Iraklion, Archannes, Rethimno and Horafakia.

Iraklio or Iraklion or Heraklion is clearly a frontier town. Actually a frontier city. The only thing it is missing is an obvious frontier. It is on the coast though, and probably is a rough and ready place that is admirably suitable for moving lots of cargo and making a lot of things happen. It is also on the edge of Knossos, so it has always been perched on the very edge of the very beginning ever since it began. Iaklion was also bombed into obliteration by the Nazis in 1941, and attacked again and again. It was the site of the world's first airbornel invasion, and the last one ever tried by the Nazis. They had not expected such fierce resistance from civilians.

We went to the great archeological museum in downtown Iraklion. Not easy to find even though it is in the middle of town. Iraklion is not the easiest town to drive in. More than one tourist has remarked that the city streets are actually the ancient labyrinth of Knossos! Yeah well, drive there and you will see. The museum is well worth the effort. We ate downtown and that wasn't as easy as it should have been either. There is also an amazing fort/harbor built by the Venetians. We did not get to visit it but have seen pictures and will be sure to make up for it next trip.

Archannes is about 16 km south of Kraklion. It has been selected by some group as having the second most beautiful town center of all of Europe!



We had coffee there - JoAnn had a cafe latte, I had real Greek coffee. I found out why the Greeks refer to it as "mud". It starts out like a small cup of expresso but after a couple of sips you really do have mud in your tiny little cup. We also visited a museum on the outskirts of Archanes which is largely devoted to World War II.

Rethimno is back on the coast about half way between Iraklio and Chania. It features a great harbor built by the Venitians and is topped by an ancient fort called the Fortezza. We toured the fortress and ate lunch at a great cafe high in the sky while listening to Greek music, which included a lot from the sound track of Zorba.




Finally we were back in Chania where we turned our rental car in and called a taxi to take us to the ferry. I must say a word about the car rental place. I have rented cars all around the world and have always been disapointed and always had a series of problems with them all. But not Horafakia! They will come and deliver the car to you and later pick it up if you wish. They went out of their way to make us feel at home and take care of us. They talked with us, and advised us on several issues. If you go to Crete, I recommend them highly. Horafakia-Akrotira-Chania. Tel. (28210)39411, Fax (28210) 39234, mobile 6974 427795. horafakia_car_rental@hotmail.com. They also have a great map of Crete.

2006.1015

© John Womack, 2006. All rights reserved.
All photos made with Canon Elura 70 on SD card.