In the words of Homer: “There is a country in the open, on the wine-coloured sea, that is as beautiful as it is rich, alone in the waves.. This is Crete.”
A not-so-Greek island under Greek rule. The second largest island in the Eastern Mediterranean after Cyprus and the fifth largest in the entire Mediterranean.
The influence of the British on the island is felt seriously. In addition, it has the distinction of being the region that most protected the Ottoman ruins in the lands under the Greek domination.
When the Cretans went out to the open field, they had the ability to find 40 kinds of herbs and make different salads and meals from each of them.. This feature generally dates back to the descendants of immigrants living in the Aegean Region.
To Patmos island at dusk After saying goodbye, we reached the Crete Port in the early hours of the morning before we could say goodbye to our tiredness.. The weather is pretty scary, clouds are everywhere. We feel the cold of the morning on us and think about what to wear.. I put on a short-sleeved T-shirt and toss something long-sleeved in my bag.. We are preparing to enter the island from the bonded zone.. Special tours are arranged for those who want to again on our ship.. We decided to travel personally; we’re starting to take a step. They intimidate us since it’s Sunday. Everywhere is closed, rhetoric such as come with us…
Customs officers in military uniforms – instead of the policemen working at the customs here, gendarmerie-style officers do this task – they are all large as if they had come out of a single mold. slaughter and grooming. We ask the officers a few questions and leave the bonded part of the port.. Again, we hear familiar questions “Are you Turkish?”.
With the expression of Murat Bardakçı, this is the candidate who raised the best boys for the Ottoman Palace.
Cretans are the most decent people on the land of Greece, it is said…
We are on the bleakest morning of a Sunday, so there is not much for people around.
Mercedes taxi drivers before us. Every one of them is attacking the tourists. They try to determine our nationality by looking at our outward appearance, and on top of that, they try to establish a rapport by whispering something in the language of the country in their determination.. After Italian, English and Spanish, they especially start when we emphasize that we are Turkish. Our grandmothers and grandmothers were born in Turkey; it even looks like it says “Kokluca” place of birth on its ID.. We don’t know which is right and which is wrong.. But all we know is they love Turks. Almost everyone has a memory or a bond with Turkey; they like to talk about it.
When Müge, one of our three-person walking group, said that she was very curious about the Knossos Palace she saw on the internet and that she would definitely like to go, Knossos was our primary target since we did not research about Crete before.. Our bargain with taxi drivers starts from 80 Euros and decreases to 30 Euros.. Be you, don’t go with taxi drivers, these are the places where metropolitan municipalities are located.. Municipal buses are both new and comfortable, and all drivers speak English.. As a result of negotiations, we run the grassroots system when we can’t fit our budget.. We leave the port gate and cross the first main street.. Knossos sign ahead. According to the sign, Knossos is 6 km from where we are.. we start walking…
What if we come across a bus while we are walking?. We come across a young man, we ask “Do you speak English”, he says “no” and runs away.. An elderly aunt says “yes” to our question and begins to explain.. approx. 3 km. after walking we realize that there is something wrong with this business. No bus goes. It turns out that the buses coming from a lower parallel street converge at the end of these three kilometers and go to Knossos.
We try to hitchhike screaming as our feet start to hurt.. Our shy attempts fail. Of course, keep photographing left and right.. We pause in front of a newsagent’s. Rain of questions on the first bus. The driver says you can take the number 2 bus, tickets can be bought from the kiosk at the back.
We are located Heraklion, the capital of the island; It is called Iraklion or Heraklion in the Greek language.. If we imagine the island stretching from east to west over the Mediterranean like a plate, we are entering from the middle of the island.. It has a total of 4 cities. Cities other than the capital city of Chania, Rethymno and Lasit.
We wait for the bus after purchasing the illustrated bus tickets of the Municipality of Iraq with a touch of Crete.. Again, we come across an English-speaking driver and inevitably make comparisons with Turkey.. Of course, as a result of this comparison, we burst into laughter when we think about the reactions our drivers will give to the tourists.
The remaining 3 km with our municipal bus, which even has a thin-screen TV inside.. we are completing. The last stop is the ruins of the Palace of Knossos.
After finishing thinking about the connections between our pocket money and high museum entrance fees, we step inside anxiously.. Big surprise! Since it is the European Union Museum Day, admission is free.
Muge’s; “Knossos Palace is as majestic as our Topkapi!” We are in a great shock after your words. A few pieces of Knossos, which we have envisioned, remain.
This ancient city, which was the capital of the Minoan Civilization, was founded between 1700 and 1400 BC.. While the palace consisted of 1300 rooms in total, peacocks roamed freely in the palace garden.
There were appropriate sections around the palace for processing olive oil and wine.. Especially the columns dominated by the red color were destroyed due to wars and major earthquakes.
Inspired by the Romans with the system of collecting rain water and distributing it to the city.. There are traces of the use of the world’s first modern solid waste storage system on the site.
British archaeologist Arthur Evans The land of these ruins, which belonged to 5 Turkish families, was purchased and the renovation process started.. As a result of the tourism-oriented unplanned renovation with a little imagination and a little aesthetics; This carelessness caused the city to be removed from the UNESCO World Heritage List.
After our 45-minute tour, we leave the museum entrance and head to the souvenir shops across the street.. It makes us happy to see people who are so cute and so friendly.. Shopkeepers certainly don’t keep an eye on you while you’re looking at things.. It doesn’t interfere with you, it doesn’t redirect. If you’re curious, it starts telling, again until you stop them.
While I was examining the fridge decorations, My sister and Müge started to examine the objects.. After our Turkish conversations, the owner of the shop asked, “Are you Turkish?” he turned to us. Yes, after your answer, we started talking about Turkish-Greek relations.. After getting detailed information about each souvenir, we stayed for about half an hour thanks to the abundance and attractiveness of the variety inside.. As our return time to the ship was approaching, we headed for the bus.
A tourist stopped at the bus stop where we were waiting for the municipal bus. asked. We chatted a lot from the moment we boarded the bus until we got off the bus.. Italian husband and wife came to visit Crete, and towards the end of the conversation, they took note of my e-mail address and invited us to Italy.. Likewise, we said that we would like to see them in Turkey one day.. The thing I was most proud of was to destroy the bad Turkish image in their minds.. Contemporary Turkish people like us are the best examples for foreigners who confuse Turkey and Arab countries…
We looked at the magnificent Genoese castle right next to the port under the guidance of the Italian family.
Taking photos with Italian tourists, Greece’s population of approximately 600 thousand and hosting 2 million tourists a year alone; but most importantly, we returned to the port, to our ship, to say goodbye to Crete, which was a serious disappointment for me.
