Crazy about Crete

The Center of the World on Crete

Crete could easily be my favorite stop of the whole cruise.  We docked in Agios Nikolaos, a small port about an hour’s drive from Heraklion, the major city and usual docking site of cruise ships. We had docked in Agios Nikolaos last year, so knew that there was little of interest in the town.  I booked a rental car via the internet a couple of days prior to our arrival.  (The difference in cost from those cars we rented upon arrival and those I pre-booked on the internet was around 50 Euro…planning ahead pays off!)  We had no particular itinerary in mind but one of the ship’s excursions was bound for the Lassithi Plateau, so we decided to head there as well.



Zeus' Birthplace

After only a few kilometers on the autoroute we passed a sign advertising the archeological ruins of Malia, so we decided to stop.  It was a good stop.  Just a few hundred yards off the main highway, the ruins occupied a flat seaside area.  Dwight was able to find a comfortable bench in the shade overlooking the site while I wandered around a bit.  It was a Minoan palatial site with a number of residential areas as well.  All of the artifacts had been removed to the Heraklion Museum and the site didn’t have the drama of Sir Authur Evans’ reconstruction at Knossos, but it was interesting nevertheless.

My Donkey and Friend

After visiting the ruins and enjoying a freshly squeezed orange juice, we left the main road and headed into the mountains to find the plateau, an agricultural plain located at about 3000 feet.  On the way we passed the ship’s buses.  They were having lunch at a restaurant overlooking the plateau but after lunch they would head back to the ship.  We continued on.  One of the main attractions of the Plateau is the Dikteon Andron, the cave where Zeus was born.  I couldn’t miss that!  While Dwight waited in a small café at the bottom of the hill, I started up the rocky path to the grotto.   Aided by a patient Greek donkey, I found my way to the cave and paid my respects, being grateful for the aid of the same patient donkey on the way down.  We ate a delicious lunch of fresh moussaka offered by the tavern mistress after my arrival at the bottom and made our way back to the ship via a twisty, windy road on the other side of the mountain.  A great Cretan adventure!