St Johns Monastory Patmos
Patmos
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Another tough day on board the good ship 'Odyssey' |
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| Rhodes Central |
Rhodes, Patmos,Mylos
We woke in the morning to find us in the process of docking at Rhodes. It was quite neat to see us cruising past where the Colosus of Rhodes once stood. We docked just where the old Greek Triemes once lay poised for battle. The Rhodians did a pretty good job aligning themselves with whover they thought might win the current battle. Invaded by all and sundry incl. the Crusaders who arrived in 1309 and stayed for 200 years.
From up high we could see the outline of the old fort the Crusaders built. They did a grand job keeping the Ottomans out for a while who eventually gave way to the Greeks in 1947.
After another lets -eat- enuf-breakfast to last all day kind of meal we toured around the old city. We found a non-tourist entrance and promptly got lost down some quiet back street alleys, but found some interesting stuff. The Jewish Synogogue we found had 4000 Jews originally but the Nazis carted them off to Germany, with only 30 left now.
We found cats too, in need of some TLC - They are everywhere but quite often someone is feeding them left overs etc. Got back to the commercial areas then climbed a clock tower to get a view over town. Free drink with every entry! Checked the local museum ( Aphrodite of Rhodes plus inumerable other Greek & Roman artifacts. Its getting like 'another 2500 yr old statue'
Headed back for lunch, after which I shot out to get a couple of photos before the Ship departed for Patmos.
Patmos
After cruising all night, a little rocky due to the wind, we anchored off Skala,chief town of Patmos. St John was banished to here from Ephesus in AD95, stayed in a cave up the hill and had a revelation from God (via 3 cracks in the roof representing something significant that comes in 3's to you religious types) and wrote a book about his adventures. About 1000 years later an Abbott built a monastory on the hilltop above to celebrate the fact.
We decided to climb up ourselves to the Monastery via the Byzantine path. Pretty rough path really, I reckon the Romans could have done better (with 10000 slaves) to finish the job.
Anyway we found ourselves hiking up with a couple from Perth - a Pharmacist. We had plenty in common to talk about, bad and good. After constantly hearing the nasal drawl of a lot of loud Americans the Aussies sounded almost human! Best not get too carried away tho.
A howling gale at the top so quickly ducked inside the Monastery - to find peace, tranquiilty and half priced trinkets. Excellent little white washed village surrounding the main building, which had an amazing Treasury/Museum with priceless ecclesiastical treasures, incl. a hand written book (parchment?) from 941, beautifully decorated.
Back to the wind blown path down to see St Johns Cave The cave itself is a real shrine to St John, so big time earner for them. Full of god fearing italians or spaniards so we moved on.
Returned to the good ship to find a Spa we could use. We found an almost empty deck with 2 free spas ( one each) so grabbed a couple of cocktails and watched the sun go down. Magic
Fine Dining that night again, altho I was a little disappointed they managed to mix up our meals, big faux pax for these guys. Fantastic food yet again. Must get the recipes for Denise.
Mylos
Venus de Milo here we come. Actually the 4th Century Greek Statue was nicked by the French who apparently broke her arms en route to the Louvre!
Anchored offshore again and caught the Tender (ugliest boat in creation)to take us from the Odyssey to the port of Adamas. Taxied 5km with the Aussie Chemist to Plaka the original Greek town where the Athenians slaughtered the locals for siding with the Spartans. Fun fun fun. Its another labrynthe of white houses and laneways which is great unless you actually want to get somewhere.
There was an old church high on a hill above Plaka so we made our way up there for 360 degree views. You will see it on the video. Nice beaches with crystal clear bright blue water miles below. Real Greece ( postcard anyway)
Managed to fluke the bus going back down to the Port then back to the Ship for a well deserved rest. Managed to find our favourite spa spot again, grabbed a couple of drinks to enjoy watch the Island departing behind us in the setting sun.
We had booked a very special meal out at Restaurant 2. Classy nouvelle cuisine, matched wine and forbidden flavours. For once we may eat out without having to feel slightly nauseous from overeating! ( not to mention over-drinking)
I knew we were in for something interesting when a fellow diner was taking pictures (macrozoom) of each dish as it arrived. I think I would give a miss seeing his film evening of 'My Adventures in Europe'
Anyway the very nice waitress presented with a flourish long thin plates with several tiny tastes on each ( eating left to right of course). Cant remember any of them ( maybe a camera was a good idea) and before you know it we were having dessert. Main course non-existent, altho our waitress did stress we could re-order dishes we enjoyed if we were hungry still. Interesting Experience would sum up that one.
Wandered up to the evening Cabaret, which was formulaic again so left early to bed.
We woke in the morning to find us in the process of docking at Rhodes. It was quite neat to see us cruising past where the Colosus of Rhodes once stood. We docked just where the old Greek Triemes once lay poised for battle. The Rhodians did a pretty good job aligning themselves with whover they thought might win the current battle. Invaded by all and sundry incl. the Crusaders who arrived in 1309 and stayed for 200 years.
From up high we could see the outline of the old fort the Crusaders built. They did a grand job keeping the Ottomans out for a while who eventually gave way to the Greeks in 1947.
After another lets -eat- enuf-breakfast to last all day kind of meal we toured around the old city. We found a non-tourist entrance and promptly got lost down some quiet back street alleys, but found some interesting stuff. The Jewish Synogogue we found had 4000 Jews originally but the Nazis carted them off to Germany, with only 30 left now.
We found cats too, in need of some TLC - They are everywhere but quite often someone is feeding them left overs etc. Got back to the commercial areas then climbed a clock tower to get a view over town. Free drink with every entry! Checked the local museum ( Aphrodite of Rhodes plus inumerable other Greek & Roman artifacts. Its getting like 'another 2500 yr old statue'
Headed back for lunch, after which I shot out to get a couple of photos before the Ship departed for Patmos.
Patmos
After cruising all night, a little rocky due to the wind, we anchored off Skala,chief town of Patmos. St John was banished to here from Ephesus in AD95, stayed in a cave up the hill and had a revelation from God (via 3 cracks in the roof representing something significant that comes in 3's to you religious types) and wrote a book about his adventures. About 1000 years later an Abbott built a monastory on the hilltop above to celebrate the fact.
We decided to climb up ourselves to the Monastery via the Byzantine path. Pretty rough path really, I reckon the Romans could have done better (with 10000 slaves) to finish the job.
Anyway we found ourselves hiking up with a couple from Perth - a Pharmacist. We had plenty in common to talk about, bad and good. After constantly hearing the nasal drawl of a lot of loud Americans the Aussies sounded almost human! Best not get too carried away tho.
A howling gale at the top so quickly ducked inside the Monastery - to find peace, tranquiilty and half priced trinkets. Excellent little white washed village surrounding the main building, which had an amazing Treasury/Museum with priceless ecclesiastical treasures, incl. a hand written book (parchment?) from 941, beautifully decorated.
Back to the wind blown path down to see St Johns Cave The cave itself is a real shrine to St John, so big time earner for them. Full of god fearing italians or spaniards so we moved on.
Returned to the good ship to find a Spa we could use. We found an almost empty deck with 2 free spas ( one each) so grabbed a couple of cocktails and watched the sun go down. Magic
Fine Dining that night again, altho I was a little disappointed they managed to mix up our meals, big faux pax for these guys. Fantastic food yet again. Must get the recipes for Denise.
Mylos
Venus de Milo here we come. Actually the 4th Century Greek Statue was nicked by the French who apparently broke her arms en route to the Louvre!
Anchored offshore again and caught the Tender (ugliest boat in creation)to take us from the Odyssey to the port of Adamas. Taxied 5km with the Aussie Chemist to Plaka the original Greek town where the Athenians slaughtered the locals for siding with the Spartans. Fun fun fun. Its another labrynthe of white houses and laneways which is great unless you actually want to get somewhere.
There was an old church high on a hill above Plaka so we made our way up there for 360 degree views. You will see it on the video. Nice beaches with crystal clear bright blue water miles below. Real Greece ( postcard anyway)
Managed to fluke the bus going back down to the Port then back to the Ship for a well deserved rest. Managed to find our favourite spa spot again, grabbed a couple of drinks to enjoy watch the Island departing behind us in the setting sun.
We had booked a very special meal out at Restaurant 2. Classy nouvelle cuisine, matched wine and forbidden flavours. For once we may eat out without having to feel slightly nauseous from overeating! ( not to mention over-drinking)
I knew we were in for something interesting when a fellow diner was taking pictures (macrozoom) of each dish as it arrived. I think I would give a miss seeing his film evening of 'My Adventures in Europe'
Anyway the very nice waitress presented with a flourish long thin plates with several tiny tastes on each ( eating left to right of course). Cant remember any of them ( maybe a camera was a good idea) and before you know it we were having dessert. Main course non-existent, altho our waitress did stress we could re-order dishes we enjoyed if we were hungry still. Interesting Experience would sum up that one.
Wandered up to the evening Cabaret, which was formulaic again so left early to bed.
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