Greek Island Hopping

Dinner with a Minoan Princess

I had dinner with a Minoan Princess, in Crete, one summer night a few weeks ago.  I know this, because of one of the treasures that I saw when some friends and I visited the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion. (http://www.interkriti.org/museums/hermus.htm) The treasures were from Crete’s ancient Minoan civilisation.

Something that particularly caught my eye there, was a fragment from a fresco, showing a Minoan woman with a beautifully made-up face, red-painted lips and long, wavy hair.  She is a priestess from a fresco at the Palace of Knossos, dated 15th century B.C; to me she looks like a princess.  The fresco was found when the Minoan capital of Knossos (which is a fascinating place to visit) was excavated in the early 20^th century.  She was nicknamed “La Parisienne” because of her sophisticated, chic good looks.

We were staying at the Royal Mare Village Hotel in Limenas Hersonissou (http://www.aldemarhotels.com), and had been invited to dinner at the hotel’s Candia Gourmet Restaurant, by our Cretan friends. This is how I found myself sitting across the dinner table from a present-day Minoan princess.

The restaurant’s setting is very romantic, surrounded by palm-fringed gardens, with the sea in the distance.  It is beside a pool, shaped like a small lake, with part of the restaurant as an ‘island’ in the lake.  A silken-voiced musician provided live music.  It was obvious how much he enjoyed performing.

Our taste buds discovered the secrets of fine Cretan cuisine.  The food was excellent, so was the wine.  The conversation flowed, in between five different courses.  All during the meal, I couldn’t help thinking of the fresco and marvelling at the striking resemblance, sitting across the table from me.

Finally, at the end of the meal, I leaned forward and plucked up the courage to tell her, Valia, how much she looks like a Minoan princess.  “I know what you mean,” she said, “It’s my hair,” pointing to her long hair falling in large, loose waves, “and my nose”, turning to show her profile.

It was more than that.  It was also the eyes, the eyebrows, and perhaps even her earrings.  There seemed to be no distance in time between that portrait painted 3,500 years ago, and the present.  Valia exuded the aura of a Minoan princess and could so easily be “La Parisienne’s” daughter.

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Tags: archaeological museum, crete, fresco, gourmet restaurant, la parisienne, minoan civilisation, Myrisa Luke, royal mare village