We'll go first to Santorini for two nights, where we'll visit Akrotiri, a Bronze Age town destroyed (and preserved, like Pompeii) by a massive volcanic eruption in the last quarter of the 17th century BC. We'll also visit Fira, the main town, and Oia, a former artists' colony at the north end of the island. Then we'll go to Crete for two days, where we'll see the Minoan Museum in Iraklion, the Minoan palaces at Knossos and Mallia, and the village Drosia on Mt Ida. Then we'll spend a day and night on Hydra, an idyllic small island only 90 minutes by hydrofoil from Athens; Hydra is an architectural national monument and no motorized vehicles are allowed there. Afterwards we'll go for three days to Skopelos, the most beautiful of all Greek islands.
NOTE: Those who haven't been to Athens might consider adding 2 days (May 21-22) to see the essential attractions of Athens. The additional cost would be $300.
MAY 9 Arrive Athens
If you’re coming to Greece from the US, you will have left the day before. The time difference between the two countries is 7 to 10 hours; if it’s 8 am in California (and 11 am in Toronto), it’s 6 pm the same day in Greece. The new airport of Athens is attractive and efficient, and easy to navigate. It’s a good idea to change some money in the banks at the airport; unlike some countries, banks at the airport and everywhere in Greece have approximately the same rate of exchange, which is always better than the rate outside Greece. After coming out the front door of the airport, you’ll see a line of taxis, and a corresponding line of people waiting for taxis. Take a taxi from the taxi stand to the HOTEL AUSTRIA, 7 MOUSON STREET, AKROPOLIS - FILOPAPPOU (telephone 923-5151). When you arrive at the hotel, tell the driver to wait while you go inside. Tell the desk clerk at the hotel you’re with Dick, and he’ll make sure you pay the right amount for the taxi (it should be around 25-35 euros) .
You or I can be contacted anytime at this Athens telephone number: 011-30-210-923-5151 (Hotel Austria). The FAX number is 011-30-210-924-7350. Dial all 15 digits from North America, only the last ten in Athens. If anyone might want to contact you, tell them to use these numbers and we will be notified immediately, wherever we are. Be sure that you, or whoever is calling, mention the name “Dick,” so as to be identified properly. I do not include numbers of all our hotels, since at most of them the desk clerks do not speak English (anyone calling probably would not be able to leave a message).
We'll meet in the hotel lobby around 7:30 PM to go out to dinner at a local restaurant.
View from the Austria Hotel, Athens
MAY 10 Santorini
The morning is free.
You could visit the Akropolis, or, if you've already seen it or will
see it later, the Benaki or Cycladic Arts Museum. In the
afternoon we'll take a high-speed catamaran from Athens to Santorini
(about 4.5 hours).
Santorini is one of the few
places in the world that you absolutely must see. In fact, you've
probably already seen it a few thousand times in movies, ads, and
cruise brochures. It's unique and spectacular, but also
hopelessly over-commercialized, so once you've seen it you need never
come back.
We'll spend the rest of the
day in the exquisite town of Oia (pronounced “ee-a”) at the northern
tip of the
island. Perched high on cliffs overlooking the sea on two sides, Oia is
well-known for its artists' studios and shops, and has probably the
most
spectacular view in all Greece.
This evening we'll see the
famous sunset from the cliffs of Oia.
The chief attraction of Santorini is ancient Akrotiri, a Bronze Age city preserved by the great volcanic eruption (c. 1620 BC) that also destroyed it. Santorini was not always crescent-shaped; before around 1600 BC it was a circular island around a large volcano which, after several smaller eruptions, blew its entire top (around 1450, it was once thought, or, according to a recent conference, more than 150 years earlier). This cataclysm, four times greater than the eruption of Krakatoa in 1883, made the island center into a bay, perhaps destroyed the contemporary civilization of Minoan Crete, and covered the Cycladic city on the south coast with a layer some 50 feet deep of volcanic tufa. The ancient city, now called Akrotiri, was discovered in 1869, but serious excavation began in 1967 under the Greek archaeologist Marinatos. After two decades of constant digging much of the city still is uncovered: the work involved in moving thousands of tons of tufa is enormous and expensive. Like Pompeii and Herculaneum in Italy, Akrotiri was preserved by the disaster which destroyed it: buildings up to three stories high are still intact, and spectacular frescoes were found (which are now in the new Museum). Since no human remains were found here, the inhabitants probably received sufficient warning from earlier eruptions or rumblings that a catastrophe was imminent, and fled, only to perish in the devastating seismic wave which followed the collapse of the volcano’s caldera. The walk through the roofed site takes about 40 minutes (you must follow a roped-off path); the small flower-decorated mound you see inside a house used to be the grave of Marinatos, who died while digging when a wall collapsed on him in 1974.
From Akrotiri our bus will take us to Fira, the island’s main town. The views are great from the top of the cliff, but the town is a bit disappointing; years of visits by cruise ships have made Fira one large gold and jewelry store, with the most persistent and persuasive salesmen in the Aegean.
MAY 12 Crete
Today we'll look around the villages (and beaches, if anyone's interested) of Santorini for a while, then take another catamaran to Iraklion, largest city in Crete.
Tonight we’ll eat at an ouzeri on the harbor.
MAY 13 Crete
This morning we’ll go for a walk around Iraklion; particularly interesting is the open market. At the end of our walk we’ll arrive at the Minoan Museum, which houses the most important finds from Knossos and other Minoan sites.
The museum is very easy to navigate. It’s arranged chronologically; you walk up the right-hand set of rooms, then back the left-hand rooms, then upstairs to the frescoes, then downstairs to an annex of post-Minoan Greek and Roman objects. Since the best Minoan art is miniature (some of it can only be seen through a magnifying lens), I would like to compel you to look at everything in detail. Therefore, instead of giving you the location of the most important objects, I will give you an assignment, to find the following: 1) the House Mosaic; 2) the Snake Goddesses; 3) the Phaistos Disc; 4) the double bee pendant (on the entrance ticket); 5) signet seals showing 2 rabbits dueling and a mouse sitting on a stool; 6) any evidence that the Minoans knew the wheel; 7) a boar’s tooth helmet; 8) Linear A and Linear B tablets; 9) Kamares pottery; 10) the Hagia Triada Sarcophagus.
Knossos: the "Queen's Chambers"
Late afternoon (when it’s cooler and less crowded) we’ll go by public bus (about 10 minutes) to the so-called Palace of Minos at Knossos, just south of Iraklion. This was the largest and most important of the Minoan palaces in Crete, and has been partially reconstructed, chiefly by the original excavator, Sir Arthur Evans. The name “Minoan,” derived from the mythical king Minos, was used by Evans to designate the Bronze Age civilization of Crete (3000-1000 BC).
Although Knossos was inhabited far back into Neolithic times, the first palaces were built around 2200 BC. The Minoan civilization was extremely advanced, the first “high culture” in Europe, and rivalled the contemporary cultures of Babylon and Egypt. Sometime around 1750 (or earlier) the first palaces were destroyed, perhaps by earthquake, and new palaces (the “Second Palaces”) were built; these in turn were destroyed during the first half of the 15th century (or more than a century earlier, if the destruction resulted from the volcanic eruptions at Santorini). The best Minoan pottery (especially Kamares Ware, beautifully-shaped polychrome cups and vases with eggshell-thin walls) was made during the First Palace period, while the best jewelry, engravings, and frescoes are from the Second Palace period. The Minoans also had writing systems, both hieroglyphic and linear (“Linear A”), but these have not yet been deciphered. Later Linear A was adapted by the Myceneans to write Greek; this script, called Linear B, is a syllabary (each symbol represents a syllable) and has been found on more than 4000 tablets from mainland Greece and Crete.
There are two important things to keep in mind as you walk through the ruins: (I) at least 75% of what you see has been reconstructed, much of it to conform with Evans’ theories of Minoan history, and these theories have recently come under heavy criticism; (2) the Minoans were not Greek, although they greatly influenced the first Greeks (the Myceneans) in art and architecture; their impact on historical Greece seems to have consisted mostly of certain religious traditions and practices (e.g., the Eleusinian religion).
We enter (after running a gauntlet of tour guides) near two large round holes, perhaps cisterns. The main entrances were at the north and south ends, and led into the central court: on the east and west sides of the court were complexes of rooms and apartments, several stories high, ventilated and lit by light wells. At the northwest corner of the court is a throne room with nice griffin frescoes (restored); on the floor above, around a light well, are replicas of many of the frescoes found at Knossos (the originals are in the Iraklion Museum). All along the west side are storehouses; in the southwest corner, at the end of a processional corridor, are a propylaion and great staircase. On the east side of the court is another staircase, called by Evans the “Grand Staircase,” because he thought it led to the royal living quarters; this staircase leads down through three levels around a light well into a maze of rooms, one of which is called the Throne Room and another the Queen’s Bedroom. Outside these rooms, alongside a narrow stairs, is a storehouse of giant pithoi, 6-foot high storage vases; beneath a metal grill nearby is a good example of the terra cotta plumbing which brought running water to the palace; in the room of the Medallion Vases a small section of floor is cut away around a column base. Northwest of the palace is a paved road, perhaps the oldest in Europe, which widens as it ends at shallow stairs leading to the north entrance.
Knossos: Bull-Leaping Fresco
MAY 14 Crete
Today we’ll go by bus to
Faistos, an important Minoan palace on the Messara plain in southern
Crete.
Faistos: the Megaron
On the way to Faistos we’ll stop at the archaeological site of Gortyna, where the famous archaic Law Code of Gortyna was found. Then we’ll continue to Faistos, a palace almost as large as that at Knossos. Built at the same time as Knossos, but more carefully and with better material, Faistos is our example of an unrestored Minoan palace.
From Faistos we'll drive north for a late lunch at Drosia, in a verdant mountain valley, where all the residents have the same last name and the food is unique.
Tonight we'll return to Athens on the overnight ferry. We'll have First-Class cabins on the Minoan Line.
MAY 15 Hydra
This morning we'll go to the hydrofoil port in Peiraeus and take the 90-minute hydrofoil to Hydra in the Saronic Gulf. Home of many artists and sophisticated expatriates. Hydra is a national architectural monument. Unlike many of the Greek islands, development on Hydra is strictly regulated. All motorized vehicles (except for the garbage truck) are prohibited. and hotels must retain the appearance of the structures (e.g., a sponge factory) from which they were built. Aside from the two hours each day when the cruise ships dock, Hydra is one of the most beautiful and peaceful places in the world.
Harbor, Hydra
On the evening of the 20th we'll return to Athens.
MAY 16-18 Skopelos
This morning we'll take the hydrofoil to Peiraeus, then go up the coast about 2 hours to Agios Konstantinos, where we'll catch the hydrofoil or jet ferry to Skopelos (about 2.5 hours).
What is there to do in Skopelos? One could easily spend two days just exploring the town; the people are friendly and the view around every corner of the narrow lanes is wonderful; when you get tired of walking, have a seat at one of the waterfront cafes and watch the boats or chat with the people at the next table. If you want to see other parts of the island, rent a car or motor scooter (it's easy and inexpensive) or take the bus or a taxi; both taxis and buses leave from the waterfront, and the bus schedule is on an attached sign. About two and a half miles from town (a pleasant and not difficult walk) is Staphylos. the best-known beach; it’s named for a mythical prince of Crete who supposedly colonized Skopelos during the Bronze Age. Another two and a half miles along the truly breathtaking scenery of the southern coast brings you to Agnondas, a quaint village with a few houses and three seafood restaurants. Or, if you want to see the whole island, take the bus all the way to Glossa and back. It's also easy and inexpensive to rent cars and mopeds.
Skopelos is the home of Kostas and Voula Kalafatis, my Greek friends (they help me with my arrangements while I am in America). If you want information, help, or just friendly conversation and a cup of coffee (or something stronger), go to their shop on the waterfront.
An optional excursion during our stay in Skopelos is a day trip to the nearby island Alonnisos, only a half-hour away by hydrofoil. Alonnisos is green and beautiful, smaller and quieter than Skopelos, and is the center of the
Patiri, harbor of Alonnisos
MAY 19 Athens
Today we'll go by ferry to Agios Konstantinos on the mainland, where our bus will meet us for the drive back to Athens.
MAY 20 Departure
If you choose to add a couple of days in Athens, see the second and third days of the detailed itinerary for Tour D.