A Few Observations

I've spent much of the week just wandering around Chania's Old Quarter. I now feel like I've explored all the alleys and shops, so tomorrow, I (we) will begin venturing beyond this city. We have a big hike planned, a day at the beach, and I'm trying to get on a tour to some important, Minoan ruins as well, maybe a tour around some mountain villages as well - an actual tour this time. I'm not getting on a public bus to anywhere other than a major city again. In my wanders, I've made a few observations and found some interesting things.

(1) On Crete, stray dog and cat roles are reversed. Cats chase dogs - I've seen this more than once. Cats do the begging while one sits at the restaurants' outdoor tables. They sit, just like a dog, and stare intently at your table for the duration of the meal. Dogs are very busy with no time to laze around or stop for a sniff.

(2) The old ladies are like old ladies - they walk very slowly and carefully. Very unlike Italian old ladies, who will throw you to the ground and walk over your body to get to the front of the line.

(3) The air, in general, carries the smell of honeysuckle and citrus blossoms and the sea. Except for when it smells like sour milk - probably due to all the yogurt consumption. But on that note, I don't know how we're going to go back to eating American yogurt. No offense to Yoplait, because I like Yoplait, but having tasted Greek yogurt, I'm no longer sure Yoplait is actually yogurt. I have never tasted anything like the yogurt here with honey on top - it's a multi-purpose, delicious food, good for breakfast, snack, or dessert. I might like the yogurt with honey better than the baklava.

(4) In America, public restrooms offer dispensers for feminine hygiene or reproductive prevention. Here, you can get a toothbrush.

I've taken lots of great photos, but I don't have my photo editing software with me, so at the end of the trip, I'll do a post of my favorites. For now, here are a few more interesting pics:

Many older men here carry worry beads.

The Old Quarter is dotted with these miniature churches. Their doors open, and inside...

Are you interested in owning your very own falling down ruin in Chania's Old Quarter. If so, here's what about $75,000 will buy you:

A Day In Pictures

One of many atmospheric alleys

Dinner at Taverna SemiRamis - one of the best meals we've had in Europe, complete with live, traditional music.

Beautiful Colors of Greece

An area in the Old Quarter with nicer, tourist stores

Visiting the Folklore Museum, an odd museum - I think it is just some lady's house full of things she's collected. The museum is very difficult to find as it shares it's address with a church and is hidden in the church's tucked away courtyard. Here are some traditional designs for linens and wall hangings.

It took a couple of days, but I finally ordered a Greek salad. Feta cheese that hasn't been processed, preserved, packed, and traveled across an ocean is delicious.

Some of the most interesting ruins are these, of a Minoan settlement. The Minoans are the oldest, known civilization of Western Europe. This particular set of ruins date back to 3000-2000 B.C. It's fascinating to think that these were already ancient ruins back when the Romans were just building the homes and businesses that are our local ruins back in Italy.

Some countries have ruins, Italy has Ruins, and Greece has RUINS. It's easy to see why so many of the buildings are not intact. They're built of rocks, not cut stones - just rocks, probably cleared off the same ground for the building, and then covered with plaster. This place, has ruins, I mean RUINS, everywhere.

Yes, I did go to Starbucks. I'm not a Starbucks junkie at home, but sometimes, I just want to have something familiar - and it's been seven months since a frou-frou coffee drink!

It's All Greek To Me

A little note on posting: I'll be blogging when I can, so for today, this will be the third post. You can scroll down to read the earlier ones first.

I don't think I realized how many of our little catchphrases reference Greece. And while I've only spent about 24 hours on the island of Crete, I'll definitely have to rethink my usage of the term "cretan" in a derogatory manor. By contrast, the people here are lovely, helpful, friendly, and quick to smile. The language however - that phrase is dead on. For example, we're staying in Chania, which I’ve also seen spelled Khania, Xania, and Hania, all of which are the English translations. The Greek is Χανιά. I’ve found the best way to memorize Greek letters is not to think of them as letters. For example, “squiggly E” makes an “S” sound while the block "E" is the actual "E" sound. “Teepee” makes a “D” sound, but sometimes makes an "L" sound...I think. I cannot currently remember the difference between “Pi” and “Fun Pi.” On reflection, I think Greece is the only country I have ever visited where I arrived not knowing a single word of the language, not even Hello, Goodbye, I’m sorry, and Where is the bathroom – my four must have phrases in any language.I've resolved to master one word per day. Today, I learned "Hello," which is said like Yassas - the first "a" as in "at" and the second "a" as in "uh." One word down.

Interestingly, the rhythm of the language sounds like Italian, which has led to a host of other problems for me. I find myself trying so hard to understand, then I begin thinking in Italian myself (hard to do with a 1% vocabulary knowledge!), which leads to me trying to talk to people here in Italian. Why can't I do that in Italy? I did learn (thank you, Nathan) that Greek is the oldest documented language (Western language), Latin is based on Greek, and Italian is the closest of the Romance languages to Latin. So I suppose the rhythm and sounds being similar isn't all that odd.

Chania gives a great visual of how cities are built atop cities atop cities...

I spent my first day taking care of some admin stuff and just wandering about. I wanted a Greece SIM card for my cell phone (mobiles are different in Europe - I supposed I should do a daily life post on them another time). All Greek mobile numbers have to be connected to a passport. Talk about Big Brother watching! That is just weird...and creepy. Getting lost, stopping to eat and visit a couple of shops, having to make a second roundtrip back to my hotel for my passport, and lots of photo stops ate up most of my day. Tomorrow, I'm looking forward to walking through the Old Town, visiting the Textile/Folklore Museum, and taking every alley turn I find. The alleys are exactly what I hoped for, with gorgeous flowers spilling down the walls, lace curtains covering the windows, and small bistro tables set up outside front doors.

We ate dinner last night at a restaurant called Well of the Turk, a fusion of Greek and Moroccan food and delicious. The restaurant is small and tucked on a quiet alley, and the other diners (about four other tables) were so quiet. I'd expected a great many more tourists. I found them today. Chania has an Inner Harbor and an Outer Harbor - imagine a circle with a small opening set into the end of oval. Our hotel at the back of the Inner Harbor, and neither of us realized that the entire rest of the world was mucking about along the shore of the Outer Harbor. We'll head there for dinner tonight.