Monday, August 17th - Arrival in Crete

After a seven and a half hour layover in Larnaca, Cyprus, I finally made it to another island in the Mediterranean. During the bus ride from the airport and walk to the hotel, my senses began to pick up on some things that felt very familiar: The taste of great bougatsa, Venetian fortification and municipal buildings, British colonial neoclassical neighborhoods, wooden shutters, pastel colors, commercial and fishing port, and an appreciation of public space and people watching that could come from nothing less than a Greek Island. The biggest one at that! As the second largest city, Heraklion has had its fair share of overdevelopment with seaside hotels and the replacement of merchant shops to high end retailers, but the guide book had overstated this fact so I was pleased upon my arrival to see it as it is. Nonetheless my short time here was very nice. Just as elsewhere in Greece it never seems like people are working, as the coffee shops are packed what seems to be every hour of the day. There was not much of a choice for me… I had to succumb to the Greek way of doing things. After visiting a few sites such as the port fortress, loggia, churches, I watched the sunset along the porch and sat down for a long while at a café for some bougatsa (a cream filled bakery) and a Mythos. I called it a night early to prepare for my visit of Knossos (archaeological site from the second MILLENIA B.C.) the following day and continued travels on to Rethymno (the third largest city)