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The large Greek island of Crete was not supposed to be thesecond destination on the cruise, in fact it wasn’t listed at all as a stopping off point.The ship was steering a course towards the island of Mykonos, when two daysbefore our scheduled arrival, the captain announced that with no availableberth for Queen Victoria, at the island, the ship would need to anchoroffshore. In such situations, passengers are normally transferred in smallboats, or tenders, to and from the offshore anchorage. Unfortunately, due to adverseweather conditions forecast for Mykonos, the strong winds and choppy seas wouldprevent the ship’s company from conducting a safe operation, so we would beheading off, elsewhere.
The captain and the Cunard support staff had secured us a spotinstead on Crete, at the port of Heraklion, on thesame date and at the same time, so instead we would be spending our second dayashore, on what is the largest of the many Greek islands. The situationregarding Mykonos, wasn’t a huge surprise, because the island is regarded assomething of a party destination, a fact that was confirmed by the tour guidewe had, in Athens, the following day. Spending a day on Crete was something ofa bonus for me, if only for the name, as the bungalow I lived in with myparents, between the ages of 14 and 18, was called “Crete,” and it was adestination I always wanted to visit.
So, at around 8am on the morning of 8th October,the Queen Victoria sailed serenely into the harbour at Heraklion, passing arather large cruise ship, flying the flag of German tour operator, TUI, MeinSchiff 5, was a bit of a beast, and I imagine from its position in port, thatthe vessel had arrived a day or so before us – cue the usual sorts of jokesabout the Germans getting there early, in order to secure the sunbeds! As well as sentimental, personal reasons for visiting Crete,there is much to see and explore on an island that was home to the ancientMinoan civilisation, which predated that of neighbouring Greece by severalcenturies.
Heraklion is the island’s capital, and the entrance to the harbouris guarded by an impressive, and imposing-looking stone port, constructed bythe Venetians during the 16th century. The Italian city state of Venice was a majorpower in the Mediterranean, over a period of several centuries, andfortifications such as those at Heraklion, werebuilt to guard the trade routes that the Venetians depended on.
After mooring at the port, and the landing formalitiescompleted, we were free to leave the ship. A fleet of coaches were operating ashuttle service between the ship and the port entrance, but due to an agreementwith the local taxi driver’s union, the buses were not allowed to conveypassengers into the town centre and back. I appreciate everyone needs to make aliving, but the taxis weren’t cheap, charging passengers a €10fee each way. Had I been on my own, I would have walked it, but Eileen wasn’tup to it, even though it was only an easy, 20–30-minute stroll, each way.
Our driver dropped us at the bottom of the old town, overlookingthe aforementioned harbour. The old town of Heraklion is situated on top of ahill that overlooks the harbour, and there were plenty of shops, cafés and barson either side of the street that leads up from the seafront. Although some of the shops are devoted to“tourist tat” others do offer other items, such as shoes, or clothing. On the subject of “tat”, a member of the groupMrs PBT’s and I have been enjoying a few after dinner drinks with, up on Deck10, has organised a competition to find the tackiest tat going – the winners tobe decided on the final night of the cruise.
On our way up, we passed an attractive Greek Orthodox church roughlytwo thirds of the way up, and at the top of the hill, the street split off intoa number of different directions. We noticed the odd high-end shop, including abranch of H&M, but having little interest in such establishments (I amtalking about me here), but being Sunday anyway major shops and banks werefirmly shut. Of more interest to both of us, was the chance of some liquidrefreshment, and here we were spoiled for choice. We opted for a café called Nonitetawhich in common with the majority of other bars, had plenty of outdoor seating,protected from the fierce Mediterranean sun, by an extensive canvas canopy. We were directed to a vacant table and orderedourselves a drink each – iced coffee for Mrs PBT’s, plus a half litre of localbeer, brewed elsewhere on the island, for me.
As experienced in Cadiz the other day, it wasn’t long beforethe café area began to fill up, not just with locals but tourists like us, plusseveral groups of Germans from the large TUI cruise ship, berthed near us. Thefood offerings, which were predominantly kebabs looked good, so it was littlewonder that the establishment’s slogan was “The Most delicious Gyros in Heraklion.” We were tempted to eat there, especiallyas this would mean supporting the local economy, but after a large breakfast,and the promise of far more food than we could ever hope to eat, the decisionwas made to return to the ship.
Before heading back down to the harbour area, we had a goodlook around at the shops. I was looking for some goodies to take back to mywork colleagues and found this in the form of loukoumia, the Greek equivalent ofTurkish Delight. One item we couldn’t help but notice, was the rather dangerouslooking knives, which were on open sale, on display boards both inside andoutside some of the shops. Given the obvious concerns surrounding knife crime,back home in the UK, such a cavalier attitude seemed incredible to us. Thehardware store, where Matthew works, keeps all such knives, including kitchenones, in a locked cabinet, and also operates a “Challenge 25” policy.
The Greeks seem to have a totally different attitude when itcomes to safety, and this was further evidenced by the number of people we sawriding on motorbikes and scooters, without wearing crash helmets. This apparentlack of concern was further evident when it came to crossing the road, in orderto seek a taxi back to the ship. Fortunately, a kind-hearted local taxi drivercame to our rescue. He was waiting for a pre-booked fare, but he gallantlyescorted Eileen and I back across the busy, harbour front road, and hailed ataxi for us.
It was another €10 of course, but it transported ussafely back to the ship, where a well-stocked buffet was waiting for us. I didfeel a trifle guilty, and also felt we were missing out by not having eatenlocally, but it was my wife’s decision and as all married men will know, one’sspouse is always right. So, rather like our stop in Spain, our visit to Cretewas a rather brief one, but it did give us a taste of the island, and itsculture, as well as fulfilling a long-cherished childhood wish. It alsorepresented our first time on Greek soil, for both Mrs PBT’s and me.Crete is definitely worthy of a much longer visit, and beingthe largest of the Greek islands offers much of interest to visitors. Thepartially restored ruins, of the place of Knossos, home to the ancient Minoancivilisation, are just a short drive away from the capital, Heraklion, andthere is much else to see and to on the island. Eileen’s niece, and her fiancéhave chosen Crete for their honeymoon, when they get married next year, so evenafter our short visit, we will b able to give them the heads up when we get back.
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