June 23rd - Day 13

Lighthouse in Chania

Today was an easy day. We visited two museums in the morning - the Rethymnon Archaeological Museum and the Chania Archaeological Museum. Both museums were rather small and didn't allow pictures because most of the artifacts are unpublished. They both housed more Minoan artifacts from local digs.

On the way to the Chania Archaeological Museum we made a pit stop at the Venizelos Tomb. Venizelos was the first Prime Minister of a liberated Crete. After lunch we were supposed to visit the Etz Chaim Synagogue, but our guide never showed up and it was closed. So we got the rest of the afternoon off to go shopping and walk around before heading to the pier to catch the ferry back to Athens. We left Chania around 6 pm and got to the pier about 30 minutes later. I think we were hoping that the boat would be there early so we could hang out on the boat, but it turns out that the ferry was not leaving until 10 pm, so we had a good 3 1/2 hours to waste. I spent it in a nearby coffee shop reading and people watching.

Tomorrow we will be back in Athens and I'm excited to get back to Loring Hall, mostly for the food. I think I will miss the air conditioning...but we are only in Athens for 4 days before we head back out to the Peloponnese for 10 whole days!