• Home
• UK Politics
• World Politics
• Policy
• Media
• Lifestyle
• Sport
• Contributors
• Topics

Greek Odyssey: Part 2

Nick Bourne has been to Keraklion and Knossos. Lucky him!

By Nick Bourne

31 Oct 2011, 21:53

This is a continuation of yesterday's blogpost.


From Chania we took the bus to the capital, Heraklion, for the second part of our trip.  Heraklion is the largest city of Crete and the fourth largest city in Greece so obviously we had high expectations for it.   We were to visit the great site at Knossos unearthed by Sir Arthur Evans of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford between 1909 and 1929 - a stunning discovery of the site of the Minoan civilisation.  We took a commuter bus from town to avoid the crowds and the heat.   We were as tourists in a distinct minority.   We did, however, manage to dodge the crowds and the overbearing sun.  When we left the site the crowds were beginning to arrive and the sun was sufficiently hot for us to head for the ubiqitious freshly squeezed orange juice at a conveniently placed café.

The site itself was truly captivating with remains of buildings, murals and archaeological finds on a grand scale. Much of the layout is down to Evans’ imagination as he strove to make sense of the jigsaw of remains and construct what might have been. The site is remarkably open and accessible although the guardians of the site are alive to any incursions onto the remains themselves and the peace and chirruping of cicadas was punctuated at intervals by shrill official whistles and authoritative shouts. The Greeks are clear who was the driving force behind this incredible project  and generously acknowledge the role of Evans all over the island-- a bust at the entrance of the site and a road named after him in the capital to give two of the more obvious examples.

    He shares with El Greco and Nikos Kazanzakis, the author of Zorba the Greek, the laurels of favoured son of Crete. Few will have heard of Domenikos Theotokopoulos but many will certainly recognise him by his adopted name  El Greco. He is known worldwide by the tag given to this son of Greece by the Spanish and  is commemorated by a bust in the centre of the city. Kazanzakis meanwhile is well represented by his tomb on the ring road around the city. It is on raised ground on this busy road overlooking the town. It is ironic that it has been constructed as a memorial to the man who disdained such baubles and who was a committed humanist. The tomb is the size of a small pyramid. If this is not enough, the Heraklion International Airport is also named after Nikos Kazantzakis.

Other famous Cretans include Eleftherios Venizelos, who was Prime Minister of an  independent Crete and then of Greece in 1910. Mikis Theodorakis  (son of a Cretan), who wrote the famous jangling, haunting Zorba’s theme and Nana Mouskouri (Chania born) the world famous singer . These last two are still very much alive. Like  many Greek celebrities they have also had political careers as had Nikos Kazanzakis. More extravagantly most of the guidebooks claim Zeus as a son or God of the island.

A visit to the Archaeological Museum in Heraklion complements a visit to Knossos. The museum is currently undergoing renovation but  sensibly the authorities have ensured that a range of interesting  relics from the Minoan civilization are on display. Unsurprisingly this limited display is popular and therefore prone to overcrowding but well worth a visit.

We were surprised that Heraklion was not more industrial. It was rather a laid back sort of place with good markets, reasonable restaurants and an attractive Venetian harbour. In the evenings and at weekends the long harbour wall is a popular spot with locals—to promenade, to jog, to fish, to cycle or just to watch the world go by.  It became a favourite with us too. The only evidence of hustle and that was on a very low scale was the sale of what seems to be this year's must have Mediterranean accessory - a splodgy  amoeba-like shaped jelly tomato bearing  an uncanny resemblance to Zebedee that boss eyed tomato on a spring that used to be the mainstay of the Magic Roundabout. That said, I never saw one being sold.  Heraklion’s street markets offered an enticing array of goods; fruit,vegetables and other food  as well as the usual tourist gifts- sponges, tablecloths, tea towels, worry beads  and halwa.  Pavement cafes abounded with a mix of locals playing backgammon and tourists drinking beer, juice or the local wines.  

Our hotel, the Lado Boutique, while not as intimate or friendly as the Palazzo where we had stayed in Chania offered accommodation of a high standard.   I suppose, in a larger and  busier place than Chania (Heraklion is about twice the size of Chania), there is correspondingly, the compromise between familial ambience and professionalism.

All of our rooms had  balconies with sea views overlooking the Venetian harbour. The hotel which seemed to double up as a tourist and a business hotel was equipped with wi-fi and was centrally placed for the town, the bus station and the seafront. The hotel provided a good breakfast though once again mysteriously, just as in Chania, this did not extend to freshly squeezed orange juice. There was a roof top restaurant and bar with views over the sea which we used but we tended to eat elsewhere around the town, including at an excellent taverna where the proprietor after asking what we did or did not eat, put together a menu for us which was not only very moderately priced but also much more than moderately mouth-watering.

There is the other traditional favourite pastime of the Greeks - the making and imbibing of the national favourite alcohol - the Raki or Tsikoudia.   The making of the drink's distillation process is normally also a huge celebration among family, friends and neighbours.  Tsikoudia is a local strong distilled spirit containing alcohol and is produced from the must-residue of the grapes or wine-press.     Raki  is of course the name of the local alcohol from Turkey and is different from the Cretan Tsikoudia but during the Turkish occupation of Crete the name  Raki  was given to the local Tsikoudia, since there were some similarities. Now both names are equally bandied about in Crete which to my mind is always a pleasant cultural touch.

Like many gastronomic delicacies, many gourmet foods as well as alcoholic beverages are rooted in poverty.  Necessity is the mother of invention and nothing is wasted - every year when the the vines are harvested and then pruned back, the vine tree provides wood for the fireplace, the grape leaves for cooking - as can be seen from yet another national delicacy, the famous Greek Dolmades, the grapes as a fruit or dried to become raisins or sultanas and used for cakes, cooking and pastries and of course, wine.  Grape must is used to make molasses, combined with flour they are made into must-jelly which makes delicious little fillings for must-rolls and other well-known Greek pastries.  The seeds, stems and grape-peels are not discarded either, they are distilled to produce  Raki  spirit which has withstood the test of time for centuries to take its rightful place as a culinary delight in this part of the Mediterranean.

The  Raki  usually came in beautiful little carafes for all our lunches and dinners which was always welcome oif somewhat intoxicating.   It is a wonderful  finish to an excellent meal or as a placatory offering to a not so excellent meal.   I suppose after drinking a few glasses of raki, one forgets any deficiencies about the food.

All things must come to an end and our holiday sadly did, with our return flight from Heraklion. We flew with Easyjet, whose founder is the Greek  Cypriot, Stelios Haji-Ioannou.   The flights in both directions – into Chania and out of Heraklion were well ordered though slightly late leaving Heraklion.  This is Greece’s second busiest airport. The airport is close to the town indeed clearly visible from the harbour.   Aircraft were certainly visible and audible from the town though it never impaired our stay.

I am a fan of Greece. In many ways it represents my ideal holiday destination. There is a great deal to do and see. The climate is to my liking. The sea is everywhere. Dining al fresco and unhurriedly is terrific, the diet is healthy, the Greeks are friendly and hospitable and the wines immeasurably improved from my student days (long gone) when they were very much to be avoided. I hope to return to Crete and to Greece on many occasions.