Day 7 - April 18, 2017 (Abby)

When we wake up we all are super tired because most of us couldn’t sleep on the rocky seas. The swaying of the boat should have felt like a lullaby, while in reality it felt like a roller coaster. Jordan said that breakfast would probably ready. Asking her what time it was I found out it had been 6 A.M! That's so early! But I still hauled myself out of bed. We got up, got dressed, and went down to the dining area and got some eggs and pancakes. We relaxed on the boat until about 7. Walk into to the top deck, my friends and I gazed out at the beautiful island we were coming up on. Chania was so beautiful and I knew I was gonna need a picture of this. Grabbing out my phone, I had taken a good amount of pics. As I was looking over them, we pulled into a dock, which I was so thankful for. I really wanted to get off that rocky boat. When we got off the boat and we were a little distorted at first, as a night at sea can make you a little shaky in the legs. After about 30 minutes of regaining out land selves and grabbing out luggage, we were ready to go. The whole group was pumped to see the marvelous Samaria Gorge. From what I've heard Jordan say, it was going to be beautiful. We hop on a bus, almost missing it actually because we stopped at one of the snack shacks with some exotic foods and we didn't realize the time.
Samaria Gorge (Environmental)

The Kri-Kri

At first glance out of the window on the bus, I knew I was going to love this! I asked Olivia to bring out her phone and so some research on the Gorge. To my dismay, her phone was dead so I had to pull mine out instead. Looking on the Google, I found that has Samaria Gorge is the National Park of Greece since 1962, and it is located on the island of Crete. Samaria Gorge is Europe's largest gorge at about 18 km, with clear spring water clean enough to fill up water bottles is located in Chania. That's crazy! I wonder how many bottles they could fill with the river I could barely see running below me in the Gorge. I knew Jordan was afraid of heights, so when I saw her walking the farthest from the ledge I laughed a bit to myself. Taking a moment for myself, I took on my surroundings. From the pretty stream to the sky high trees, everything was so aesthetically pleasing here. I didn't know how one place could inhabit so much beauty. Looking a little farther away, I saw there was an old village. I decided to look it up to find out more, and it turned out that the village got abandoned in 1962 when the gorge was declared a national park. It's kind of sad that the people didn't get to stay in this beautiful home, but I'm sure they found somewhere else. We went in mid April, just at the start of the hiking season. There was a lot of beautiful flora and fauna there. We even managed to see a "kri kri," an endangered wild goat, there! We didn't eat much for lunch, though. We feasted mostly on energy bars between the five of us. After a while of hiking through the steep cliffs and rolling hills, we finally made it to the end of our hike, and I was sure glad because it felt like my legs couldn't work anymore. Asking Jordan where we were going next, I was pleased to find out it was a beach. Man, I couldn't wait to get my tan on.
I was so looking forward to arriving at what I had been told was Elafonissi Beach. Olivia and I were already getting our tanning lotion out, ready to get our tan on.

Elafonissi Beach

Elafonissi Beach (Environmental)
We all headed out with in our bathing suits because we were super ready to play in the water. From afar, looking at the turquoise water I wondered if the water would be warm or cold. I hoped warm because I was done with the cold ocean water in North Carolina. Jordan and Hailey raced ahead of us, running into the shallow water to reach the island consisting of white and pink sand. Olivia and I soon were kicking up sand as well, in attempt to steal the best spot on our part of the beach. As soon as I reached the island, I laid my towel down and started soaking in the sun. Gladdie came wondering up later, and immediately turned to Jordan, wondering about the facts of the beach, always acting so smart. Deciding to listen in I heard some cool facts. Located in southwest Crete, about 75 miles from the town of Chania, this beach allows people to visit the beach by bus or boat everyday. You have to walk out to the small island, but the water is extremely shallow and warm. Because of the closeness to the city and also the range of transportation, it is an extremely popular beach. That explains why there are so many people. After that quick thought I started listening again and found out that Eladonissi is a natura 2000 protected area and in 2004 it was on trip advisers top 25 list of beaches. It is a mile long and is home to 110 species of plants. Deciding I wanted to shut down for a while and relax, I stopped listening so that I could lay under the war sun. This beach was the coolest thing ever, it was beautiful. The water was crystal clean and there weren't a lot of people, so it was easy to relax. We hung out at the beach for a while, and we saw a few kids playing in the water. There were people relaxing everywhere, and the sound of fun and laughter rang in my eats. I think we all got sun burnt, but it was worth it to see this amazing sand beach.I was sad when we had to leave to get on out ferry, but when I looked down to see my crisp skin, it must have been a good thing. Walking back through the water, I heard my stomach growl; it sounded like a herd of elephants. I was looking forward to a good lunch.
Stachi
To Stachi was a nice change to all the heavy foods on the ferry. They focused mostly on vegetarian foods and used a heavy blend of tomatoes and corn and pasta. From the smell wafting out of the restaurant I got even more hungry. We rushed into the building and immediately got to deciding on what we want for lunch. We all decided on a big hand tossed Greek salad, which turned out to be the best salad I've had so far. After a quick meal, we decided to head out as we had a long car ride ahead of us to get to Alexia's Homemade Jewelry. I don't remember the car ride because I fell asleep. All the warm air from earlier at the beach had made me sleepy. Upon arriving, we paid the driver and I groggily got out of the cab, still in a half sleep. As soon as we were walking though I was ready to continue the day.
Alexia Homemade Jewelry (Culture)
We got to Agora finally at about 12:20 and the first thing we did was make a Beeline for a homemade

Alexia Homemade Jewelry

 jewelry place called Alexia Homemade Jewelry. Apparently, Olivia had gotten a tip from a friend who had already been to Greece to go there. I wondered what everyone would get. I know that Gladdie and Jordan aren't much into jewelry, so my guess was that Hailey might get something, but Olivia and I definitively would. I knew as soon as I saw the store I would definitely be getting something because just from the store window you could see the beauty of the necklaces inside. The store had all sorts or things, from small rings to large necklaces. Each piece of jewelry was homemade and beautiful. To my surprise, everyone ended up buying rings and necklaces as souvenirs, even Jordan and Gladdie. Walking back outside, I was finally able to take in the full Agora, and I knew I would never forget the view. With out new jewelry in hand and the marvelous sights in my mind, we started to head back to the hotel for a chill afternoon. I knew that we would forever remember the times like these we spent in Greece. This will be an amazing memories that we will be reminded of every time we look at it. We stopped for a quick lunch at a nearby brunch place and ate quickly because we were all excited to go where we were going next.The next thing we headed to the was Aphrodite Beach, and even though I already looked like a burnt chicken, I was going to enjoy the afternoon just laying on the beach. Due to the fact that the sky had clouded up, covering the sun we would be able to enjoy the afternoon without the worry of contracting skin cancer.
Aphrodite Beach (Natural Environment)

The beach was beautiful, even with the semi dreary backdrop. Before arriving, we had made the whole group agree to not say anything educational, it was a time for relaxation. Everyone nodded in approval of this testimony because we all had been busy. Putting my blanket out on the beach, and lying down on the soft sand made Greece even more of a paradise. While I loved seeing all the historical things, I really loved being able to listen to the waves in the distance. I was going to miss this place once we left. After a little while of seeing just resting, I heard someone start speaking. Peeking an eye open, I saw a guy trying to sweet talk Olivia. Everyone is our group started chuckling because of how uncomfortable Olivia looked. She said to the guy that she wasn't looking for a relationship and that it wouldn't work anyway. After he walked away with a disappointed look, all of us burst out in laughter. After that funny encounter, we decided to pack up and head to our new hotel that was right beside the beach.
Aphrodite Beach Hotel

We left the beach at around 5 pm, so when we got and we got to the hotel it was almost time for dinner. Together, we quickly put our stuff down and then headed to the hotel restaurant, which was pretty good considering it was just a small hotel restaurant. After we ate, we went back to the beach to walk around for awhile and watch the sunset. All the colors mixed together created one of the most pretty things I've ever seen. When the last ray left our view we decided to head back to the hotel to watch a movie. To our luck, the TV had an American channel that was playing Harry Potter. Being as tired as I was, I fell asleep halfway through the movie and dreamed of the sunset.