Crete

The ship arrived at 7:30 am and docked in Heraklion. We saw a number of tour groups headed to Knossos right away, so we decided to head to the Archeological museum first.

We walked the 3/4 mile over to the Archeological museum. The museum has the original frescoes that were found at Knossos, there are copies at the site.

The Phaistos Disc is in an unknown script and language.

The Hagia Triada Sarcophagus was found at another site on Crete, Hagia Triada.

The museum has some nice samples of Kamares Ware including this Krater or two-handled vase.

Then we took a city bus the 3 miles out to Knossos. We hired a guide with another couple and spent about an hour and a half touring the site with her. Knossos is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Knossos is also a Minoan site and is known for being the location of the legendary Minotaur and its maze. First settlements in the area date to around 7000 BC with palace construction beginning around 2000 BC.

Then took the bus back to town and visited the Greek Ancient Technology museum. The Technology museum on Crete was so new the guide books did not mention it. We just saw it on Google maps and decided to investigate. It has recreations of machines, some are working that you can use interactively, some are only demonstrated by a staff member.

We attended the sail away party on the forward helicopter landing pad. That’s happened every time we leave a port, but this is the first one we’ve made it to.

It was dress up night in main dining room.