Crazy in Crete

γεία σας! (Hello! pronounced: ya sas)

See what I mean? This Greek stuff is tough, luckily I just repeat hello everywhere I go and that one seems to have stuck. I'm slowly able to pronounce words that I see, but it helps to know the alphabet! I have a really hard time reading the letter "P" and actually pronouncing the letter "R". A word like Αμερική (America) is pronounced Ameriki. I'm learning.

This weekend, ladies and gents, we travelled to the island of Crete! It was an eight and a half hour overnight ferry ride. Not the most comfortable night to say the least. The class opted to stay in the deck seats and our program director opted to get a cabin with a BED...although it was a school sponsored trip, everyone wanted to save the money in the budget to do other things in the future..probably worth it in the end, however, I was not too pleased when the ship docked at 5 am and we had a full day ahead of us.

Our first stop was to the Palace of Knossos on Eastern Crete in Herklion. We walked around the ruins and marveled at the mystery of the Minoan culture. Shortly after, we went to an archaeological museum and viewed many of the artifacts that were recovered from the site and other areas on Crete. I saw some amazing gold jewelry that I wanted to wear! How can a civilization so old have the resources and time necessary to make such things?

After the museum, we took a two hour bus ride (AKA: two hour nap) to Xania. We checked into our motel and booked it to the beach. The water was so clear you could stand neck-deep in the water and still see your feet on the sea bottom. Spectacular. That evening we strolled along the harbor searching for a place to eat. Our search didn't last long; you can't walk more than five meters without being bombarded. "Oh my! You beautiful ladies look hungry!" In English of course, the harbor was tourist city.

After sitting down (all twenty of us) the waiters brought out a drink on the house. It tasted something like Ouzo and grenadine. Delicious. Because we have been sampling Greek cuisine for nearly two weeks now, we ordered tzatziki right away. It will blow your mind. I can't wait to come home to the states and make it for everyone! I eat it with EVERY meal. It's basically Greek yogurt, cucumber, garlic, olive oil, and sometimes vinegar. We also heard that Cretan cuisine is very good so we decided to sample different appetizers off the strictly Cretan menu. The flavors were distinctly different from Greek cuisine; however, they also add mint to many of the dishes, as do the Greeks.

Since everyone was so exhausted we all went home and straight to bed. The next morning we awoke at 0635 hours, grabbed some quick continental breakfast and caught the bus to the Samarian Gorge. It took an hour to reach the top of the Gorge; I was beginning to feel a bit car sick with all the switchbacks! But boy was it worth it. We hiked down into the Samarian Gorge for a total of 16 km. When you reach the end of the hike, you find yourself staring at the most beautiful black sand beach in the world. When we took off our shoes and felt the black sand between our toes, we had no other choice but to take off our shirts and go swimming in our sports bras and shorts!

The only way to return home was to take the ferry to a different side of the island and take the bus home. However, the ferry didn't leave until 1730. Since we had finished the hike at 1400 hours, we assumed we would just hop on the ferry and leave. After finding out how much time we had to kill, there were a few complaints. I wondered, why do we have to hurry? We had no where to be. No appointments to make. I laughed at how American we were all behaving. Of course, in less than a minute we were happily eating gelado and relaxing at the beach. We even ate an early dinner at a taverna on the beach. Best day EVER.

Sunday was a very relaxing day. We checked out of our hotel and wandered around Xania. Along the harbor are many tourist shops and tavernas. This is considered the classic district of Xania. Many of the streets are for pedestrians only, and with good reason! The cobble-stone paths are so narrow that no car could ever fit! We found a beautiful little nook with a delicious taverna and sat down for a late lunch. Three hours later, we asked for the bill. Immediately after, the waiter came out with a plate of watermelon, grapes, donut holes, and raki! It is very traditional in Greece to give an appetizer or dessert away for free. Oh, and by the way, raki is a traditional liquor made in Crete - it tastes a little like tequila, but clear. None of us were in any mood to try more (we were given shots for free the night before with dinner), but it was charming nonetheless.

That evening, we took a short bus ride to the ferry and hopped on the overnight ferry home. Thankfully, the ferry was MUCH nicer. There were no funky foot smells, no stains on the carpet, and no broken chairs. I think I even slept a few hours on the floor. Beautiful.