Knossos

July 10, 2012

We left early, because we did not want to have a problem with the car…like getting a ticket or getting it towed.

Dada is our driver and she had driven about 30 minutes and said I am going to stop for coffee. She turns off the national highway and we arrive at the most picturesque village with a small harbor and a beach perched on a hillside. Very small. We walked to the end of the street and sat at a table, perched on the end of the cliff overlooking the ocean and had a coffee (the best of the trip so far) and a breakfast. It was a storybook village.

We drove east along the northern coast toward Heraklion to go to the Archeological Museum and then Knossos, a Minoan archeological site. We made it to the museum, which was under renovation so only a small gallery was open but it was a wonderful collection of very ancient artifacts, some from 6500 BC. Loved it. It was hot, but we walked to the port to check on tickets for a boat trip to Santarini. The cheap ferry for 18 Euros only goes once a week, but the tourist boat goes everyday but for 102 euros. Dada decided not to go, but I booked my ticket.

Then we spent most of the day looking for a small beach village to stay for a couple of nights, because I will be spending the entire day on Santarini, we wanted a nice place for Dada to hang out until I return. In the end we gave up, found a beach to take a swim and have a coffee, then decided to look for a place in Knossos, where we will be touring the following day.

We arrive in the Knossos and we cannot see a real village and drive a bit further and then we stop at an outdoor restaurant and ask the young punk rocker type guy. He was tall, dressed in low slung sweat pants and his head was shaved except for a strip on top that stood straight up maybe 3 inches and the ends were dyed blond. He also had an eyebrow piercing. He was very animated and told us where to go…he said, "It was easy."  I said, "Yes, easy for you! Could you come with us and show us?" He was reluctant so I asked him to draw me a map, so he wrote some directions down and promised to go with us if we could not find it on our own and came back. 

We got to the town and could not see anything, so we stopped and I hopped out and asked the person at the tourist kiosk. He said it is right up there on the hill, but no one is there, but I will call them for you. He was shockingly helpful. He takes out his cell phone and then hands it to me to make the deal for the night. I asked him if there was anywhere to get a coffee and he said his house, which happened to be next door to the house with the rooms. He had to close up his kiosk and then he got in our car and we drove the 100 meters up a steep hill into the village to his house. Manuel welcomed us in and it was beautifully designed, he had just moved back in after remodeling. It was and small stone home that he expanded with a living room and a loft for is bedroom. There was an inner courtyard off the kitchen and a terrace on the roof.  We sat in the inner courtyard and he made us a foamed, creamy, iced latte. His mother was there too, she pulled up a chair and made comments (without speaking) about how hot it was (apparently this will be the hottest week on record!). 

We talked for about 30 minutes, waiting for Maria, the hotel owner to arrive. He lives 5 months here during tourist season and then 7 months in Egypt. His home reflected this, with gorgeous light fixtures handmade from Egypt. He gave such beautiful opinions on life and he lived to travel. He had strong opinions and I found that I agreed with him. He is angry and hurt that the world has a wrong opinion of Greeks as lazy and do not want to work. Maria arrived and she was equally charming, the room is small, but clean and equipped with a kitchen.

As it was 9 pm by then, we decided to return to the punk rockers restaurant. The mother and son were delighted to see us, we were the only ones in this large open-air place. A bit later a couple of their relatives and friends showed up.  So began a long evening of conversation on the philosophy of life, comparisons of people’s cultures, stories of world travel and explanations of how the Greek live and think. The food was delicious and I had my usual Greek salad. We arrived at 9 pm and left after midnight.