Greece: Day 9

Okay, I am afraid of heights!  Or, more precisely, I am afraid of coach buses taking hairpin turns on single lane roadways with 600 foot cliffs on one side of the bus!  The ride today was stunning. . . and frightening.  Thankfully, Costas, our driver, is an expert, and were able to enjoy one of the most beautiful parts of Crete, even if we were jumping out of our skin from time to time. 

We traveled from Rethymnon to the south coast of Crete to Fragokastello (a Venetian fortress on the Libyan Sea).  The trip south was beautiful as we passed through the White Mountains.  They are not like the Whites in New Hampshire!  The limestone on the peaks gives the mountains a white look, and they are mostly barren with scrub trees dotting the face of the mountains.  The geography—mountains throughout Greece, the barrenness of the Mani, the fecund valleys of the Peloponnese, the rich valleys of Crete, and the water, always the water!—creates a feeling of wonder and awe at the natural beauty, a sense of freedom and openness (much like Montana in my mind) due to the vistas and the limitless horizon when looking out upon the sea, and the senses come alive because of the various plants that awaken you to living in this wonderful place.  As I run, I smell the rosemary, sage, fig trees, and other herbs and bushes that grow naturally and allow you to enter into the reality of this place with another sense. 

We stopped at the caves of Matala yesterday and took a swim in the Libyan sea.  It was very refreshing and a chance for the kids to relax a bit after a very full week.  Today we also took some time to swim in the beautiful section of the Libyan Sea at Plakias.  It was stunning:  crystal clear, emerald water, sand beaches and all surrounded by mountains.  Each day of the trip has been filled from morning to late evening, and I have been very impressed with the students with whom we travel.  They are engaged, curious, move easily among themselves, and possess good senses of humor.  They have been a delight to travel with.

We visited the monastery at Prevali to close out the day.  It is above Plakias on the way back to Rethymnon.  It has a small and icon-filled chapel that is rich with the imagery of the Greek Orthodox tradition.  It was started at the beginning of the Turkish period (late 17^th century) and played critical roles during the resistance to the Turks and, during the 1940’s, to the Nazis.  The Turks destroyed the monastery a couple times because of their support of the resistance to the Turks.  The monastery developed a tunnel from its hilltop location down to the sea and used it to move resistant fighters and Allied fighters during W.W. II to the Libyan Sea and onto safe locations in Egypt.  It is interesting to think of the political role that this monastery was involved in, and to consider how the spiritual is not divorced from the physical and political.  The question has always been asked, “What is the appropriate relationship and balance?”  When it comes to fighting fascism, the response seems rather easy (though there are too many examples of churches supporting Hitler and Mussolini).  Religious traditions have never possessed a quick and easy answer to the spiritual/political question.  Indeed, Jesus, one of the most spiritual individuals was executed precisely because of his politics).  Therefore, we cannot deny that our reflections on the Holy and a belief in Christ does not allow for total inaction in this world.  Indeed, such activity may call us more fully and meaningfully into an engagement with the world.  Prevali stands as a prime example.