Kevin Andrews- Today, after the spectacular (and free) breakfast from our hotel, we departed for several different sites to view some of the “palaces” of the ancient Bronze Age. Although the trip on the bus was early in the morning, the ride to Phaistos provided us with truly beautiful views of the Cretan landscape. We drove through green, but yet rocky mountains, which provided extensive views of the valleys. This part of the trip was not only aesthetically pleasing, as it helped to show us the land that the Bronze Age people must have endured, as the fields would have been used for growing olives and grapes just as they are today.

We then arrived at the palace of Phaistos, one of the Bronze Age’s “court-centered elite buildings.” Phaistos was well-preserved and had much restoration. The large central court and the west court were both paved, and the monumental entranceway gave a stunning portrayal of the power that this settlement must have held. Here, I gave a brief presentation about bull-leaping, which was an ancient Bronze Age, Cretan practice where an acrobat of sorts would jump over a bull and somersault over its back. My presentation, besides being exhilarating, uplifting, and amazing, helped to explain whether or not this event would have taken place inside the central courts of the palaces.

We then stopped at Ayia Triada and then Kommos. Ayia Triada, while not considered a palace, was a wealthy villa that my fellow classmate Christian Lawrence guided us around. The highlight of this stop was locating and then sitting in the room with benches, which was probably a religious and political meeting room where ritual and important topics were discussed. Next, we stopped at Kommos, which was a site that Professor Leslie Day got us “the hook up” (as the younger generations would say). We were let into this site, not only free, but specially as no other tourists are allowed to enter…as a man traveled with us to open the gates of the site specifically for us. This experience was significant as it gave me the feeling of being an actual archaeologist of sorts, as the remains of pottery gave us the notion that we were discovering the ancient site firsthand.

On a lesser academic note, we then ate lunch by the Mediterranean Sea. As a group, we all had the chance to eat a wide variety of Greek cuisine, and I even tried sardine, calamari, and...even a salad (This is a pretty daring feat for myself, and I admit, all items were very good). After lunch, the majority of the students went swimming in the Mediterranean, which was a good release into the bluest sea I have ever seen.

On a much lighter note, I have to quickly write about Greece, as I have noticed a compelling facet of their culture. One quickly notices while here that this is a sunglass culture that revolves around everyone wearing sunglasses no matter the particular weather. Because of this, several students have invested in the large “stunner” sunglasses that are so stylish here…and have been even furthermore invested in being immersed in Greek culture.