Day 22: Last Day on Crete!
Friday, August 15th
Today’s travel blog is brought to you by Sophia in Ms. Amelio’s English class.
The soft hum of water droplets filled the silent morning air as they pinged down. I was washing off the night before, my hands still sticky from a stop at the gelato shop, the lingering strawberry scent now fading away. Clean and refreshed, I stepped out of the shower, ready for my last day in beautiful Rethymno, Crete.
Or so I thought.
My rich and thought-provoking shower had taken much longer than I realized. By the time I checked the clock, panic had set in. I had already missed sign-in, and every suitcase (along with its sleep-deprived owner) needed to be downstairs in the luggage room by 10:15. My brain had been prioritizing the Cretan atmosphere over the strict timeline of suitcases, and now I was suffering for it.
To make matters worse, my suitcase had somehow doubled in size since we last traveled. It absolutely refused to shut. I wrestled with it, sat on it, begged it to cooperate, and finally, miraculously, the zipper held. I can’t say the same for myself: hair still wet, unbrushed, and a little frantic, I dragged both myself and my overstuffed luggage downstairs.
After hauling my stubborn suitcase downstairs, I finally escaped to the main lobby where my friends were already gathered around a table. We laughed about the night before, wandering through Rethymno’s shops, each one offering its own charm and hidden beauty. We then turned to the question of the day: beach first, or schoolwork first?
Half the group chose the sand and sun immediately, but the rest of us stayed behind to catch up on our Circe personal essays. The lobby buzzed with quiet focus as fingertips thrashed across keyboards, the morning slipping away faster than we realized. By the time our stomachs started rumbling, it was lunchtime.
We had been craving sushi all week and were thrilled to find that a restaurant called Wasabe was open. Many restaurants were closed because it was a Greek holiday called Name Day, a celebration where anyone sharing the name of a saint being honoured gets to celebrate, almost like a second birthday. August 15th is especially important, as it’s the Virgin Mary’s saint day. That means anyone named Maria, Mario, Panagiotis, or Panagiota would be celebrating all across Greece. To our surprise, one of our own classmates, who goes by their middle name, Artemis, but was baptized Maria, was celebrating too. Plates of spring rolls, edamame, and sushi arrived at the table, and between bites, we all agreed how comforting it felt to taste something familiar from back home.
After lunch, we made our way down toward the beach, but not without a quick detour. One of my friends needed souvenirs for her siblings, so I suggested a shop near the waterfront—Kalimera Store. Once our bags were filled, we finally joined the rest of the group at the beach. The early beachgoers were already sprawled out on towels, happily eating the sushi we’d carried back for them. Done with the heat of the blazing sun, we ran straight into the aqua-blue water. The ocean breeze tangled through our hair as we splashed and laughed, salt clinging to our skin.
Harper, who cheers back home, taught us a few stunts in the shallow end. I attempted to be the flyer, and though I swallowed more saltwater than I’d like to admit, I eventually got the hang of it. My friends and I couldn’t stop reliving the tubing and parasailing we’d done the day before for Harper’s Sweet 16, our voices bubbling with laughter as we replayed every detail. Our stories must have been convincing, because a new group of classmates decided to try it themselves.
A few of us were offered a half-off discount to go tubing and parasailing again. As tempting as it was, we decided to head back early so we could get ready for the long night ahead—the overnight ferry to Athens. Once we changed out of our bathing suits, we gathered in the hall outside the luggage room, trading stories with other students about our time in Crete and marveling at how fast the program had flown by.
By 5:15, the tubing and parasailing crew had returned, full of laughter and wild stories. It was time to say goodbye to the Olympic Palladium Hotel. We hauled our luggage into the elevators, then settled back into the lobby, bags in hand, waiting for departure. Just as we were about to leave, the teachers surprised us: our classmate Artemis, who was celebrating their name day, had bought little hand pies for the entire group. They came in two flavors—lemon and apple. They made the perfect little send-off treat before we loaded our luggage and boarded the bus to the ferry port.
The ferry itself was massive, named Festos Palace by Minoan Lines. The hallways twisted and turned in ways that tricked you into thinking you’d found your humble abode, only to realize you hadn’t. My roommates—Harper, Dylan, Emily, and I—finally stumbled into Room 7027, tossed our bags down, and headed straight for the dinner buffet.
The line stretched endlessly, but the reward was worth it: baskets of bread, fresh salad, souvlaki, chicken nuggets, pasta, and spinach pies. We were starving, and we ate like it was our last meal in Greece.
Back in our room, we collapsed onto the surprisingly spacious bunks. The interior was nicer than I expected: warm wood paneling, white walls, a small work desk, and even a bathroom with a shower tucked neatly in the corner. With that, we turned in for the night, sinking into surprisingly cozy beds with actual comforters. As the ferry hummed across the sea, I drifted into dreams of Athens—the city that had first welcomed us to Greece, and would soon mark the closing chapter of our journey.
What I learned on this last day in Crete is that travel isn’t just about the big landmarks or the picture-perfect moments. It’s about how you handle the small things—the suitcase that won’t zip, the shops you wander into by chance, the pie you didn’t expect but end up sharing with everyone. These little details, the messy and the ordinary, end up shaping the memory just as much as the highlights.
Crete taught me that no two days ever unfold the same way. Some start in chaos and end in calm. Others flip the script completely. But together, they remind me that it’s the unplanned, ordinary moments that make a journey unforgettable.
We’re looking forward to exploring Athens again tomorrow!
