Greece solo trip, October 2018

Heraklion: Thursday: Got off the boat just before 7am. Took a taxi from the parking lot by the dock, to my hotel. Walked past the Loggia and at least one old-looking churches. Streets in Heraklion are a difficult-to navigate maze. Took the bus to Knossos. Ate a stuffed pepper and a stuffed tomato in a restaurant just outside the site. Took the bus back, saw the Archaeology museum – almost as big as the one in Athens. 2nd floor has some Minoan frescos (with missing parts recreated). Skipped the exhibit about references to Minoans in recent Europe Culture because I was getting too tired. Then walked past certain landmarks, souvenir stores, crowds, the Venetian fortress at night, and so on.

Friday: Saw the Historical Museum of Crete. Learned that a synagogue, destroyed in WWII, used to be where the museum is. Saw 3 pieces of stone with Hebrew inscriptions. Used to be up to ~ 1,100 Jews in Heraklion, along with Armenians, Greeks, Turks, and maybe other groups. Then walked to the Venetian fortress of Kouls, by the water. It has been nicely restored or stabilized, and improved with lighting and a security system inside, glass skylights on the roof, new looking wood around some windows inside. You can go inside, and onto the roof. You go through a modern glass door to enter or exit the roof.

Heraklion is nice town that deserves 1-1/2 to 2 days. Don't pay attention to anybody who says anything negative about this town or who says anything about minimizing your time in Heraklion and maximizing your time in Chania.

Friday 3:30pm: took the bus to Chania, Crete. Checked into the hostel just before sunset. Stayed in three normal hotels and two hostels on this trip. Had time to walk around parts of the old town of Chania, starting before dark and mostly after dark. Walked past the waterfront, crowds of people, crowded restaurants by the waterfront, and so on. I noticed that just outside the touristy parts of the town, certain paths or streets not illuminated. I did not walk on the dark paths.

Saturday: Cretian folklore museum – small, a few coins on display, looms, household objects, radios, article in English about the lady who runs the museum’s experience growing up in Crete. An older lady runs the place, spends her time making projects using a sewing machine, sitting at a desk on the second floor, next to a television screen connected to a the security camera that is by the entrance. When the rare visitor shows up, she goes down to the entrance to collect the entrance fee... Then saw the archaeology museum. It is one big room with ancient Greek and Roman coins, many small vases and cups, 3 mosaic cups, Roman and classical Greek statues, Minoan pottery. Then both locations of the maritime museum – one location is small: exhibits on the building and sailing of a model of a Minoan ship, just before the Olympics in 2004; models of ships, listing of the world’ tallest lighthouses. The other location has multiple rooms, including an exhibit on the battle of Crete in May 1941. Then walked by the Venetian Fortress and lighthouse – there is no inside part to see, unlike the Venetian fortress in Heraklion. You can walk to the base of the lighthouse, the inside is closed to visitors. Walked past the modern stadium of Chania, past part of the old city wall, back to the hostel. ... Bus to the port of Souda. Took the ferry back to Piraeus. Slept in a cabin on the ferry.

Trip summary part 3: Sunday: Got off the ferry in Piraeus. Metro train to near the KTEL (longer distance) bus station. Walked under a ½ mile to the bus station. Bought round trip tickets to Delphi. Got a return ticket fo r6pm the next day. ... After arriving, saw the archaeology museum. Probably would have had time to see the outdoor sanctuary, but choose to skip it because I knew I had time the next day. The Town of Delphi was almost deserted in the evening, compared to the other towns I stayed in.

Monday: Saw the outdoor ruins. I had seen everything completely enough by 1pm, including walking to the stadium, and walking to the separate Sanctuary of Athena with remains of a round temple with 3 restored columns and some stone connecting the tops of the columns. Wasted 4 – 5 hours waiting for the bus to Athens. None of the stuff was blatantly impressive because most of it is badly ruined. It helps that I read about the site before my trip.

Monday evening. Took the bus to Athens.

Tuesday: Saw the Archaeology museum. The well preserved bronze statues and figures are what I appreciated the most; saw some red and black figure vases, but didn’t read the descriptions of many of them.

Wednesday: Went on a walking tour led by a guy who grew up in Australia. Cost only 7 euros. Walked past the temple of Olympian Zeus, National Gardens, ancient agora, Roman forum, some old churches, and so on. Found out that you could almost be satisfied with seeing certain ancient ruins only from outside the fence around them, without paying the admission fee. Later I did buy the 30 euro combo ticket that covers the acropolis and 6 other sites. Somebody on the tour told us that there would be a 24 hour strike of the union representing government workers, the next day, meaning all the state owned museums and sites would be closed the next day.

On my own after the tour, walked around the ancient Agora, including the Stoa and stoa museum. Didn’t have time to read all the descriptions. Then the Roman forum. Then the acropolis. Saw the scaffolding but didn’t see anybody doing restoration work. Saw both theaters on the acropolis but I don’t remember knowing which one was which when I was there.

Thursday: Walked by the entrance to the museum of Greek folk instruments. Saw the sign about the state owned museums being closed due to the strike. But the private museums were open. First went to the Jewish museum, which I had thought I was likely to skip seeing. The museum of Cycladic Art. The descriptions were more engaging than the other museums. Skipped the modern art exhibit the museum – through a doorway I saw a fan blowing a big plastic bag covering a chair ... Then the Benaki Greek history museum. This was the day the Benaki was free and open until midnight. I put a euro in the donation box. A little bit of the collection is overlap with other museums. Has many drawings and objects from later than antiquity.

Friday: Went to the ruins of Library of Hadrian. Then the museum of Greek folk instruments. I wish I had skipped one or both of these and seen the museum of the city of Athens, which I didn’t see – it closed at 2:30pm. Walked along the streets where the Athens city market is. Bought some olive oil soap and dried figs. The rest of the day partly felt like a waste of time. I walked by a street food festival in a park by the Athens city hall.

Saturday: end of trip. Flights back to Detroit.

Appreciate your report as we are going to Greece next year.

**edited to add; I also expect some of the ruins to be well, ruins and maybe not that much to look at. This is partly why we chose a RS tour—so we have guides to tell us all about the history which, hopefully, will bring to life the ruins.
Good that you had done your research on the history of Greece.

I am happy with my trip. I am glad I did a little background reading before I arrived because the sights I saw are less amazing than I might have imagined they would be. But much of what I saw was badly ruined in antiquity due to invaders, war, arson, vandalism, earthquakes, looting, lack of maintenance, and so on. The Parthenon was in good condition until it was badly damaged in a war between Venice and the Ottoman Turks, in 1697. Other observations: It takes less time than I thought it would take, to get between the museums and sights within the towns I visited. I spent too much time walking when I was not otherwise occupied. I am guessing that most other travelers would spend more time sitting in restaurants than I did. I have reverted back to eating some cooked food, but I am still afraid a lot of restaurant food is unhealthy. I don’t want to eat too much fat, sodium, sweeteners, and so on. My great grandfather with my same last name had a heart attack and died when he was 39.

Hi Mike. It sounds like you had a great trip and most everything worked out well. Kudos for all your planning and especially your willingness to travel on your own. You went to a a number of places I hope to get to on another trip and will refer back to your report. Thanks.

So, where do you think you want to go next?

I am happy with my trip. I am glad I did a little background reading before I arrived because the sights I saw are less amazing than I might have imagined they would be. But much of what I saw was badly ruined in antiquity due to invaders, war, arson, vandalism, earthquakes, looting, lack of maintenance, and so on. The Parthenon was in good condition until it was badly damaged in a war between Venice and the Ottoman Turks, in 1697. Other observations: It takes less time than I thought it would take, to get between the museums and sights within the towns I visited. I spent too much time walking when I was not otherwise occupied. I am guessing that most other travelers would spend more time sitting in restaurants than I did. I have reverted back to eating some cooked food, but I am still afraid a lot of restaurant food is unhealthy. I had giant beans in sauce about 3 times, fava bean dip or humus at least once, stuffed pepper and stuffed tomato at least once, and Chinese food two times. I don’t want to eat too much fat, sodium, sweeteners, and so on. My great grandfather with my same last name had a heart attack and died when he was 39. The good grocery stores in Greece have fresh figs, chestnuts, pomegranates, and apple pears - all cheaper than in stores near me in Michigan. The good grocery stores in Greece that I saw also had about one kind of apple, one kind of orange, bananas, pears, and grapes – all grapes in Greece have seeds. Most grapes in the USA have seeds too, but they are small and underdeveloped, and you just eat the seeds thinking there are no seeds, and they are probably rough on your digestive tract and you are probably better off just eating grapes with seeds; seeded grapes probably have a stronger grape taste; I only eat grapes once a week or less often on average.

I agree with Heraklion being an interesting town. We stayed there for 4 nights on our May trip to Greece. Our hotel was in the old town pedestrian area and there were lots of people walking, eating , or café seating, especially at night. Definitely a vibrant nightlife at the tavernas with dancing and music (mostly Euro pop).

Our main reason to be in Heraklion was Knossos Palace and the Archeological Museum, which were excellent. I was at Knossos 50 years ago and loved it then. It made such an impression on me that this high culture existed 4000 years old. However, time and weathering are slowly destroying the exposed excavations and the facsimiles. Because Arthur Evans didn't follow archeological protocol and made recreations of buildings, frescos, etc., Knossos has never been given funds from UNESCO or the EU for conservation of the site.