Alright, so the Crete ferry and the first day there.
The ferry ride was extremely pleasant. We got our stuff into
cabins and went up to the top deck to wait for departure. Then we realized that
departure was in an hour and everyone went to various places on the ship to eat
food. Before I left the deck I took this shot of the Parthenon. Blurry, yes, but I can assure you that that is indeed the Parthenon.
I had a very middling burger, which was about what I
expected. We all reconvened on the deck for departure and sat in a circle and just
talked about stuff. At some point, Luke reminded me that we had to do our
Titanic recreation pictures. So up we went to the top deck and tried and mostly succeeded
at making me fly. Picture credits to Abi.
We continued chilling for a while before we went down to our
cabins and went to sleep. Luke and I erred greatly by locking our door. Ergo,
Jason was unable to get into the room and was forced to sleep in one of the
other ASCSA cabins. Sorry about that Jason.
We landed on time at 6 am (so early) and staggered around
Chania for a short while looking for breakfast. After that, it was off to the
Commonwealth War Ceremony. The cemetery houses those killed during the Battle
of Crete in 1941 from the British and Commonwealth Forces. Among the dead is
John Pendlebury, who created some of the first archaeological guides to Knossos
and other important sites on the island. He joined the British armed forces and
was executed by the Germans during the Battle of Crete. The cemetery contains British
flowers, which require quite a bit of water to grow in the Cretan climate. I
also gave a brief talk about the Battle of Crete and the breakthroughs in
airborne assaults made by the Germans in the battle. Lecturing on the spot was a little nerve-wracking, and definitely digressed too much into how airborne battle doctrine was affected by the battle, but ultimately I think I did a pretty alright job of things. The following picture is the cemetery. I think it's a nice touch that all the graves face the sea as if on watch, just like those who lie beneath them kept watch for Crete in the war.
After the cemetery we were back on the bus to Aptara. I
discovered that the air conditioning leaks above my seat. Aptara was an
interesting site as well. Brad and I hiked backed a ways to get a look at the
theatre, which has been partially restored. It was really impressive stand on
the walls of the scena and look up at
all the rows where people would have sat. After far too short a time poking
around, we were back on the bus and headed for Kissamos.
Next up was the archaeological museum at Kissamos. We had a
lecture from a colleague of Amy's, Dr. C. Pinci. The museum really
emphasized the continuity of habitation at Kissamos, from the Minoans all the
way through the Romans. Perhaps most impressive was the mosaic excavated from a
Roman villa found near the center of the modern town. It’s a hunting scene with
Dionysus featuring prominently in the middle and many animals
around the sides.
There was also an example of Roman sculpture – a statue of
the emperor Hadrian. Hadrian was a notorious Grecophile and portraits of him
are common across the Greek world.
We also bought supplies for picnic lunch later in the day at
the shops in Kissomos. Food is super cheap here on Crete and I was able to get
200 grams of meat, a huge loaf of bread, and a couple apples for 2.50 Euros. We
got back on the bus after that, and headed for Phalasarna. Phalasarna is a site
under current excavation located on the extreme west end of the island. It had
two harbors in ancient times, but a huge earthquake raised the land under one
of them and silted the area. We debarked from the bus and walked for 30 minutes
only to find that the site was closed. Along with a few others, I headed back
towards the bus and the beach. The beach was delightful. The water, although a
bit chilly, was extremely refreshing. Lunch a potluck affair as people shared
out the goods they had purchased earlier. We also learned about bee cognition,
and this shall be the first, last, and only time this topic will ever be
mentioned.
The time at the beach ended with us getting (you guessed it)
back on the bus back to Chania, where we had landed at the start of the day. We
checked into the hotel, dropped our stuff, and headed to the archaeological
museum. The highlight of the collection there was the Mitsotakis collection.
Mitsotakis was the prime minister of Greece from 1990-1993 (thanks Wikipedia)
and a figure of controversy in the archaeological community. Using an obscure
loophole in Greek law to skirt UNESCO rules, Mitsotakis collected over one thousand
antique artifacts. Without contexts in which to place them, their
archaeological value was significantly diminished. Still, the highlights of the
collection were on display at the Chania museum. Perhaps most amazing was the
bronze bowl shown below. According to its placard, it’s the only known bronze
vessel inscribed with the Minoan Linear A script.
As the museum closed at 6 pm, we left for the Hotel Arkadi. Wi-Fi
is fast, showers are warm, and the beds are soft. Would stay again. We reconvened in the lobby an
hour and a half after arrival to go out for dinner, celebrating the birthdays
of several Summer Session participants. After our first choice turned out to be closed, we found
a backup restaurant on a cobblestone street with outdoor seating. With an antique
minaret looking over the street, we feasted. There were probably 10 to 12
dishes that were delivered by the waitstaff and passed around the tables. My
personal highlights were the pork with mustard and lemon and the lamb and
cheese pie, which contained a cheese similar to a ricotta. Luke handled cleanup
duty, consuming not just his table’s extra food, but also traveled to the other
table to plead for their leftovers. After dinner we walked back to the hotel by
way of the port, glittering with the lights of the buildings near the water. Pictures from dinner are below.
In the end, an amazing day. The weather wasn’t as stifling
as it had been on several occasions in Athens and the sites we saw were well
worth the trip. Tomorrow we’re traveling again and I’ll have another post
then. Thanks for reading!
One final note:
I think I’m going to stick to mostly travel narration on the
daily update posts. Cool historical topics I’m looking to write up in separate,
longer posts, mostly due to their length. Still not sure what to call the
series, but the first on prehistoric Aegean civilization is not too far off.
They’ll be pretty light and based on my lecture notes from the trip, so don’t
expect too much bibliography.
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