I love relaxed bars and restaurants with an authentic atmosphere. My boys love watching movies and milkshakes in the outdoor movie theater with hammocks. However, not all children are so lucky. With the help of another excellent professional operator (kidslovegreece.com), one day we drive 40 minutes to the Cave of Zeus. It is said to be the birthplace and nursery of the Father of the Gods, but it is no soft playground. Descending the length and steep steps of Orphean is an underworld complete with thunderous, spectacular power-rock columns, where stalactites and stalagmites meet to create a natural version of the temple columns, and the earth itself strong enough to support the roof of
According to the guide’s explanation, stalactites grow at only 1 centimeter every 100 years, and some of the stalactites here can reach 20 meters in height, making them easier to evolve than humans. The nine-year-old’s jaw is visibly slack.
According to a small local myth, Crete’s ubiquitous soundtrack of goat bells was created to hide Baby Zeus’ whereabouts from his father, who tried to kill him (Dads, We’ve all been there, right?). Things seem quaint until the next day, when our guide takes us into Saints Gorge, where the high walls of the dry valley amplify the rumble until it becomes deafening. We hike, rock climb, rappel and poke our noses into small 14th century churches. There, the air is heavy with incense and the presence of sad-eyed Greek Orthodox icons. Then suddenly the valley opens up into a widescreen, a perfect pebble beach and the Libyan Sea glistening like a speck of golden dandruff thrown from the shoulder of Apollo, the sun god.
It’s definitely an Elysian, location scout’s dream…and that’s more than can be said about Knossos in northern Crete, which we visit on our final day. Recreating the Minotaur Labyrinth from the old tumbled stones here would require a ton of CGI, but our guide says you shouldn’t worry about that. The legendary “maze” simply refers to the vast number of rooms that were included in palace, warehouse, and temple complexes, and were carved into rocks to mark different functional areas, like the different aisles of a supermarket. She says she’s referring to the repeated symbols carved into it. It’s not that magical when you think about it, but my boys love looking for “secret” signs. There is a Minoan double-headed ax casually carved next to the doorway here, and a trident carved at the foot of the passage.
As it turns out, it was imagination, not creative effects, that brought Percy Jackson stories and Greek mythology to life for my children. Is it too cute? Don’t worry, they won’t mind using what they learn for nefarious purposes. Late in the afternoon, I was excited when an 11-year-old boy asked for “authentic ancient Greek” food–earlier in the day he had told me about the practice of Athenians in the 5th century B.C., mixing honey with snow. Until I quote the guide’s digression. mountains. He wants to eat ice cream, so he goes to the resort’s gelato shop again. Never underestimate the inspirational and educational power of soft scoops and television shows.
Necessities
Ed Grenby was a guest at the New Hotel in Athens (yeshotelsgr/newhotel). The hotel only offers rooms from £148 for a double. Cretan Maria Park (cretanmaliapark.gr) offers triples from £136 including breakfast. Greek Mythology Tours (greekmythologytours.com); and Kids Love Greece (kidslovegreece.com). Crete and Athens are served by multiple airlines, and there are plenty of flights and ferries between Crete and Athens (try aegeanair.com or minoan.gr), so “open jaws” You can easily assemble your trip.