Crete!!!

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Hello to all,

I need to get better at updating this more often, but it is hard because school has really picked up in a short amount of time.

Last week I had long days of class. Some highlights included having a cooking class on Wednesday. We made grilled pitas and tzaziki sauce, greek salad, and meat. It was delicious, and I can't wait to make greek food when I go back home. Food here I have become addicted to includes tzaziki and grilled pitas, chicken gyros, and chocolate croissants. Ah, it is so good. The Greeks sure know how to eat. We have adapted fairly well to the Greek eating system, such as we now eat dinner much later than we normally would at home.

On Thursday we had nine consecutive hours of class (it was horrible, not to be dramatic at all...), and then we went straight to catch our overnight ferry to CRETE!!!

My wonderful program directors, Mike and Jane, planned our Crete trip as an extra excursion. We had to pay for it, but our travel agent Anna got us a deal of 150 Euro for 2 nights on a ferry and 2 nights in 2 different cities in Crete. Plus, it included breakfast at the hotels. Everyone in my group except for three people came with us.

So, on Thursday night 29 of us (including Mike and Jane) took the Metro to Pirreaus, where the ships leave, and found our boat. The boats that go to Crete are HUGE. About the size of a small cruise ship I would say. We had 4 people per cabin, and we hung out and played cards, and then went to sleep because the ship landed at 6am.

Early on Friday morning at 6am, 29 of us got off of our ship in a town in Crete called Heraklion. We wandered around the streets for a good hour or so before we found our hotel (We still get lost all the time...even Mike and Jane were confused on where to go). We checked into our hotel, ate breakfast, and then headed over to Knossos Castle. Knossos Castle is considered a large Bronze Age archaeological site in Crete, and while it is mostly ruins, some parts of the castle were restored later on. By the ruins, we could tell that the castle was just HUGE. This castle was probably a place where the Minoans had political and ceremonial events, and was built around 2000 BC.

After the castle we split up, because it is hard for 29 people to go around together. You are bound to split eventually. I went with about ten others to a Venetian fortress that was built in the 16th century in Heraklion. It was on the harbor, and was absolutely amazing. While it was destroyed and rebuilt, it is in a gorgeous location and was really neat to see.

After the fortress I went with two friends, Alie and Shayla, to the beach. We attempted to go wtih 3 others, but they went in another taxi. One thing about Greece is, transportation is NEVER reliable. They were in front of them, but we saw them turn and we knew we would never find them. Anyway, we found a great beach with glistening blue water and hung out there for a few hours. Because the beach was in the outskirts of Heraklion, we attempted to take a bus back into town. Long story short, it took us about 2+ hours to figure out how to use the bus and wait for it for awhile. Oh Greece...

We went back to our hotel, finally checked in, had dinner (chicken gyros of course) and then we all gathered and played cards in one of the guys room. Some of us went out to find a dance club, but we only ended up finding bars. Most of Greek nightlife is sitting around in couches outside. So, we did as the Greeks do, and hung out outside. Then we headed back to the hotel because we had plans to wake up early.

Around 7:30am Saturday morning we woke up, ate breakfast, and headed out to the archaeological museum in Heraklion. It really was a cool museum, because it had a lot of the items they recovered from the Knossos castle. We really havent had too many problems with Greek guys being creepy and trying to get our attention, but today was our first taste of what Italy might be like. There were 300+ Greek soccer fans sitting outside at a tavern. They erupted in cheers, making rude noises, and were just super loud overall. Needless to say, we ran to the museum.

After we were done at the museum, we went back and got our stuff and hopped on a 3 hour bus ride to Chania. This was the town we were going to spend our second night.

Okay, I will add more later about Chania, because i did the coolest thing I have done yet in Greece here. There's a little cliffhanger for you...I will add pictures too.

xoxo

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