Crete – Κρήτη

The following island on the list was Crete, the largest and most populous Greek island. We were told that the excursion to Crete had two options. We could either go on a guided tour with a professor or we could explore on our own. Of course, more than half of the group decided to do the second choice since this one allowed everyone to sleep until at least 8:30am. By the time we all got ready to disembark on the boat, we realized neither of us really knew where to go or what to see. However with our good spirits we all decided to take it as easy as possible and just walk around. 

As we strolled on the streets of Crete, we noticed that the port in which our bout docked is considered the commercial port; therefore the surroundings were mostly houses and commercial places. We managed to find a place to grab a quick bite to eat and we found it extremely interesting to see that the bagel was considered a regular sandwich or piece of bread.

By the time we got to the port, to get checked and pass security, we saw a huge line of passengers (from various cruise ships) so we stood at the end of line waiting. Somehow I overheard a tourist saying that whoever was in the Aquamarine cruise ship was most likely going to miss the boat because of the huge line. I immediately told all my classmates, and of course, we all freaked out. We started to run and ask people if they would let us cut the line and thankfully, they did and we passed through security in a rush. As we ran to the exit of the security checkpoint we noticed that the bus to the cruise was giving the final call; we were so relieved when we got to the cruise!

Having said that, there are a large number of archaeological sites to visit in Crete: the Minoan sites of Knossos and Phaistos, the classical site of Gortys, and the diverse archaeology of the island of Koufonisi which includes Minoan, Roman, and World War II ruins.