Sunday morning we could hear the church bells
calling everyone to worship in Paralia.
We had a lovely breakfast on the beach,
and then checked out of our hotel, to drive down to Athens.
It was another perfect day - sunny and in the mid 70s.
As we were driving along, we turned a corner.
and there stood a castle - high on a hill in front of us.
Jared suggested that we try to find a way to get to it, and I, of course, agreed.
We tried a few roads, but none led to it.
Then we noticed a small sign with an image of a castle on it
It pointed the way to a small parking lot right off the main road.
We parked and found an open gate,
which had a narrow opening leading to a rocky footpath.
Up we hiked, and sure enough, there was our castle.
The Castle Pantelejmon
We paid a few Euro for entry,
and were able to walk around the grounds on our own
This would have been a church (one of two on the site)
The castle was well fortified to guard against pirate attacks
Such a pretty view!
The walls of a house (above)
The walls of the second church (below) with fragments of friezes
walking through the interior wall that separated the homes and churches
from the citadel and public areas.
looking down into a cistern
I find it amazing that this was built stone by stone -
There is a small working church inside the castle walls
So beautifully decorated inside
This diagram shows the kilns that were discovered on the hillside.
They were dug into the limestone, and used for long periods of time.
Once abandoned, they were used as a means of burying their dead.
The view down onto the village from the castle
We got back in the car and drove the rest of the way to Athens,
stopping for gas and lunch along the way.
Our hotel was just south west of the city in Pireas.
We stayed in a very modern, updated hotel.
We walked around the city streets in the evening, had dinner,
and did some window shopping.
Some of the names of the shops were funny - My favorite is below
After a good night sleep, Jared was ready to take me to my surprise...
A four day port hopping cruise!
I was so excited - we would be going to so many great places,
without having to drive or pack/unpack everyday.
We got settled, and took a walk around the ship
It was very windy, but it was worth it, to see the view from the deck.
Our first stop was that afternoon at the island of Mykonos
Our ship had to stay farther out in the water,
so we rode tender boats to shore.
All of the buildings were white, some accented with blue or red shutters or doors
The streets were concrete, painted to look like flagstone
The windmills of Mykonos are a defining feature of the landscape,
and were featured on almost all of the merchandise for the island.
We had a small meal by the water
The churches were all smaller and simpler,
which allowed them to blend more seamlessly with the buildings around them
Mmmm...Gelato!
We got to see the sunset over the picturesque city before we got back onboard
Below is the view from our ship as we sailed away.
The lights dotted the hillside, and reflected on the water -
This picture really doesn't do the scene justice
The next morning, we woke up at Kusadasi, Turkey.
It was very early in the morning, very few people were out,
and most of the shops were closed.
We chose not to take a taxi out to the Ephesus tours that the area is famous for,
but instead to explore locally on foot.
We decided we'd try to find our way up to the statue on the top of the hill
(see above)
As we walked past the fancy stores and restaurants,
we came to the area of town where locals actually live.
It's streets were narrow and very, very steep.
The living quarters were very close together, and it was dirty.
It was a humbling, thought provoking hike - I'm glad we took it.
The view from the top was well worth the effort.
The sun shone brightly across the now bustling town.
This is Güvercin Adası or "Pigeon Island" as seen from the hill top,
we decided we'd walk out to it before we had to leave
Walking back down was a challenge as well!
In some places, it was so steep, that it was hard to stay balanced.
Everything was open now,
so we did some window shopping.
There were stores for almost anything you could want,
but, it being Turkey, there were many rug and apparel shops.
Jared laughed about this store's name:
Turkey doesn't have the same kind of laws protecting clothing and
accessory brand names that we do in the US.
So, there were many, many fakes for sale
Before we had to get back onboard,
we took a walk out onto the peninsula.
The water was such a beautiful color!
There were quite a few people swimming and fishing
The castle was not open to the public due to repairs,
but it was pretty impressive on the outside.
We headed back to the ship for lunch and a nap.
Then we watched from the deck as we arrived at out next destination-
The Island of Patmos.
Patmos is famous for the Cave of the Apocalypse
and the Monastery of St. John the Theologian
Again, we took tender boats to get ashore
The photo below shows the Monastery at the very top of the hill,
and the Cave of the Apocalypse, located in the white buildings below.
After some shopping, we decided to walk up to the cave.
We passed a sign that I thought showed the way to a footpath which
would take us to the cave, but we wanted to be sure.
We asked a local gentleman, and he kindly offered us a ride to our destination.
Photos were not allowed in the cave.
John the Apostle lived in this cave during his exile on Patmos.
It is in this cave that he is said to have received revelation,
and written the Book of Revelation.
So, you can imagine what it was like to be where an Apostle of Jesus Christ once lived.
We did not visit the monastery, but had a nice walk together back into town.
Back aboard our ship, we had dinner, and talked about everything we'd seen so far.
It was hard to believe we still had two full days of our cruise to go!
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