Steering Aspen into the harbor at Kos, Greece
Maria standing beneath the tree of Hippocrates on Kos - the spot where modern day western medicine first began. Hippocrates lectured beneath this tree to his students about using scientific methods to treat people.
An Italian WWII prison on Leros. Maria looks a bit apprehensive?
Tunnels that the Italians built on Leros during WWII. They are everywhere on the island.
The cloudless, well almost, Greek sky above the deep blue Aegean Sea and the island of Leros.
Captain Steve trying to navigate on land again at Leros
Greek Orthodox Church out on a small island in Leros. Let's hope the tide doesn't come in quickly!
The azure blue waters of the Aegean Sea with a typical windmill and an anchored sailboat.
Ikaria, Greece with Aspen the only sailboat in the small harbor.
A closeup of Ikaria falling from the sky
Patmos - Where the St. John, the disciple of Jesus, lived in exile for 5 years and wrote the final chapter of the Bible.
Maria walking in the steps of the pilgrims to the Cave of the Apocalypse.
The Story:
There are so many Greek Islands that it is
difficult to decide where to visit first.
So we let the wind help us decide.
That simplifies things a little bit and Aspen likes to be pampered too!
We crossed from Turkey to Kos, Greece and
checked into the European Union (affectionately known as the EU – the same
organization that Greece wants to leave, along with the currency of the
Euro). Anyway, Kos is a tourist
island with a marina that is a nice place to be in order to explore the island.
Maria got her hair done so that made her very
happy. They have hair stylists
from Paris in Kos and she really liked their work.
Two days after stopping in Kos the marina told
us that we could not stay any longer because all of the charter boats were due
to come back so we would have to go.
Oh well.
Next stop was Leros, where the Italians took
over the island, and Greece, during WWII, and built all of the buildings that
we see today on Leros. There are
military ruins everywhere because Leros was Italy’s biggest port in Greece
during the big war. There is still
a forbidden area across the bay from the tiny marina that the Greek Navy still
uses. We tried to get in but they
said NO. So instead we visited an
Italian prison that is in ruins and several bunkers, gun emplacements on high
points on the island and tunnels.
Leros isn’t a very big island so the locals
have a bad case of island fever.
They constantly drive up and down the street behind our boat that is
tied to the main concrete wall in the town of Lakki. The main street is about 1 mile long and they drive from one
end to another all day and most of the night on their scooters that don’t have
mufflers. At least they keep
themselves entertained!
We had south winds so our next stop was
Patmos. Now this island was really
amazing. Heathen Steve was
educated once again when we read that the Romans exiled St. John (yes, THE St.
John, the closest friend of Jesus) to the island and he lived in a cave known as the
Cave of the Apocalypse. This was
where St. John wrote the final chapter of the Bible, Revelation (or as it is
also known, the Apocalypse).
We were able to visit the actual Cave of the
Apocalypse and as usual we arrived early before the throngs arrived. There was a donkey path from the main
town where Aspen was docked, that wound up and up into the steep
mountains. This is the same path
that the pilgrims walk when they visit the cave.
Ascending over 1,000 feet we arrived outside of
the church that has been built around the cave. We paid $2.50 to visit the cave and preceded to the steps
that led down, down, down until we stood outside the entrance to the Cave of
the Apocalypse. The inscription
above the entrance read, “As dreadful as this place is it is nevertheless the
house of God and this the Gate of Heaven”.
Ummm, that put us in the right frame of mind
with something that was written nearly 2,000 years ago!
I don’t intend to belabor this visit BUT, I
have to explain that inside the cave where John wrote the Apocalypse there are
three cracks on the low cave ceiling that we could barely stand under. These 3 cracks joined together at a
single point where we put our hand.
St. John said that this juncture was the Holy Trinity and at this exact
spot God spoke to him through this Holy Trinity and gave him the words to the
final chapter of the Bible.
We never expected that Greece is as biblical as
it is but this was a fantastic visit to the Cave of the Apocalypse and as astounding
as it gets.
Oh yes, the restaurants and little shops on
Patmos were a lot better than those on Leros!
Again the winds were blowing lightly from the
south so we pushed further north and arrived at Ikaria. Do you remember where this island got
its’ name?
Obviously, it was the Greek legend of Ikaria! The legend was that Ikaria crafted a set
of wings from feathers and wax in order to escape Crete. Unfortunately Ikaria strapped on the
wings and flew a little too high and close to the sun where his wings of wax
melted. And you can guess where he
landed – right on the island of Ikaria of course. They have a nice statue honoring this legend at the entrance
to the small harbor.
Aspen was the only sailboat in the harbor
because very few sailboats stop here.
Ikaria is not a very touristy island and it is much too steep to grown
any crops. But it was a nice stop
for us and gave Aspen a great wind angle to our next island, Mykonos.
Mykonos, the party, party, party island that Onassis,
Jackie O and the jet-set crowd made famous! Stay tuned for this one!
Sail on, sail on and sail safe Aspen…
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