Day 11 From Chania to Heraklion

Crete

Chania harbor

We woke up and went down to breakfast. This time in addition to telling them not to bring the ham and cheese that we would leave anyway we told them to skip the kids' orange juice. The proprietor asked the kids if they'd like to have chocolate croissants instead. They didn't leave even a single bite for me.

Once packed up we drove the car into Old Town, which is allowed until 10AM. By the time we'd loaded the car or was 10:30 and we had to navigate the tiny streets and drove right along the harbor's edge, dodging numerous pedestrians only to find that the gate out was closed, so we turned around, went back along the water, all the way across the harbor to the far gate. By the time we were on three road to Heraklion it was 11AM.

In the car Andrea explained the new quest; it was a team effort. There were six categories eating utensils, places of worship, clothing, etc. and 6 periods Roman, Ottoman, Byzantine, etc. for a total of 36 points.

When we arrived in Heraklion we spent what seemed like hours navigating narrow one lane roads, several times getting to within a few blocks of the hotel only to be forced the other way. Our GPS was useless since we could not get data at all.  Finally we got to the hotel only to be told that we could park a few blocks away, just go the wrong way on the one way road that already had a line of cars backed up behind me, honking because I was blocking the entire road. I found a parking lot a block ahead and paid 8 euros to park instead of the hotel's 6 euro discount rate.

We went to lunch at a thoroughly forgettable local taverna, which has great rosemary octopus and reasonable grilled chicken and then explored the city. We visited the archaeological museum and saw  the disk of phaestos and other assorted relics. The kids picked up points for Byzantine and Ottoman places of worship,  among other things amassing 12 points which was redeemed for Chillbox frozen yogurt, a fro yo shop whose gimmick is to put the cup in a fancy box.

After some downtime at our hotel we went to dinner at tripadvisor's top rated restaurant in Heraklion, which lived up to it's billing. We dined on a large terrace shade with beautiful vines with large orange flowers, under the shade of a tree. Toward the end of dinner a lemon feel from the tree and landed about five feet from our table. Suddenly, we spotted dozens of lemons in the tree. The proprietor lifted Zachary up to pick one. We are spaghetti,  grilled Dorado, chicken with basil and cheese, grilled vegetables, M

After dinner we strolled back to the hotel and on the way we stopped for a free concert and art show in a church on Lion Square.

We never made it to Knosos, but we'll get there tomorrow. IMNSHO one of our better days in Greece.

altese salad, fried potatoes, and cute little olives that everyone loved, even Andrea who normally hates olives.

Day 12 - Knosos and the Labrynth

Breakfast was notable mostly because the centerpieces on the tables were olive branches in vases, some with olives still attached. As soon as we had eaten we packed up and headed for Knossos. The kids resumed their quest. Andrea added finding representations of six species of animals and six types of furniture.

We decided to get a guide, but a private tour was really expensive (80 euros) so we waited while they tried to round up 8 English speakers. It took half an hour out so. I told my children that after the tour there would be questions for bonus points based on what the guide had told us.

The Minoans had built quite a castle for their kings. 1,200 rooms with fresh water piped in via clay pipes from a spring on a neighboring

The kids picked up a dozen points including one for knowing that the word labyrinth comes from labrys, the sacred double headed axe symbol of the Minoans.

We headed for the airport, returned the car, checked in, went through security where they confiscated one of Andrea's hair products which I had at some point thrown into the laundry bag that we were now using as the carry on. Andrea was mighty pissed off with me.

A very short flight to Rhodes later, we were met at the airport by a travel agent who stuffed us into two taxis. On the road to the hotel Joshua video chatted with his brothers who were in the other taxi on his Nintendo DS.

We checked into Cava d' Oro, a boutique hotel right in the old city themed with coats of arms of the knights who ruled here for centuries. Our room is small, very small but the wi-fi is blazingly fast.

We walked through the streets full of souvenir shops to the castle but the exhibits closed at three and Ari was blowing a gasket over the fact that we wouldn't give him a point for the fake swords he saw in the souvenir stands, which he claimed counted as twentieth century weapons so we decided to defer the castle and go straight to dinner. We ate at a very pretty restaurant, which had a somewhat more innovative approach to Greek cuisine than most. We had a salad with beans, spearmint, leeks, cheese balls, and a bunch of green vegies, a wide assortment of breads, fish, chicken, chick pea croquettes with a cheese and red pepper sauce, cheese pies, and dolmatas. We congratulated ourselves on learning to order for the table instead of for each person; two or three entres and a few appetizers because the portions are always enormous, wasting food is awful, we get to try more things, and it is a bit more affordable.

At the end of the meal, they brought out panna cotta for the adults and cotton candy for the kids. I was jealous.

On the stroll home, we stopped to get Zachary a white nutella crepe. While we waited, we chatted with the owner, who, once the crepe was ready, insisted on giving it to Zachary as an early birthday present. Zachary immediately tilted the crepe, coating the front of his shirt, shorts, legs, and sandals with molten white nutella.

We returned to the hotel where Andrea and I sat in the courtyard, ate halavah, and gazed into each others eyes while the kids put themselves to bed. Another day in their happy childhood packages delivered.

mountain, a covered sewage system, and a rainwater drainage system. They had beautiful art, workshops for stonework where they cut imported basalt (from the mainland) with bronze saws and a potter's shop with pottery wheels and a school bench since writing was done in clay. The Minoans even traded with the Egyptians and their influence was clear in the art and customs.