Trip to Crete: Monday and Tuesday

So we left CYA at 7 on Monday and took a bus to the overnight ferry to Crete. These ferries were very big and more like cruise ships. We were assigned four girls to a cabin by alphabetical order. We got into Iraklion, Crete at 5am but we were allowed to stay on the boat and have breakfast. So we got off the boat at 7am and got on our bus. Everyone in CYA was split into three different buses for the entire trip. Each bus had a different itinerary. We then drove to our first site which was a Minoan palace in Malia. This was the third largest palace of the Minoans on the island. Minoan by the way refers to the civilization on Crete that came before the Mycenaeans. This particular palace is dated approximately 1700-1650 BC. Palaces were not just for Kings but were more the center of the community. They had religious, political, and social functions. This palace was estimated to house 4,000 people. They are multi-story but of course only the remnants remain and have many small rooms. It was nice because it wasn't too sunny and it was cool.

We then went to another Minoan Palace at Gournia. This was excavated by an American woman but she was only able to uncover 1/4 of it at the time and even that was ginormous so this site was quite extensive. In about 5 years they will begin work on excavating the rest.

We then drove to a little town on the water, Pachia Ammos, it was absolutely beautiful water but the beach was incredibly filthy. We had lunch there and then literally climbed up a dirt mountain path to get to the American Archaeological Research Center for East Crete. I really should have worn tennis shoes today since Gournia was on a hill and we had to hike to this center. In fact I did slip at Gournia haha so I wore tennis shoes the next day.

The center was really impressive, it had beautiful views and did really cool work. We got a tour of the facilities and they explained all the work they do in order to have finds to give to museums. The most impressive thing to me was that they have to put together pottery. So it is a huge 3D puzzle that takes months and is very fragile work, and of course they don't always have all the pieces.

We then left for Agios Nikolaos another town on the water where we were spending the night. Our hotel was a little rugged but it was fine. I was rooming with one of my roommates in Athens, Melissa. The hotels are interesting because you have to put your key in this little slot in the door in order to have any electricity on.

Crete Monday and Tuesday