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October 17: Crete At War

I am referring to the second world war but it is more than that. Crete has been under some form of occupation since 1350 BCE. The Greeks followed by the Roman’s, followed by the Saracens, Moors, Venetians , Ottomans and then finally the Germans. They are a resilient people, fiercely proud.

I rented a car here so Dot and I drove down to Souda Bay, which is near Chania or Hania as the c is silent. Here lies over 2,000 allied war dead in the island’s Commonwealth Military Cemetery. It is a silent, emotional and beautiful spot befitting of the ultimate sacrifice of the military men, some women and civilians. Some as young as 19 years of age. SAD! To be brought down at such a young age.

The Germans conducted an airborne assault on Crete in May of 1941. Crete was considered strategic due to German military operations in the Mediterranean and North Africa. The island had  military garrison of about 42,000 strong consisting of British, Australian, New Zealanders, Greeks, some Canadians, Jewish and  handful of non combatants. They were no match for the Germans however who soon overran them. When it became clear that all was lost the allied troops retreated to the southern coast to be evacuated by the Royal Navy. This was Crete’s version of Dunkirk. There is too much to cover here. Google The Battle of Crete or expand the picture below for an overview.

THANKS!

The grounds are maintained beautifully.

Crete is such a grand,magical place.⁹

 

October 16: More On Our Crete Visit

We spent the day exploring the Minoan culture and civilization by visiting the Palace of Knossos and the Heraklion Museum of Archeology. These two places are a must see if visiting Crete. On top of that Heraklion, the capital of Crete, is beautiful in its chaos. It has an historical Harbour, whitewashed concrete or stucco buildings, beautiful fountains and a vibrancy that is hard to describe. Most of the inhabitants that we came across speak English and they are very friendly. Food is fantastic and the Mythos beer is very tasty.

There has been a great deal of speculation as to what happened to the Minoan civilization. Popular consensus states that the massive Thira (Santorini) volcanic eruption and subsequent tsunami around 1600 BCE as the beginning of the end for the Minoans. After these events the Minoans no longer believed their priests and that, coupled with climate changes as a result of the eruption, reduced harvests and growing temperatures. The advent of the Greek Mycenais contributed to their demise. They just gave up.

Another interesting thing about Knossos is that it was home to King Minos and the Greek mythological half man, half bull Minitaur and the Labyrinth. If you were caught in the Labyrinth there was no way out and the Minitaur would devour you. Greek mythological hero Theseus eventually killed the beast.

To end this magical day Dot and I had a traditional Greek dinner in the vibrant city center, on a terrace watching all of the locals enjoying a balmy Sunday evening. Fantastic.

Mythos beer.

More tomorrow. Exploring the island.

Oh, and did I tell you? I love this country.

 

October 15: Crete Greece or Creta

Arrived on the 13th from Faro Portugal via Amsterdam. Dot was happy because she got to tick off another airport on her list.

    Our room is in a boutique hotel not far from the port and city center. Yesterday we spent exploring the old city. We will do a hop on hop off tour today and visit Knossos, the Minoan Palace, which was discovered by an archeologist named Evans. The Minoans were the very first Eoropean civilization that prospered here from 4,000 BCE to about 1300 BCE when they were wiped out by the huge Thira (Santorini) earthquake and tsunami. More on that later.

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October 11: Faro Still

Still here in Faro.

Dinner on one of the many terraces here.

We took a one hour sunset cruise in the lagoon area. I thought it was going to be another expensive waste of time but it wasn’t. It was excellent. Our guide was a 20 year old university student named Jose who was from Faro and who had a great deal of local knowledge. He guided us through the many channels that intersect these wetlands and marshes into an array of wildlife and seaside sanctuaries. It turns out that this area was home to the world’s largest seahorse population although the numbers are way down now.

Our Captain and guide Jose.

Our Second Mate

This area is a national park, protected reserve for seabirds. Egrets, Cormorants and a bevy of others too many to name. The many islands and islets that make up this reserve are mud and marshes. If you were to step onto one of them you would sink down to oblivion. There is also  an outer chain of low lying islands that form a barrier reef to protect the reserve from the Atlantic Ocean. It was fascinating and very enjoyable. Glad we did it.

The old Faro fortress.

One gets a whole different perspective on the water.

And a beautiful sunset.

Next post will be from Crete  Greece, in  few days.

I love this country.

John

October 10: Still ìn Faro

Expand the picture and you can make out the red and white tram car.

Took their tourist tram today. Not recommended. Play by play is in 5 different languages so the broadcast goes on continuously. But trying to hear your version is near impossible because of the noise of the tires going over cobblestone streets. The bumps and grinds and rickety rick motion is particularly hard on the teeth and bladder. I think I saw a bunch of fillings strewn about the floor of the coach. It was only an hour long but that hour seemed an eternity in the heat and noise of the crickety cack of the tires. Not recommended. Walk instead.

Expand the picture and you can see the red and white tram.

We have also experienced major credit card issues. It seems our bank commenced a process of certification for all on line transactions and on line banking. My certification number is my home phone number so this would not work here in Europe. Thus trying to book hotels or flights on line was impossible.  Our only option was to book flights at a travel agent where our credit cards worked without certification. And only hotels that did not require pre payment. Down side was we had to pay double for airfares that would have been half of that if we could have booked on line with discount airlines. I am just glad that my bank didn’t pull this stunt when I was doing the Camino. I would have been screwed.

Also, do not buy a phone plan in Europe. Cheap to get a Sim card yes but you would be better off keeping your phone as is and only turning it on when needed. Canada charges 16 dollars a day so it can be very expensive while in Europe. Again, only turn it on when needed. I think that next time I would buy a burner phone with a European plan for day to day use and my Canadian phone for emergencies and on line bookings. One last thing. Most of the sales reps of the European plans know very little of the plans they are selling. The top up instructions were wrong, customer service numbers provided didn’t work and half the time phoning places in various countries didn’t work either. Lyca mobile was the worst. The only thing that did work was internet access.

Two important dates this month. Today, October 10, is the anniversary date of the battle of Tours in 732 AD. Muslims and Islam were spreading like Scottish broom across the middle east,North Africa and Spain. Next? France and the rest of Europe. Except for Charles ” The Hammer” Martel who stopped the Muslim incursion in its tracks at Tours France. If not for him Europe may be a great deal different today.

Charles ” The Hammer Martel “sounds like a character out of the WWE.

The other date is 21 October – Trafalgar Day,  where in 1805 Nelson and the Royal Navy defeated the combined French and Spanish fleets during the Napoleonic wars. England gained control of the seas, Napoleon’s plan to invade England was thwarted and the Royal Navy assumed primary seafaring leadership up until the 2nd world war.

October 21st is also Dylan and Elizabeth’s birthday. Happy birthday.

History is amazing.

Going on a sunset cruise of the delta at 6pm

Read ya later. Few pics today.