Okay so all our ferry rides, bar the first, are running from 1 to 3 hours late in arrival. Once aboard, they are pleasant enough, but some definitely are better than others. The government price fixes the routes, so the size, shape and condition of the boat is irrelevant. On our way to Crete, we ended up on a fully booked, assigned seating, highspeed catamaran with no outdoor areas and completely non-smoking (good for us, but hell for the chain smokers already on board for 6 hours). It was a pleasant ride once the majority of the passengers departed at Santorini.
We met another two Norwegians on the ride. One was a 4th grade school teacher that was taking last minute, discount package vacations down to Greece. This was his second. He was hoping to fly back and catch a third one. So there are some deals to be found in Europe this year. The other guy was just hanging out with him and enjoying the islands. They had an opinion on world humor: Brits, Scandanavians, Austrailians and most of the USians have cross-cultural humor. When it comes to the rest of Europe, none of their self-deprecating humor works, everyone just stares at them frowning. Okay, given that opinion and the fact that we know about it… you can guess that these two Norwegians were Extreme extraverts.
On Crete, the city of Iraklio is 115,000 people, a rather uninspiring looking city, but completely walkable. They say the per capita wealth here is the highest of any city in Greece. It doesn’t really show in anything but the bustle of people and cars moving about. The architecture is a sore sight on the eyes, but then the city was wiped out in WWII. Guess the rebuild didn’t have any funding for any budding Michelangeos around.
Food Notes:
- We ate at a taverna on the waterfront where the waiters had to cross a busy road to bring out the food to the packed tables. A new occupational hazard for the serving staff.
- We ate at a second taverna that had us point at the current hot and cold offerings of the day, also a very packed place. I found some odd items to order, baked artichokes with fresh dill, carrots and potatoes, ladyfinger okra in tomato sauce, and stuffed tomatoes. It may not sound like a big deal, but they actually eat VEGETABLES in Greece. After Italy and Spain, I feel like we exited winter and hit summertime cuisine. (Recall Italy got a reprimand from WHO for not having adequate fruits and vegetables in the mainstream diet.)
Museum Notes:
- The archeology museum was actually open, no construction in sight. The Minoan culture was a very flowery-girly culture. They had flower designs, swirly-bloopy designs, dolphin and octopus designs and a real thing for bull imagery with gold horns. A true matriarchal society. None of that heads-rolling, blood dripping patriarchal living room design for them. How else could you get the ‘Prince of the Lillies’ designed on your palace wall? Guys just wouldn’t usually go for that title.
Small World Note:
- We were rolling in for the evening and flipping through the cable stations. We are sitting there staring blankly at zdf.de, a German station, wondering if we can decipher a word or two… and… what appears but Ken Adelman’s head on our TV. In German, we listened to a coverage story of the California Coastline project, with interjections of ‘Kenneth und Gabrielle Adelman’, intermixed with images of their helicopter and the California coast. That was waaay too weird.
Smoky Internet cafes here, but they’ve got networked games going. This attracts many under 18, loud, enthusiastic boys all shouting back and forth across the room at each other. With down-tempo house music blaring, of course.
