But today I got to explore more of the island of Crete, so here I am reporting back to y'all!
Today, we drove up to the Arkadi Holocaust Monastery, then to the Kournas Lake, and ended our day at Rethymno Old Town. Lots of traveling today and lots of knew knowledge!
First was the Arkadi Holocaust Monastery, which I learned about a whole new story of genocide that I never even knew existed. Keeping this lil history lesson short bc it's a blog post, in short, this monastery was the main port of attack during the Cretan Revolt of 1866. The Ottomans (Turks) arrived at the monastery with 15,000 soldiers and 30 cannons. Women and children were forced into the bathrooms and powder rooms while the Ottomans continued to massacre the monastery; creating hundreds of fatalities. The ones who were not killed were captured and tortured. So needless to say, arriving on this site what very surreal and eye-opening; learning about genocides that I never knew even existed and visiting the spot they occured really resonated with me.
Despite the site being absolutely stunning with it's architecture and art, it was a very somber visit that I learned a lot from and will always remember.
Also, all the doors in this place were very very short.... not sure why. But I didn't fit through them. Sad. #tallgirlproblems
On a lighter note, our next stop was the Kournas Lake where we got to go paddleboarding! It was a short little stop on our way to the Rethymno Old Town, but it was a nice break from driving. We got to swim and boat in the lake that was surrounded by beautiful hills and landscape, so that definitely was a good relaxing stop :)
Finally, we arrived at the Rethymno Old Town where we got some quality Pork and Chicken Gyro and got to souvenir shop. It was right on the ocean, so the sights were beautiful and walking around in the shops and seeing all the restaurants was a nice way to work off that incredible gyro lol.
Stopping at the Monastery is definitely a visit that meant the most to me this trip. This is a part of history Americans aren't exposed to as much, and being able to visit the site where it happened was an experience I will never forget.
On the restaurant strip of Rethymo, staff of each restaurant usually stands outside and trying to get your attention and lure your into eating at the restaurant. So to turn them down, I would need to respond with "I've already eaten" which is "Écho ídi fáei"(Έχω ήδη φάει). After leaving stores, I would want to wish them a good day as well, which I've learned is "na écheis mia kalí méra!" (να έχεις μια καλή μέρα!)
Ttyl, xoxo
Andrea Rose
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