This morning I was picked up by my tour company and taken to the ferry at the nearby port town of Kusadasi. The ferry left at 9am and we were in Samos by 11.30am. I asked about the ferry to Patmos, and was told that it went from a different town on Samos Island, so I took a bus there. When I arrived I went into a ferry office and found that the ferry timing that I had expected had changed. The ferry was now leaving later in the afternoon, and there was no return ferry on 13 May, so I would have to leave Patmos on 12 May if I wanted to sail from Samos to Chios on the evening of the 13th.
I got all that sorted out, bought a return ticket to Patmos and as I was doing so, met a very friendly Swedish couple who were on their way to Patmos that afternoon as well. We had our own separate things to do for a while, but agreed to have lunch together later. I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with Thomas and Birgitta. I found that we had an amazing amount in common. Thomas, for instance, had been to the Holy Fire ceremony in Jerusalem on a previous Easter Eve, and they had both been to the Ethiopian Orthodox Easter Eve service there. They were active Christians, and Thomas had brought with him a book to read that is one of my all time favourites – God of Surprises, by Gerard Hughes. They are both teachers and Birgitta makes her own clothes and bags and teaches handcrafts as well as being a general class teacher for 11-13 year olds. I felt sure that Helen would have enjoyed their company too, and that she would have a lot in common with Birgitta.
We caught the ferry together, and I took a photo of them during the journey.
When we got to Patmos, we went our separate ways as they had booked accommodation and I was going to the monastery of St John (founded in 1088), on the top of the hill above the town.
Since it was now 8pm, I was in some doubt as to whether it was reasonable to turn up to the monastery at this hour, and on stepping onto the dock I was delighted to see a woman holding up a card with my name on it. This was Anastasia, from the Centre for Orthodox Culture and Information in town. She took me to the centre, phoned the monastery driver, and he came and picked me up! I am sure that I owe this special welcome to the fact that I had faxed, along with my request to stay, a supporting letter from the Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of New Zealand, Archbishop Amfilochios.
The next morning, after worship, I had an appointment with the abbot, who is a personal friend of Archbishop Amfilochios from New Zealand. We had a nice meeting, with some very helpful translation done by another visitor to the monastery. The Abbot, the proper term of address for whom I was not certain(!), kindly gave me a book he had written on the monastery, and I gave him a holding cross from New Zealand.
After our meeting, our translator, whose name was Costas, took me to see the icon restoration workshop in the monastery (two people are employed here full-time) and the monastery museum and treasury. The visit to the icon restoration workshop was very interesting, and the museum was impressive, with one of the monastery treasures being an early (fifth century) text of Mark’s gospel, of which two pages were on display. There were many other treasures as well, including a range of icons, illuminated texts, church vestments, chalices etc, edicts form various rulers, and other artefacts. Among the icons a lovely, but slightly damaged, icon by El Greco stood out. Again no photos were allowed.
Later on I headed down to the cave of the Apocalypse, the place where St John is believed to have dictated the Book of Revelation to Prochoros, his assistant and scribe. I managed to arrive at a time when only a few people were there (no photos again!), but as I stayed to soak up the atmosphere of the place there was a sudden influx of people from various tour groups.
I decided to seek the quiet of the monastery and I climbed back up the hill, taking a photo of the monastery as I went.
I also met this local resident along the way.
It wasn't a very big snake, but I have to admit that snakes are not my favourite creatures to come across on a country walk!
When I got back to the monastery, I went to Vespers. I then took some photos in the late afternoon sun,
and following that I spent time reading a book on Orthodoxy before the night prayers at 9pm.
In the morning I rose to attend the prayers and Holy Liturgy. The chanting of the Orthodox liturgy affected me more powerfully today than at any time since the Armenian liturgy on Good Friday in Jerusalem. I felt drawn into God's presence. At the end of the liturgy, as one of the monks (whom I had never met) left the church, he placed his hand on my shoulder. Again this gesture, from someone I could not communicate with through words, meant a lot. He seemed to be saying something like, “It’s good to see you here”, or “I hope you find what you are looking for”. It was a gesture of encouragement and connection.
After the service I went to take some photos of the monastery at a time when I would not be pushing my camera into the face of the monks.
This photo looks down at the courtyard just outside the katholikon (main church).
And this is the front of the katholikon.
I then took a bus down to the town so that I would be ready for my ferry. The harbour looked beautiful.
I boarded the ferry and before long we were back in Samos. I caught a bus to Samos town, and waited for the next bus to Karlovassi, from where the Chios ferries sail. The bus trip to Karlovassi took us past some picturesque seaside villages. (During the trip I had another of those incongruous moments while travelling, as was watching from the window the heavenly view of the Greek coast and sitting next to a young Indian man who was loudly playing Bollywood clips on his mobile phone.) Karlovassi itself was more of a town than a village, and had quite a busy port. I found some accommodation for the night in a cheap hotel and had dinner at a little restaurant on the sea shore.
The next day, as I was simply in transit and didn’t have anything that I wanted to see in the surrounding district, I spent most of my time writing up my diary and preparing for my next few blogs. I caught the ferry at 6.45pm and was in Chios before 10pm. I was immediately struck by the vitality of the night life on the waterfront. It had the feel of a bustling town (I found out later that a part of the University of the Aegean is situated in Chios, so there are a large number of students here.) I found Chios Rooms, my accommodation in Chios, and had a chat with Don Rodger, the New Zealand owner/manager. My room was overlooking the waterfront, so I took a photo or two from my window, and then went to bed.
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