Friday, April 08, 2005

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.

Aegean Sunset

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.

Wildflowers of Lipsi

Church at Tourkomnima Beach

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).

Fresh Calamari

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.

Skala from Byzantine Road

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:

Welcome to Turkey

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow! I love that you're having such a fun adventure. Those photos are gorgeous, and the people sound lovely.

-Reni

Pedicularis said...

Glad to hear you are wandering around Greek Isles taking photos. I am now thoroughly jealous. Lovely photos, too.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, jealous...

:-)

Chandira

Anonymous said...

Hey Sotoroto (Yeah I spelled it wrong on porpoise) when I lived in
Belgium, 1969 - 70 BEFORE YOU WERE
BORN we were going to spend the summer on Patmos but ended up staying on Corfu instead. Have any plans to go there? On the other hand - WHY BOTHER - when there is so much loveliness around
you at all times anyway. Too bad the weather isn't cooperating for you to take a dip in the Med but it can only get better. YEAH WE'RE ALL JEALOUS and not only that, the Mariners... well... just
keep having fun!!

Love, Guadalahara

Pedicularis said...

I'm guessing the flowers (in the close-up photo) are Gaillardia (Blanketflower, in Sunflower family) and Papaver (Poppy, in Poppy family).

Fragile Kitty said...

Beautiful photos, and your words make me feel like I'm there.