Heraklion (Crete) - Wednesday 2 October

We were up very early today, to join our Princess tour to Knossos Palace and then the older section of central Heraklion (the main city of Crete, and named after Hercules). Crete is technically part of Greece, but has its own, special place in history and culture. It is the birthplace of Zeus, and the Minotaur. The Minotaur, with its bull head and giant human body, was said to have lurked in the ancient labyrinth of the palace.

The short bus ride brought us to the Knossos Palace (or palace of Minos), the ruins of which were discovered in 1878 by British archeologist Arthur Evans. It is the oldest palace in Europe. Evans began excavating in 1900 and attempted to rebuild parts, based on his interpretation of how it would have looked (some people disagree with his interpretation). There are replicas of the famous frescoes that show the daily life and sporting activities of the Minoans. The actual frescoes and other artefacts are safely inside the Heraklion Archeological Museum.

Knossos was the main palace and the cultural, political and economic heart of the Minoan empire, based mainly in Crete. The palace consisted of a vast maze-like series of interconnecting rooms, hence the stories about the labyrinth and the mythical Minotaur. A lot has been learnt about the Minoans from this excavation, but no one yet has been able to decipher what little remains of their language.

The peace-loving Minoans ruled Crete from some 5000 years ago, their peak being around 1500 BC. They were recognised as having great business skills (keeping detailed spreadsheets in a Cretan script called Linear A), a sense of social equality between the sexes and across the levels of society (women could have businesses and take part in sporting activities (eg bull-jumping). They loved art for the sake of its own beauty, and took care of their natural environment. The Palace of Knossos had its own plumbing and drainage system, and sewerage pipes did not drain into streams.

But it is thought that they were effectively wiped out (and very suddenly), probably by the Santorini eruption 3,500 years ago (around 1450 BC), which caused tsunamis, earthquakes, ash-falls and an almost world-wide volcanic winter. Their culture was then overrun by the more warlike Mycenaeans from the Greek mainland.

The Saracens officially founded present-day Heraklion in 824, but over the centuries the area has also been under the control of the Phoenician, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Venetian and Ottoman Empires. Our bus trip took us to central Heraklion for just over an hour. Not long, but enough to get a feel of the atmosphere, and we quite liked it. We saw some of the old Venetian landmarks, including Lions Square and the Fontana Morosini Fountain (built in 1629), the Venetian Loggia, and the Koules Fortress sitting guard out on the waterfront by the marina of this walled town. The deep moats around much of the town's fortifications have been filled in and are now pleasant park areas. We walked down the length of the main street and along the shore, and then back uphill into the market area. Then it was back to the ship for a quiet and relaxing afternoon in the 31C heat.

We were lucky to get a table for two again in our favourite waiter's section of the restaurant. This time we were right next to a table with two women who had apparently caught a local bus into town, looked out the window, didn't like what they saw, and didn't even get off the bus but headed straight back to the ship! I felt bad enough, not going into the renowned Archeological Museum, and not seeing more of this huge, mountainous and beautiful island that also saw a key New Zealand role during World War 2.

We went to the 8:30 pm concert by a very glamorous British violinist (Claire Gobin), who played a great range of music from across all genres.