Day 4: Crete - The things we take for granted

As I sat at the airport waiting for our transportation for the second leg of our trip, and the subsequent baggage claim chaos in Crete, I couldn't help but be reminded of everything we take for granted...primarily, social customs and manners.  I kept having to remind myself that people weren't deliberately being rude and inconsiderate, and that it was perhaps just a nature of the contrast between our cultures.  This has nothing to do with the Greek specifically, as what I'm referring to right now is what I observed at the airport, where a

melting pot of cultures are all trying to assert themselves as victors in the battle for airport waiting area supremacy.  However, as a stereotypically polite Canadian, the tongue biting is starting to cause real damage to the inside of my mouth.  There are definitely some social conventions that we've grown to take for granted.  Lineups don't seem to matter.  Personal space is non-existant, and if I have to push you aside without as much of an apologetic look, to leap for the bag on the carousel that is surely to come back around if I miss it, then so be it.  Customer service is another thing.  And again, I don't think it's intentional... What we see as being inattentive, they might just view as wanting to leave us alone to enjoy our meals.  Oh, and the privilege of being able to flush shitty toilet paper down the toilet. I definitely miss that.  One social convention that I'm glad HASN'T made its way here yet is the rampant tipping culture we have in Canada.  It's getting a bit out of hand and I'm glad that hospitality staff in Greece are happy to do a good job whether or not they're expecting a tip.  As a matter of fact, 95% of the places we went to didn't even offer is an option to tip.  This was the same way in Japan.  If you actually left a tip there they would chase you out the restaurant because you "forgot" your change.

Ok, that's my "Karen" moment for the day.  I could blame it in the long and hot travel day but I'd be lying.  After we woke up, at a reasonable morning hour this time, we headed out for a quick breakfast of cheese pie and Mochaccino.  By 10am our taxi, summoned from the Uber app (no real Ubers in Athens, but the Uber app works for regular Taxis) picked us up outside our apartment to take us to the Airport for our quick 55 minute flight to Heraklion on the Island of Crete.  The taxi ride to the airport was just as long as the flight.

Our flight would end up being delayed about 45 minutes, which really wasn't an issue as we wouldn't be able to check in to our hotel until 3pm anyway... And as luck would have it, our driver dropped us off at the Atrion Hotel at exactly 3pm.  We checked in, and as we walked in to our room on the 2nd floor, we were slightly disappointed at the Atrion's idea of a "Junior Suite - Double room with a view".  Compared to our accommodations in Greece, this would prove to be a definite downgrade.  However, it's clean, and the hotel has a bar and restaurant. 

So as to not waste any precious daylight we decided to hit up the Heraklion Museum of Archeology first thing and scope out laundry facilities on the way so we could refresh our wardrobe for the rest of our trip.  Planning this ahead of time allowed us to keep our packing to a minimum. 

We did take a quick pitstop for lunch.  Jes and I both ordered a burger and beer and were quickly approached by a girl of the approximate age of 6 with a tattered toy accordion.  She proceded to play two notes and then demanded money.  Not wanting to promote mediocre effort, I refused and told her to learn an entire song and then maybe she'd have earned payment...  Of course, I'm kidding.  She still wouldn't have been worth my hard earned money.  (I really hope my sarcasm is coming through 🙂). 

The museum itself was incredible really.  I'd say even more so than the Acropolis museum.  This museum focuses on the dawn of human civilization in the Minoans, dating back as far as 7000 BCE.  I was amazed at the pristine artifacts exhibited.  Both the contrast, and continued similarities between then and now is astonishing.  Our world today definitely looks completely different, but civilization at its core, really hasn't changed much.

We probably spent more time there then we expected, but that's why we came to Greece.  To immerse ourselves in the history of our modern civilization.  It made me think though, as we admired these ancient tools that essentially hadn't changed in millenia; saws, chisels, mallets are all still pretty much the same as they were then.  So, what are generations 3000 to 5000 years from now going to say about our technology.  Or what, if anything will actually withstand the harshness of our planet for any of it to last that long.  Materials we use today are designed to be disposable, so will there be anythimg left of today in thousands of years?  I'd argue that the monuments still standing from 3000 thousand years ago will likely outlast anything being built in modern times.  

I suggested to Jes yesterday that we find a guided tour in Crete of the notable sites to visit instead of trying to figure it out on our own.  Since we really only have one full uninterrupted day before we move on to Santorini, I didn't want to waste time figuring out ways to get to the places outside walking distance. So I started researching tour companies and it became quite clear that this idea would prove to be futile as all decent tours were fully sold out.  "Hey Jes, let's go to Greece during the hottest and busiest time of the year... And just wing it".  Oh well I thought, we'll figure it out tomorrow.  So next order of business was to arrange for a car to get us to our hotel from the airport.  In my search, I picked the first Ad presented by the "unbiased" google results.  I filled out their form at about 22:30 not expecting a response until morning.  About 20 minutes later I get a text message via WhatsApp confirming I did indeed request the ride.  Once I confirmed, he was kind enough to let me know that I could easily get a ride directly at the airport for 10 euros less.  However, I noticed on their site that they arranged custom private tours to whatever destinations we wanted.  So I inquired and he was happy to accommodate us, suggesting that we handle the museum on our own since it's only 10 minute walk from our hotel, and it would be cheaper.  This guy's not a very good salesman.  He named his price and I agreed.  (I guess he's not that bad a salesman).  So as a 45th birthday to myself, tomorrow we'll be escorted to the Knossos Palace and the Zeus Caves with our own private tour guide.  For now, I write to you from the wash and go, waiting for the dryer to finish.  Thank goodness for Google Lens and Translate

Alright, so the laundry's done, it's about 20:30 and we're starting to get hungry for dinner.   We're not quite on Greek time yet.  Perhaps by the time we leave.  Get back to our hotel room to change and we head back out to the coast to find a place to eat.  One thing to mention is that I've literally never been to any place in all of my travels that has more restaurants per square mile then where we stayed in Athens and now here in Heraklion. we found a nice place to sit and enjoy a late dinner amongst the stray cats.  Jes with his tenderloin, tenderloin of fish, not beef... Something we didn't realize at the time of ordering.  And me, with a delicious lamb shank.  On another note, I'm thinking I might have to start smoking while I'm here.  Non smokers seem like the minority and man, it looks so cool 😎.  But I digress.  

We capped off the evening by continuing our walk down the sea wall to the castle of something something.  It's closed but it looked pretty cool at night, and it'll be open tomorrow, so we'll check it out then and I'll get you the name of it.  On our walk back to the hotel we stopped for a beer and watched as swarms of 20 something's, moved like lemmings towards the muffled sounds of electronic dance music, dressed  in their "Sunday best" (or "Sunday Less" for most).  Ah, to be so young and free!  Clearly no longer my scene as I'm just about ready for bed and the music is irritating me. (Said the old man - did I tell you I turn 45 tomorrow?).

So I bid you farewell. To my fellow readers of old school technology like words on a screen, as opposed to fancy 10-second moving pictures requiring a level of attention found in even the lowliest of goldfish, thank you for taking the time to read.

Come back tomorrow for stories about our upcoming visit to Knossos Palace and the Cave of Zeus.