Day Five

Friday, July 1st

Today is our first day in Heraklion! We started with an early morning, but my initial feeling was I liked the vibe of this place.

A city street view of Heraklion and the inside of a beautiful church

This was our first day with our new tour guide, Vangelis (totally unsure if I spelled his name right and I deeply apologize for that one). He is the complete opposite of Irine and walks very fast and moves very fast and expects you to have a photographic memory. We started off with a walking tour. Crete used to be under Arab and Venetian rule. In 1669 the Venetians had 135 churches, but most were converted to mosques. Later, the Ottoman presence was erased. This area shows how rule often switched back and forth and how whoever was in power tried to erase those before them while using buildings and materials to help them if necessary. We walked around a lot with Vangelis and he was irritated by how slow some of us were walking (shout out to me, Jordan and Kathryn, among others), but we still got there!!

Graffiti is everywhere in Greece (most of which I can’t read/decipher). This is just a sample of some of it. My favorite piece of graffiti, though, was a piece which read “Refugees: Welcome Home”. I stared at it and felt so much warmth and love flowing over me. This world is far from perfect, and the anarchists/rebels in Greece aren’t perfect. The way countries- whether it’s Greece, the United States, or anywhere else- are addressing the refugee crisis is far from perfect, but I have loved seeing these political messages here on Heraklion. I am so blessed to be here and to be studying abroad, but I can’t help but think about how much this country focuses on tourism (which they desperately need for their economy) rather than other things… And how certain people are forgotten worldwide. Sorry for the rambling, I have a lot of feelings and emotions and I hope more people will have homes soon.

During our tour we went to a small museum which was very cool. Here we got to see how different people affected the island. Here is a simple timeline, just for my own reference: the first Byzantine period was from 330–827 AD. The Arab occupation was then from 827–961 AD. The second Byzantine period was 961–1204 AD. Venetian rule was then from 1204–1669 AD. One of the coolest things about this museum is learning about WWII. In America we have a very Eurocentric education, but I have been slightly ignorant to just how focused on America we are. I knew that Greece was affected by WWII, but I mainly just knew this as a bullet point during the AP European History exam in high school. The Greeks were strongly affected, though, and walking through an exhibit and seeing how a war that I know so much about is explained by another country was fascinating and an experience I am glad I had.

After our walking tour and the small museum, we had time for lunch, shopping, and to check into our hotel. There were some nice little knock-off stores, and I bought a cute pair of black sunglasses and some knock-off Angel perfume. The perfume smelled like nothing and gave me a rash, which makes sense since I paid two Euro for it when a small bottle typically costs $80. We went into a few boutiques and I ended up buying a dress which I really liked, and I experienced Greek hospitality when I was shoved into about ten dresses by women who kept telling me I looked like Brooke Shields (never heard that one before). After checking into our hotel I did some laundry and relaxed for a bit before we headed to the museum.

Some pieces from the Archeological Museum. The first piece is a rhyton, which is used for sanctuaries. The second piece is a piece that a human body would be buried in, but I think that can be figured out from context. I have no clue what the third piece, I just thought it was pretty.

At the Archeological Museum we learned that Crete has been around since 8000 BC. We talked more about Linear A, since it was found on Crete. It corresponds with Cretan hieroglyphics, which is pretty cool. There were also snake goddesses, which are awesome because I love snakes.

There was destruction of palatial and peripheral centers in 1450 BC, the palace of Knossos was the only one to continue in use. The museum is in chronological order, so it shows the decline of civilization, which is pretty dope. We saw the Bull-Leaping Frisco with women who were painted white, and the bull leaper of ivory shows the veins of the man. The axe is like the cross or a weapon that’s celebrated, because the axe was used to sacrifice the bull.

We also saw the Ladies in Blue, which is a very well-known piece. However, I hate to say this, but a lot of these pieces aren’t that impressive to me because I’m not a visual person (fun fact about me: when I close my eyes, I don’t see images, I imagine words to describe people or situations or things. If I think of Greece, thousands of words rush to my head, but not images. I also dream black and white. I should probably get this all checked out). ANYWAYS, because I’m not a visual person, it is hard for me to conceptualize what the picture would look like without the pieces they added- which they are just guessing is what it looks like- so I sorta just look at it like “cool?”

The museum was awesome but overwhelming, but I had a fun time at it. If anyone reading this (that’s me assuming anyone besides Professor Barnes will read my work of art that is this blog), go to museums at the end of the day when it’s almost empty! You feel like you have the entire place to yourself and it’s awesome!

Additional work from the Archaeological Museum! I’ll admit that I didn’t make this stuff.

That night we went out to enjoy our first dinner in Heraklion. A few of us decided to pre-game dinner, because we wanted to feel good and not spend all of our Euros. The little store next to our hotel had cheap wine, so we got some and bonded before dinner. Dinner was good and we tried raki for the first time! Personally I really enjoy raki. This is convenient, because most people do not enjoy it, so I get more. However, no matter what anyone tells you, don’t sip that shit. Shoot it. It burns. NEVER SIP IT.

Heraklion is awesome, raki is awesome, and the people on this trip are awesome. That night AJ and I slept with our door open and enjoyed a light breeze and the sounds of Heraklion, and it was so peaceful and unique. I’m happy to be here!

Some of us before dinner being very classy!