By Lara
Honestly? After Turkey, Israel, and Egypt, Crete wasn't terribly spectacular. It was pretty, though. The water was beautifully clear. The people who wanted to go swimming were encouraged to do so. I just wandered from shop to shop doing some last minute souvenir buying. I meandered over to the lake. I look some pictures of churches. I ate some mediocre gellato. We didn't have very long on Crete. I think it was only about three hours. I got back on the boat early and camped on the fifth floor deck to people watch from above. I'm also fairly certain that I went to bed early that night.
We disembarked the next day and rode back to the hotel. Karen held a farewell thing for us in the hotel lobby with coffee and some sort of uber-sweet thing. The remaining eight of us decided to go out to lunch to get our fill of souvlaki and tzazicki and baklava. Food was consumed. Photos were taken. Jokes were made. It was wonderful.
Mandi and I spent the next few hours sorting and repacking. I know that doesn't sound exciting, but it was critical. Things were squished and pounded and thrown away.
For the evening meal, I went with the rest of the group to a corner pub for dinner. Mandi met up with Bruce. Everyone had one more chance to say goodbye in the hotel lobby that evening.
Early the next morning, the shuttle took us to the airport. The journey home was long. There may or may not have been screaming children. It was painful, but we survived. I know that you're proud.
[This concludes Lara's International Adventures 2010 series. Be sure to check out Part 1: Greece, Part 2: Kalambaka/Delphi/Olympia, Part 3: Olympia/Mycenae/Athens, Part 4: Istanbul, Part 5: Mykanos/Israel, Part 6: Egypt]