Little Lolly's Small Adventures: Heraklion, Crete, Greece. Excursion: Best of Heraklion: Mind the Minotaur!

The island of Crete is south west of Rhodes island, not too far sailing for the Prinsendam.

It was a calm passage and we woke up to see a beautiful sunny day.

My tour group was soon on its way, in a bus driven by Nikos who was a cheerful and friendly chap. Thalia, our guide was lovely and I was reminded of her Israeli counterpart, Tali. Tali was good at telling about the history of Crete and making it almost come to life. The history was simply put despite the fact that it could have been quite complicated.

When we arrived at the Palace of Knossos Thalia took us around the site, more so the main points of interest on the site such as the King and Queen’s living quarters, workshops, theatre, store rooms and more. The excavated ruins are partially reconstructed to give a better understanding of the complex labyrinth. The palace is often referred to as a labyrinth because of its maze of passages which, according to Greek mythology, was built to confine the fabled Minotaur - born out of the unioin between King Minos' queen and a bull. After our guided tour we had about 20 minutes of free time to wander around the site on our own before meeting back at the bus. Just as well we had arrived at the site early because by the time we left there were long queues of people waiting to enter the site.

Our next part of the tour was just as interesting. It was at Aarolithos which is what looks like a beautifully restored Cretan village but a replica of a traditional village with a hotel, museum, restaurant, tavern, blacksmith, etc. We had a walking tour of the village, including the museum, after which we had lunch on one of the terrace restaurants of the hotel. We had a delicious meal along with wine and water. During the meal we were treated to a performance of music, singing and dancing. At times the dancers would encourage guests to get up and join them. Some had a good flare for dancing, others had 'two left feet' but the atmosphere a joyful one.

Raki (similar to Ouzo) was served last but I declined having any - allowing my fellow diners to happily swig my portion. The non-drinkers or those who didn't drink much left quite a bit of wine and Raki to those who liked their tipple. So there were a few merry people on the bus home!

Before the ship left, a brass band started to play on the pier. A large turnout of guests appeared on the different decks to listen to the short concert, and heartily applauded the band's efforts. I don't think anyone wanted the ship to leave and I swear the departure moving - away from the pier - was extra slow so that we could continue listening to the music. We hardly felt the ship move but we could see the pier inching further away. The band kept playing as we waved them goodbye.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Palace of Knossos