Crete Pt. One (Ferry and Iraklion)

Thursday night classes finished around 6. We hurry to the apartment and quickly pack our bags for the upcoming trip to Crete. Sam and I stop by Andreas' apartment on our way to the metro and have ourselves a Greek dinner, boiled greens with chicken and spanicopida (spinach and cheese pie). As the sun sets through the trees of the National Park we hurry to catch the train out to the Port of Piraeus where our ferry, the Ariadne, waited. Arriving for the first time in Piraeus, it is obvious to me by the smell and sight that Piraeus is a port town, an ancient one at that. With little than an hour till we leave, Sam and I could not help meandering through the streets in search of the cheap Greek wine that has brought us so much joy. Equipped now with wine and a dozen boiled eggs from home, we boarded the ferry.

The ferry ride was fun. Saving 55 Euros we opted out of cabins. We slept on the deck curled up in our blankets as the ink black meditteranean night passed swiftly over our heads.

Crete was fun. Knossos, the cite of the ancient Minoan civilization was amazing. We arrived at 6 in the morning in Iraklion, and choose to walk the 5 plus kilometers to Knossos. Along the way we picked up some four legged friends. In most cities in Greece, stray dogs are abound. They seem clean, and seeing as our new canine friends were willing to accompany us on the duration of our walk, we were happy to have the local escort. Knossos was old; like really, really old, man. To try and put this into perspective: the Minoans were as ancient to Aristotle as Aristotle is to us. (M:A::A:? if you said, U for us, that is correct.)

In Iraklion, we were able to see a medieval Venetian fortress and the many museums full of broken Minoan pottery, very interesting... The fortress was quite exhilerating, though. The view from the top was spectacular.

I was reading a book by a Greek author at the time, "The Emptiness Beyond." This was a Cretan Cathcher in the Rye. As we took the train from Iraklion to Xania, I was astounded as the narrative in the story took the author along the exact same route.

(short side note: The author is clearly a very sexual being based on the novel. Andreas, the hairdresser, is friends with

a woman named VIcki, who dated the author for five

years and attests to the truth of this...)

Our first night in Crete concluded with a gyro pita

and a beer. Fantastic!

That is me with a Minoan pillar. I title it, Mikhalis and the Minoan Pillar. --------------------------->