Iraklian, Greece

Holy cow is it windy here, it is a hang on your hat kind of day.

This is the other port that was substituted for Egypt, when I first found out about this change I was excited to be going to Crete, but have to say I was very disappointed.  This has been our least favorite stop so far.   Our cruise director announced this morning that there is a strike going on here in Iraklion, not sure why, but none the less it will affect some of the tours.  Also she was told cars and taxis would be able to go in the walled section of the city( when we went in there were cars and scooters all over the city???) and that some of the stores may be closed to support the strike, didn’t find that to be the case either. 

Crete is the largest of the Greek islands. The Venetians built a wall around the city  around the 9th century, from what I read I was expecting something similar to Dubrovnik boy I could have more incorrect.  We walked around the entire wall of the city , 2.5 miles ,  not a very picturesque walk.  If you find a walkway, cars are parked up on it or there is construction, you have to watch your step very carefully.  WE bought some local wine for our happy hour tonight, that is the nice thing about Holland America you can bring aboard all the wine you want until Jan 1st, the rules change to I believe one bottle per port .  The nice thing about this is you can try the local wines that are unavailable in the states.  Today we tried Nela a dry red wine, it tasted a little better than it smelled, I hope the other bottle is better

 

Stay tuned