Sea Day/Crete

August 31st-September 1st
Sea Day/Crete

The 31st was the usual sea day with the usual sets at night. I did spend some time outside doing some reading on the bow, I guess one of my final chances to enjoy my time on the ship and the beautiful weather.
I was signed up for a tour in Crete that left the morning of the 1st out of the port Agios Nikolaus (translated: Saint Nick). The tour was into the mountain interior of eastern Crete and included lunch, always a selling point for me. We took the bus into the mountains to a large plateau where a number of villages have stood for years. The first stop was at a nunnery, which I guess was interesting, and meant I saw a really old Greek Orthodox Church. The highlight of that stop was when one of the 5 foot tall nuns asked me to open one of the church windows. Or I assume that’s what she asked, it was all Greek to me (haha…bad joke), but she seemed pleased after I’d opened it. That made me happy then because I’m sure the Greek Gods are now smiling upon me for helping the small old nun with her ventilation problems. Yeah, I’ll go to heaven…
Following that, we visited a museum in one of the old villages on the plateau. The museum was called the “Cretan Folklore Museum” and showed what life was like in Crete. Oddly enough, it doesn’t look like much had changed in the past few centuries. It was actually really interesting walking through these villages because they were so underdeveloped, almost entirely untouched by modern civilization. The thing that struck me the most was that this is a place where widows, upon losing their husbands, dress all in black for the remainder of their lives. I’ve heard of the tradition before, but to actually see all these old women, dressed up in black gowns with black scarves over their heads in weather that was anything but black friendly, really made me feel like I was in a different time in history and in the heart of a culture I can’t even scratch the surface of. And this all after arriving in a nice, modern bus with a ceremonial banner draped over the roof after tearing it from a church who had hung it too low over the street (if that makes sense). Who ever said tourism was a bad thing?
The museum was followed by lunch at a restaurant perched on a hill overlooking the plateau where we could see the dozens of old-fashioned windmills the area is famous for. Oddly enough, the highlight of my lunch was the Greek salad I was served. Though all the courses were great, it was the simple collection of vegetables topped with Feta and oil that really made the meal.
Lunch was followed by some more driving through the island and back to the ship where I hopped on my tender and got on board just in time for a rehearsal (unlike Ben who’s tour got him back to the ship 30 minutes late). And that’s about all for my Cretan adventure, thanks!