Week 14: Crete

Hey Everyone!

Well, we got underway from Turkey with no problems and headed East. Due to some problems we've been having with some of our communications systems (internet mostly) the Captain wanted us to hurry and get to Souda Bay (on the Greek island of Crete) early so that we could troubleshoot the problem and hopefully get the parts to fix it. So now, instead of getting to Souda on Wednesday as originally planned, we pulled in on Sunday, and stayed until Thursday, so it was just a short underway period. While we were in Turkey, two Greek midshipmen embarked us. I was assigned as their sponsor, so I showed them around the ship and they stood watch with me for the day and a half we were at sea. I am still standing watch in Combat, so it's a good chance to show them around and explain exactly what I do on a daily basis. Their visit wasn't very stressful either since we only had one full day at sea, and they left NORMANDY the day after we arrived in Souda.

The view of Souda Bay is absolutely breathtaking! The Aegian Sea is that perfect turquoise blue everyone talks about and looks so cool and refreshing. The waves crash along the shore and up against the walls of the small lighthouse in Chania Harbor and you can see right to the bottom. Taking a glass bottom boat tour is completely unnecessary since you can see anything just by looking into the water from the many walls overlooking the deeper parts. I was so sad that a SCUBA tour couldn't be arranged...I'm FINALLY over that nasty cold that was going around the ship for such a long time...but no one had a schedule that meshed enough for an entire group to go diving. Maybe in South Africa...although they're planning a Great White Shark dive (where you're in a cage and the sharks are swimming all around) and I don't know if I'm brave enough for that just yet. Seems very scary and I'm not ready to be someone's lunch at this point in my lifetime!!

Anyway, I digress... The first day in Souda, we had some work and meetings to take care of before anyone left the ship. I got out of here around 6 and took the 45 minute bus ride from the base to the town on the coast where there are lots of restaurants and shops to wander through. Found a great little restaurant right on the water and sampled some tasty local fare. I started with a Cretan delicacy that is like a small turnover...mint, spinach, and feta cheese baked into phylo that has been folded over to form a half-moon shape. Very tasty and refreshing. Then I had a yummy Greek salad (my favorite) and a gyro!! Now if I can just get some baklava I'll be set! Anyway, after dinner we had a couple of drinks with shipmates, and then I took the bus back the the ship for some much needed rest! Monday was a duty day, so I didn't want to be too worn out for that...

On Tuesday, I wandered into the village of Chania (pronounced Han-ya) to see what was available in the bazaars. I had lunch at a wonderful restaurant that was on an upstairs terrance. Actually, the whole thing was outdoors....on top of and surrounding the building that housed the kitchen. Since I ate on the roof, I had a wonderful bird's eye view of the market area. And my ceiling was a grapevine...much like the place at which I ate in Turkey. After having a great refreshing Greek salad for lunch (I swear, I could eat that stuff every day!) I meandered around the markets looking at all the pretty things. I did manage to find some worry beads that perfectly match my house, so I picked those up, as well as some Cretan wine that I'm excited to try once I'm home. One of my favorite things about the Mediterranean: there is always good wine to be had! Seriously though, Crete is beautiful, and if you've never been, I highly recommend it. In fact, I'd love to come back someday...I'd even consider coming here for my shore tour two years from now....if Pat could get stationed here too. Anyway, we'll see. As for now, I'm just loving the Med (I knew I would LOVE this leg of the deployment) and looking forward to seeing Africa as well. The Baltic regions were great and educational, since I'd never been before, but it was too bleak and drearily cold there for me. I like the sunny places best!!

Wednesday, I went to Knossos, the capital of Minoan civilization, which is 3 hours away from where I am in Chania. This is the palace that was believed to have belonged to King Minos of Crete. The story goes that Minos was bargaining for the throne of Crete and claimed that the gods would answer any of his prayers. He then asked that a bull emerge from the sea, which he would sacrifice. Poseidon (God of the Seas) sent a beautiful white bull from the sea to Minos. At the sight of the bull, Minos decided to sacrifice another bull. Angered, Poseidon made Minos' wife fall in love with the bull. She hid herself in a hollow wooden cow (designed by Daedalus) to entice the bull and ended up giving birth to the Minotaur, a man with a bull's head. Minos had to sacrifice seven young men and seven young women each year to feed the beast, which he hid in a labyrinth below his palace (also designed by Daedalus). Finally, Theseus, one of the young men to be sacrificed to the Minotaur, killed it, after Daedalus told him to use a thread (woven by Minos' daughter) so that he could find his way through the labyrinth and then escape. Daedalus and his son Icarus were imprisoned for helping Theseus and kept in a tower in Minos' palace. They fashioned two pairs of wings with which they flew from the tower to escape. However, Icarus flew too close to the sun, the wax in the wings melted, and he fell to his death in the Aegean Sea. Anyway, there is your Greek mythology lesson for the day (I had to do some research to remember all that!). But the trip today was great, albeit long...after a cap ride, 3 hour bus ride, and another cab ride, it was good to get a good lunch at a nearby cafe before touring the ruins and making the journey back. Once back in Chania, we stopped for a wonderful dinner at a cute outdoor restaurant in the town center, then took the shuttle bus back to the ship. Underway Thursday meant early night for me, so I hit the rack early!!

Thursday we got underway. It was a pretty busy day... We had to leave our pier and go to another pier farther down so we could refuel, and then get underway again. By the time it was finally over, it was late in the afternoon, so there weren't very many drills or meetings since so much else was going on. Friday was a normal day at sea, getting back in the rhythm after five days inport. We geared up for the half-way day celebration on Sunday... Although I am well past my half-way mark, the rest of the crew is very exciting to begin the downward slope of this deployment. Our first two legs (Baltic Sea and Mediterranean Sea) are almost over, and then we can begin our African Odyssey!!

Other than that, I have little to report! Until next time...

Kate