Day 8 - Skala (Patmos)

Well. A couple days without internet connection and you guys all freak out! (-; Back on Wednesday, I caught the ferry from Kusadası to Samos in the morning. The internet cafe didn't open until 17:00 but my ferry left at 14:30 (well, actually 15:15!). A few islands later, I disembarked at the tiny island of Lipsi (population ~500), where the internet cafe didn't open until May.

Anyway, a peaceful day on Lipsi. Two nights. A chance to do laundry (by hand, hang dry on the balcony).

Actually, I got in after sunset (see photo) without a room to sleep or a map of the town so I'd know where any of the pensions were.



So I wandered toward town, saw three men sitting on the front porch of the police station, and approached them with my problem. They were very friendly (and they weren't even trying to sell me anything (see Turkey)) and offered me a seat and a peach juice and made some phone calls. There was a place that would take me, and the proprietress' son was coming to get me. After a while, he showed up and I hopped on the back of his little motorcycle and we raced off through the back streets of Lipsi-town in the twilight. When we got to the pension, I was greeted with a hug because I was the first foreign tourist she'd had this year. Apparently, Greeks visit Lipsi in the winter.

Thursday, I went for a walk around the island. I considered going swimming, but it was cold and windy and overcast. There were flowers (see photo) and goats and birds and hills and churches (see photo) and all sorts of farm country stuff.





And then I had calamari and cabbage rolls for lunch. I think they beat the squid to get all the icky bits out (see photo).



Today, I caught the morning ferry back to Patmos (we stopped here on Wednesday on the way to Lipsi). And it was here that I found out that a 21:25 Friday ferry and a 00:45 Friday ferry are two very different things. I had some old info, I believe. Anyway, I'm spending the night here even though I planned to be sleeping on the boat off this island. My schedule for the rest of the trip goes to Plan B. (Not that most of you knew what Plan A was, anyway! Ha!)

Patmos was where St. John wrote the Revelation of the Apocalypse. I hiked up the Byzantine road ("up" it was) to the monastery there. The cave was smaller than I imagined. I continued up the road (see photo) to the castle-like St. John Monastery.



There's a little town around the monastery, but I couldn't find any restaurant or grocery open (or any buildings with signs on them). I started back down the hill, but soon realized I was walking down the wrong side of the hill! I was heading off into farmland instead of back toward the port town, Skala. So, back up the hill, wending through the narrow alley/stairs, and then finally finding the Byzantine road again.

Welcome to Greece. We open in May.

And here's a photo for Larry: