We woke up to a lovely sunny day, and armed with a good breakfast, ventured out onto the sleepy streets of Chania, which were all the more beautiful for the lack of people.
A two minute walk to the harbour, where some were already hard at work....
....while others took time out to bask in the morning sun.
The first order of business was to walk out around the harbour to the lighthouse.
Given that the walk was longer than we thought, maybe we should have taken one of these instead. By the way, the sign on the horse's neck read - "Don't touch me, I bite" !
Back onto the main harbour with its picture postcard views.
We made our way to the Marine Museum, which is at the far end of the harbour, quite close to our hotel.
The walkway into the museum leads onto a terraced portion, from where one can climb a spiral staircase onto a lookout with great views of the lighthouse and the harbour.
We spent the better part of the rest of the morning meandering around the back streets looking at the quaint architecture.
It was time to head out, so we walked back through the charming streets to the hotel.
We gathered up our stuff and walked back to the bus station. In true Greek style, our bus driver arrived 20 minutes late, and refused to switch on the aircon as we were the only two passengers, claiming it was "broken". It somehow mysteriously fixed itself as we took on more passengers in Rethymno, and we arrived back in Iraklio none the worse for wear.
We made our way up the hill to the Archaeological Museum of Iraklio, which is the only repository of artefacts of the Minoan civilisation. The Museum is currently undergoing renovation, but a few of the most notable artefacts have been assembled in a hall behind the main building, and it is a collection not to be missed.
The original "Prince of the Lilies" fresco from Knossos.
Libation vase also called a rhyton made of serpentine in the shape of a bull's head with inlays of jasper, rock crystal and shell. From Knossos (1600-1500 BC)
Libation vase or rhyton made of limestone in the shape of a lioness' head from Knossos (1600-1500 BC).
The "Leaping of the Bull" fresco from Knossos (1450-1400 BC).
The "Cup Bearer" fresco from Knossos (1500-1450 BC).
One of the many beautiful vases.
The Ayia Triada sarcophagus (1300 BC) with its scenes of rituals for the afterlife.
The legendary Phaistos disc (1600-1450 BC) unearthed at Phaistos. Made of clay with impressions of hieroglyphics on both sides in a circular pattern. No one has been able to decipher it yet.
We finished with the museum and headed back towards the hotel. On the way we stopped for lunch arbitrarily at what turned out to be a really good taverna - the Kyriakos. After a wonderful lunch we continued on to the hotel, checked in and slept away the rest of the afternoon.
We packed up our stuff in the evening for the early departure the next morning, and decided to room service it for dinner before turning in for the night.
