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| The island of Amorgos |
Our destination today has been on my semi-bucket-list for a number of years - climbing to the Monastery of Hozoviotissa, Amorgos. When you first see the monastery it takes your breath away, mine at least. It looks like a large blob of white clay has been thrown at the cliff face and stuck - it clings to the cliff face almost 300m above the sea.
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| Entrance to the steps that lead to the monastery |
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| The sea was a very long way straight down looking like beaten pewter |
The monastery was built around 1000 AD and contains rare icons and manuscripts but only a few people from our group got to see those. Me? No. I only made it halfway up the cliff. The higher we went the steeper the path became. My vertigo had been hovering in the background but the higher I went the worse it became threatening to tip me over the cliff-edge. So I stopped! You can imagine I was somewhat frustrated with myself. On the bright side however not too many people get to sit in solitude and silence in such a breathtaking location suspended about 180m above the sea. I was perfectly fine. So there I sat like the Grand old Duke of York, neither up nor down in total solitude and silence waiting for Lindsay to return - cliff-face one side, the sea a couple of 100m below. I was extremely disappointed but what can you do - other than lots of rationalising. Unfortunately despite prior booking, there was a service still underway so our group was not allowed in - so rationalising I didn't miss so much (but in reality I did).
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| Way down below you can see our bus. It had to reverse100-odd m to park in the small space allowed. |
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| The monastery hovered tantilisingly above |
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| Absolutely breathtaking |
From the monastery we were bused up to Chora, the capital of Amorgos - tiny and cute with a number of white churches. When we arrived at the tiny town square, there was a service in progress at the main church and we were silenced by the haunting incantations and chants. The service finished with the ringing of the church bells (by hand) outside the church. It was the celebration of their Saint that day and it felt rather special to be there. Lindsay and I just sat relaxing right in front of the church. Eventually five priests/monks emerged and we were given a big chunk of sacrament bread peppered with aniseeds to share. It was quite touching.
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| The road back to more secular life was a steep winding ribbon. |
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| Windmills dotted the hilltops |
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| Outside the church |
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| Our ship, Le Jacques Cartier, in the distance. What a landscape! |
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