We're in Crete!

[qatarperegrine]

The first thing that happened to me upon arrival in Crete at 6 this morning was that I tripped and fell while running across the street to see a Venetian arcade, skinning my hands and elbow pretty badly and bruising my knees.

The second thing that happened to me in Crete was that I got stuck in an elevator.

The third thing that happened to me in Crete was a bad bout of morning sickness.

Happily, after that, things took a turn for the better. Since our hotel let us check in at 6:30 am, we were able to regroup, ice my knees, bandage my hands, sleep off the morning sickness, and even watch a little Olympic hockey.

Then after brunch it was off to the Heraklion Archaeological Museum, which though under reconstruction is still showing 400 of their most noteworthy artifacts. Most of these are Minoan, which you may or may not recall is the first European civilization. Minoan art turns out to be seriously impressive: back when the Egyptians were making very stylized frescoes and the Harrappans were making cute clay things, the Minoans were crafting beautiful bull-shaped flagons and incredibly intricate gold jewelry (Google the Minoan bee pendant).

We finished the afternoon at the CretAquarium, the largest aquarium in the east Mediterranean. Impressive stuff, especially the shark tank and the octopi.

All in all a successful day. Other fun discoveries included that the Greek word for "Thank you" is "Eucharisto" and that Oregano is the best flavor of Lay's ever.

Tomorrow we hope to go to Knossos, knees willing. If not, there are worse things than lounging around Chania.

Update: knees bruised but not swollen. Woot. Knossos, here we come!

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/_tove/]

I'm partial to "the Snake Goddess figurine" (quotes because her mythological identity is not exactly known, and there isn't just one of them) for its fashion foresight: that silhouette wouldn't be back in the mainstream for another couple of thousand years.