We signed up for a bus excursion so we could go and see the Palace of Knossos. When we turned up at 7 am to the spot we were supposed to meet the bus there were a dozen or so other people already waiting. Soon a large bus appeared down the tiny road, but we learned this was not our bus. This was repeated about six times before the right bus appeared, as the people waiting dwindled and looked increasingly anxious. However we were finally on our way.
For the next two hours (almost) the bus worked its way east along the coast stopping at hotels to pick up more customers. Knossos is actually only a 30 minute drive from our hotel, so we rolled our eyes a bit and concentrated on remaining relaxed as the bus drove further and further from Knossos. Eventually we were all aboard, and we turned south and into the mountains, quickly rising to an altitude that gave a great view back to Malia on the coast. We were on our way to the Lasithi Plateau, which we had never heard of, and in fact that was where we spent most of the day. It was not Knossos, but nevertheless turned out to be quite interesting in the end.
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| The obligatory stop at the local craft workshop, where we were encouraged to buy. Cute little windmills! |
One of the more interesting stops was the Psychro Cave, a limestone cavern which was sacred to the Minoans and has been the source of many archaelogical finds. According to legend this cave is the one where Zeus was raised, hidden from his father Kronos for his own safety. Today there is a loop path and 280 steps to handle the flow of tourists down and up again. It is 14 C inside the cave, which feels like a refrigerator after the 30 C at the opening.
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| Descending into the chilly depths of the Psychro Cave. |
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| Looking out across the Lasithi Plateau from the entrance to the cave. |
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| You can walk the 1 km up the hill to the cave, or hire a donkey! |
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| Traditional Cretan windmills (not our photo). |
We drove past skeletons of the traditional windmills with sails, once used to pump water but no longer used as electric pumps have taken over. We stopped again for lunch at a nice taverna near Tzermiado on the plateau, then returned down from the heights to the coast and turned west for Knossos. Our tour guide gave a reasonably informative delivery, with everything said first in english and then in german, as this was an english / german excursion.
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| Our english and german speaking tour guide (well, her back actually). |
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| There are a few of these chaps strutting amongst the ruins at Knossos, regularly letting loose with their cries. |
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| Dolphins frolicking on the wall of the queen's apartments. |
The Minoans appear to have been an artistic and wealthy society, and unlike so many of the old places around Greece (and Europe) the palace is not fortified. There is less major sculpture than in say the ancient Greek sites, but there is a lot of wall painting and mosaic art some of which has become quite famous.
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| The blue ladies frescoe (not our photo). |
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| The queen's apartment, with the first flushing toilet in Europe (not visible)! |
The palace is notable for its advanced plumbing and storm water systems, with running water in every room and in the queen's apartment the first known flushing toilet in Europe! I asked the guide if it was not the first in the world, but she did not seem to know. Pretty impressive for 4,000 years ago!
