More Islands

Thursday Oct 6, 2011

Our first explore today was the city of Heraklion on the island of Crete. After our guide (Dimitri) showed us around a little he left us to explore. The first thing we did was go into the art gallery just to see what they had on display. It was a collection of photographs from the second world war taken by Costas Belafas . He had documented the resistance movement that had eventually been joined by the allied force and been a big part of freeing Crete and bringing victory to the allied forces. The collection was emotional and gave me a feel for the challenge this proud culture has faced that I have no idea about. The city was much like so many other but with a big city feel. The sounds and scents of the market and bazaar area were exotic. There were spice stands, a block long fish market, many produce stand, butcher shops with meat hanging out for inspection. There were skinned squirrels and pigs heads and other things I couldn't identify. Greeks greeted each other in their enthusiastic way, their speech loud and quick. Warm greetings and disagreements all sound the same to the untrained ear of a foreigner. Old men stood smoking and waiting for business, others sat on old chairs just watching the crowds. It was early so some merchants were still fussing with the display of their wares, getting the fruits and vegetables piled just right. It would have been fun to buy a basket of goods, go home and cook up some great concoction but I guess I will just have to suffer through another day of someone cooking all the meals, serving all I could possibly eat and having so many choices it is hard to decide if you really are too full.

The Bazaar had lots of beautiful things to buy but the only thing I couldn't resist was an original oil painting of a Mediterranean scene. (no frame just the canvas).

Back to the ship in time for lunch and then some sun worshiping on the top deck. About 3:30 we arrived at Santorini, the most photographed place in Greece. No wonder! The place was amazing. Sitting up on the top of high cliffs, the white washed houses looked like icing oozing over the top of a tall cake but a we approached it was obvious they were buildings stacked together to completely cover the side of the hill. Only the front of the house is visible, the rest of it goes back into the hillside. We were looking at the Greek's artistic cliff dwellings.