Itisallgreek2me

Myrina Harbour - Limnos

My last day on the island of Oinousses was spent in much the same way as the day before, only I walked less and visited the Nautical Museum.  An interesting place, however, with no air conditioning on (I was the only visitor at the time and obviously I was not considered important enough to be kept cool) the heat in there I found to be unbearable and so my exit from the building was somewhat premature.

With inclement weather threatening and an early start yesterday, I thought it best to forgo “Julie and Julia” at the outdoor cinema and instead have an early night.  The ferry boat “Oinousses III” took me safely back to Chios, a place I would rather not have been, it did nothing for me, I felt it had no heart and no spirit, the only place to have affected me in this way in my 37 years of visiting Greece.  More or less parked myself at Artcafe where they have WiFi and where they kindly allowed me to leave my backpack all day.  Went off during the day to purchase my ticket, eat and to look for an optician as a lens had again come out of my glasses.  Alas, the news was not good – the only place they can be fixed is in Athens, it would take a few days and in any case, I’m not about to risk losing them so I will manage with the 10 Euro reading pair I purchased on Leros until I return home.

On one of my walkabouts I met a lady from Russia, I cannot remember what her name is in Russian – in Greek it is Elpida, which means ‘hope’ and we chatted away together in Greek for sometime.  Elpida is working for an elderly Greek lady she refers to as Yia Yia (grandma), cleaning and cooking etc.  She was very happy to have met me and I hope that she will get in touch with me one day.

It was very hot and noisy in Chios town and I was tired too and so in spite of having all day to write a blog, I chose not too –  perhaps more because of the affect Chios had on me.  When the hour finally arrived to make my way to the port, the bars and pavement were crowded.  Once on board I found a floor space to lie down, hoping to manage a little sleep, however, it was not long before a snoring neighbour forced me to move on and I curled up in a quiet corner of my own.  That was until we stopped over at Mytilini where there was an influx of new passengers and I was joined in my space by an extended Greek family with several snorers – base, treble and alto!  In spite of all this I managed a reasonable night’s rest.

Arriving at the port of Limnos, I expected to see several accommodation owners touting for business but none were visible.  As I began my walk into the town of Myrina, a Greek man spoke to me, asking if I was looking for a room.  I established that what he was offering was a room at a very good price, on the side of the Castro hill, overlooking the town.  Demis and Anna, who is Canadian, live here with their dog Rusty and ten cats and my room forms part of their home – with a wisteria covered terrace overlooking the town and harbour and Demis’ substantial vegetable garden.  In stark contrast to Chios, I feel completely at home here and I know that I will thoroughly enjoy the few days of my stay. 

It is interesting and intriguing to say the least – how things seem mostly to fall into place, how meetings come about and my needs are taken care of.  It is a very simple life that Demis and Anna lead here – without a doubt, for now I have found paradise.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 28th, 2010 at 8:35 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.