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| Still smiling after the road trip. |
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| The girls packing for our road trip. |
Cretin definition - A Person that is brainless - stupid - child-like - and full of pointless information that makes no sense and appeals only to other cretins. They can be found in abundance in every single populated internet forum - where they race to post as many mind-numbing messages as possible in a single session.
I am in Crete and I plead guilty to being a Cretin.
Yesterday - Thursday - EuroFest 5 - we rented a tiny Fiat 500 Convertible for a road trip to Herakleon and the Knossos Palace. Lulu - Mimi - and Lucy went along and we all enjoyed the 90 mile each way trip in the sun and breeze. Lulu always wanted one of these little cars - and I must say I was quite surprised by its overall performance. The highway between the two cities was a two lane - well-paved thoroughfare. The shoulders are smooth and it is the custom to move over and let faster cars pass. Homes - beaches - mountains - valleys flew by. It took two hours to cover the 90 miles.
Our first stop was the Knossos Palace - the oldest palace in the oldest city in Europe. In 1971 - Herakleon was made the modern capital of Crete. It used to be Chania where we are staying in the old governor's mansion. Knossos Palace was built - off and on - since 1700 BC. There have been attempts to restore some of the ruins. Some archeologists are a little snooty about that. I like the work they have been doing. It gives you a better sense of how it was. The original site is well-documented and diggings are going on in the present.
I paid 15 euros for a ticket to both the palace site and the archeology museum. Lulu showed her professor card and got in for 8 euros. We spent a little less than 2 hours in each site. Next we drove to the archeology museum downtown. It is filled to the brim with artifacts from the digs. It is a well-done although endless display of jewelry - pots - tools - weapons - and models. It has the musty feeling of antiquities. It is extensively-womened - just full of guards - making sure you take pictures of only certain items. I still do not understand why you can photograph some - and not others right next to them. I half-expected that the ladies would grab my iPhone and throw it out the window.
Next was a nice Greek lunch in a restaurant right across the street from the museum. The girls did a little shopping and it was time to head home. PS - I am 70 and can call them girls. :-)
About half way home - we saw Bali - a tiny resort community painted on the edge of the mountain and the sea. Lulu and Lucy enjoyed the 75 degree water - which was clear and full of fish. They also enjoyed the sites of the shower afterwards - the people are not modest there. There were very few Americans and the bar tenders were very attentive to Mimi and I as we watched the others swim. I had the best chocolate milkshake for 4 euros - Mimi bought it for me.
Another hour and we were home. I dropped them off at the mansion and returned the rental car. The Fiat was $60 - plus $30 of gasoline. I filled it up with $7 a gallon fuel. We got over 40 MPG with 4 people in the Fiat.
We only saw one camper on the 200 mile trip - I was driving so I did not get a picture. I am guessing $7 a gallon gasoline stifles that.
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Our mansion is above my head.
Fiat at sunset. |
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Fiat in front of our
governor's mansion. |
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Crete is the largest Greek Island.
Chania to Heraklion is 90 miles |
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| Knossos Palace |
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| Visitor entrance to palace. |
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| Palace main steps |
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| Part of restored apartment. |
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| The main section of palace. |
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| Entrance not throne room |
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| Plastic covers over digging. |
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| Throne room |
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| Throne room |
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| Throne room |
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| Food storage. |
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| Restored paintings. |
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| Wooden model of Knossos Palace. |
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| Lots of bull figures. |
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| Symbol of Zeus. |
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| Archeology Museum downtown |
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| The Women of Bali. |
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| Lulu and Lucy swimming with the fish at Bali. |
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I really liked the Fiat 500 Convertible.
It is short and easy to park.
It holds 4 people.
Nice steering - good gas mileage.
They make an Abarth version
with 50% more HP |
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