Crete and the Peloponnese

It has been a very long but very amazing week. (side note, Happy Birthday to my Mom! last Saturday) I got home to Thessaloniki, or as we so fondly call it Thess, late Wednesday night after traveling for 6 days. There is so much to tell, I will try to condense it for you, but this will be a rather long post. Hang in there, it shouldn't be too boring!

We started our adventure in Crete, the southern most island of Greece and the biggest as well. With only 3 days there we could not see everything. Jamie, Diana and I met up with Jamie's friend from home that is studying in London and she joined for the week. The first night in Crete we went on a dinner excursion to see traditional Cretean and Greek dancing. It was so much fun. They gave us dinner and free wine while we watched and eventually participated in the dancing. We have a few videos of it as well that I can share when I get back. It was more than just dancing, they balanced on bottles of wine, lit the stage on fire, and held a table in their teeth. In other words it was an unforgettable night!



The next morning we got up and went on an excursion to Agios Nikolaos, a town about 30 minutes east of our hotel. From there we took a boat tour to a small beach and then to the island of Spinalonga, where the lepers were once exiled to. The beach was beautiful, it had the bluest water I've ever seen and the castle was also great despite its purpose. We also saw an octopus on a bush, it was really random but apparently a local that lives there was leaving it out in the sun for the day so that when he cooked it later it would be tender. I really never know what I'm going to see here.



After Spinalonga we went back and took a nap at our hotel, and got some much needed sleep from traveling and the late night. There were 6 other girls from our school that were also in Crete for a few days so we made plans to meet up with them at a local taverna for dinner. It was delicious. On this trip I have made an effort to try all the Greek dishes that I haven't had yet sine I don't eat out in Thess much. I stared with Dakos, which is toasted bread with tomatoes, spices, feta, olives on top, and of course some olive oil. Delicious.

On Saturday we went to see the ruins of the Palace at Knossos, which was the center of Minoan culture. I found this part really interesting because I just learned about the Minoan people in my history class. This is the place from the legend of the Minotaur, the half bull half man, who was said to be kept in a Labyrinth near Knossos. Now some believe that the labyrinth they spoke of was actually the palace itself because it was so large and the passages were as complex as a labyrinth. After the palace we had some time to explore the city of Heraklion, the largest city in Crete and fifth largest in Greece. We saw some street performers and walked around the local market, it was very much like being in Thessaloniki.

When we got back to our hostel we relaxed for a while and got ready to walk down to the little town we drove though on the way from the airport. It was only a few meters up the street and it was a nice night. The village streets were really narrow and it had such pretty buildings and shops. We wandered into this small naturals shop and met the nicest Greek man, at least the nicest so far. He offered us some greek candy and after we said no a few times we had some. It was a little odd at first but then it was really really good. He showed us around the store and gave us shots of Greek liquor. He taught us all about olive oil, what the different kinds are and how you should cook with it so that the nutrients are still there at the end. It was amazing. We all bought a few things from him and then he gave us a suggestion on where to eat dinner. The taverna was so good, I had veal with onions, red sauce, and rice. While we were eating we kept talking about all the things we wish we had bought from Apostolos, the man from the naturals shop. All of us had brought only a carry-on bag so we could not bring liquids back over 100ml which limited our purchases. So what did we do? We bought another suitcase! We bargained for it to get it a lot cheaper. It was cheap and as my luck with suitcases goes it was a piece of crap and hardly rolls straight. But, it served its purpose, we were able to go back to him and buy more! We even got a picture with him to send him to put up on his wall in the store. It was really a fun night.

Sunday we got up at 4am to catch a flight to Athens for the second leg of the trip. We did gain an extra hour from daylight savings, and now I'm only 6 hours ahead the states. Well at least until this weekend, but it helped for a few days. The flight to Athens was probably the worst flight I've ever had. There were thunderstorms in Crete that morning and we saw lightning as we were going to the airport and thought for sure we were going to be delayed and have a hard time getting out, but no we left on time. There was so much turbulence I was gripping the seat the whole time. Thankfully it was only a 40 minute flight and we landed safely in Athens. When we got out we were picked up by our driver Spiros! We weren't sure if he was actually going to show so it was nice to see that he came through for us. He was our guide for the tour of the Peloponnese and drove us around in his brand new 2009 yellow Mercedes, he was very proud of his car. He was really a nice guy and had lived in New York for over 20 years so he has a New York accent even when he speaks Greek which was rather amusing.

On Sunday we went to 6 different sites before getting to our hotel and calling it a night. It rained the whole day but Spiros had umbrellas for us to use so we only got...mostly wet. We started at the Corinth Canal, where there wasn't much to see and we got soaked from all the cars driving through the puddles on the side of the road. Next was Ancient Corinth to see the Temple of Apollo which is the most notable landmark in Corinth.
Then we went to Nemea to see the Temple of Zeus. I really liked that temple, there was still a lot of the original structure. The site also included a bathhouse that was still in good shape so that we could make out the sinks and different rooms. The museum had slabs of stone that were used as starting blocks for running races. There was a small hole that you would put your toes in. We have come a long way from the originals I can tell you that much.

We then went to Mycenae which is where Agamemnon was from and was the center of Greek civilization from 1600 BC to 1100 BC. The entrance is famous for the Lions Gate which is almost completely intact. This was one of my favorites sites (I'm probably going to say that a lot!) because I just learned about this in class. There is nothing like making the classroom come to life. It was too bad the weather was so crappy, we didn't stay too long. I also got to see Grave circle A which was a very important discovery made by Schliemann and the museum had some replicas of the famous gold death masks that were found in the graves.


After Mycenae we went to Nafplion which was the capital of Greece before it was moved to Athens. It was a beautiful city and after lunch Spiros took us up the hill to the castle above the city. We spent a while exploring it because it was so well preserved, granted it as not as old as many of the other sites we visited. It was used during the Turkish occupation of Greece and one of the Greek heroes, Kolokotrones, was imprisoned there. We stayed in Nafplion that night but before going to the hotel we made one more stop to see the Epidaurus theater that was not too far away. It is supposed to be the birthplace of Apollo's son Asclepius and the temple there in his honor was the healing center of the Classical world. It was an impressive site and a lot of fun. We realized that it was actually really great that there were not many people around, we pretty much had the sites to ourselves. Finally we got to the hotel and had a chance to relax. Since it was still really bad weather and we were tired from a long day we brought some crepes back to the room for dinner and see if there was anything on TV. It was the first time since we got here that we have even had a TV to watch. To our great excitement Titanic was on one of the channels and in English with Greek subtitles. So we settled in with Kate and Leo and went to bed.

Monday morning we headed further south for a day of more driving and not as many sites. We started in Sparta, or Sparti as it is known in Greece. Now, if you've seen the movie 300 like we have you would have been just as excited as we were, and therefore slightly disappointed. There isn't anything to really see other than a statue of Leonidas and his tomb. The museum was closed because it was Monday so we did not stay too long. I guess it does make sense that there was nothing left, the Spartan culture was based on military and defense so they did not build many temples or buildings.
My camera had run out of memory the day before because I had taken so much video from the dancing the first night so I tried to buy a memory card at a camera shop. I had already deleted a lot of the videos that I didn't really want so that I could keep taking pictures so I didn't need to put it in right away. When I finally did use it, it did not work in my camera. I was pretty upset because it was expensive and pretty much a waste, not to mention it worked in Diana's camera just fine. So I'll save it and maybe be able to use it for something else. Rest assured, I was able to make it through the rest of the trip and still take plenty of pictures by getting rid of most of the video.

Next stop was the monasteries at Mystras. This was also really beautiful, sorry I keep saying that, it was just all beautiful. There were over 10 monasteries, and a castle to see. We started with the castle because we tend to like those a lot, like in Nafplion. We spent so much time there we had to rush through the end but it was still great. He dropped us at the top because they are all built into the side of the mountain and we slowly made our way down to the bottom where he picked us up. There was a large group of older folks that had just started when we got there so there were more people at this place. They were all Greek and for some reason they were all on their cell phones. I don't really know why, but I don't think I've ever seen so many people over 60 on cell phones in one day. It was odd and not something we have seen in other parts of Greece.

After the monasteries we drove up through some beautiful mountains and when we had climbed to about 6,000 feet we stopped pretty much in the middle of nowhere for lunch at this restaurant Spiros knows of. Spiros knows everyone by the way. Everywhere we went he knew all the locals because he has been doing these tours for so long he has made a lot of friends. It came in handy for us because his friends would give us discounts. Lunch was amazing. Spiros kept talking about the bean soup on the way there and none of us are particularly fond of beans but we figured we would give it a go. Then he mentioned that this woman also makes delicious goat and spaghetti! Well, I tried goat for the first time this summer when Dan tricked me into eating it and it was pretty good so Diana and I decided to go for that instead. Greek mountain goat seemed appropriate since we were up in the Greek mountains! It was amazing, everything we had was delicious and made to order.

With full stomachs we made our way down the mountain again and made our way to Ancient Messene, a site that he said we probably wouldn't have known about but was one of his favorites. I was very impressed by it, it was probably one of my top three from this trip. The place was breathtaking and we were the only people there which just made it more impressive. It had finally stopped raining and there was sunshine. There was a full stadium that we just sat in for almost and hour continually amazed by our surroundings. It was the last stop for the day and we got back in the car to drive to Ancient Olympia where we would spend the night. It was a nice drive all along the coast on the western side of the Peloponnese at sunset.

When we got to the hotel in Olympia we got pretty excited because there was a taverna right at the bottom of it and we could hear singing. However, we got our hopes up too soon. There was a problem with our reservation and we had to stay at a different hotel closer to the center of town. We were a little bummed that we didn't go to the singing taverna, but this new place meant that we got to walk around in town instead. Also, the hotel we ended up staying at was really nice and a lot cheaper. I'd say it worked out for the best. Spiros took us to a small place he knew of in town for dinner and we only had a snack being still full from lunch. On our way back we shopped around a little and made friends with the man at the T-Shirt store. Its the end of the tourist season so all the stores are really happy to get any more business. We usually get bombarded if we even step into a store.

For our final day we saw just the one site, Ancient Olympia. Spiros gave us 4 hours to spend there which we thought sounded like too much, but turns out it was just enough. We saw the original Olympic stadium. Naturally we made a video of us walking in and having a short race to the middle of the field. Now I can say I have actually run in the Olympic Stadium! The site was the most crowded that we had been too and that got a little frustrating. I can only imagine what it is like in the summer time. After going through the ruins we went to the two museums, one that was just a general account of the artifacts that were found. It had a lot of amazing statues and pottery. The second museum was about the history of the Olympics and talked about all the sports they played, when they added more, and what the women got to do since they couldn't be part of it. The best thing I got was a book that talked about the history and shows drawings of what all the temples and buildings would have looked like, and what they are now. That afternoon we got back in the car to go into town for lunch and a little more shopping before heading back to Athens. On the ride back Spiros stopped at a winery just outside Patras. We were going to try and take a tour of it because he knew that was something we were interested in, but it was closed for the day. We did get to taste some local and very delicious sweet red wine and buy some to take home.


Finally we were back in Athens at our hostel which happened to be right at the foot of the Acropolis. Very convenient. Jamie and her friend Rebecca were going to spend time in Athens on Wednesday before their flights back in the afternoon. Diana and I left early in the morning to take a bus out to Delphi. The site has had some rocks falling and other "technical difficulties" as they call it, so half of it is closed off. Mostly the best part, the Temple of Apollo and the stadium are blocked. However, from the people we have talked to it sounds like it wont be opening back up before we leave in December so it was see half of it now or none of it, we decided to go for half. I'm really glad we did because it is such an amazing place even without seeing the actual location of the oracle. paper I just wrote for one of my classes was on Delphi so I enjoyed the trip. We also got to go into the museum which was really nice. So after another 3 hour ride back to Athens, we made our way to the airport and flew home to Thess.

It was really the trip of a lifetime and worth all the trouble it was to plan it. We saw so much of Greece and so much great history. I'm staying in Thess this weekend to relax and celebrate Halloween by going to a soccer game! Not to mention I have some studying to catch up on before midterms. That was a long post but I'm really done now. Thanks for reading if you made it all the way through. There are plenty more pictures and stories I can share with you some other time. I hope if you ever get a chance to come to Greece you will check out some of these sites. Best wishes to you all.