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We arrived at Crete around 2:00 PM and our destination is Heraklion the capitol of the largest Greek island. Our tourist destination is Knossos a short 5 km from port. We do not have a guide and after we are handed our park entry tickets we are free to explore. This was the capitol of the Minoan civilization. We are walking around partially restored ruins that in some cases look remarkably new. It turns out that the early restoration efforts were designed to attract tourists as opposed to the preservation of the site. So during the restoration process if a column was missing they built a new one and if a wall was in bad shape they rebuilt it. They stopped this when the historians found out and Greece passed a law preventing this type of restoration. The only flexibility in the law allows for restoration work to make a structure secure. If a column was broken they could fix it but the repair had to be left clearly visible. This was usually found in a off colored concrete or marble that was used to bridge two pieces together. The palace was also the famed home of the mythical minator bull and the maze that kept it trapped. After a couple hours wondering around the ruins we headed back to town and no one decides to go shopping.
I am totally exhausted and Mom and Dad are ready to Go! Scooter has given up and resorted to the room for computer work. The two hour dinners are a bit long and I amazed that after dinner everyone heads down to the theater for a show. I wouldn't mind playing Black Jack but the casino doesn't open until one hour after sailing according to international rules. The boat usually waits until after dinner before leaving and by then I am already heading for bed.
Once again, off the boat at 8:00 AM the whirlwind tour continues on the island of Rhodes, Greece. We are on a bus to Lindos, an acropolis ruin about an hour from the port. They are doing a good job of getting the Go Ahead tour group off the boat first which is worth being on an organized tour. They, however, blow it on the way to Lindos by stopping in to see how pottery is made. This is the same all over the world and we unload at a pottery shop and watch somebody spin clay into a pot in a few minutes. Everyone is very impressed and then taken in to buy pottery. We are in a tourist trap and forty people are all trying to pick something out. I did not see anyone purchase anything. This little cultural experience now means that we are behind the other hoards of tourists heading to Lindos. I know it is not a race but as a tourist I do not want to see any other tourists!
The ruins of Lindos were also a disappointment to me. The whole path up the acropolis is lined with souvenir shops of the worst kind. Every empty space is filled with locals selling white lace tablecloths. This combined with a steady stream of people going up and down on a thirty minute walk would ruin it. Scooter and I have been really lucky because over the last five months if we saw a fellow tourist we got pretty excited. Since we have been in Greece we now know where all the tourists have been hiding. At the top of the were a few stairs, a couple of columns and a former fort from the days of the holy crusades. The only saving grace is of the hike up is the view of the ocean and bay is incredible. Back on the bus we head for the Grand Master Palace and the rumored site of another ancient wonder.
The Grand Master Palace was a fort that could be used today to defend the island. The place looks brand new and each stone wall had power outlets, central air and a phone jack. It turns out that numerous earthquakes had wrecked the place and the Italians during the war decided to restore as a summer place for Mussolini. The Italians were in control of this area so they raided numerous archeological sites for statues, columns and floor mosaics. They brought it all back and built a very nice palace. After the war the island was returned to Greece and the Italians sent the Greek government a bill for the restoration work. The bill never got paid.
The more interesting part of the tour came from the discussion of the Ancient Wonder Colossus at the port of Rhodes. The statue of the sun god, Helios and was erected in 282 BC taking 12 years to complete. The massive structure was reported to straddle the harbor opening and ships would sail through the legs. The statue was 110 feet tall and made of bronze with steel and concrete for support structures. A strong earthquake in 226 BC toppled the statue and it laid in ruins for over 1000 years. In 654 AD the Arabs invaded Rhodes and sold the pieces still laying in the harbor. It was reported that it took 900 camels to carry away the pieces. Recent studies have contradicted the ancient claims of the location of Colossus. It is believed that the statue as described could not support itself straddling the harbor and was probably located inland near the Grand Master Palace. We may never know.
Rhodes looks like a fun spot and the downtown area has a good number of shops, cafes and bars. We are on the quick tour and it is time to leave Greece and head for Turkey. We spent two weeks in Turkey and would put it on the top of our must visit list. Mom and Dad would be with us for four days in Istanbul and after that we will be on our own again. We will make our way back through the Greek islands, camping and hanging out on the beach. Our final destination is Rome for our flight to South Africa. From here we head to Turkey and next we pick up our travels leaving Ephesus and a ferry ride to Samos in the Greek Islands.
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| This page last changed on 27-Apr-2006 23:28:40 EDT by 70.171.24.221. |
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