Heraklion

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Yesterday we had to leave Santorini. Our package gave us a transport down to the ferry terminal about 5pm. On the way, attempting to communicate with the husband/ owner of our rather nice "Holiday Beach Hotel" I realised the answer to my musing yesterday of why all the womwn we had spoken to immigrants married to local Greek men (and whty the Greek mothers had allowed their sons to marry foreigners) . ...Of course the German, Polish etc women anre multilingual and readily add Greek to their list . That then excuses the middle-aged entrepreneurs from knowing more than the most rudimentary English. As I have implied before, Greece is very Greek. Although they have been participating in the tourist industry for a century or two they do not feel the need to make much accomodation for those who cannot speak or read Greek. Even the buses we cathc are identified for destination only in Greek ( although the buses themselves, mercifully are exopertly manufactured in Germant and hav eall the emergency signs in German using the Roman alphabet.
It is as though they are so overwhelmed by the summer influx of tourists that by the time they are rid of them all at the end of summer they are so exhausted theat they forget all about the need to get organised and streamline procedures. (Help! The German girl bbeside me has just lit up her second cigarette since I logged on 20 minutes ago!...luckily on my left is a ten year old Asian boy)

Today was a typical example . We took off early on the bus from near our centrally located hotel to Knossos.. about half an hour away. This is deemed to be the most significant site in Crete. Arrived relatively early. Six euros entry. ..thought we would splurge on a guide. Ten Euros extra. I ascertained that our guide could speak good English. After waiting about 45 minutes for enough group members to begin we were swapped to another group with a guide who although fluent was so weaking pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary errors that most people could not understand her. And she was an accreditied guide. She certainly knew her stuff. But her language had been cobble together on the run.They have about 8000 visitors a day in the busy time!

After a few hour we fled the heat to the Archaeloogical museum, which unfortunately was cloed for rebuilding, leaving only a few of the main treasures on display in an annex. So then we explored the centre of the town and the harbourside. There are many reminders of the period of Venetian domination . A great highlight was the historical museum, showcasing the Christian era, until the present, with particular focus on two native sons of Heraklion, Nikos Katzankakis and El Greco. A really lovely little museum.

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Photos

Venetian fortress
Still guarding the harbour at Heraklion.

Water works
Amongst the most impressive features of the Minoan ruins are the water supply and flushable, ventilated toilet.

Zig zag buses on Santorini
A partial glimpse of the 7 zigs and zags of the skillfully engineered route down to the new port of Santorini. Countless buses and container truckes negotiate the incredible switch backs daily.