Bee Pendant: 18-1700 BC: Two Bees with a drop of honey: from Chrysolakos, Malia: 1 13/16ths tall or 4.6 cm. amazing detail..
We caught the plane at about 7 AM the next morning. We got to the airport so early we saw the sun rise over the tarmack.... There was no direct flight from Santorini to Crete so we had to first fly to Athens, change planes and fly to Crete. I took pictures of unknown islands as we flew.... Oh, how I wish we had been able to "island hop" as we thought we were going to .... Next Time!....
David and I arrived in Crete early in the morning. We went from the airport across to the bus station. When we got to the bus station David asked the man when the bus to downtown would arrive.
smiling bull leaper: fresco from the east wind of Knossos Palace. Bull leapers were men and women. 15th C BC
The man said it would be arriving in 10 minutes and it was bus #6. David came back and sat down and we chatted while we waited. A bus was already sitting at the station when we got there.... It started it's motor to go after quite a while... all of a sudden David got a thought and ran to the front of the bus.... It was #6.... why the heck didn't the guy tell him that? (we were sitting about 25 feet from him on the bench,.....) David made the driver wait while I got gathered and ran to the bus stairs... We looked at the man who worked in the ticket office: from his smirking expression and laughter we could see that it was not an accident that he misled David... Not the perfect start having someone play a little trick like that.... Oh well.
Heraklion Museum:
... moving on.... We asked the driver to let us off in the downtown area for a motel... He was very nice and happy to let us know... (see.... nicer people already!)....
We had a guide book and began walking with our backpacks to find a motel. We began in the main square. We tried to get our bearings and figure out the streets... A really nice man came over and asked how we were doing and asked what we were looking up in our book. We told him and he told us what street to walk down and how to find the motel.... then he took a few minutes to tell us about the town and what was available. And a few more minutes to tell us about his family and what he did for a living.
Heraklion Museum: Prince with the Lilies: Minoan dress with lilies and peacok feathers on his head. he may have been leading a sacred animal. From Knossos: 15th century BC
.. such a great guy! The square we were on was lined with restaurants and a few really nice hotels. We thanked him and walked down the avenue he had indicated.... but we still couldn't find the motel in the guide book. We stopped a few other people and they also thought we were in the right area... but the closest we could find to the motel was a vacant lobby of what appeared to be apartments...
After about one hour of searching we decided it would be best if David found the motel and I sat with the suitcases. We went down a cute little alleyway and stopped at an "outdoor" coffee restaurant in a covered piazza area. We had a cup of coffee together and David took off.
Heraklion Museum: fruit bowl: 18-17 C BC: from Phaistos palace
He left the suitcases (actually our suitcases are backpacks) and I had coffee and chatted with the young lady about a vacation she had taken to Kalakari Island. It was really interesting hearing it from a native. She said it is known as the most beautiful island and she really thought it lived up to that reputation but it was really over touristed and over priced. She told me she shared a humble room and it was 75 Euros... yikes... she recommended the area but suggested the stay should not be too long... She said it has been made really popular because of the movie Momma Mia and she expects it will get worse. She had more customers and I sat and read Lonely Planet while I waited....
David had gone to the main square again and went to the nice hotel on the plaza.
Heraklion Museum:Kamares vessel
He spoke to the duty manager and told him the price range we were looking for and asked if he knew of a motel (in our price range) that the manager would take his wife to.... The only recomendation was Hotel Irini... and told David how to find it... He also told Dave the motel we were searching for was closed for the season so it wasn't even there.... Eventually David came back with a motel reservation at Hotel Irini (see our review). He had already been up and paid for the first night and gotten us a room with a view of the bay. Great. We walked down towards the harbor and went into the motel lobby. It was a huge open lobby with a fire place in one corner. It had a well maintained board with all of the local places and the hours posted.
Bull's Head: From Little Palace of Knossos. ritual libation vessel: gilded horns, eyes rock crystal and mother of pearl muzzle.
The personnel were friendly and efficient... We were really pleased. The room wasn't a fancy room but the bed was comfortable. We had a view of the bay ... and quite a few apartments that were in the area.
We dropped off our suitcases and walked down towards the wharf to find the archeological museum. We had already heard about it a few times so we were anxious to see it. It didn't take us very long to find it.... We had a wonderful time touring it. Pictures were allowed as long as no flash. We took as many pictures as we could although we felt a bit anxious about keeping the pictures straight. The museum closed before we felt ready but there was nothing we could do about it.
Heraklion Museum:
We saw things from all over Crete: Knossis, Gortina, Malia, Phaistos.... We hadn't been to any of the places but we hoped we would see them all... It appearedthe most important was Knossis. Knossis was a huge castle area that had a reputation as being one of the best to see as it had been partially rebuilt. It had reached it's peak about 3,000 years ago. The items they found in the castle were astonishing..... vases, jewelry and amazing frescos.
Heraklion Crete
This was not where I intended to stay, but my guide book hotel had closed for the season. We walked and looked-no success. Feeling a minor disaster coming our way, we stopped for coffee(lots of shops and restaurants). I left Sylvia at coffee and went to the nicest motel in the area. I spoke with the duty manager and explained that I loved his hotel, but couldn't afford the price. I explained my price range and asked him where he would take his wife if he was me. His sole recommendation was the Irini.
The Irini is a clean, comfortable hotel in an excellent location near the small craft harbor, venetian fort,ferry port and bus station. In about 3-10 minutes walk, shopping and dining are plentiful.
For curiosity,(we were staying 3 days) I checked two other nearby hotels. Both were far more expensive. We paid 55 Euro with breakfast for two.
On arrival I asked for and recieved one of the few rooms with a partial view of the harbor(I also asked for a king bed as I am 1.9 meters-no luck-foreign tours used this hotel also)
The beakfast each morning was very good with ample coffee refills. This is good for Sylvia and I since we often stay out very late and need the "jump start". The lady was very friendly and we ate well.
We used local and regional busses which we caught a 5 minute walk from the hotel.We rented a car nearby also.
The location and ammenities make this all-season hotel a good value.
The Lobby of Irini Hotel
View from our 4th floor room
View of buildings from motel window
Lobby towards bar and outdoor patio
Breakfast service area....
breakfast seating area.... upstairs
View from 4th floor window....
View at night
Night time view
View of the harbor and wall by t
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