Bob and Ann in Greece 2008

Please visit May 8 slideshow

The Well where the Icon was Found


Pilgram

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. We 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 Church of the Panagia 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 told in the above link and here. (This links also talks about the town of Tinos).

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 sceptics, we 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.

Our High-Speed Ferry

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.

We got to The Grand Beach 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.

The Windmills


Street Scene

We walked around the old town after lunch. The streets were very narrow and meandered in no pattern. The objective was to get lost, check out a few shops and try to find your way back to where we 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 Bob tried on several sweaters attempting to find one that fit properly and would go with his 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 Bob a lot. He finally calmed down after walking back to the hotel, taking a shower and drinking some ouzo.

At 6:00 we were looking at the view of the harbor from our balcony. A huge cruise ship just came in joining two smaller ships that were similar to the one we took last year from Stockholm to Helsinki. The wind was still blowing very hard raising whitecaps on the sea and pushing large rollers which break on the shore.

Dinner

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.

The map of our route is below. To see it in Google Earth, follow this link.