Crete!!

Hello! The island of Crete in Greece was added to our itinerary as a
surprise when we learned it was not safe for us to go to Istanbul,
Turkey. So instead, they scheduled for us to go to Crete, Turkey, and
Kusadasi, Turkey. Crete was GREAT! The day before we arrived I was a
little nervous because I didn't have any plans for Crete. So I went to
the field program desk and ended up signing up for a day field program
trip on both Monday and Tuesday, even though I didn't know anyone
doing them. Although it was nerve racking doing it alone, it worked
out really well!

Monday's trip took us to the west side of the island, specifically the
old capital Chania (pronounced hen-ia) and Rethymno. We took a charter
bus and had a tour guide that was a local Cretan. She was extremely
informative and I learned a great amount about Crete and its long
history. One thing that I loved learning about was the Utkas
Mountains. When you looked at these mountains, you saw that the
mountain was actually shaped like Zeus' head laying down. It was
really fascinating once the tour guide pointed out that it was the
profile of a head, I couldn't see it as just mountains anymore. We
also learned that Crete has been passed among different empires over
and over again. They have been taken over by the Greeks, Venitians,
Turks, German, and more. There is evidence still in Crete of all these
different influences that is revealed through their architecture. Fun
Fact: Crete is second in the world for the largest consumers of olive
oil. We listened to Greek music the rest of the bus ride to Chania.
When we arrived, we walked through the markets to get to the harbor.
The harbor was beautiful, it looked straight out of a scene from
Venice. Chania used to be dominated by the Venitians and their
influence is still definitely apparent. We ate lunch on the water and
I ordered a plate of cheese (with feta) and a Greek Horitaki Salad. It
was very delicious and extremely filling. I then bought a bracelet and
necklace in the market on the way back to the bus. I was surprised
that out of the 18 or so people on the trip, there were only four
students including myself. One of the girls named Julia I had actually
had dinner with in London, so it was nice to see a familiar face. We
joined the other two girls for lunch and they were really nice! We
then got back on the bus and went to the next city of Rethymno. We
walked around, saw an Islamic Minaret, which is now just a historical
statue since all of Greece is orthodox. We also went shopping in the
markets and I got two worry beads and a dress. Worry beads are common
in Greece as an item to play with when anxious. We then got back on
the bus and headed back to Iraklion.

I ended up going out with the two girls I met earlier that day. Their
names are Andrea and Dana, and we were joined by two of their friends
Laney and Kassy. We took two cabs to a local hotel where more of their
friends were staying. I got a bottle of wine called Greca Terra at the
market for only 2.90 euros, so only like $4.50 US and it was good! It
tasted just like Barefoot. We had a lot of fun meeting new people and
hanging out in the hotel, and then we went to a nearby bar called
Senses. I got a few drinks there where I kept requesting them to put
monkeys in my drinks haha. It was a really cool atmosphere and I had a
lot of fun! We then took a taxi back to the ship to sleep since I had
an 8 am fireld program the next day and needed to be back. The ship is
pretty strict about students coming back after drinking so I was
questioned a bit while the guard decided whether or not I should spend
time in the 'Drunk Tank'. Thankfully, he realized I did not need it
and let me go. You do not want to go in the Drunk Tank because it's
basically an observation room and they charge you $100 every hour
you're in there. You aren't released until your BAC goes to 0 I
believe. And then you have to deal with consequences like having an
SAS hearing and what not and getting dock time (you have to wait on
ship at the next port instead of getting off). I had a ton of fun
Monday night and am so happy I decided to go out! My southside friends
would be proud of me for scolding someone who told me they were from
Chicago and I asked them where, and they said an hour away. No no no
not today! Hehe miss you gelsters. Anyways so it was a great night!
Almost got thrown in the 'drunk tank' since I came back to sleep on
the ship that night. The 'drunk tank' is when the ship security is
worried about your alcohol intoxication level, so they put you in the
observation room until they think you're sober and fine you $100 for
every hour you're in there. The security asked me what day of the week
it was, which of course I didn't know since no one on the ship knows
that even sober! Our ship is special in the aspect that we have class
days on ship and then port days, but these are not set days of the
week like monday through friday. It changes every week so no one is
ever aware of the day of the week! Luckily I got away with a warning,
but I wouldn't doubt if I get thrown in there at some point lolzies.

Tuesday I woke up bright and early for another field program. This one
again only had three students, where everyone else was a professor,
spouse, child, or lifelong learner. I didn't quite hit it off with the
other two students like the previous day but that was okay. First we
went to Gortus, which was the capital of island during the Roman
occupation. We saw the ancient forum and amphitheatre, St. Titus
Basilica, and saw the Doric Law Code carved into stone. It was very
hot and I was hungry, and it can best be described as a lot of rocks
and stones everywhere. I didn't realize the field trip I had signed up
for was focused on ruins, which isn't exactly a great interest of
mine. Next, we went to Festos (Phaestos), which is the second major
Minoan archaeological site of the island. It is situated on a hill
overlooking the Messara plain. The ruins of the palace here were
destroyed by fire and earthquake and were rebuilt shortly after. While
the remaining architecture was interesting, my main interest was in
the surrounding views. I was completely awed. Most of the amazing
views I have seen so far all have some source of water involved.This
landscape however, was of the mountains and I loved it. The wind was
blowing and it was just so peaceful being elevated above these
magnificent views. Afterwards we went to Malata Beach which was
beautiful. It had more markets, and the beach had rock cliffs which we
climbed and jumped off of. I wish I could say I jumped off a ten or
twenty foot one, but no mine was about three feet haha. I'm all about
taking risks and trying new things, but not when I don't know the area
and how deep the water is. We ate lunch where the students I was with
went around and asked everyone what we were passionate about. One girl
said she was obsessed with chemistry, another one said horse back
riding. To be honest, I don't have a hobby like that that I am
obsessed with. Instead, I told them I'm literally obsessed with my
school UD and passionate about my life and friends there. I am SO SO
SO in love with my school and friends it's unreal. I feel very lucky
for this because I know that's not the case for everyone. While it's a
little nerve racking that say teaching wasn't what came to mind for
what my passion is will be an issue I deal with later haha. I just
never want to leave UD! But anyways, we had a great time and then
headed back on the bus to the ship.

We had till 2100 before dock time so I managed to go to an internet
cafe and FINALLY uploaded London pictures to facebook. I still have to
upload Morocco, Antalya Turkey, Crete, Cappadocia Turkey, Athens,
Santorini, Florence, Rome, plus pictures while on the MV Explorer. I
feel so behind with everything, but I'll eventually catch up!

Wednesday July 10th was my beautiful big's 22nd birthday and if you're
reading this Riley, I love you so much and miss you like crazy!!!! I
can't wait to catch up on all our crazy hammy times from this summer
once we're back at UD and reunited. LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

As for everyone else, I really miss you all. I have pictures hanging
in my cabin here of all my friends and sometimes I get sad when I look
at them, but then I remember how lucky I am to have SO MANY wonderful
people in my life, and that I will be seeing you all shortly :)

PS now it's July 26th and I realized this would not post because the
pictures took up too much data, so I am just now posting it! I will do
a separate post with photos from Crete and then also catch up on
Cappadocia, Athens, Santorini, Florence, and Rome.