Crete, Santorini ― Blissful Islands of Contrasts
By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
GREECE ― There's the half-human, half-bull creature Minotaur, who was confined in a labyrinth of Knossos Palace. Bright white walls and blue domes. Doric order style columns of an ancient period next to a modern-style shopping district.
Greece is full of contrasts. It is a country where the old and the new, the myth and the reality coexist.
Two of Greece's islands, Crete and Santorini, also show very different features from each other ― Crete, the biggest island among Greece's 6,000 islands, is wild, manly and retains its natural look, while Santorini, a small archipelago, is tidy, quiet and romantic along with fairytale-like villages.
Both of the contrasting islands are, however, very Greek. The country can hold everything in harmony along with good food, nightlong dancing, beautiful nature, millions of myths and the Aegean Sea, and it is not surprising at all in Greece where a human and bull can be merged into one creature.
Crete: Wild but Charming
The cruise ship Festos Palace operated by Minoan Lines carry travelers from Piraeus port in Athens to Crete. About nine hours of sailing in the Aegean Sea brings them to the port in Heraklion, or Iraklion, the capital of Crete.
Crete is the largest island in Greece, and fifth largest in the Mediterranean Sea. It was the center of the Minoan civilization, the oldest Greek civilization in 2,600-1,100 B.C.
It is said that Zeus, the king of Greek gods, was born in Crete. Zeus had three sons with Europa, and one of them, Minos, became the king of Crete. Minos' wife Pasiphae, in love with a bull, gave birth to Minotaur. Minos had architect Daedalus make a labyrinth and kept Minotaur in it, and had Athens send seven boys and seven girls to be sacrificed to Minotaur. Athens' hero Theseus killed Minotaur, and escaped the labyrinth with the help of Minos' daughter Ariadne.
Knossos Palace is the place believed to be the labyrinth. It was built between 3,000 and 2,000 B.C. and destroyed around 1,400 B.C. from an earthquake, which was caused by a volcanic eruption in Santorini.
The palace, however, did not look like a labyrinth but rather ruins. Many parts of the palace are still buried under the ground and some of the excavated parts were carelessly restored by the excavator Sir Arthur Evans in the 1900s.
Still, it has enough to impress visitors ― thousands years old water supply and sewer facilities, a stone throne which has been preserved intact in the position it still occupies today, and frescos the colors of which are still vivid. Moreover, the unexplored parts where visitors' access is banned offer more room for imagination to the mythical world.
The rough image of Knossos Palace expands to all Crete. Mountains there are stony with scrub trees. But Cretan people knew how to use the dry land ― there are 30 million olive trees growing on the island.
Greece is the No. 3 olive oil producer in the world and Crete plays a large role. Cretan diet, which uses seafood, olive oil and vegetable, is believed to be some of the healthiest food, as Cretan people have the least heart problems in Europe.
Travelers can have a chance to make some Cretan cuisine: restaurant Kalypso provides cooking courses for traditional Cretan dishes including squid stuffed with rice, marinated anchovies, octopus in red wine, etc.
Having a hearty meal, it's time to have a glimpse of Cretan traditional costume and folk dance at the traditional village Kato Karouzanos, northeastern Crete. Male dancers' stamp is very powerful and sexy. Audience, old and young, come up to the stage to join the dancers and dance in a ring, hand in hand.
Still in the mood for dancing? Bars and clubs are awaiting clubbers in Heraklion. Cretan night starts late and it is wild ― clubs will open after midnight and the vibe peaks around 2:30 a.m. Holding a toast, saying cheers, or in Greek, ``Yiamas!''
Santorini: Extreme Romanticism
Crete was rough to the last: high waves made the ferry ride from Crete to Santorini the toughest part of the journey, with more than half of the passengers onboard vomiting from seasickness.
The sea at the port in Santorini, however, was so calm, as though the tough sea in Crete was a dream.
Santorini has been known to Koreans through a drink advertisement, and is emerging as a new destination for honeymoon. To honeymooners, yes, Santorini will be the right choice, as the houses of white walls and blue domes present one of the most romantic views in the world at sunset.
It is said that the crescent-shaped island was originally full moon-shaped, but a large part of it disappeared in a huge volcanic eruption, which affected even Crete. It is believed that the missing part of Santorini is the legendary island Atlantis.
The volcanic explosion created steep cliffs, to the top of which villages cling. In Fira, the capital of Santorini, donkeys carry travelers and luggage from an old port to the main village, which is up on the cliff, climbing zigzagged stairs of 587 steps.
Fira is more suitable for tourists: restaurants, cafes, hotels and souvenir shops are gathered. Visitors in sunglasses ― a must-have item to fight the blazing sun ― chat with a drink at open-air cafes, watching small boats carrying people between the ports and cruise ships that are too large to come alongside the small piers.
It is a small town in that travelers can look around the whole village in a couple of hours, but it may take more than a day if you are to look at various souvenir items at shops from alley to alley.
Oia, a small town about 11 kilometers away from Fira, is the place presenting the very view that travelers expect from Greece. It is either white or blue in Oia, only with a variation in hue and brightness. White houses clinging to the cliff face the Aegean Sea, and everywhere in Oia are sightseeing points.
The fairytale-like village is quiet. After having a cheerful daytime in Fira, travelers come to Oia and relax themselves. As the sun sets and colors the village in orange, couples watch it, holding hands. For two lovers, either old couples or newlyweds, it is always honeymoon at this moment.