We sailed through the night and woke to the Island of Crete. After breakfast, we visited Heraklion and the ruins of the Palace of Knossos. It is believed to be the Labyrinth of King Minos and the seat of ancient Minoan culture. The Greeks say it was the first civilization but several other cultures also claim they were the first, so who knows?
Pillars outside the bedrooms of the King and Queen
Entrance to the city from the Sea
The throne room.
Original artwork. They were very fond of sports and games - this scene depicted a runner jumping, flipping and landing over a bull. It is very similar to a gymnastic routine on the horse that we see today.
We were also told this civilization had the first flush toilets, which was very impressive. Not sure why that idea didn't catch on a little quicker for everyone.
I had to buy this drink to get 5 minutes of WiFi (because the bus was leaving to go back to the ship) but it was worth it. A yummy drink and five minutes of texting with my girls!
We went back to the ship for lunch and some time in the sun before we headed around the coast of Crete to the city of Santorini. It is famous for it's beautiful views and quaint shops.
Beautiful white cliffs
We took this boat to the shore.
We then took a bus up a ridiculously high, narrow, winding road. This black van couldn't make the turn because there wasn't enough room so the bus had to back up. We then rode 40 minutes through beautiful, but somewhat terrifying mountain roads with tiny guardrails that wouldn't have kept a bus from going over. Heh.
But the views.....ahhhhh..... Even through a smudgy bus window they are breathtaking.
The entire island of Crete is made from volcanic lava. It's amazing.
Santorini had no shortage of tourists.
Gah! Gorgeous!
I waited and waited for this girl to move so I could get a frame-worthy shot but she didn't cooperate so I'll have to photoshop her out when I get home. haha
Pretty much dying over this prettiness!
My poor mom was such a good sport waiting around for me to take pictures (there are lots of more pics of doors because I'm trying to find enough of them to do another door collage). There were hoards of people and she waited patiently while I ran around and/or waited for people to get out of the way to get the shots I wanted. I took them on my iPhone for the blog and also on my good camera for using at home - so double waiting around for her! (The photos from my good camera take forever to load on the blog so I use iPhone pictures.)
Because this part of our trip was organized through the ship, it didn't have the Christian connection that some of our other stops will have. So...here is my own research. Paul spent time on the island of Crete during his fourth missionary journey. It was there, he met Titus, who was a fellow evangelist. There was a body of believers in Crete but they struggled to live in an orderly fashion. Later, Paul sent a letter to Titus to try to help him give practical advice to the Cretians.
