on the crowded bus back from rethymno i let martin and katharine sit together and headed towards the back, claiming a seat next to an orthodox priest. he noticed me writing in my journal and engaged me in conversation. for him i hope it made a more interesting commute, as he makes the trip four times a week i expect the scenery was not as interesting to him as me. we shared facts back and forth and discussed the state of our respective nations and our faiths while the bus wound along the highway back to heraklio.

one of the most interesting facts i’ve learned is that the euro transition was hard on greece, and crete in particular. apparently the average greek salary is €560, while the rest of europe is roughly double that. meanwhile the cost of living is the same or higher, particularly on the islands where commerce is more expensive and property is scarce. german tour companies own substantial tracts of land in crete for resorts, and meanwhile it is extremely difficult for the locals to purchase land and build a house. the result of all this is that many greeks are leaving to work elsewhere in the EU. the priest related an anecdote about his mother-in-law; she lived and worked in heraklio for 20 years and was only able to purchase a modest car. after two years working in belgium she’s now a homeowner and happier for it.

as for america he too was concerned about the war and our leadership, and also interested to know if it was commonplace for american priests to wear distinctive garb as it is a requirement for those in the orthodox church. his church is one of about 160 on crete and has about 400 parishoners. he was quite surprised that we had five services of around 200 people each, how exhausting that must be for the pastor. his thoughts were that the role of the orthodox church was changing in greece, in many ways it is bridging the gap between thousands of years of orthodox tradition and the modern mind, not wanting to throw away things that are useful to embrace a fad spirituality but also not attempting to carry along things that have no context for the believers of today. our discourse was lively and reminded me why i am interested in participating in this very discussion.

after we returned to heraklio we headed out for dinner and ordered some beers to sample the local color. the verdict? mythos is a better lager than many we have here in the states, and amstel… why do we only get it in the light version? afterwards we had a glass of unknown alcohol – which i believe was likely raki, a beverage made from the remnants on the winepress. strong stuff!

we woke more-or-less rested at 7am and ready for adventure, or at least a semblance of it. we headed out and tackled some tasty omlettes for breakfast before heading down to the battle of crete museum. they had a great many artifacts detailing the german occupation of crete and the resistance. not a bad museum and the price – free! – was tough to argue with. everything i had previously known about the battle of crete i learned from panzer general, so it was good to have a little more context about the conflict.

from the museum we headed back down to the bus depot to head out to rethymno, a smaller town along the main cretan highway on the north side of the island. as we left sunny heraklio on a comfortable mercedes-benz liner, clouds started rolling in and it began to rain. our bus continued on towards rethymno at a snail’s pace and eventually we passed two very serious looking accidents. in one case a car was in two pieces across the roadway and in the other a truck had completely crushed the rear three-quarters of a car. fortunately we arrived in rethymno without incident.

it was overcast but not particularly rainy so we made our way around the rocky outcropping dominated by the venetian fortezza before winding our way up into the fortress itself. there were a great many views of the sea as we walked along the main walls, and we circumnavigated the entire fortress – though we did have to duck inside a few of the reconstructed buildings to avoid rain squalls. i in particular was intrigued by a small church in the center of the fortress, it had a simple character and charm.

after seeing the fortress we made our way down into the nearby old town. another set of narrow streets laden with tavernas and small shops greeted us and we eventually settled on a place to eat and enjoy some greek seafood. rethymno is also the first place we’d yet been with a beach, so of course we had to cross down to the water and dip our toes in the mediterranean for the first time. warm! we then followed the water past the harbor and sea wall, snapping photos as we went and taking in the scenery.

it took a five hour nap to reset my sleep schedule after our meal here in crete. we found seats and dining in the square of tavernas – endless rows of chairs and diners enjoying iced coffees and fresh fruit juices along with conversation. i think we may be getting substandard fare by eating at the less-crowded venues, but no matter – it’s still delicious. it’s hard to slow down my pace of eating enough to match the locals, however.

after dinner i continued on a bit of a walk, mailed my first postcards, and had some gelato. delicious. but now, a real night’s sleep in a bed is what i look forward to the most.