24/4 - Chania, Heraklion, 25/4 - Heraklion
We took a walk around Chania in the morning.
Mosque Janissaries, Chania
Jewish altar at the Etz Hayyim synagogue
This is the first time I've been in one
Etz Hayyim entrance
"Pucca - funny lovestory. Pucca is a daughter of a chinese restaurant. She is a mania of zzazzangmyun. Her boyfriend is Garu, who is always being chased by Pucca. U will enjoy their funny lovestory."
It was funny for an unintended reason, I think. I think the guy fell asleep on the keyboard. The Koreans learn fast from the Japs.
It was very hot so I was walking around with an umbrella. It was very shiok. I was the only one doing so, though, and so I think all the Greeks were laughing at me.
Morosini Fountain
Industrial size Nutella - 3kg
The next day, my brother in law and someone wanted to see some more churches, so they headed out in the car while I stayed in Heraklion.
Venetian Fortress in Heraklion
Inside the fortress
View of the Harbour from the fortress
Top of the fortress
Tunnel to the roof
Side of the fortress. A boy and a man were fishing behind me.
Venetian Arsenal, where they repaired their galleys
I then went to the Cretan historical museum. I found that Heraklion had been subjected to the longest siege ever in the world - 21 years. Wow. Rather than paying tribute to Venetian tenacity, the museum found a way to blame them (bah): "The laxity of the Most Serene Democracy in failing to strengthen the city"
Damn Turks; More ranting against the Evil Turks (TM).
"The unbearable oppression of the occupiers led many Greeks to denounce Christianity and espouse the Muslim religion... The infamous Turko-cretans emerged at this time: Cretans by origin, customs and language, but Muslim by faith. They often proved themselves to be more savage and cruel than the Turkish Muslims... Unorganised fighters known as hayins (hayin = treacherous) took it upon themselves to revenge injustices perpetrated by the Turks. The administration tried its best to suppress the hayins by organizing special search bands of fanatical Muslims"
I wonder what they'd say about the expulsion of Muslims/Turks (then again the two are probably the same to them) from Crete - cleansing?
Lion of St Mark, 17th c. from Chandax city walls
Venetian coats of arms
Armour, swords - probably Venetian
They had excerpts from Triumph of the Will playing in one room (on the invasion and occupation). Hah!
Frescoes from 1240, from the Church of St George in Rethymnon
After that I went to the museum of St Catherine where there was a large collection of icons, mostly post-Byzantine. Though they were more fluid and natural than earlier Byzantine works, I still prefer Western religious art. Unfortunately photography was not allowed.
19th Century Cathedral in Agias Ekaterinis square
I was disgusted by how cheapskate the attendant was - after people who'd lit candles had departed, she gathered and extinguished them, then throwing them into a bin. I strongly suspect they reuse the candles. Seeing this cheapskate behavior, this woman got scared and instead of planting her candle in the stand walked out of the cathedral with hers.
Bembos fountain
More cheap cigarettes
Kainouria Porta - the Venetian walls are 40m thick at this point
Shrink wrapped whole fish and loose frozen prawns - this is the first time I've seen this sort of thing
For dinner, we went back to this place my brother in law and I dined at the first night - the one with the "submarine". Unfortunately, the "submarine" was not available once again (along with many other things). We also spotted new errors on the menu, like "fresh friesh" (pommes frites) and "fire-cured" (smoked) eel. Unlike at almost all other Greek restaurants, the fella didn't give us small cups of raki with our bill, and unlike all the rest he didn't thank us for our patronage. He was also quite blase in other ways - he had a real attitude problem.
Greeks like to sit facing the street when they sit at kafenions (cafes) and tavernas (restaurants).
Despite being leery of pictures with her in them when she was younger, someone was very keen to take such shots ("CMM shots" as she calls them) on this trip. I attribute it to old age.
Quite a few old Greek women have moustaches. I wonder why.
Almost all Greek graffiti creators (they don't qualify as "graffiti artists" since their graffiti sucks) only know one English word - "fuck".
We were told to leave €27 (for extending the car rental by one day) "under the car". Uhh.
I saw a Jap placemat with a picture of a pig and the caption "pork chop and friends". Uhh. ("Pork chop" is the pig's name).
Heraklion has a lot of €1 shops.
I saw "Hard Rock Cafe Crete" T-shirts. Far *and* no cigar.
There was a place selling "air or bus tickets to Europe". Uhh. (Not only is Crete already in Europe, how can one take a bus to anywhere from there?!)
In a shop I saw a TV ad for a Playboy "Playmate 2006" competition. Other than the name, it seemed like a normal beauty contest. Are Greek girls really so eager to pose for Playboy?!
In Greece, as in the rest of Europe, when cashiers give you your change they count back towards the original amount you gave them. For example, if I pay for a €1,50 Gyro €5 bill, I will get €0,50 back ("2"), then €1 ("3") and finally €2 ("5"). It must be a cultural thing.
What's wrong with Europe? Beer/wine can be cheaper than Coke, even ml by ml. Gah.
Greek restaurants only give you your cutlery and glasses after you order.