Day 7: Iraklio and Knossos

Wednesday, September 19

The ferry arrived in Iraklio around 5:30AM. Daniel had woken me up when land was in sight. He'd also gotten us a hotel the day before with his trusty Lonely Planet and calling card. They'd said we could check in at 7:30, which seemed amazing to me.

We headed into town using the map in Lonely Planet (neither of us remembered the Tourism folks at the airport had given us a really nice map of the city). At one point, we found a somewhat fuzzy cream-colored dog on the mostly deserted streets who decided he would follow Daniel. I called him puppy. Puppy didn't feel the need to stay on the sidewalk with us, which was a bit unnerving when we got to a major road with traffic. Thankfully, the cars avoided Puppy and I got him back on the sidewalk.

It was only about 7 when we found Hotel Rea. There was a bakery just down the block and we got some rolls that were probably day old and ate those on the raised sidewalk outside. Then we hung out on the stoop of the hotel until they opened up for the day. We lost Puppy sometime in here, but later acquired Dog, a small black and tan dog who followed us to the hotel and waited until we left again.

There was no room ready for us yet (I wasn't surprised) so we left our luggage and went to get breakfast. We were told to try back at 10 or so.

For breakfast, we were told to head towards the Venetian fountain area where places would be open. The fountain originally had a statue of Neptune in the middle but when the Turks took over the city (after a 21-year siege; reportedly the longest in history) they removed that, just leaving the lions and cherubs with water coming out of interesting places.

We were looking at menus in various places when a guy, whom Daniel would later always refer to as evil, cajoled us into eating at his place. One interesting thing travelling in Greece (outside of Athens at least) was most restaurants had someone trying to get you to come in and eat there. Neither Daniel nor I enjoyed this cultural phenomenon, and this was our first taste of it.

We had cheese and mushroom crepes with orange juice. There was way too much cheese in the crepes. As we sat there, the city began to come to life around us, while Dog dozed close by. Dog followed us when we got up and, as we walked down a main drag, we picked up a whole pack of dogs. Most of them only followed us a little ways. The head dog of that group stayed with us longer, but then we were back to just Dog.

We headed to the Archaeological Museum which the guide books said was under construction. It was partially open, but only very minimally. We didn't realize how minimally until after we got our tickets (this was the first time Daniel got to use his student ID, which had helped us get student ticket prices on our trip, too). I had really wanted to see the Dolphin frescoes from Knossos, but they were not part of the open display. There was a good variety of what was on display, but it really was just in one big room of this big museum.

Dog waited for us outside, although he started following another couple when we stopped to use the WC, which was in a trailer across from the museum building. He rejoined us, though soon after we headed his way. We stopped at the Info Center to find out about going to Knossos and see if there were any wireless Internet places in the city (which is the 5th largest in Greece).

We headed back to the hotel, with Dog in tow, but we crossed a crowded street to look at a street market and when Dog crossed later, he headed a down a different street.

The room still wasn't ready when we got back. I was tired and not really wanting to go out again. We talked about going to Knossos but my camera's battery was waning and I needed to charge it first. The man at the desk plugged it in, with the adapter we were using, and we sat and read and waited for it to be done.

While we waited, a young woman (Italian?) started down the polished-marble spiral staircase in her thongs and took a very nasty spill. It was unreal and very scary. The man behind the desk and his father went to her instantly. Her boyfriend came down behind and he and the man behind the desk carried her downstairs. A woman (the mother?) joined the group. The conversation was in English so I was able to help with a word here and there (x-ray) and encourage the woman to go to the hospital to be checked out. I also got them to elevate her foot once they put her in a chair. Daniel headed outside early on to be out of the way.

The boyfriend went to get the car and I waited outside with Daniel until he came back. She actually walked out of the hotel on her own power, so hopefully she was alright. It turned out it was their room we were getting, so it would soon be ready. It also turned out that someone had unplugged the extension cord my camera was plugged into, so my battery was still not charged.

Once we got our room, Daniel slept and I read a little and then slept. We got up around 2:50 and headed to catch the bus to Knossos. We got there around 4 but stopped to eat the rest of our food before heading in. The guidebook said we'd need a couple of hours, but we spent maybe 90 minutes touring around. Ruins are not that interesting, and while the reconstructions done here are impressive, the most impressive stuff--including the dolphin fresco--were not currently accessible.

We headed back around 6, getting off the bus by the Information Center to find a seafood restaurant (Daniel wanted grilled octopus). The seafood places were, unsurprisingly, down by the old harbor. We picked a place that had octopuses hanging from the rafters of the outdoor area. Daniel got his grilled octopus and I got octopus Stephano. We had drinks and salad, too.

In addition to the usual bread (pretty much every restaurant in Greece automatically brings you bread that they charge for), this place gave us a bowl of olives. Then, after the meal, they brought out a plate of fruit and rocky, an alcoholic beverage. It was a lovely meal.

Back at the hotel, I showered, we read, and then went to bed.