Heraklion: Day 2

Today was a free day; the first whole day we've had to ourselves since Athens!

We had decided to go to the beach, so forced ourselves out of bed at 9 AM, despite dancing into the wee hours of the morning. The breakfast at this hotel was terrible – the first time I’ve really hated a meal on this trip. Also the first place to not have peaches for the yogurt! There was honey but it had a very strange taste.

After breakfast, we were waiting for the rest of the group in the lobby and one of the guys, Giuliano, had his legs up on the couch. A hotel manager came over and told him to put his feet down and he started to argue. Both of them were being rude and got into a pretty heated argument. The woman brought a couple of old men to yell at him, at which point I left the lobby in embarrassment. It was a double-edged sword – if it’s part of the culture in Europe that you don’t lay on a couch in a lobby, then the woman did have a right to say something and Giuliano should have let it go and put his legs down – but on the other hand, we are the guest paying for services so should be able to sit the way we want in a lobby. Basically both of them approached the situation poorly. Talk about a clash between cultures.

Katula wasn’t able to come with us, because his son, a U.S. ambassador, was flying in from Ukraine. He had showed us the bus stop and where to buy tickets, etc. but I knew we were in for a rocky trip. We bought the wrong tickets, then had to get the right ones, and when the guy took them he didn’t even look. So I spent five euro on bus tickets! The ride was a far cry from the torturous cattle cars we took to get to the beaches in Athens. We all got seats and it was only thirty minutes; so nice!

The beach was gorgeous, set on the Mediterranean Sea, lined with tavernas and beach bars. We splurged and bought ourselves beach chairs. I slept a bit, started to read Zorba the Greek (which I have to admit I will probably not get through), and swam a lot. The water was still clear, but more like the Atlantic at home, with lots of twigs and stuff. It was easily the hottest day we’ve experienced, well over 100 degrees. We ate lunch at one of the tavernas to get a break from the sun, and after a little more tanning action, packed up to leave about 3 PM.

Our return trip proved to be much more difficult. As we boarded the bus, two of the girls stayed behind to wait for Giuliano, who had run down the road to buy a ticket and hadn’t made it back in time. Hmm … okay, nice of them. We pulled up to the next stop, and who walks onto the bus but Giuliano! Simultaneously, every person exclaimed “Oh nooooo” and a gasp swept through the bus like a wave. Upon realizing what had happened, Giuliano laced up his sneakers and at the next stop, got off and started sprinting back to the girls at the original stop. What a twisted, worst case scenario!

But the fun didn’t stop there. We passed the stop at Liberty Square, which was supposed to be a couple before our hotel, so knew we were getting close. Two stops later, we didn’t recognize the area so decided to get off and walk. We walked straight up a hill only to be told it was the other way and then a left. We walked another half mile and were again told we were going the wrong way. The bottom line is that we were incredibly lost and couldn’t get back to the hotel. After 40 minutes of walking, I had had enough and resorted to finding a cab – but not many taxis were around. I eventually saw one going the opposite direction, threw my arm up in the air and sprinted across the street once he stopped. Two other girls hopped in, and for 3 euro, we were never so happy to arrive in front of our hotel. The rest of the group walked around for another 30 minutes. That cab was the best decision I’ve made!

I rested a bit and got cleaned up, then walked around Heraklion with Sarah and Kristyn. I got a lemon granita, which is kind of like an American slushie drink, and it was so refreshing. Then Sarah wanted a crepe, so she ordered one with Nutella/banana and the three of us ended up sharing it, bite for bite. It was the most delicious treat, all warm and gooey. We were just silent around the table; nobody could talk because it was so amazing.

Tonight was a big group dinner in honor of one of the guys’ birthdays, so we made it a formal affair and everyone wore their nicest clothes. All 23 of us sat at a long table in a beautiful taverna. I had lots of white wine, so was feeling pretty good by the time our food came. I had the beef burgers, which is two beef patties with roasted potatoes. It was very tasty! Afterwards, the birthday boy bought us all a round of ouzo, which I took only because it was in honor of his birthday. I think ouzo is so disgusting; the smell alone makes me nauseas. Ew. Then there were some pastries, so I grabbed a chocolate cookie. The plan then, was to go back to the hotel and rest up for a bit before going out to the clubs at 12:30 – because like I’ve said, the Greeks don’t start the party until about 2 AM. However, almost everyone decided at that point to stay in and just go to sleep. The boys were very irritated, but I could not have cared less! It was so nice to get to bed at a decent time.