Day 3: 3 July 2013

Today classes started out learning basic words such as hello, good morning, good night, etcetera. We then began discussion about the trip we took yesterday. It was interesting to here everyones thoughts on the places we travelled. I enjoyed the Palace of Knossos a lot. That was the first time I ever travelled to a place of ruins. It was interesting to see the technologies they had for such little tools. We also discussed how it is so preserved, the structure and food storage, technologies. Knossos Palace is far from the sea for protection from invaders, less protection if close, or people travel there for protection.

Traveling through Heraklion was also a large part of discussion. The Church of St. Titus had amazing detailing. We learned that there are venetian aspects about the church because during that time there was only type of Christianity. The Mediterranean was also a topic of discussion about how it is a closed sea, the colors and warmth of the sea. I learned about the tides also. I was very curious if the Mediterranean experience tides here. The Mediterranean is very different from the ocean. It has tides but of a very low amplitude because of the small inlet and outlet.

We also discussed the Bronze Age. This has come up many times in my art history courses and other classes. The Bronze Age was a very important period for Greece because of the civilizations that formed during this time. What I found most interesting during this class was the Old Palace Period (2000-1700 BC) to the New Palace Period (1700-1450 BC). What I enjoyed learning about was the idea of the Palace. It came originally from the Near East. The Knossos Palace for example was very large, elaborate in plan and construction, and had architectural complexes.