And we arrived at the home of the Minotaur one late evening on a ferry from Santorini. Beautiful sunset too but not as stunning as the one in Oia.
Heraklion Port in the evening (Koules fortress in the background). Went for dinner at the hotel, buffet style, which was quite a change from the usual taverna dinners.
The Palace of Minos, Knossos.
A trip to Crete would not be complete without a tour to Minos' palace is Knossos. Even though they are just ruins now, it was one of the greatest palaces back then.
If you are familiar with Greek mythology, this palace was where Theseus and the Minatour fought.
Random sunflower from our day-tour leader. Kinda cute heh.
It's amazing how some places were preserved and restored, not torn down and demolished like some countries (cough). This is truly a valuable site for archaeologists and historians alike, not to mention Greek myth lovers and tourists
The grounds are magnificent but at the same time, the sun was scorching hot and there was not much shelter there so we were quite happy when it was time to leave (sorry Minos!).
Take note though, it is forbidden to step on the ruins (of course you could step on the stairs) as you may cause some serious damage. Maybe reawaken Gaia just like in Rick Riordan's Heroes of Olympus. LOL P.S. That's still my fav Greek mythology fiction though.
Heraklion
Heraklion, the capital of Crete, is also the largest town there. There are quite a number of fashion boutiques and museums there. Shopping turned out to be on the top of the list for those in our small group. Oops.
Fountains from the Venetian era could be found in Heraklion, including the Morosini Fountain at Lions Square.
After a quick shopping trip, we went on the bus again. We skipped the historical part of Heraklion due to the tight schedule.
The clouds were pretty that day.
Arolithos
Arolithos is a traditional Cretan village which is privately owned, which allows tourists to experience the ways of the civilisation.
The village is filled with pastel colours and lots of flowers. I felt like I was somewhere far from the city and crowds even though Heraklion is just 11km away.
There weren't too many people around and it was a beautiful place to have lunch and some local Greek coffee with loukoumades (Greek doughnuts with honey). Ooh, my Greek improved a little. I managed to get the spelling right on my first try! Yay!
Bug and daisies. If only I could get macro lenses..
This colourful little village is definitely worth a visit, it's awesome for photos too!
Rethymno
Rethymno is quite the old town. There are traditional buildings, ports, churches but there are also hotels and beaches there. We did not have enough time to explore the whole town so... shopping time again.
The corner houses are often unique in Rethymno. The top floor of the corner houses are usually designed to stand out from the others, giving it a distinguished look.
We happened to bump into a wedding celebration while walking through the old town. OPA! (an expression used in Greek celebrations and stuff)
Ending the post with an obsession towards Pokemon (technically it's a pokeball but meh).
Crete is a nice place to spend a few nights in but unfortunately we only spent two nights there and only a day of exploring. Oh well. Many more places to visit!
Last post of Greece coming up soon (I have no idea how soon, to be honest. Will be a little busy for the next few weeks).
Here are the links to the previous posts on Greece if you've missed out any of them:
Breathtaking Santorini, Greece - Red Beach, Pyrgos, Kamari, Koutsoyannopoulos, Fira
Oia - The postcard of Santorini
A Trip to Mykonos, Greece
