Tours of Patmos

Today was a short touring day. We got on the tender at around 8:15 am for a short ride over to the port town of Skala. There we meet our guide, Nikos, and boarded our bus for the drive to the Monastery of St. John in the town of Chora, the capital of Patmos. We were able to see a bit of the Monastery. On the first floor was the chapter. We could see the Markets and a bit of the sanctuary. There was also a case that contained the chains that John wore while a prisoner on Pathos. The case also contained the skull of St. Thomas and also the skull of John Christodoulous (the man who completed most of the monastery). St. John is buried at Ephesus (another reason to be safe that we couldn't go too Ephesus). On the second floor were some ancient Bibles; some icons; some priests' robes and the contract the king wrote up of all the support he, the king, would provide.

After the Monastery your, we headed for Cave of the Apocalypse. Although small it was impressive it. A church has been erected around the caves.

Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take any pictures at either site. We were taken back to Skala to either head back to the ship or to look around in the town. John and I decided to walk around the town. We had been encouraged to try the two traditional foods of Greece (or Patmos) - Cheese pie and pungi (sp?) that had been recommended by Nikos. Pungi is a sweet pastry. John wasn't interested in either of the suggestions, so we searched around for lunch for him. We eventually found an uncrowded restaurant where John got a macaroni pie and I got a salad. When John had finished his lunch, we went back to a look for a shop that sold cheese pie and the pungi. The pungi was pretty good, but the cheese pie was pretty dry. We wandered around a bit and bought some gelato. It was pretty good. Then we headed back to the ship. We walked around the ship several times and then got ready for the "port talk" about the tour to Mykonos and Delos. We then headed to dinner. I had salmon and John had rack of lamb. Both were excellent.

Looking forward to the tour tomorrow.Read more