Mediterranean Iconic Shores Ocean Cruise

Day 10: Saturday, November 08, 2025 - Crete, Greece

The day's statistics:
-  Weather: mid 50s, overcast
-  Steps: Linda: 7,313; Steve: 11,119

We had an 8:30 excursion, so we awoke at 6:45 (fifteen minutes early) to assure we didn't have to rush to get ready before we departed.
Our routing was the usual: wake, shower, get ready, have breakfast, brush, gather what was needed for the day for the excursion (VOX, tickets, camera, jacket [maybe]).

Today was the second of three days in a row that we had two excursions in one day.
First up was Heraklion & Archaeological Museum.
Our guide was Gestenami, and our driver was Costas.
Some of what we learned included that Crete is the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean), is between (among?) three continents, has no native trees and little vegetation though there are 150 different indigenous plants.
We had a ride through the town.






We were dropped off near the entrance.
The museum was built on the remains on a destroyed monastery. We proceeded inside.
The museum was layed out from older to newer, with various artifacts - pottery, wax seal stamps (3,000 - 4,000 years old), jewelry, figurines, toys - from different eras and areas within Crete.
































In one room, we came across this really old board game - yes, board game - that is more than 5 thousand years old.

But I pulled this out here to highlight - like I've done before - the difference between the final image from a cell phone versus the final image from the camera. We're back to preference - but which is the "more natural" look? Not considering the perspective itself, primarily the blue is what is significantly different. We don't exactly remember what the color of the source is, so we're out of luck with that...
Incidentally, the top image is from the cell phone, and the bottom one is from the camera.

And moving on.













































There were a LOT of artifacts on the first floor and we saw most of them, even if briefly.
Then we headed to the second floor - which was a little smaller, and had significantly larger pieces.
Some of these pieces are recorvered artifacts with artist-added work to complete the entire work.
















The tour lasted for about an hour and a half.

After the museum, we headed out into the town on foot.
We headed straight out of the museum, turned left, and followed the route all the way into the center of town where the fountain was.








Upon arriving at the fountain, we were given about twenty minutes of free time on our own (read: to shop).
We aren't huge fans of shopping time - especially when it's more like an hour - but this time was reasonable. Plus, believe it or not, we actually took advantage of it and I ran to a nearby Starbucks® to acquire a "Been There" mug for a gift. I was able to hear Gestenami on the VOX all the way until I was stepping into the store. By the time I left, there were two other travelers also getting mugs, one of which was purchasing what looked like five or six different mugs.
I returned to the fountain to await our departure.
Gestenami was telling some other travels about the local "hop on, hop off" bus, where to pick it up - back down the street whence we just came - and talking to someone else about a taxi. These few people were not returning with the group and it was now their responsibilty to get back to the ship before it departed.
We just had to walk back down the street, turn right, and get to the bus parked next to the museum.
So we headed back a little ahead of the Gestenami so we could stroll more. Another couple was walking with us and we chatted with them until we arrived at the transport - enjoying some sightseeing along the way, but other than a fashion photo, not too much because it was the same route we took to get to the fountain - it was just in the other directiion - so we saw things on the other side of the street...

It was a relatively short trip back to the ship, but we still saw some interesting sights that included some ruins, flora, and the original city gateway.






Upon arrival at the cruise terminal, we proceeded through security in the terminal.
We exited the terminal and were greeted by a large quantity of Viking staff and management holding umbrellas - for sun shade, not rain - along with music, and a non-alcoholic beverage.

We returned to our cabin, left our excursion things, and headed to lunch.
It was a standard buffet lunch. Linda had a sandwich, some salad, and a fruit tart. I had a small variety of items from the hot buffet, and a dessert or two. No pictures though - and I'm not sure why as I usually try to get something (though not every plateful).
We went easy on the wine at lunch because we had a 1:00 PM excursion.

After boarding the buses, we headed out into town for our excursion called "Villages of Crete".
Our guide was Pepe, and our driver was Manos.

On the way to our first stop - a winery - we enjoyed some countryside of mountains, vineyards, olive groves, and towns.















After about forty-five minutes, we arrived at... this place.

The real items of interest were that there were only five full-time employees, but thirty at harvest time. Also, the winery incorporates oak barrels that are from France and Missouri.


After learning about the wine production, we headed to a tasting room and were treated to three different samples along with some bread and cheese.
We sat with Nan and John from Australia, and Bianca from Vancouver.
After the tasting, we had fifteen minutes to wander the tasting room, the barrel cellar, shop, and the grounds.



There was enough time for a selfie.

Two buses worth of travelers boarded back on the buses, and headed out. I was able to get a shot of the facility.

For some reason I didn't capture a pic of the outside of this location, but it was, alas... another family owned pottery maker / manufacturer. As this was yet another optional excursion, I, once again, can not and will not fault Viking for sending us to yet another pottery maker.
This one was a tiny bit different than the last two, though. The master potter gave a vase making demo. But this time, after he was done, he invited one of the group to give it a try too. Neither of us volunteered, but the traveler that did, did an OK job at it (I didn't get a picture of her, though).




Behind the facility was a large kiln. A very large kiln. A walk-in kiln, actually.

The fuel used to fire the kiln? Dried, ground grape nuts. No, not the cereal. Actually ground, dried grape nutes.

Afterward, the group was set free on the shop to make any purchases.
We wound up getting a couple small ceramic bird whistles for the grandkids. If you put a little water into the bird, and plow into it, it warbels. It was actually pretty neat. And clever.
The group boarded the bus, again, and headed, finally, headed back to the ship.

After boarding, dropping off our excursion items, and freshening up a bit, we headed to dinner.
We headed to the World Café tonight (for some reason).
I didn't capture the full buffet, but I did get a couple of the salads and the desserts.
I got neither the entrees of the buffet, nor the menu, nor any plate with any special item(s) on it.<

After our dinner, we proceeded to the atrium to hear some classical music from the duet before returning to our cabin to relax a little, wash up, and go to sleep.

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