"Bizarre Power Struggles" In Rethymno

The quote comes from my marvelous guidebook, "Let's Go Greece On a Budget," which is a wonderful book that I would recommend to anyone who is going to Greece and likes a guidebook which is budget oriented, informative, and generally snarktastic. They describe Rethymnon as a place known for its "bizarre power struggles" by which I think that they are referring to the warfare that is going on between the drug growers/dealers and the police that is more or less constantly happening there.

Oh, Crete. It is a fabulous place.

Rethymno the city is on the northern coast of Crete, and it is a picturesue little place, with a large touristy waterfront and some back streets that are winding and pleasant. This is the view to the west from outside Fortezza, the Venetian fortress which more or less dominates the city skyline.
My friend Emma and I went for a walk during our free evening, and is usual here, though I'm not sure why, ran into our professors at a random street corner nearish the waterfront. They were trying to take pictures of the ridiculous number of small birds perched on some lines, so I tried to take the picture- without much success.

Otherwise, it was a fun city to walk around in. Emma and I got quite lost, and it was alarming when we realized that we did not know where we were, what street our hotel was on, or even what our hotel was called. Thankfully between the two of us we could remember enough of the landmarks to find our way around. We had a nice dinner at a little taverna on a side street, where we spoke to the proprietor in Greek as a courtesy, only to later find out that it was actually necessary, since she didn't speak any English at all. I think this may have been the only place we ate at where we were not given free raki, but since I was tired at the time and a bit dehydrated, I was just as glad.

This is inside Fortezza, the Venetian fortress, and that building you are looking at is actually a mosque. All of Cretan architecture is a weird amalgamation of Greek, Venetian, and Turkish styles- a testimony to the many takeovers and occupations.
Red Sox Pride!

The sad/funny part is that everyone who has seen this picture yet assumes that I was crouching behind this wall, looking sneaky like a sneaky thing. Or a fox. In fact, I was actually on tip-toe- this place had some major fortifications. And I'm short.
Another picture from Fortezza- the water actually did look that blue. It was a beautiful day.