On Day 11, I took a tour of eastern Crete - seven tourists in a van, six from Quebec. But the tour guide Celine spoke both English and French, so it all went well.
We briefly started at the Agios Georgios (St. George) Monastery of Selinari, then went to Agios Nikolaos, a resort town for the traveler witha a bit of money
and a "bottomless" lake. Staying an hour there, we then took off for Spinalonga Island, a former leper colony and military outpost near the town of Plaka.
After lunch at the Spinalonga Taverna, we went to the Vassilakis Estate Olive Oil factory near Neapoli. Then it was back to the hotel around 6 p.m., and shortly after
it was time for dinner. And then packing to fly to Athens (up at 3:50 a.m. to get the 4:30 a.m. taxi to the airport), and then the 10 hour flight to Toronto from Athens.
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Above: Tile mosaic at the entrance to the Agios Georgios (St. George) Monastery of Selinari.
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1 and 2 show Heraklion new port as the sun gets ready to rise.
3 and 6 show Crete's countryside while driving in the van.
4 and 5 show the entrance and the main building of the Agios Georgios (St. George) Monastery of Selinari.
7 and 8 show the town of Agios Nikolaos.
9 and 10 show "The Abduction of Europe", a sculpture by Nikos Koundourou. Part mythology, part history, Europe is the daughter of King Aginoras,
King of Phoenicia around 2000 BC, and mother of King Minos (who created the Minoan civilization).
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