Europe Series - First Impressions
After 32 hours of travel, we have arrived in Greece, and where better to start than their biggest island of Crete. Landing at midday with 3 hours until check in, the four of us decided to spend our time at Starbucks getting a much needed refreshing beverage of either an Iced Latte, or a Frappuccino. The Starbucks was central to the tourist district, so naturally, we decided to people watch and guess their nationality.
3 o’clock comes and we’re in the hotel! A bit different however, as there was no reception, and just a dark staircase that led you to your room, where you punch in the code given via email days prior to your arrival. The rooms were great for what we needed. Complimentary shampoo, conditioner and body wash waited in the shower for us in little bottles, whilst coffee and sugar sat by the kettle in the living room. A very small, but fantastically located hotel that caused no stress to our adventures.
Our first adventure was the Koules Fortress, that rests across the Cretan coastline. I won’t delve into the history of it too much as this blog would never end. Nonetheless, I was excited and glad to have dipped my toes into European history in the flesh.
I wouldn’t usually write about a sleep, but I felt this was worth noting. Understandably, due to the centredness of the hotel, the night was loud. However, and this may be a cultural shock, but the locals of Crete love to blast music through their cars at all hours of the night. To follow suit, the Church up the road had bells ringing at 6am. Thankfully, we had earplugs that lessened the noise but the music was so loud it would shake the walls as they drove past.
A bad sleep wouldn’t prevent us from reaching our adventures of the next day! The first, the Museum of Heraklion, covered everything about Minoan Crete. A ton of pottery and day to day creations were presented throughout the museum, as well as statues that towered over anyone standing beside. Truly remarkable pieces of craftsmanship created with the deepest detail continue to puzzle me. How could I ever replicate such work with my current knowledge?
After the museum we visited the Minoan Palace of Knossos, a worldwide known ancient civilisation and archeological site that continues to hold some structure today. Again, I could go on all day about the history of the site, but the palace left me amazed. On a disappointing side note, I was shocked to see a teenager stand on the ancient walls and push a rock off, damaging the site.
All in all, the first impressions have been great! Beautiful weather that requires only a shirt and shorts, the people have been lovely and accommodating, and we are excited that we will be onto our next iconic tourist destination of Santorini!
Midnight ferry, here we come!
Αντίο σας (Greek Goodbye)
