Crete

So, the past week we've been quite literally all over Crete. I think the easiest way to do this will be on a day-by-day schedule.

Monday

Monday at 7pm we left Athens for Piraeus and Got on board a ferry for Crete. The ferry ride was incredibly long and not terribly pleasant, but it was a tiny part of a much longer, more interesting trip, so it didn't bother anyone much (except those with motion sickness/sea sickness, of whom there were many).

Tuesday

Tuesday morning my group (1 of 4) was told we had to leave extra early to arrive at Knossos. We were upset at the time, but looking back, I'm pretty sure we had the best Knossos experience of any group. It was the first site we saw on Crete, and therefore our first impression of the island (we were off the boat at 7 am and on site by 8). The thing about Knossos is that the original excavator (Arthur Evans in the 19th century) performed large amount of reconstruction on the site, much of which is not necessarily supported by archaeological evidence and/or is influenced by his own ideas of Minoan culture. I found the site incredibly beautiful when we first arrived (though some people thought it was gaudy and touristy).

The entrance to the famous "throne room" which may not have been for royalty at all.

Some reconstructed columns and a fresco copy.

The same columns from the other side in the early morning light.

Some of the biggest pots I've ever seen. That fence is taller than I am.

Some reconstructed columns, pillars and frescoes, along with some early-bird tourists.

More reconstructed frescoes and pots, though to a lesser, more agreeable degree.

These, I think, might be original, though most of the Minoan columns would have been made of wood, not stone, so they would be unusual in that sense.

By 8:15 the tourists started pouring in. Our professor had taken us through the major sites already at that point, so we never had to stand in lines (which were 20 minutes long by 8:30, 45 minutes by 9:00 and not moving at all by 10:00) but it got more and more difficult to see the ruins and reconstructions past the large tour groups, all of whom wanted to take pictures of themselves in varying poses with the fresco copies and larger columns. I can see why people in other groups (who all went later in the day) though it felt more like an amusement park than an archeological site.

We left Knossos at about 11:30 and headed on to drop our things in the hotel in Herakleion and get lunch. Then the group went to the Herakleion museum (which is actually an exhibit of a few really neat artifacts, as the museum's main building has been closed for repairs for going on four years) and then headed down the the harbor to check out a Venetian fortress there for a few minutes. After that, they let us go for the evening.

A fascinating statue outside our hotel in Herakleion. I have no idea of it's origin or story, but it looks so interesting.

A view of the Aegean sea from the Venetian fortress. So lovely!

Wednesday

Wednesday morning started half an hour later than Tuesday morning, which was very welcome to all of us. Unfortunately the later wake-up call was followed by an hour and a half bus ride. That took us to the first of three sites that day, Phaestos. Phaestos is the second largest site we visited (after Knossos) and it was reconstructed in a minimalist style (eg. it was hard to tell what was reconstructed and what wasn't.) This was a great contrast to Knossos, and many people preferred Phaestos. I liked seeing both the way I did, because I don't believe I would have appreciated Phaestos nearly as much as I did without having seen Knossos first.

Phaestos from the entrance to the site. Trying to take photographs of archaeological sites is next to impossible, as it almost always comes out looking like a large pile of rocks. It's not easy to capture that feeling of building foundations surrounding you and ancient life growing beneath your feet.

These marks in the walls were everywhere. Our professor said that they were probably stonemasons' marks, but no one knows for sure. They were quite lovely, in any case.

Some paint still left on the walls from Minoan times (the red lattice detail on the wall). You can still see the etched designs in several other places, but this was the best example of paint that I found. Very interesting!

After Phaestos, we went to another, again very different site called Kommos. This site was not, techinically speaking, open to the public, but our professor knows the excavator and got us access. The site was closed in the 70's and never excavated further, but for the life of me, I can't figure out why. It's a beautiful, varied site with buildings dating from the Bronze Age all the way through the Roman era (about 3000 - 200 bce*) and it's just a stunning location on a cliff facing out to sea.

Those little wood bridges can fit three people across easily. It's quite a large site. It was nice not to have to avoid tour groups and to really take in a site that was still basically as the archaeologists found it. I think this one may have been my favorite.

After an hour or so there, we stopped for lunch and swimming/shopping in Matala and then headed on to site #3 of the day, Goryton.

Goryton was much smaller, but more condensed with interesting things. It was also very empty, though we did run into two dedicated tour groups in our stay.

A byzantine church (mostly reconstructed) at Goryton.

An ancient law code for Goryton, written in very difficult to read Ancient Greek (even difficult by ancient standards, given the general lack of punctuation, obscure dialect and the fact that half of the lines are written completely backwards - including the individual letters - so the ancients didn't lose their place going to the next line. Helpful, guys.) This is one piece of Greek I hope I never have to translate.

We got back to the hotel very late. So ended Wednesday.

Thursday

Thursday brought three more sites, none of which I remember very clearly as I had neither time nor energy to take many photographs (and those I took just look like piles of unidentifiable rock). One was definitely a cemetery - and that was relatively interesting - and one was probably domestic and had several wine presses, but the third I simply don't recall at all. This might later be problematic for my paper,  but I'm hoping the notes I took (and am in the process of deciphering) will help. After lunch in Archanes (the hub of all three sites) we went to the Arkadi Monastery, and this I do recall. It was a monastery that housed Cretan rebels against the Turks in the 1860s and was blown to smithereens in a siege that supposedly involved 900 rebels and 15,000 Turks. Those numbers seem exorbitant given the general size of the surrounding area, but I don't have any more knowledge of the situation than what the professor gave us. The monastery was reconstructed and has since been abandoned as a house of God, but remains a museum and memorial to those who died freeing Crete from Turkish rule.

Quite lovely from the front. This is only the inner sanctum. It was surrounded by fortress-type walls that held gardens, monks quarters, wine presses, areas for food preparation and armories. There was also byzantine art (where photos were not allowed) and a small gift shop.

We weren't told until we arrived that modest dress was encouraged. I was wearing a camisole, shawl and knee-length skirt, so I was fine. SE in her athletic shorts wasn't so lucky. They ran out of the "skirts" before everyone in shorts got some, but they let us all in anyway. I think it was more the willingness to dress modestly that mattered. Besides, we'd just hiked three archeological sites, and were there for educational purposes. They seemed happy with that.

We then went to the new hotel, got dinner (I had a crepe, but SE and the others went out with groups) and promptly fell asleep.

Friday

Friday we were scheduled to hike down the Samaria Gorge to a beach down in that direction, but the forecast (correctly) predicted rain, so the hike had been canceled the night before. Personally, I was glad to have the day off and explore Chaniah where they left us with shopping, a harbor and many fabulous restaurants. G, M, and K all went hiking along a different, less dangerous trail (it did rain on them there, too, but they enjoyed themselves), but SS, SK and I stayed in town and relaxed. SS and I hit almost every shop in the tourist district happily looking at museum replicas and brand name knock-offs for the vast majority of the day. We started to go on a city tour with another CYA group, but the first stop involved them telling us that a major Minoan palace had been found beneath our feet. As we were standing at a busy intersection, it didn't look terribly impressive. SS took a picture of the sidewalk and we bailed.

The light house at the harbor in Chaniah.
The best thing to come out of Friday for me were my discoveries of a crafting store where I picked up 6 skeins of Greek yarn (which is currently in the form of half a purse) and a fabric store where I successfully purchased a little fabric using gestures and the little Greek I know since the two women who worked there did not speak a word of English. It will line the crochet bag once finished. :-) We had tons of time to kill, so SS and I spent most of the day walking the shops, sitting by the harbor and sitting in the park eating a pomegranate and discussing mythology/religion. This seemed to me the perfect way to end such and exhausting and extensive trip, though I know many people would have preferred the Gorge.

We got on the ferry back at 11 pm and arrived in Athens at 6:30 this morning, which is much earlier than anyone who was forced to sleep on a boat with four other people in a room the size of your average closet should have to get up. At least they gave us breakfast on the way there. The same courtesy did not apply on the return trip. The apartment has since reunited, napped and purchased groceries. It is now Saturday at 2:30 pm and I could call it a day at any time. I should attempt a little homework at some point, however and it seems a pity to mess with my sleep schedule more than necessary. There may be another nap later, though.

In other news my modern Greek is coming along pretty well, though I don't pretend to be able to hold more than basic necessary conversation yet. I try to speak Greek first to everyone I meet, though this usually backfires as they then think me more capable than I am and have to repeat most of what they say in English later. I do try, though, and I always enjoy trying to communicate with people who don't speak much or any English as it really forces me to think and use what I know as best I can. I hope the learning continues at this pace all semester.

Also, for my mother - a sign for her sign collection, found outside a taverna in Chania:

I found that funny. :-)

Kαλημέρα!