open, but a few of the rooms were closed, for yep, you guessed it, renovations! But
YECH
Not good! we really enjoyed it, and learned a lot about Crete and the Byzantine period.
Then we just walked around Iraklio, found all the churches and basilica's we could, and a couple of fountains that were definitely not spouting the glorious cool water we were craving. One church we found, the Agios Minos Cathedral was breathtaking. Orthodox church, very iconoclastic (icon's everywhere), gold everywhere, and very big domes. We had dinner with lamb, potatoes, and feta cheese, and now we found this internet cafe, which is so busy with gamers who are smoking, its hard to breathe! But sorry, we can't add photos, because for some reason the network won't let us, perhaps tomorrow or the next time! If we can add some to this blog we will later, because the pics of Knossos are super cool.
Hope everything is well at home, we hope we get some more comments this time.. we were sad that we did not hear from our Elaine! Heehee, just kidding, miss you all and love you all!
Yours in Christ,
Dennis and Kim
P.S. For the record, Dennis won against the Minotaur. The monster is nursing its wounds in the
Nice face Dennis!
We both agree, Raki is not for the Canadians. labryinth of Knossos.
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Laura Farquharson
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Another Day Another journey!
Touristy places hey...never open when you want them to be, at least you got to see part of one and all the cool churches...I can't wait to see all of your guys pictures. I hope you aren't eating too much so when you come back you won't be able to run at baseball. We have another game today and will keep you up dated...we are rained out 1 won 1 and ZERO loses...yay team! See you guys in a couple of weeks!