Day Seven

Sunday, July 3rd

Today we went to a few different sites. First we went to Gorton. For reference, this is the place where Europa and Zeus had some good times for nine nights. One thing I learned here was that if you see brick, it’s either Roman, medieval, or Byzantine. The Greeks didn’t use it. This is actually really useful when looking at buildings to figure out what time period things were built in.

The ruins were destroyed by the Arabs, but you could still get a good idea of everything. On the hills there was an Acropolis that was dedicated to Athena. There were also the remains of a theater on the slope which was from first century Roman times.

Society was arranged like it typically is with four classes: aristocrats at the top, then the middle class/free citizens, slaves who belong to the state, and then common slaves. An example of how this worked out was that if a free woman was sexually assaulted someone would pay 100 drakma, but only 5 for a slave woman. Justice is always evenly distributed and just, right? However, women in Crete/Minoan times DID have more rights than the average woman during those times. If their husband died, they didn’t get to marry whoever he had picked out, they could choose their husband as long as she paid his relatives. Women’s liberation, y’all!

The form of writing during this time was really cool too. It was called boustrophedon and went left to right then right to left then left to right, etc. I wish we still did that because it would be so easy for my brain to follow. I’m a quick reader already, but I’ll take all the help I can get!

It was INCREDIBLY hot when we left this site, and a lot of people bought water and had to cool off. I was worried a couple people were actually going to pass out at some points. For some reason the heat really hit us that day. Onto the next site, though!

From there we went to Phaestos!

Phaestos is another “palace” we visited. This one was really cool! Am I a repeat record? I feel like I keep saying I like the places we are visiting. I guess that’s a good thing, since this is my major and this trip put me a few grand (more) in debt, but still, it’s all really rad!

The first complex at Phaestos was built in 1900 BC. Two hundred years later they built a new one after an earthquake. They stored most of their stuff in pythos. They had a ton of rooms and a few floors, and their stairs were awesome because they were built to prevent flooding. There were rooms for worship, cleansing, and libations. People could come here and cleanse themselves- there were also areas where priests did chanting and rituals and crowds waited for an epiphany. There was a social area with shops and basins and metal-making. There was an area where the king and queen would live. The queen’s room was big, but looked small compared to today’s standards of a queen’s home. It was a beautiful place and the preservation was cool. I felt like I could actually envision what it was like a few thousand years ago.

After Phaestos we went to Matala. This was where I found my people: the hippies. Matala was an old hippie commune back in the day, and you can definitely see the remnants of it today. There were even hippies who lived in the caves of the area about half a decade ago, and I’m all about that. I bought a cool mushroom shirt here which I sadly lost somewhere. We had a good lunch and some cool drinks and some complimentary raki shots, which I’m always here for.

The water of Matala was incredible. The waves were rough, but I love big and rough waves. We swam out to an area with cool cliff jumping and just had a good day in the sun. Good vibes only with the nudists and the old hippie vibes! This is also the day that sweet, kind Katie told me that she’s actually a closet bitch, so the trip has really been flipped completely. I’m not sure if I even know anyone anymore!

The one HUGE negative about Matala, however, was that the evil sea urchins finally got me. On my hand. My fucking pointer finger on my left hand, and luckily I’m left handed! Last time I grab a rock when a rock is crashing me against it. Ow.

When we got back to Heraklion we had to accept that this was (sadly) our last night in Heraklion. This meant we went out and had a HUGE dinner with a ton of wine. It ended with everyone feeling pretty good and staying out until about 2 AM drinking and having a good time. It was so fun and the food was amazing! Plus there were dogs everywhere. The street animals are a definite plus in Greece. If Americans weren’t so evil and messed up and gun obsessed I would want animals on all our streets, but I don’t trust Americans.

Bye, Heraklion! You’ve been great!