Thursday 27 September - Heraklion

Sunrise: Heraklion              7:10am                                   

Sunset:                               7:09pm

Steps:                                 11,027

I woke when the alarm went off this morning.
When I was going downstairs last night, I noticed that there was a large group of people, going into the hotel restaurant for their dinner, so decided then that I'd have an early breakfast, because there were a lot of people in the group and finding a table might be a problem.
I was down at breakfast just after 7 and there were a few other couples already there, so I grabbed an orange juice and some yoghurt and put them on a table, effectively reserving it, then went back to get some more food. It was about 7:15 by then and then people from the large group started to arrive.  It's just as well that I had put some things on my table, as one of the woman from the group was about to claim the table, (I was away getting some fruit) when she spotted my food already there.
By 7:30 the breakfast room was almost full and it isn't a small room.  I was at a table for 3, so decided that I'd stay until someone from our group arrived and they could then sit with me and I'd leave, as I had finished breakfast. Which is what happened.
We all gathered at 9am and then walked around the corner and across the road to the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion.  
The Herakleion Archaeological Museum is one of the largest and most important museums in Greece, and among the most important museums in Europe. It houses representative artefacts from all the periods of Cretan prehistory and history, covering a chronological span of over 5,500 years from the Neolithic period to Roman times. The singularly important Minoan collection contains unique examples of Minoan art, many of them true masterpieces. The Herakleion Museum is rightly considered as the museum of Minoan culture par excellence worldwide.   It is extremely well presented and I took hundreds of photos.

The honeybee pendant.

The honeybees pendant was discovered in the Necropolis of the Minoan Palace of Malia on the island of Crete, and is thought to date to c.1800 BC. The site of the ancient cemetery is named Chryssolakkos, or “pit of gold”, because of the many precious objects that were found there. The scale of the palace and the plethora of treasures found in this adjoining burial ground, certainly suggest that those buried here were significantly wealthy and of high standing in the local community.
The pendant itself is made from gold and comprises two bees, their bodies curved towards each other and their wings outstretched, clasping a honeycomb into which they are placing a small drop of honey. The piece is striking not only because of its unusual composition and intricate rendering, but also because of the significance of its subject-matter.

A timber model of the Palace of Knossos

Those are just a few of the photos that I took.  
We finished at the museum around 10:45 and were on the bus again at 11am, heading to the Palace of Knossos.  It took us about 1/2 an hour to get there.

 A photo

The real thing

"East Wing" Grand Staircase.

 Then

Now

The tour finished around 1pm and we were back in the city centre by 1.30.

Had lunch with a few people then back to the hotel to download photos etc.

Went out walking later in the afternoon, down to the port area. 

Still high seas.  Christina was saying this afternoon, that depending on the weather & the seas, as to whether we get to Santorini tomorrow or not.  It's in the hands of the gods now.

Night all.  

Hopefully the next update will be from Santorini.