I have now been in Greece for three weeks and am still overwhelmed by the history and personality this country has to offer. My program/life is based in Athens but we go on field trips every few weeks to visit exactly what we have been studying- amazing huh? Two weeks ago we went to Delphi and visited the oracle as well as hiked up to the poorly constructed stadium (my professor’s words, not mine!) and this past week we visited Crete.
What is so important about Crete you ask? It is the birthplace of the Minoan civilization (you learned about them in AP World I promise) as well as a giant trading hub for the Roman and Byzantine empires- are you excited yet?! We visited delicious tavernas, toured castles, had beautiful beach days, did some shopping, hiked through a gorge and made PLENTY of memories which is what traveling is all about! My favorite stop on the whole trip was the Arkadi Monastery which took my breathe away. Literally. I fell and got the wind knocked out of me but I like to think that was a higher power welcoming me into the sacred space 🙂 I’m going to tell you a quick version of a story that I feel sums up the amazing people of Crete quite well (also a disclaimer that this is a VERY brief and concise history of this event- Dr. Strom would be pained by my lack of specific dates and details). The Greek people do not enjoy being ruled by anyone. So when they were under Ottoman control, they staged rebellions which kept getting squashed by their conquerors.(Sorry Dr. Norris for using rebellion and revolt interchangeably, you taught me better!) Finally, Crete secured confirmation from other great powers (Great Britain, France, etc.) that they would receive help when they staged their next revolt. So Crete rose up but alas no help came. Slowly but surely the revolting hot spots were being put out and long story short, close to three hundred revolutionaries and their families (nearing 1000 total) went into the monastery for their last stand against the Ottomans. Rather than be ruled by, what they felt, was an unjust power, the combatants and their families decided to blow themselves up taking as many Turks as they could with them. Out of almost 1000 people, only 114 survived and were made an example out of by the Ottomans. Therefore, this monastery is seen as a sacred place full of sacrifice and bravery and TRUST me, when you are in the part of the monastery with the missing roof and charred walls you feel all of this. It gives me goosebumps just thinking about it!
I hate to repeat myself but I cannot even describe what it feels like to experience the history of all these sights in real life. I touched everything I was allowed (and not allowed) to touch just to feel close to the great leaders and civilizations of the past… pretty crazy stuff! Traveling to the Greek islands, like Crete, is a must but you have to be prepared for the amount of traveling you are actually doing. It was an eight hour ferry ride followed by one and a half hour bus rides between sights and our hotels. These long bus rides gave me a lot of time to reflect on just about anything and everything! I realized Hall & Oates makes a great soundtrack when weaving through the mountains and that even when walking on flat ground it is possible to trip and fall (but how?) and that when prepared properly, gelato can taste like nectar straight from Mount Olympus. However, being away from Athens also made me realize how much I love it. You can get 2 euro gyros on every corner, walk to the Acropolis and Temple of Zeus as well as attend some outdoor movie theaters and book markets just to name a few. I’m telling you, this country is amazing! I’ll write to you all again in a few weeks I’m sure with some incredibly riveting details of my life here. Thanks for tuning in!