We arrived in Heraklion late last night and checked into the Latos Boutique Hotel. Perfect place for us, there was a plate of fresh sweets and small carafe of raki waiting in the room. We took the obligatory walk around town to reset our internal clocks. It was Saturday night and the area around our hotel was still, the ancient harbor, walls, and the sea on one side and quiet residential streets on the other.
We walked in the direction of the main square, I remembered the general layout of the town from last year. Then around one corner and instant party. The streets, bars and restaurants were filled, Greek music blasting everywhere. We walked up and down streets, people watching, sort of sorry we had eaten on the plane. Still, the walk worked and we managed to sleep in this morning.
This morning we made to to breakfast just in time. I had my first cup of Cretan tea, an earthy, decaf blend of local herbs. Hotel breakfasts in Crete remind me of breakfasts in Israel. The fancier the hotel, the more elaborate the buffet. But they are all good, filled with local cheeses, full-fat yogurt, local honey, fresh veggies and here, homemade preserves, dakos and fresh squeezed orange juice. Happy, we headed out to the Archeological Museum.
I love this place, the lighting, the architecture, and of course, the art and artifacts. Joan and I spent a few hours trying to wrap our heads around the Minoan culture and appreciating the curators’ decisions on displaying some artifacts in restored form and some left as they were found.
I spent a good part of a day here last year and was so happy to be back. I have a bit more vested interest this time as I’ll be pulling themes from Greek mythology and Cretan WW ll history, for our yoga sessions. Turns out the two share a common theme of heroism. But more on that later…
Just as we were leaving the museum, my son, Adam, texted that he was a few minutes away. He showed up in time to join us in the museum garden for freshly squeezed pomegranate juice. Turns out he landed earlier and walked to town from the airport!
