Crete

The next to last week of September was spent by the entire school in Crete. Crete is a place all on its own. It is very different from the other Greek islands, from mainland Greece and everything else around it. We were told this before we went, that Crete has a very specific culture, and that if they wanted to, they could exist as their own country as their economy is strong enough for this. Crete is a very mountainous island, with lots of trees and other greenery, hundreds of vineyards, and olive groves. As we drove along the mountain roads we would see herds of goats eating by the side of the road or standing in the middle of the road. Its a pretty incredible place!

We were split up by classes, with my Archaeology of Athens class being on a bus along with the other section of the same class. We had our professor and a British Crete expert as our tour guides, which was really cool. We began in the port city of Heraklion, where we saw the old city, and then drove out to two archaeological sites and saw the ruins of a city and a palace. Both were very exciting to see, especially the palace because it still had old storage jars in it from when the palace was in use. That night we stayed in Heraklion, and I went to a free concert and art exhibition with a friend of mine. The concert was amazing! It was Spanish guitar with a soprano singing along. And both people were excellent at what they did!!

The second day we went to a museum, and then to the most famous site on Crete, Knossos, the place where Minoan civilization is thought to have been centered. Knossos was incredible. The palace has been reconstructed, but it is still fascinating to see and learn about. We saw in a museum later the art that had come from Knossos. Luckily, my teacher for the trip, Colin (the British man) had actually excavated at Knossos and really knew what he was talking about! So after Knossos, we drove to a beach town which was pretty awesome! Our hotel was right on the water, and after the tour of the old town, we went to a taverna (local restaurant), and had some local Crete cuisine for dinner! It was fabulous! Whenever people think of Greek food, they think of a lot of lamb, but I haven't noticed much in Athens, but in Crete, every restaurant was featuring several lamb dishes! And the lamb was really very good!

The third day of sites began in a museum, and later went to an ancient monastery on a point overlooking a bay. It was gorgeous! It was really cool to be able to see the ruins up close and practically walk on top of them. There was also the ruins of a Roman villa at this site, and it was really cool to see them! We spent that night in Chania, another port town, which is entirely built on top of an ancient city, parts of which have been excavated. The next day we were supposed to hike the Samarian Gorge, a 16km hike, but the weather called for rain in the middle of the day, which would have made the trail unsafe, so the hike was canceled. Instead, my two group leaders decided we would do a shorter hike to some temple ruins and then be able to swim in the Libyan Sea.

The hike itself was not bad, and the ruins were really interesting! There were all sorts of tombs cut into the stone (they had been excavated and emptied), and the temple ruins still had a mosaic floor in them! However, about 10 minutes after we reached the temple, it started to rain. We did go in the water, but we cut our time there short as it began to rain harder, and people were getting really wet from the rain. That night, we all took buses down to the Chania port, and boarded our ferry (overnight - we had cabins with beds) back to Athens, arriving at 6 AM on Saturday! Overall, an excellent trip! And in 2 weeks, there is another one, to the Peloponnese and Delphi! And then, fall break (I am going to Ireland with 2 friends), and then the semester is half over already!! Time flies!!