More Knossos!

Knossos! Our first Minoan Palace!

Tuesday, May 04, 2010

Hello!

Greetings from Iraklion, Crete! (Yes, that is spelling #3, just to add to the confusion!!)
Up with the alarm clock about 6, as we wanted to get to Knossos, the most famous of the Minoan palaces when it opened at 8 a.m. (Not only is this my idea, but was mentioned in several guide books as well!) Down for breakfast at 7:15 a.m. Very nice variety of choices to eat – you could go with the cold meats and cheeses like the German, or full English like the Brits, or Greek, with vanilla custard and yoghurt and dry goat cheese (which was delicious). R opted for the cheese and bread; I had cheeses, bread, ham and salami. The only thing that wasn’t excellent were the juices – could that possibly have been TANG? Sure tasted like it, at any rate!

For anyone who has not followed our blogs before, (as I’m sure everyone who has already knows!) I have something called “laundry issues.” So yes, dear readers, I have been thinking about laundry ever since we got here! The fact that we have a week’s worth of clean clothes has NOTHING to do with it! Asked at the desk and found that they do have a service – but at 2 Euros per pair of socks, and 5.50 Euros per T-shirt – ridiculous! So…will NOT be having laundry done by the hotel…

Out about 7:45 a.m. for the car – and yes, it did involve two of the hotel staff moving other cars so we could get ours out. Note to RRZ: This is beginning to resemble Taormina, although this time our car seems to move around quite a bit! It took a couple of times around the block for us to get headed in the right direction – back toward the airport, then turning south inland. We didn’t get to Knossos until about 8:10 a.m. but we were able to park right next to the front gate, and nobody was in sight! In fact, we had the palace basically to ourselves, except for workers – it was amazing!

We had the “Blue Guide to Crete”, which has an excellent tour of the palace, and the really good signage was done in both Greek AND English! It was GREAT! After about half an hour, we noticed that groups were beginning to come in, but fortunately, we had enough of a head-start that we didn’t run into anybody else until the very end of the palace!

Knossos has been occupied from the Neolithic to the early Byzantine times – a span of about 8000 years! It is a very interesting site, as it was excavated at the beginning of the 1900’s by Sir Arthur Evans, the director of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England. During the work, Sir Arthur decided that he wanted to literally reconstruct some of the spaces into what he felt they originally looked like. Therefore, there are full modern staircases and door posts/lintels and columns set up in various places, as well as full reconstructions of various frescos – according to modern archeologists, based on very little “fact” and much more on Sir Arthur’s imagination! At any rate, the site was very interesting and while it was nice and sunny, because it was so early in the day, it was very pleasant to walk about. However, by the time we got back to the entrance gate, there was, literally, a MOB scene! Bus load after bus load …just amazing! Felt it was time we should leave – about 10:30 a.m.

After picking up a Coke and some water, we headed out and toward Archanes and another archeological site, Phourni. Oh yes, stopping to get gas along the way! Turns out that when we picked up the car, they said “the gas tank is ¼ full so when you return it – make sure it is ¼ full!” Oh well! Headed toward Archanes, but found that their museum was closed. Headed up to the Phourni site – several miles of gravel and dirt roads, very rough – only to finally arrive and find that yes, this too was closed! Not sure if this is the norm or if it is tied into the Greek austerity measures…Fortunately, the scenery was superb – small houses on plots of land planted with olive groves or grape vines. Just lovely!

Decided after getting back to the main highway to return to Iraklion and get to the museum today. Did make one stop – found a big electronics shop as R needed to find a cable to download maps into our GPS. I did the Greek (and Italian) trick – parked in a no parking zone and just put on my emergency flashers! Worked like a charm! Back to the hotel – it is very easy to find and get to – although I did have to park the car myself in a VERY tricky parking spot, but R gives great directions and “talked me through it.” Whew…Up to the room for a bit of a rest, R working on maps and me on a book. R having trouble downloading, as apparently there are interruptions on the internet access…he’s talking about going to a McDonald’s or Starbucks to see if the connection would be better. (Have seen only 1 McD’s so far, and 1 Starbucks.)

Finally headed out for lunch, toward the main squares in town. Found TERRIFIC walk-away pizza by the slice – lovely thick crust with ham and mushrooms – it was great! Walked into the central park and found a shady bench – great way to eat quickly AND have a show going on around you! (Talk about traffic! And these HUGE tourist buses!) From there we went to the temporary museum – and saw a wonderful selection of the most important Iraklion treasures. Lovely collection – the Phaistos disc, the bull cup, an old game board from the palace at Knossos – we’ve got some great pictures which we’ll include.

From there we stopped at a bank and then back to the hotel for a lie down…I had a lovely2 hour nap, and R is sawing away even as I type! Figure we’ll head out for dinner soon – the challenge will be to see if we are able to get past our Brillant restaurant here! It was SO amazing last night … we’ll see!

More later!
Much love,
m
x

More dinner...

More pictures, try #3!

Here is hoping I can post a few more pictures from yesterday -- Brenda, including the lightng!!

Love,
m
x

Never have the words…

“it’s ALL Greek to me!” been more appropriate! Which means, unbelievably, we’re in CRETE!

We were sound asleep last night by just after 6 p.m. and slept through until almost 3:30 a.m. As check-in for our Easy Jet flight opened at 4:55 a.m. I had set the alarm for 4 a.m. However, we got up at 3:30 and were out the door by 4:15 a.m. – and it wasn’t raining anymore!! YEAH! To be honest, our hotel was so close to Gatwick that we could really have walked there! Turned the car in to Europcar and headed into the terminal…to find that there are both a North and South terminal at Gatwick, and naturally, we were in the wrong one! So, found the very convenient shuttle bus that connected the two, and were at Easy Jet check in by 4:45 a.m. Absolutely no line whatsoever!! Checked the bags in and headed through security. Again, because we were so early, no lines anywhere, AND you don’t have to take your shoes off at Gatwick, which made Robert’s life considerably easier! (He has always been a “shoe horn” kind of guy, but he still has some difficulty in crossing his right leg over his left, and having brand-new shoes, it was more than a bit awkward taking them off and putting them back on…) Headed to Garfunkles for breakfast. R had two croissants with coffee and O.J. and I had some well scrambled eggs with bacon, toast and juice.

For some reason, we were “Speedy Boarders” with Easy Jet, which meant we got to be among the first to board (!) Headed from the gate area onto a bus and were transported to our plane; row 3, aisle and window seats. The flight was 3 hours and 40 minutes; very pleasant, no problems – and suddenly, we were in Iraklieo airport in Crete! (The reason I say that so specifically is that with the erupting volcano in Iceland, it has only been a week since normal air traffic has resumed in Europe. Our friends Bob and Stew were unable even to get to Greece for their holiday which was to have begun right when the skies were closed, and I was thinking the same might happen to us!) The surrounding countryside that I could see from the airport was not lush and green like I’d been expecting. Rather, it was more like landing at Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii; very sparse vegetation. Mountains to be seen, however, from Iraklieo. This island is NOT flat!

Passports stamped, we headed for luggage claim, and ours were some of the first pieces down!!! Headed out of arrivals and picked up our Budget rental car. Very cute SMALL and RED vehicle; (forget what – will tell you later!) The instructions to Lato Boutique Hotel were fairly simple, except for one thing! We were told to turn right at the third traffic light – but most of the lights we’ve seen so far aren’t working! So is a non-working set of lights to be counted, we asked ourselves. As it turns out, the Iraklion airport is probably less than 15 minutes from town. We headed to the port, once around the splashing fountain, and there was the hotel! NO place to park, but someone came out of the hotel to take the luggage and then the car. (Have since located it…parked cheek by jowl down the street…will be impossible for me to get it out without help, I’m sure!) Checked in, junior suite 226.

WOW! The suite is WONDERFUL! Lovely living room, facing the old port, with French doors out onto the private balcony, as well as another window. Bedroom also huge and love, and we can see the Venetian fortifications from bed! Two TV’s with VERY good selection (although mostly in Greek….) but as long as they have Eurosport, I’m fine! Robert set up the computer (free wi-fi!) and logged in while I unpacked and put things away. We’re here for three nights.

Changed into shorts (sorry, everyone, but yes, we did!) and out for an exploratory walk. The first thing we found is that we’re going to have to come back! The world famous Iraklieo Archeological Museum is STILL closed (since 2006) for renovation! Is “supposed” to open sometime in 2010…just not yet! Some of the more famous pieces from the museum have been moved to a temporary exhibition space, which we plan on seeing Wednesday. (Tomorrow: Knossos, Minoan Palace!)

From there we walked down some pedestrian-only streets and saw some lovely town squares. Lots of people out for the afternoon, but not hoards of tourists, which is nice! Sat for a bit in the square refreshing ourselves with Coke. We’re working on learning a few Greek words – thank you, you’re welcome, yes, no – but VERY difficult! Looking at the signage, some of which is totally in Greek – in characters I don’t know! – I feel like someone who hasn’t yet learned to read or write! Absolutely NO connections whatsoever to what I know! Hopefully at least some of it will sink in fairly quickly, as people really, truly nice and helpful, but much prefer to know a couple words!

Most of the island of Crete was controlled by the Venetians in the 1200’s, and some of the architecture is still here. The Venetian Loggia (now town hall) is quite lovely, as is the beautiful Morisini fountain. From there we headed down hill to the old port area (stopping along the way for Magnum Classic #2!) Passed the Venetian fortress, which we see from our room, then back to the hotel past what is left of the Venetian Arsenale (boat building works) .

Arranged for a half-bottle of wine to follow us to our room, (which also arrived with peanuts) which was nice as we’d had no lunch. Sat on the balcony and enjoyed, then headed in for naps. Up now – only slept for an hour or so! – and will be getting ready shortly for dinner. The menu for the restaurant hotel sounds very good, so may decide to stay here. Back into jeans and out we’ll go!

More later!
Much love,
M
X

(Robert the Editor’s comment: I need to explain about the spelling of the town…it is seen two ways, Iraklieo, as I’ve used, or Heraklion, which is also frequently used.)

Dinner update. Well, we actually didn’t make it out of the hotel! Turns out the restaurant here, Brillant, is absolutely SUPERB! Lovely room (I want the lighting over the bar) with a GREAT red wall; fabulous dinner service and glassware. I ordered an incredible smoked eggplant millefleurs on tomato, with Greek cheese garnished with pesto and balsamic vinegar. It was AMAZING. R had the veloute of mushroom soup. Also incredible; included a slightly sour note, which must either be Greek yoghurt or cheese. For mains, we both had chicken. Mine was fillet of chicken breast rolled and stuffed with spinach and Greek cheese. R’s was grilled and served on a green salad with tomatoes that had been lightly sauted in olive oil. Both fabulous! Had a bottle of dry Cretan wine with it…no need for dessert!
YUM! In spite of prior fears, at least I know one place where the food is fabulous!! Decided after that to forgo the evening walk and head up to bed…10:11 p.m. and have to be up early to get out to Knossos!
m

We're Across the Pond!!

Our beautiful friend Philippa and her husband Dan -- expecting their first this summer!

Sunday, May 2

Hello, All!

We've made it to London, and are getting ready to collapse in the hotel!

All went well yesterday, considering that the alarm went off at 3:05 a.m. and we were out the door by 3:45 a.m. Made it with no problems to Phoenix by 6 a.m., turned in the rental car and headed to check-in. We had a wait of probably 2 minutes at the United desk, and absolutely NO wait at all to clear security! (You see, even though R complains about how early we have to get up, this is proof positive that you can avoid the crowds this way...if you're conscious enough to notice!)

Nice flight to Washington Dulles, with the exception of some BIG bumps getting around some thunderstorms near Tennessee. We had a 3 hour layover, and used the time to get food at Gordon Biersch - both of us bowls of very good New England clam chowder, R some crabcakes, and me a spinach salad. Very good!

When we checked in to the overseas flight, we were very confused by the seating chart that showed up. I had changed our seat selections, and was a bit nervous. But turns out we were on a BRAND NEW 777 that had a different seating configuration than any we'd seen. The upshot was that we had 3 seats across at the center of the bulk head, the first row of economy, with nobody between us! The seats were amazingly comfortable; actually move forward when they tilt back, and every two out of three seats has a U.S. power connection for computers! Wheee!!! So, we were very comfortable, and the flight went very quickly -- 6 hours 54 minutes. Saw several movies, including INVICTUS with Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon -- EXCELLENT! Recommend it HIGHLY and will definitely add it to our movie collection when we get home. Also watched "Leap Year" with Amy Adams; cute; very definitely a chick flick!

Landed 40 minutes early into the new (about a year old, but new to us) Terminal 1. Just excellent! We didn't have to walk many miles at all to get to customs, and there was no line there, either! (Compared to a couple of times when it took almost an hour to get through, this was amazing!) Very happily collected our luggage, and then off to Europcar.

It was absolutely POURING outside, and the drive to Gatwick, something like 50 miles from Heathrow wasn't terribly pleasant. However, when we got to Gatwick, the wonderful gal at the Courtyard by Marriott found a room for us even though it wasn't even 9:30 a.m.! AND, as breakfast was included, and we're leaving so early tomorrow, we were even able to have a full English breakfast!! What an incredible place!!
Lovely, clean and well equipped room. Showered/bathed and got ready to head out to Henley on Thames to meet our friend Philippa and her husband Dan!

Got to Henley about 11:30 a.m. and parked in a car park that was easy to find -- and there they were!! SOOOOOO great to see Phil and finally be able to meet her wonderful husband Dan!! We walked on to the High Street (raining AND cold!) and found a very nice French restaurant for lunch.

We chatted for several hours (LONG lunch plus dessert!) until we really began to feel the jet lag and lack of sleep catching up with us. So, back to the car park; SO sorry to say goodbye after such a short visit! On to Gatwick where we topped off the car with petrol and I got my first MAGNUM CLASSIC bar of this trip! The weather wasn't exactly conducive...maybe 40-ish? -- but it was GREAT!

Now back in the room; almost 5:15 p.m. and we're definitely in for the night!! Need to be up bright and early (yes, again!) for our Easy Jet flight to Crete!!

So, with that, I'll close for now...
Much love,
m
x

The start of a new adventure!

Hello!

Well, the ever wandering Brucato's are hopefully off again on Saturday, May 1...if the airlines and the Icelandic volcano all cooperate!

Our plan is to head first to London, and from there catch a plane to Heraklion, Crete where we pick up a car. We've got four different stops on Crete, and will be there for almost two weeks. We'll then fly to Athens for three nights, before catching a plane to Istanbul, Turkey. We'll be in Istanbul for a week, returning again through London and home on May 25.

We are planning on doing a great deal of exploring -- lots of ruins of ancient civilizations on Crete. To be honest, I'm a bit concerned about Robert climbing about, but his leg should be better than ever, and he has been practicing the philosophy of looking where he is walking, so hopefully that will help!

We are very much looking forward to sharing our journey and adventures with you; hopefully through the end of our trip!

So stay tuned, starting on Sunday, for more from the Bouncing Brucato's!

Much love,
m
x