Today our visit to the NATO Missile Firing Base was very interesting. This reinforced the importance of Crete as a strategic location in the Mediterranean Sea, located between Europe, the Middle East and Africa. It was stated that this base was the largest and most important missile firing base (training base) in the Eastern Mediterranean. What surprised me was that this instillation was only used for training and would not be used in any real combat situation. Also, I was fascinated by the high tech missiles that could travel across a long distance in seconds. WOW!

Also our visit to the Allied WWII cemetery yesterday was eye opening. I think it is easy to feel detached from information and statistics that are learned in class. However, when seeing rows and rows of grave stones with your own eyes, war and death becomes much more realistic. Although it was very sad to think about the thousands of deaths, it also was a reminder of how conflicts and ideological differences can result in tragedies.

On a lighter note, the lunch that we had today at the NATO private beach was wonderful and fishy. I tried some octopus, calamari, and some Greek fish that looked like sardines. So good!!