Our Odyssey

We went to Greece! Specifically, we went to Crete, for the meeting of the International Biogeography Society. The meeting was great. Then, E and I spent a couple of days seeing other parts of the island, with our friends German D and M, and South African M. We spent 5 days in Irakleio (or, Heraklion, depending on how you convert Greek to English letters), and then 3 days seeing other places, including the archaeological site at Knossos, and the harbor towns of Rethymnos (Rethymnon) and Hania (Chania, or Xania). We had great weather, and saw a lot of cool stuff. Here are some of our favorite pictures:

Looking out over Irakleio, from the old Venetian wall that surrounds the inner portion of the city. The day before the conference, E and I walked almost all the way around that wall.

Just below our hotel in Irakleio are some remnants of an old aquaduct.

After the meeting, German D and M, E and I rented a car and drove to Knossos, which is just outside Irakleio. It's an archaeological site from the Minoans, occupied starting in at least 1700 BCE. It was very cool to see it. Unfortunately, the archaeologist who worked on it (Arthur Evans) was very into "restoration", meaning that a lot of what we saw was actually built in the early 1900's, and represents his guess as to how things looked. Still, a very interesting place to see.

E examines some old stones. This place is also associated with the legend of the labyrinth and the minotaur, and it was easy to see why.

After Knossos, we drove along the north coast of Crete, stopping for a couple of hours in the town of Rethymnos. It had a very charming downtown area . . .

. . . an old Venetian fountain . . .

. . . amusing signs for tourists . . .

. . . and a beautiful lighthouse.

From there, we finished the drive along the north coast to the town of Hania, where we spent the next three days.

The very beautiful harbor of Hania.

The more active part of the harbor

Our friends, German D and M, looking out over Hania from an old Venetian wall

Downtown Hania is full of little alleys. We'd often think that we were headed for a dead end, when suddenly, a side-alley would open up, and we'd be off in a new and unexpected direction.

The harbor of Hania is protected by a big sea wall. Here's E on the far side of it. Watch out for waves! We did go in the Mediterranean, but not here.

Just outside our hotel was this very nice door. I stood in front of it for a while. I was disappointed with the lack of blue doors in Irakleio; fortunately, though, Hania had me covered.

Taken from the base of the Hania lighthouse, looking along the sea wall.

The alley leading away from our hotel. It was very charming.

The harbor and lighthouse of Hania