Oh Kno...ssus!

Hello from Crete!

Specifically, I'm in Knossus now (well, not right this second but I was there earlier today)...a really, really, really (and did I mention really) old city.
It was built between 1700-1400 BC.

Here are some pictures of an ancient Minoan castle on the island to get you started on planning your trip here.

A couple of things I thought were interesting:

• The queen had a "flushing" toilet.  It was not accessible on the tour but I have to give it to the ancient queen since that is the main reason I don't go camping.  If the ancient Minoans can have flushing toilets, then why can't I?!?!

• The castle apparently caught fire when someone dropped an oil lamp in the dark store room.  Unfortunately, the clever pits that were dug to contain any spillage from the pots that might crack were useful in some circumstances but not when the pots that broke had contained flammable materials.  Oops!

•   The castle is where the labyrinth story of the Minotaur took place.  Luckily, no minotaurs were on site when I visited.

On Crete, we're staying in a lovely resort on the island on a hill overlooking the Aegean Sea.








Although I wish there were an escalator, I am enjoying myself (just have to leave a lot of extra time to get up and down the hill...and where are all the hand-rails?  Apparently people on Crete are much more coordinated than I am and don't need them.)  ;)


 I won't be posting much while here due to all the classes we'll be taking during this time but look how awesome the beach area is below...I love that I can walk on the beach and not get too sandy.  Of course, I didn't spend much time there due to my ability to blind people with my super pale complexion.  I felt like a vampire as I tried to run from shady spot to shady spot during the Knossus tour.

Ajax: Tougher than Greece?

I ran across the old slogan of Ajax, "Tougher than Grease," but the Greek warrior Ajax was on the side of Greece.  On Ajax' website now (yes, I Google everything..Love you Google!), it now has the slogan "Stronger than Dirt" so you'll be happy to know that ColgatePalmolive is no longer implying than Ajax (the warrior) was fighting against Greece even if Ajax (the cleaner) still fights grease.

Now that I got that important tidbit (yes, important...very important) out of the way, I'll catch you up on what I've been up to yesterday and today.  

Yesterday, we had a full day of classes and my piece I submitted was workshopped.  In a workshop, everyone in the group has read the 20 pages and made comments on the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of what was written.  It always takes me time to digest all the information but it makes a huge difference in the end result after I take all their suggestions and edit the pages.  I'll have to share a chunk that I've edited at the end of the week with my group so they can see how I've taken and used their suggestions.

We also got a chance to hear each of the faculty read from their own pieces of work.  It is always a pleasure to hear the author read from their own material so it was a real treat to hear passages from each genre represented here this year.

After classes, I had signed up for the optional Cape Sounion trip to the Temple of Poseidon located at the tip of Attica.  It took about 1 1/2 hours to drive there due to the curvy roads but was worth it.  

Before we walked up to the temple, we saw these things that looked like they were trees from a Dr. Seuss book.  They were coming up from some type of cactus.  The internet at the hotel is too slow for me to really investigate what type of plant it was so if any of you know, please inform me.  

Here is the Temple with the Seussical-looking plants in the foreground.  And yep, I made it to the top of that hill.  It actually wasn't as bad as climbing up the Acropolis and we lucked out that it was a bit overcast making it windy but not as hot.

I took photos from each side but in this one you can see that we were there before sunset. The area closes at sunset and I didn't see any real lighting on the pathways so we left before it got any darker.

One of the really great things about traveling with a whole bunch of writers is that we assembled near the structure and several took turns reading a poem by Lord Byron.  Why a poem by him?  Well, he apparently carved his name into the structure.  If you look closely at this picture, you should be able to make out his name.  (Or you can Google it and see a much better picture than I have here.)  :)





We had dinner on the way back in a restaurant right along the water.  Here are a couple of pictures as the Sun set.






Today I spent resting and having the hotel staff help me break into my room safe that decided not to open.  I'm happy to say that I have everything out of it and am repacking now for our trip to Crete tomorrow!

What was the most popular movie for kids in Ancient Greece?

Troy Story!

Okay, so I didn't come up with that one but I put the link in case you want more History Jokes.  Better yet, don't look and you can just think I came up with them.  ;)

Jet lag hit me this morning so when the fire alarm went off a little before 7am, I was actually a little glad that I hadn't overslept...although I hope to just use my alarm tomorrow morning.  Apparently someone learned this morning (much to the rest of our chagrin)  that you don't try to heat a croissant in a toaster.

We had a full day today.  Classes in the morning (very cool) and sightseeing all afternoon (very warm.)

Our afternoon started with lunch in the heart of Athens.  One of our tour guides led us to a place that made yummy souvlaki on pita.  Just writing about it makes me want one now.  Good thing that place is too far away to get to right now.

I resisted buying any souvenirs today since we were going to be climbing to the top of the Acropolis.  It was a wise choice since that hill is pretty dang tall.  The stone steps and walkways have been so worn by all the tourists over all the years that they are very smooth and slippery.  I felt like an old lady walking so slowly up and back down the thing since I didn't want to slip.  I could just imagine myself becoming like one of those cartoon characters that roll all the way down a mountain in a ball of dust with legs, and arms sticking out.  Of course I'd probably take out a few other tour groups along the way and we'd make one gigantic, enormous, massive ball that would then end up wrecking some of the antiquities along the way, cause an international incident for destroying historic artifacts and then we'd all be kicked out of Greece never to be let back in ever again.
...
...
...
Or, I could have twisted my ankle.

Either way, I was glad to make it up and back down again with it and myself unscathed by the experience.

My face was too red from the heat and walking to try to take any pictures (selfies or otherwise) up there but here is the Parthenon.  They are restoring the end that most people take pictures of but that end is not really the front so here is the "front."

There are actually four buildings on top of the Acropolis (which basically just means highest part of the city.)  Many of the sculptures that had been saved from the sites are now in the New Acropolis Museum that opened a few years ago.  The cool things about the museum (aside from the stuff in it) is that they have some areas of clear floors where it is possible to walk over different excavations that were done on that site where they found various artifacts and parts of buildings.  It was very clever how they designed it...although a little unnerving to look down and see things many feet below...your feet.

Random picture for the day:  I thought the people in charge of all the trash cans at the Acropolis were clever to paint them cream colored.  To me, they looked like little tiny columns from a distance.

Other info:  The cafe in the museum was awesome.  Quite a few of us had various dishes from there and everything was very good.

Other other info:  So my first hotel is apparently supposed to be the best and oldest in Athens.  I guess that's where they place visiting bigwigs when they come to the city.  I'm sure eventually the tour guide will also announce that I stayed there too.  There'll probably be a plaque on it soon saying something to that effect.

Greece is the word...is the word...is the word...

I have now joined my writing group (the reason that I am out here - MFA Creative Writing @ Spalding...check it out) and have had a lot of fun catching up with people that were on my trip last year.

We are staying at a hotel that is in one of the suburbs of Athens so it is great to see a different part of the city.  The place is not as plush at my previous hotel but then I won't be in the room as much so it doesn't really matter.  Just for fun, here is a comparison of the light fixtures...  

First hotel's light fixture

Second hotel's light fixture

The taxi driver that took me out here was very nice.  He stopped and got us both water and then later stopped again to ask directions.  It cracked me up because I couldn't imagine that happening in the US.

After the welcome dinner, a couple of us when for a walk to track down water.  We passed by an Greek Orthodox church on the way.  We stopped and enjoyed the scenery for a bit and the fresh breeze from the Aegean Sea.  Very cool (well,
cool in the "nifty" sort of way...not in the temperature sort of way or I wouldn't be so sticky from the heat right now.)  ;)

Tomorrow we start classes and get up close and personal with the Acropolis!

By the way, the fancy hotel I was in (Grande Bretagne) sells out quickly so if you ever want to stay there reserve it early!

Random pictures from today:

View from room

Snails...lots of snails

Greetings from Greece!

I had a nice flight to Brussels and then another flight to Athens.  We were late arriving in Brussels and another flight was early so as a result, getting through passport control took a loooooong time.  I finally arrived at my next gate after it was technically supposed to be departed but they let me board the shuttle at the gate and drove me out to the plane.  Fortunately, I wasn't the only reason that the flight was late taking off.  Apparently the printer wasn't working and they had to wait to get the flight manifest (or something like that.)  Come to think of it, the first flight was delayed an hour because the cleaners didn't show up to clean the flight.  What weird reasons for delays.

Anyway...I'm in a lovely hotel that is too expensive for my budget but it is in the heart of Athens with a view of the acropolis from the rooftop dining area.   It has bath items from one of my favorite soap companies (Gilchrest and Soames) with a personalized scent that makes me think of staying in a wealthy friend's estate near a mountain-side country club.  Not that I have a wealthy friend  who has an estate near a mountain-side country club (or if I do...let me know and invite me to visit!!!)...but still, the scent is rich smelling.

Acropolis - View from hotel roof restaurant

Random observations-
1)  At several restaurants, I saw "Greek Salad" on the menu.  If I'm in Greece, shouldn't it just be "salad"?
2) I wasn't sure how the regular buildings and homes would look but I find myself slightly disappointed that they all don't have columns. ;)
3) Starbucks is not on every corner here.  I had to walk quite a distance to find my required
Greece/Starbucks mug.  However, the lady was very nice and (after buying my mugs and not seeing the double-chocolaty-chip frappuccino on the menu) she treated me to her attempt at one.  Two thumbs up for the Greek Starbucks people!!!
4) Cobble stones-  How pretty thou art but how hard to walk on for us klutzy people!!!