Heraklion and the Palace of the Minotaur

This was one of the first "Field Trips" we took with the kids as part of their Worldschooling education.  And while we were a little worried that this would be too "academic" for the kids, they actually really enjoyed both the Heraklion Archeology Museum and the Knossis Palace ruins.  

These two tourist destinations are a nice compliment to each other because many of the original artifcacts that were found at the Knossis Palace are on display at the Heraklion Archeology Museum. 

I suppose you could flip a coin to decide which to do first, but we decided to visit Knossis Palace first as it was the closer of the two, however, when we arrived around 10:30am it was already very crowded so we called the audible and drove on to the museum.  

The museum is quite extensive so unless you are a huge archeology/museum buff, it's helpful to either plan your targets in advance or just skim along and stop at anything that looks particularly interesting.  

We actually developed a game with the kids to make it fun.  We downloaded the museum app and I would select particular artifacts in each room and the kids would have to go find it and then learn about it.  They loved the gamifcation of it and we snuck some learning in at the same time. 

In total we probably spent about 2 hours in the museum which was about as much as the kids could tollerate. Then we took a break and went to lunch at a restaurant in the shopping area across the street from the museum. 

We also spent some time working off our lunch playing on the series of jungle gyms in this massive park. 

Then we took the short 15 minute drive to Knossis Palace.  It was about 4:30pm when we got there and the crowds were noticably thinner.  Here is my honest assessment of Knossis.  We are not guided tour people - especially with kids. They tend to be overly long and packed with info that the kids just arent' interested in. Instead, we typically research the place before we visit and share the overview with the kids.  Then when we are there the adults and /or kids can read the explanation signs at each point of interest as they wish. 

In this instance, I was really into learning a lot about Knossis so I went off on my own and read most of the signs while Francesca and the kids enjoyed walking around and trying to catch the peacocks.  To each his own.  I would rate this a 4 or 5 out of 10. For me, the ruins were (a) not very extensive - a lot of low walls outlining where the palace was instead of actual buildings and rooms to go in - and (b) a lot of it was recreated, repainted, etc and not the original artifacts.  This is understanable given that anything authentic would be stolen and sold, but regardless it gave it more of a Disney/Epcot vibe than a true archeological site.  But you may think differently. 

It was a long day, it was a hot day, but it was a fun day and an educational day.  The kids (and Mommy) fell asleep hard on the way back. I woke them up about halfway home to see if they wanted to visit a Minoan settlement, but I was met with a groggy, but resounding "NO!".  We were all excited to be back at our AirBnb house at the end of the day.  And despite being knackered, we mustered the energy to take a quick dip in the ocean to cool off as the sun set.