The Marriott Hotel? You sure know how to pick your places! I especially recommend the Mummies area of the Museum. It is a very nice place and really impressive to look at. Seeing all those kings, so perfectly preserved sleeping in front of us while they lived 3000 thousand years ago at least is something to marvel at, trust me. If we happen to have a day to spare, it would be nice to take a trip to mount Sinai to see the sun-rise from the top, it is magnificent (just don't take the wrong way down, climbing down through landslide isn't the best way, trust me) On the way back, if we have big SUV for the road (they can drop you way closer from the site and the walk is only a 30 minutes kinda sharp climb), we can take a look at the ruins of Serabit el Khadim. There's remnants of the ancient temples there and some old inscriptions. https://beithathor.cultnat.org/index.php/en/serabit-el-khadim/archaeology-of-serabit-el-khadim And there's quite a nice view from up there!
Thank you Whil!!! We can always make time to do this. I can put it on the itinerary for tomorrow morning!!!
Actually the Egyptians died happily ever after. After they proved how light their heart was. I think Friday eve has gotten the best of Ttobey. I enjoy investigating Egypt. Mark Lehner is quite interesting. He started out investigating Edgar Cayce's prophecies, then decided it couldn't be right and made a much more archeological investigation of the land, especially Giza. There are still uncertain and conflicting ideas about the pyramids' and the Sphinx's origins.
Why Balcerak, so nice to hear from you. I hope all is well with you and your family. Have a great evening.
Good Day ROAD TRIPPERS!!!! Today is our first day of adventure in Greece!!! Greece has a mainland and estimates of between 1200 and 6000 islands of which 227 are inhabited. We are not going to all of these!!!! I thought I would select areas in the main geographic regions and when we have short days, everybody could explore the other areas as they wish or after we are done on any day and maybe give all of us an insight as to what you saw??? I learned ancient Greek at University but it will not be real helpful for conversation. Here is a link to the wiki for Greece: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greece Today, I thought we would start with the Island of Crete or Kriti. This is the largest Island with an area of 8,450 square kilometers and an estimated population of 634,930 people and houses the Ideon Cave which is the birthplace of Zeus. This is a clip from the wiki followed by a link to the wiki: Crete, Greece's largest island, is known for its varied terrain, which ranges from fine-sand beaches at Elafonisi to the White Mountains. Mt. Ida, the tallest of the range, is home to the Ideon Cave, which was the birthplace of Zeus, according to Greek mythology. The capital, Heraklion, is home to the renowned Heraklion Archaeological Museum, housing Minoan artifacts, and Knossos, a Bronze Age settlement. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crete Our first stop today will be the Heraklion Archaeological Museum. This is a cultural and ethnographic museum of Crete and the Minoans. Here is a link to their website: https://heraklionmuseum.gr/?page_id=1406&lang=en Next we will be visiting Rethymnon Old Town. This is the third largest town on the Island of Crete and one of the best-preserved towns of the Renaissance. Here is a link to a travel website: http://www.explorecrete.com/crete-west/Rethymnon-old-town.html Next we are off to the Old Venetian Harbor. Here is a link to their webpage: https://www.allincrete.com/chania-old-venetian-harbour/ Our next stop is the Aquaworld Aquarium & Reptile Rescue Centre. This is the first aquarium that opened on Crete in 1995. Here is a link to their website: https://aquaworld-crete.com/ Our next stop is the Balos Lagoon. For this one, I have chartered us a boat to avoid a 45 minute somewhat strenuous hike down to the lagoon. Here is a link to the beach website: https://www.cretanbeaches.com/en/sea-tourism/west-crete-beaches/balos-lagoon-beach Next we are visiting Elafonisi Beach. This beach has white and pink sand!!! Here is a link to their website: https://www.cretetravel.com/activity/elafonisi-beach-in-west-crete Our next stop is the Cretan Olive Oil Farm. This will show us the way they made traditional Cretan products and they have animals!!!! I have booked us the Cretan Culture Panorama and the Pottery Lessons. Here is a link to their website: https://www.cretanoliveoilfarm.com/ Off we go by charter boat to Spinalonga (Kalydon). This is called the Fortress Island. Here is a link to the website: http://odysseus.culture.gr/h/3/gh351.jsp?obj_id=2607 Our next stopping point is The Palace of Knossos. Here is a link to the wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knossos We are off and running to Star Beach!!! This is a water park of sorts. Here is a link to their website: https://www.starbeach.gr/activities-crete-hersonissos Next we are going to the ancient city of Lato. Here is a link to a website: https://www.meetcrete.com/ancient-lato/ Our final stop of the day is the Acqua Plus Water Park. This is the first water park in the Balkan region. Here is a link to their website: https://www.acquaplus.gr/history/ Cocktail hour is 6 pm and dinner is 7 pm at Kouzeineri here on Crete. They serve Greek, Mediterranean, International, and Steakhouse cuisine. They have fish, chicken, and lamb as well as beef. And the tomahawk cuts look fantastic!!!! Tomorrow we will be continuing our exploration of Crete after a hop to Mt. Sinai.
I like Knossos. A palace, a cave/tunnel, a very mysterious place. I do think that the eruption of the Santorini volcano was probably the biggest part of their downfall. But others may have then taken advantage of their weakness and gotten rid of the rest of the society.
I went to Kreta or Crete for my real honey moon , it was the last week hotels were open in Fall and it was not exactly bathing suit time. But on one day it was warm enough that we braved the weather and went to a sandy beach with nobody else on it . The beach was so shallow that you were able to run in the water for a long time before you got it up to your knees . Must have been Balos lagoon from what I just read in the description . We went there by car and it took us a good wile to get there . well hello Balcerak nice to see you , how is the family ? and yes part of their culture was on that volcano and earthquakes and a giant tsunami took out a lot of their cities by the ocean and those nasty Greeks conquered them . Bam there went a very good people who thought of women as equal , being replaced by a people that beliefed that women are only good for breading . But that's long go and man are thinking different today RIGHT ?
Knossos Chania Monastery of Arkadi Samaria Gorge Mirambello Bay the largest bay in all of Europe . only some nice pictures I wanted to share.
What a lovely adventure. So full of verve and zest! I hope you all have a wonderful adventure, especially Breanna whose posts are alway so interesting and informative!
Gero gets out his old Zoot Suit, and dances around. With the pointy shoes all a glisten, highly polished just so. "Beebopaloola ! I don't mean maybe ! Hippity hop, look out for old young King Tut ! I don't have a museum, I mustn't screamum, Arms akimbo, As I walk like an Ancient Egyptian."
Santorini island is impressive, you can see all the layers of ash from the explosion and there's even a city excavated from the ash. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akrotiri_(prehistoric_city) There isn't a drop of water on the whole island and they need to bring water from the continent (previously it was coming from massive cisterns in every house but there's a desalination plant now, taste is hideous). In Crete, if you feel like climbing, you can reach the cave on Mount Ida where Zeus was born. Schmett, to be honest, most of the beaches of the Mediterranean sea are pretty flat, at least the major ones. And I went to several, in Spain, France obviously, Greece, Syria and Egypt. Some are more flat than others obviously, but they often don't drop very fast. It's quite nice with kids. Might come from the very low tide we have. I remember eating marvelous food in a very small restaurant in the middle of a covered market area but I can't remember if it was in Heraklion or not. It's been a while. We were camping in the wild with my parents, moving from place to place in the car, and never stayed twice in the same place so it's even harder to remember. What I liked is that we often bought Greek yogurt in big ceramic plates and ate that for supper, it tasted way better than anything you kind find in a store. Anyway, I'll serve a round of Ouzo to all of you, with olives of course. Then we'll drink Retsina with the meal (moussaka is fine with everybody?)
well I went on vacation almost every year to the former Yugoslavia and we went to different places through the years , and we only stayed at one place that had a sand beach , all the others had rocky beaches with tide pools or pebble beaches . My mother always said our backs were black and our fronts were ghostly white from going through the tide pools looking for little things to catch or collect . When we went to the place with the sand beach for around 3 years I always thought , how boring , besides that that sand was sticky and you could build cool sand sculptures . I read somewhere , that the inhabitance of Thera had ample warning , and they did leave unlike the people of Pompeii . Oh and I forgot I really thought it was cool when we floated over the great pyramids in our Airship .
Good Day ROAD TRIPPERS!!! Today is our second day on Crete!!! This is a huge island and I am just trying to select representative samples. As always, make sure you have your best hiking boots on, comfortable clothing, drinks/water and snacks in your backpack, camera/phone fully charged, flashlight, hat/sunscreen, and swimming gear in your backpack. We never know where we will go until we get there!!! So lets get moving!!! First we will be using our time controls and visiting Mt. Sinai at sun-rise. This is a clip from the wiki and a link to the wiki follows: Mount Sinai, traditionally known as Jabal Musa, is a mountain in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt that is a possible location of the biblical Mount Sinai, the place where Moses received the Ten Commandments. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Sinai Thank goodness we have "special" Norrathian things that can teleport us to the summit and then to wherever else we wish to go!!!! Next we will be visiting Serabit el-Khadim. There are quite a few things to see here. Here is a link to the wiki and the link provided by Whil when she suggested we visit this site and Mt. Sinai: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serabit_el-Khadim https://beithathor.cultnat.org/index.php/en/serabit-el-khadim/archaeology-of-serabit-el-khadim Great suggestions Whil!!!! Our first stop on Crete today will be the Minoan's World 3D Museum & 9D Cinema. This is a pretty unique place, Ttobey should love this!!! Here is a link to their website: https://minoansworld.com/home Our next stop is the Lychnostatis Open Air Museum. Here is a link to the wiki, their website and the government website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lychnostatis_Open_Air_Museum http://www.lychnostatis.gr/index.php?page=home&hl=en_US http://odysseus.culture.gr/h/1/eh151.jsp?obj_id=3469 Next up the Labyrinth Theme Park!!! This is not a theme park like we think of them. But!!!!! They have MINI-GOLF!!!!! Here is a link to their website: http://www.labyrinthpark.gr/en/meet-the-park Our next stop is the Malia Minoan Palace. This is an active archaeological site. Here is a link to the government website: http://odysseus.culture.gr/h/2/gh251.jsp?obj_id=10261 Next we are going to the Folklore Museum of Gouves. This is a family run museum. Here is a link: https://gouvesmuseum.business.site/ Our next jump is to the Cretaquarium - Thalassocosmos. This aquarium has everything from the big hunter sharks to the tiny seahorses, the jellyfish, the diversity of marine life is set off against underwater Cretan seascapes such as the rock formations at Matala( South Crete) and the sea bed at Vai(North East Crete). We are doing a guided tour with a behind the scenes tour as well. Here is a link to their website: https://cretaquarium.gr/en/identity/history Off we go to the The Natural History Museum of Crete. We could spend a very long time in here!!!! Here is a link to their website: https://www.nhmc.uoc.gr/ Next we are going to the Paraschakis Olive Oil - Crete. This is a family run olive tree grove and olive oil production facility. Here is a link to their website: http://www.villa-evanthia.com/family-paraschakis-olive-oil.html Next we will be paying a visit to the Ancient City of Polyrinia. This is a partially excavated site. There is a shop there that sells some cool things. Here is a link to a travel site: http://www.explorecrete.com/crete-west/EN-Polyrrinia.html Next we are sailing on the wind to the Maritime Museum of Crete. Here is a link to their website: http://mar-mus-crete.gr/ Next is a visit to the Karavitakis Winery. We will be taking a guided tour of the vineyards and the winery which ends with a wine and cheese tasting. Here is a link to a site: http://www.winesofcrete.gr/cretewin...es/Wineries/KARAVITAKISWINERY_820.html#tabs=0 Our next stop is the Archaeological Museum of Chania. This museum is located in an old church and is stunning. Here is a link to their website: http://chaniamuseum.culture.gr/museum/description Next we will be heading to the Lyrarakis Winery. This is a family owned vineyard and winery that has been producing wine since 1966. We will be doing the Wine Tasting and Cretan Cooking Class. Here is a link to their website: https://www.lyrarakis.com/en/visit-us Our boots are taking us to the Archaeological Museum of Kissamos. They have some really AB FAB mosaic floors!!! Here is a link to their website: http://odysseus.culture.gr/h/1/gh151.jsp?obj_id=3465 Our final leg of the day is the Archaeological Museum of Sitia. Here is a link to their website: http://odysseus.culture.gr/h/1/eh151.jsp?obj_id=3306 Cocktail hour is at 6 pm and dinner is at 7 pm at Sweetheart in Gennadi, just a bit North of South Rhodes.
