b
b
On the ferry heading from Crete to Athens.
When we first arrived in Crete, we saw a wall on which someone had written in Sharpie two words: "Greek Hell." Never has there been more accurate foreshadowing. From now on, I will take graffiti warnings into consideration when visiting new places.
We arrived in Crete at 5:30am on Sunday. It was dark and raining. Initial thought: Oh shit - where's the beach? Apparently, we made the rookie mistake of assuming that islands have beaches. And also that they would be there, sunny and wonderful, just awaiting our arrival. Not a good mistake to make. We basically spent out entire day on Crete being homeless. Which is actually funny because we were probably the most homeless people on the island - even homeless people don't want to live on Crete. We walked, took a bus in a very wrong direction, walked around for some more hours, took another bus, met some police officers, hung out on the sidewalk in front of the police station and shaved, drank wine out of plastic bottles, and then walked some more.
Untimately, we ended up in a town by the ocean (finally!) where we all slept in one hotel room for 35 Euro total. Excellent. And the floor was actually extremely comfortable.
So far, I haven't showered, but I have been in the ocean. Twice. Also, we are all slowly but surely becoming Russian.
Last night we drank, ate food, played cards, and crashed on the floor of the hotel room. I left my bullshit pants (the ripped black ones) behind. I hope they will find a happy new home. Doubtful because they are stranded in Greek Hell, but maybe something will work out for them.
I am so tired right now, which will not be helped by the minimal sleep I will be getting on this ferry ride, so I'm sorry for the incoherent writing. Also, why am I writing this like I'm writing in a blog? Ahhhh the internet is taking over my journal!
So basically, Crete was . . . an experience. I'm glad we did it. It was a lot of walking, a lot of receiving false directions, and a lot of eating (as usual), mixed with a minimal amount of showering and sleeping. Yes, we spent about 6 hours lost the first day, but we eventually found somewhere to stay and I actually slept pretty well. Today we went to the Palace of Knossos, where we met a guy from Cape Cod who is in the process of creating a reality show based on bull jumping. The people I meet in my life, I swear. En tout cas, his name was Mike and he was quirky, but very nice, helpful, and fluent in Greek. Score. The best part about traveling is always the crazy random people you meet along the way.
If nothing else, we definitely spent a lot less time being lost on Day 2. We also actually checked out the center of town in Heraklion, and it was pretty sweet. Best graffiti I've ever seen award: "Honey I love u. You buy me chips?" We made friends with a few stray dogs, ate Greek food, ice cream, and coffee and almost got hit by cars, trucks, and mopeds (oh my!), all the while carrying our huge backpacks on our backs.
So far, I have decided that Greece is a very strange combination between France and Senegal. To be elaborated upon later - I'm lying on the floor of the deck now and I'm getting exhausted. I miss Alec and the family so much!
Love, Josie
No comments:
Post a Comment