Walking the Ground in Crete Day 2: Chania to Vryses

Spent too long in the new museum, so cheated a bit and took the bus to Vryses. Thankful that the route goes around the White Mountains, not directly over them. Even still, Tomorrow is all up hill…

The prehistoric gallery of the new Archaeological Museum, Chania
The Lefka Ori/White Mountains
View of the river in Vryses

Walking the Ground in Crete Day 1: Souda to Chania

Took the overnight ferry from Athens to Souda Bay. Stopped in at Souda Bay War Cemetery. Beautifully maintained and tranquil. Then into Chania itself. Maritime Museum has video of veterans, including ANZACs who were left behind and taken in by Cretan families.

Souda Bay War Cemetery
Enterance to the Venetian harbour, Chania
Footage of Allied soldiers playing cards, in the Maritime museum
Interviews with veterans of the battle

Hidden Holt, Wrexham Museum

In the 1st century AD, Roman soldiers of the 20th Legion “Valeria Victrix” set up a pottery works near to what is now the Welsh town of Holt. For the next two hundred years, potter-soldiers would produce bricks, tiles and domestic pottery from local clay, to be transported down the river Dee to their fortress at Deva Victrix (modern Chester). Now Wrexham museum tells thier story with thier new temporary exhibition “Hidden Holt: The Story of a Roman Site”

The first explorations and digs at the site took place in the 1900 and 1910s, uncovering a large scale pottery manufacuring centre, with numerous workshops, kills and a drying rooms, along with hundreds of artefacts, many of them produced at the site.

Timeline of the occupation of the site at Holt
Cabinet of objects and artefacts from the surrounding area, giving context to those found at Holt
Some of the Holt finds, including Samian ware bowls, locally produced jars, fragments of a delicate drinking cup, glass and other objects.
Detail of the scenes on the Samian ware bowl
Detail of one of the locally made jars
Fragment of a press used to make cheese