During the Olympics and the whole summer Chania and Heraklion have a variety of arts events.
Singled out amongsts many:
Heraklion – Pix Lax (popular and enjoyable even for non-Greek speakers) perform songs on 15 September at the Nikos Katzanzakis Theatre
Chania – dance contest and classic dance and ballet performance on Monday 9 August

More information :
HERAKLION: http://www.heraklion.gr/English/index-en.htm (but be Warned, clicking on “Programme” entails a long, slow, PDF download!)
CHANIA: http://www.chania.gr/events.jsp?lang=en

The Olympic flame is nearing the completion of its tour of Crete.
Today (Monday 12 July 2004) the flame, preceded and followed by a procession of Olympic people-carriers, sponsors’ specially liveried vans and floats, made its way from Rethymno, through the villages of Vrysses, Armenoi and Kalives towards its evening celebration appointment at Venizelos Graves on the hillside with a spectacular view over Chania.

Villagers, tourists and visitors enjoyed the palpable excitement in the air…smiles all round and flags waving from the tiniest hands of young children and the weathered grip of older folk.

Tuesday will see the last day of the flame’s tour in Crete before it continues around Greece to its eventual home for the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

At 6.23 PM (1823 hours) local time the Olympic flame touched down at Heraklion’s Nikos Katzanzakis airport in Crete. Arriving back in Greece – the birthplace of the Olympic games.

Tonight (9 July) a concert featuring Harris Alexiou will take place at the main Eleftherias Venezelos Square where the torch will proceed after a boat trip across the harbour to the famous Heraklion landmark, the Koules Fortress.

The torch will be relayed by runners round much of the island. It will pass the CreteTravel.com monitoring room during Monday 12 July, on its way to Chania.

The summer festival in Avdou starting on July 24th and ending on the 15th of August this year, is usually very lively and well-attended (10000 people in 2003).

Most of the events are produced in Greek, but some of them can be enjoyed by foreign visitors as well, such as concerts by local bands, dancing…and an exhibition of the area’s most delicious dishes (a variety of 200 different dishes is promised for this year for you to taste).

Other events include a treasure hunt, plays, singing from the village’s old women and children.

Some dates to aim for:
- 24 July (Saturday), concert of local bands (Th. Papakonstaninou, Y. Aggelakas)
- 30 July (Friday), tribute to the Vyzantine churches of the area. The Vyzantine chorus of St. Minas participates in this event.
- 1 August (Sunday), musical and theatrical performance with the Avdou women’s chorus.
- 6 August (Friday), traditional music concert, band “Octava”
- 8 August (Sunday), feast with local traditional dishes and cretan music playing
- 14 August (Saturday), greek music night with band “Pandos kairou”

Events are all al fresco – open air and you just turn up if you wish!

Place to stay in the area:
Avdou Villas (houses & studios in an organic farm estate, with shared pool)
http://www.crete-hotels-rooms.com/Reservations/Avdou_Villas.htm

The round-the-world journey of the Olympic torch comes to Crete on July 9.
Heraklion, where the journey will start across Crete, will keep the “Laiki” street fruit and vegetable markets closed, on the 9th and the 10th.
Especially noticeable will be the Saturday market’s absence on Saturday July 10. The market is a major weekly shopping source of fresh produce for Heraklion’s residents and those from surrounding areas.
A stretch of 1 kilometre on the road by Heraklion’s port is normally covered by endless stalls of fruit and vegetables, cheap clothing and knock-off t-shirts; it is a major tourist attraction!
But no doubt the chance to see the progress of the Olympic torch “the flame” on clean streets unsullied by the excess of the market\’s produce – and to provide clear passage for this historic journey will be welcomed and also provide a much more significant, most memorable spectacle.

Athens, Greece: Athens Archaeological Musuem reopens on 24 June 2004. Better light, lighting and displays, special paints and improved disabled access and elevator. New atrium, cafe and toilets.

Among many other improvements are the display of the gold of Mycenae and the Priamus treasure that Schliemann the archaeologist found in Troy.
Neolithic golden jewelry is being exhibited for the first time.
There are around 9000 exhibits in total. At present near 5000 square metres of the eventual 9000 suare metres exhibit space are open.

A special exhibition for the Olympic Games starts on 15 July 2004.

Museum opening hours are every day except Monday, from 8.00 am to 3.00 pm until 6 July and from the 7th of July from 8.00 am to 7.00 pm.
(On holidays the museum closes at 3.00 in the afternoon).
Tickets are 6.00 Euros.
It is suggested that at least 2 hours be devoted to enjoy the exhibits – perhaps longer, and definitely so if you include a stop at the cafe!

To thoroughly enjoy the museum and many other facets of Athens the mini-guide to the city is most helpful – it’s at http://www.cretetravel.com/Athens .Many people spend a day or two in Athens on the way to or from Crete, which also has its main archaeological museum in Herkalion, being refurbished.

No need to have feared any price increases.
So far all the hotels, villas and sea-front apartments, mountain retreats and county retreats – none that we know of have any special high prices for accommodation during July, August and the Olympics.
Of course each night you stay in Crete will cost you more in July or August than say, April, but it is this way every year…there is after all a high season!

CreteTravel.com’s wonderful service and selection of enchanting and truly special places to stay in Crete housed at http://www.crete-hotels-rooms.com reflects this.
There are still many delightful places to stay available for the high (and hot) season, all the prices are normal.
Talking of prices, the rates shown on the Crete Hotels and Rooms website are final, true, include all taxes and explain exactly what they do include. So there are no unwanted surprises.

From June 15 Crete has been supplied yet again with “full” on the temperature volume control.

Daily temperatures are 31-33 degrees with the nights straining to fall below 20 degrees (all in celsius).

Bright sun, that true, deep south Mediterannean feel, is with us again.

An ongoing recent “history” of the weather in Crete and typical temperatures for each month are at http://www.cretetravel.com/weather . Lower down on the same page, are current readings for Chania and Heraklion.