Soft rays of sunlight highlighted the blue domes of the numerous small white chapels ringing the sheltered harbor of Katapola as Sea Cloud dropped anchor during breakfast. Within minutes the tenders got to work ferrying the majority of the ship’s company to the pier for the 20-minute bus trip up, over, and down the steep switchbacks on the far side of the island to the base of the cliff from where we could start our hike to spectacular 11th century monastery of Panagia Hozoviotissa.
Clinging to the face of an overhanging cliff, the whitewashed walls of this edifice stand six-stores high, yet the structure itself is just 40m long and 5m wide. The inaccessible location of the setting is a testament to not only the turbulent social and political upheavals of the late Byzantine Era, but also the profound spirituality of the community of the Orthodox monks who chose this location on the eastern edge of the Christian world to withdraw from the worldly cares of society and, through prayer and study, grow closer to God. We were assured that the daunting trail of 300-plus steps was built to conform to the EU regulations for the gradient and spacing of a proper donkey path—so, No Problem! The view from the rooftop terrace of the monastery and the tiny chapel, replete with exquisite icons, some dating back to the 8th century, made every one of those steps well worth the effort!
After an hour at the top we began to make our way down the path for the short trip to the Chora, the main village of the island. Nestled just below a windmill-festooned ridge, the Chora of Amorgos is a cluster of white-washed houses with multi-colored doors, chapels, café’s, tiny shops filled with locally made handicrafts, food products and jewelry and pots and pots of pink-and-red geraniums. Now, three days into the voyage, everyone is beginning to relax into the laid-back pace of Greek island life, so after exploring the many tiny winding streets of the Chora, most guests found a seat in a local café and ordered up a caffe freddo or Mythos beer and watched village life roll by before catching one of the shuttle buses back to the port.
In the afternoon we motored against strong north winds to the island of Naxos. Robyn Woodward, our resident historian and archaeologist gave a slide-illustrated talk on the mythology, art, and architecture of the Ancient Greek World before our lavish high tea of fruit beignets and homemade ice cream, all of which was followed by an impromptu talk on time-lapse photography by Max Seigal. Shortly after dropping anchor in a sheltered bay just south of Naxos Town, some of our ship’s company tendered ashore for a dockside Greek dinner and a stroll out to the Portara, the great stone portal, which is the only standing remains of the islands famous 6th century Temple of Apollo. Many of those who stayed aboard adjourned to the lido deck after dinner and joined Peter at the piano for a rousing sing-a-long of Broadway hits Peter played. An action-packed day to be sure!
