Time in town

Today was a free day for those who hadn't paid to circumnavigate the island of Spinalonga, a former leper colony. I think we made the best choice and caught a bus into Heraklion to soak up the atmosphere.
 
Having visited the Venetian fortress of Koules, built between 1523 and 1540 and shown in today's Blip, Tim and I continued along the mole which encloses the harbour. The people of Heraklion apparently call the mole "Bypass Avenue", as many of those walking here are heart bypass patients taking the regular constitutional recommended by their doctors. It’s certainly a long walk and when we finally got to the end we saw that “2km” was painted on the wall! That was one way. For some reason I persuaded my friend to pose as a beggar in front of one of the many murals painted on the seawall!
 
After lunch at a seaside cafe Tim went off to visit a museum, which was closed! I walked around the back streets and along part of the fortified walls, begun by the Venetians in1462 and taking 100 years to complete. There's a lot of dereliction and graffitti in this part of town. I had a charming conversation with an elderly Greek who spoke no more English than I did Greek! Just before catching the bus back to the hotel we were caught in a downpour and got more than a little wet. Talk about soaking up the atmosphere!