Crete-in' Day 1: Knossos, dontcha know-so

In the past five days, I've taken a ferry across the Aegean, driven up down and around Crete, wandered across Cretan countryside and the sites of the oldest European civilization, and hiked ten miles down a gorge to swim in the Libyan sea. 

Day 1 was Knossos, one of the greatest “palaces” of Minoan civilization.

And then a walk around Heraklion, the capital of Crete, which has a beautiful harbor:

 Mary and I decided to go all the way out to the end, which was quite the walk but quite rewarding

  

For dinner, I ate at a taverna with a group of kids from the programs and some of the professors, who took care of all of the ordering while we took care of the eating. Some dishes were standard Greek ones (fava, tzatziki, fries (a surprisingly popular Greek food), eggplant salad, Greek salad, blanched greens with lemon, Greek-style meatballs in a tomato sauce) and some were Cretan specialities: grilled octopus, which was a delicious flavor somewhere between scallop and lobster; anchovies in olive oil, lemon, and herbs; fried sardines; fresh steamed mussels in a white wine, onion, and tomato sauce; grilled wild mushrooms drizzled with balsamic; zucchini fritters, fried and stuffed with juicy goodness; and to top it off, some fried dough balls drenched in honey. A feast, by any account, and a delicious one at that.