Crete is a rocky island on the edge of Europe, facing the Maghreb across the Mediterranean. The island has a turbulent history of occupation and changing civilization from the Ionians to the present-day Greeks. Not long ago the Ottomans were in charge from the mid-17th century until just before the 1^st World War. Remnants of fortresses dot the island, from the ancient ruins of the Knossos Palace near Heraklion to the Venetian Harbour with the iconic lighthouse in Chania. I was reading all that while on a two-hour layover in Athens en-route to Chania, on the northwestern part of the island.