A very loud thunderstorm woke us early this morning. Lots of bright lightning flashes were quickly followed by the roar of thunder. It was moving very slowly, so when our alarm went off at 6:30, it was still nearby. There was some rain accompanying it, but not a lot. There was plenty of wind, though. When we packed up and were bussed to town, we had to wear many layers.
We had about an hour of free time in town before our ferry was scheduled to leave. Ann and I tried to find the local archeological museum, but because all of the signs were in Greek, we didn't know which buildings were schools, medical clinics or museums. So we went to the main church that we visited the evening before. We looked at some sculpture by the local islanders. We also saw where the silver and diamond icon was found. It was in a deep well and because it had such religious significance, the church was built on top of it. The story is that the town has in the midst of a plague. A girl found the well that contained the icon. After she found it, the plaque stopped. Thus, the holiness of the spot.
There were several Greek pilgrims there to kiss the other icons and to fill water bottles with holy water from the tap at the well. Being a sceptic, I suspect that the water probably came from the town's supply. As we were leaving and walking down the street, we saw a woman crawling up the street on her hands and knees on her pilgrimage to the church.
Pilgrim and the Well
Our ferry, a high-speed catamaran, left at 10:30 and dropped us off at Mykonos 20 minutes later. There were lots of people on the ferry which originated in Athens. Almost all disembarked with us.
The Ferry and Waiting for the Ferry
We got to our hotel too early to check into our rooms, so we lazed around for awhile drinking cappuccino and espresso until it was time to walk over to the old town for lunch. We ate in a taverna with a wonderful view of the rough sea and the historic windmills. Our typical multi-course meal was highlighted by a paella-like dish with mussels, clams and shrimp. Dessert was sliced apples, oranges and kiwi.
Getting Cappuccino at Our Hotel
We walked around the old town after lunch. The streets are very narrow and meander in no pattern. The objective is to get lost, check out a few shops and try to find your way back to where you started. We did that. While there we stopped at a local artist's gallery and had an amusing conversation with him. Richard North has lived here for 25 years and is from Australia (we think). We also stopped at a shop where I tried on several sweaters attempting to find one that fit properly and would go with my limited wardrobe. Nothing worked. When we left, the old man who was tending the store got very angry with us, sneering and gesturing furiously. This bothered me a lot. I finally calmed down after walking back to the hotel, taking a shower and drinking some ouzo.
Windmills and a Street Scene
We are now (6:00) looking at the view of the harbor from our balcony. A huge cruise ship just came in joining two smaller ships that are similar to the one we took last year from Stockholm to Helsinki. The wind is still blowing very hard raising whitecaps on the sea and pushing large rollers which break on the shore.
Dinner tonight was at a beach chalet very close to our hotel. Our table was outside but it was sheltered by clear plastic sheets for walls.We had the usual multi-dish meal capped by sliced apples, pears and oranges. We have been craving fresh fruit and this hot the spot.
Our Dinner Restaurant
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