Friday dawned bright and windy again, so the sea was too rough for swimming. It didn’t really matter, as the plan was for a full day excursion to Knossos and Heraklion.
After leaving the hotel at 9:00 the two groups arrived at Knossos for a guided tour of the Minoan site, lasting about an hour and a half. Most of the group did the full tour and learnt about the mythology surrounding the site – lots of bulls, gods and goddesses, animal sacrifices and, of course, the Minotaur. Of particular interest was Daedalus, who created a bronze cow for his wife who had fallen in love with a white bull; she was able to conceal herself in the cow and was impregnated by the bull, after which she gave birth to the Minotaur, sadly later slain by Theseus, assisted by Ariadne and guided by Daedalus. The site is very well organised, with a clear route to the major sights. After leaving Knossos, the groups took the short drive into the centre of Heraklion, where some visited the world famous archaeological museum, others visited the harbour, while others took the opportunity to relax over shopping, lunch and refreshment.
For the evening Pivot Teams, we were joined by four players from Heraklion Bridge club, welcomed again in Greek by Steve Cane. The event was won by George and Tanya Summers, Srimath Agalawatte and Rachel Thomas with a large margin of 22 imps, while our Greek visitors, Evaggelia Petraki, Georgios Petrakis, Evgenia Perysinaki and Marios Asiminakis came sixth with a total of 26 imps. We are looking forward to seeing them again tomorrow.
Chris Benneworth