Crete

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Our next stop Crete, the largest of the Greek islands. Our tour today was to the ancient site of Knossos, of the Minotaur fame. We visited the palace of King Minos with 2000 rooms. The site was reconstructed by a British archeologist named Evans, he made many assumptions of what things were and how they looked. Unfortunately, modern archeologists disagree with Evans' work and as such most sites are no longer reconstructed. In any event, the site was huge. Our local guide took us all over the site, fighting crowds and the heat. It was near 100 again today, but our water allowed us to keep cool. Fortuntely, no one needed medical attention, so it was a fun day for all. The site was amazing, even though Evans had made many mistakes and bad interpretations of what was what. Again the palace had running water, a sewer system, indoor plumbing and fine art work and frescos decorated most walls. They worshipped the earth Goddess and she was symbolized by snakes, trees, water, and of course the Bull. One of the Greek gods fell in love with a earthly woman. He disguised himself as a bull and mated with the woman, who gave birth to a child with a bulls head and a mans body, the Minotaur. To keep him confined, a labyrinth was built. No one really knows the site of the labyrinth, some say it was the palace itself and some say it was a series of caves. Anyway a prince from Athens killed the Minotaur releasing the Atheneans from the control of King Minos. Another greel myth. From here we went to the city of Heraklion, for a visit to the famous Lion Fountain and some much needed snacks. Our guide took us to his favorite cafe where we enjoyed some iced cappachino, fried dough balls in honey and a sweet cheese cake with ice cream. We headed back to the boat for lunch. Cathy was a little hot from the very hot day so, while she showered and rested, I jumped into a bathing suit and left the boat for a quick swim in the Aegean sea. There was a small beach about 100 yards from where the boat docked, so I walked over and jumped into the clear deep blue and green waters of the Aegean. The water was a little cold at first, but with my body so hot, it felt great. I swam for a little bit among small fishes that kept nipping at my feet, I guess they liked feet! I dried off and headed back to the boat. Freshly showered and cooled off, Cathy felt better so we had lunch and once again left the boat for a little shopping. I bought some Ouzo and Ratkie, local licorice flavored drink. I also found some dessert wines and Cathy bought something for Vinny. We shopped for a little longer, took many photos and soon headed back to the boat for a rest and dinner.

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