Rock, roll and vibrate!

At the new Heraklion Natural History Museum (on the seafront) an earthquake simulator both thrills and educates about the actual experience and what best to do during an earthquake (great for “Adults and Kids”!).

Displays of wildlife are superbly designed and quite well explained.

Apart from the quaking experience, there is splendid children’s area on the lower floor (that’s where I had most fun, those caves and things!).

About 1 kilometre west of the Marina and the bottom of 25th August Street (20 minute walk).

Open daily.

Don’t ask about the price..it’s very affordable.

Museum website: http://www.nhmc.uoc.gr/

This article is an interesting read – both about Greek bureaucracy and the New Acropolis Museum.

As we have not seen the completed museum yet, only an early pre-completion preview, the article gives a mouthwatering must-visit description.

On Greek bureaucracy this is perfect, accurate and the story told can be applied to everything in Greece.

Go visit the museum.
Fire the bureaucrats, almost every one of them, save the few (5% would be generous) who really contribute. Life in Greece would immediately be 100 times healthier and better for all who sail under the fluttering blue and white flag.

http://globalista.co.uk/destinations/athens/itineraries/the-new-acropolis-museum-postcard

A new Building, a new era, the new Acropolis museum opens in June.

Athens has improved so much in the last 6 years from the visitor’s viewpoint.
The walk all the way around the Acropolis, pedestrianized, with outdoor-indoor cafes punctuating a stroll beneath that most impressive of monuments has been the foundation of the transformation.

Everything of immediate note and fame to see in the centre of Athens is well, there within walking distance in the centre – all major museums and sites.

Now the new Acropolis Museum Building present a the final treat.

The Grand opening on the 20th June will be followed by 3 days of exclusive admission only to ticket-holders who have purchase tickets online (available from 1 week before the official opening day).
The museum will cost only 1 Euro for admission until the end of 2009.

Next year – 2010 – the admission charge will increase to a still very reasonable 5 Euros.

Apart from the endless delights, contemporary methods of display and plethora of treasures on show, there will also be a gift shop and cafe-restaurant at the museum.

Nearest metro station (entrance right outside the museum) is “Acropolis” .

There are two entrances – from the Metro station (on Makrygianni Street) it’s just 40 metres to the Acropolis pedestrianized walkway and then another entrance is round the corner on a side street (Mitseon Street).

Information and tickets http://www.newacropolismuseum.gr

Guide to Athens http://www.cretetravel.com/Athens/Athens_mini_guide/Athens_mini_guide-Museums.htm

(or www.CreteTravel.com/Athens )

Soon the rest of the Acropolis Museum the dramatic and modern new one, will open (the ground floor – but a small part of it – already has opened its doors), when may be the subject of bookie’s odds in London and betting dens in Las Vegas.

Britain’s Spectator magazine has written about it … read it here >
http://www.spectator.co.uk/the-magazine/style-and-travel/1875481/acropolis-now.thtml

Museum personnel will start moving the largest, weighty exhibits to the new Acropolis Museum in Athens on Sunday 14 October with the help of 3 cranes.

Today the 4th day of October a rehearsal takes place to check safety and technical strategies are all aok.

We have a great hotel which will benefit from being within 2 minutes (yes literally and truthfully) stroll of the new museum….if you want to spend time at the museum and only a few visits to all the other parts of Athens you may wish to see, there could be none better. But wait…it will be a little while before the new museum opens…the date is not yet clear.

Heraklion’s Archaeology museum which houses thousands of the most significant archaeological finds from all over Crete is now open.

The current exhibits are just a small part of what will ulitmately be available when the new buildings and total refurbishment of the museum is complete – but at last visitors will not leave dissapointed at being unable to visit this resource.

The current plan is for the Archaeological museum in Heraklion to open in August with a temporary (partial) selection of exhibits.

This date is much delayed from the originally intended April opening, but it is still by no means certain.

Will “resignations be forthcoming” because of this delay? Only if the Greek populace start demanding more from their politicians and bureaucrats (just like anywhere else)…which they show little sign of doing. However we believe in better futures and pleasant surprises. Come on guys and gals!

It might be a timely reminder – politicians and bureaucrats are paid out of the money derived from individuals’ taxes (yes yours too ! )…believe it or not they are there to serve the people and serve them well! :icon_redface:

The all-new Crete Aquarium is open. Making use of part of the old US military base at Gouves (on the north coast ) near Heraklion – the new Aquarium is currently open daily – every day – from 10:30 until 1730 hours.

Admission is a lucky seven Euros.

The Aquarium is an integral part of Thalassokosmos (Thalassocosmos) which justly claims a well-aimed spotlight on science, education and enlightening you and me about the marine world.

There are more than 30 tanks, fifty viewing points, and visitor operable cameras to delve into the more concealed areas of the habitat.

Go now before membership availability runs out…..just kidding !
There is no membership fee of course.
If you wish to phone before visiting the number is 2810 337 788 – (+30) prefix from outside Greece.

Opening hours will be longer from April onwards as we spring past winter and head for summer.

ThalassoKosmos (sea world) will open at Gouves on Crete’s north coast, a few kilometres east of Heraklion, in March 2005.

Claimed to be the largest and most up to date attraction and educational spectator exhibit in the Mediterranean, this puts an abandoned air base to good use.

Features include:
-32 tanks
-4000 sea organisms and creature
-300 square metres of glass walls
-50 observation points
-Over one and a half million litres of recycled sea water

There will also be – this is essential – Cafes, Restaurants and other expected facilities.

At a guess, over 175,000 people will visit the attraction each year

The project is supported by the Hellenic Centre of Marine Research and the Institutes of Marine Biology and of Fish Farming (how’s that for marine muscle!).

I\m excited to see this new attraction and how aesthetically pleasing the installation may be…

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.