Every time we visit Venice we know that there are churches we've never got around to visiting (featuring Tiepolos we've never looked at it) or Palazzi where exhibitions are being held that one really ought to see or This or That or Whatever.
On Kalymnos, however, there is nothing that has to be seen or done that we haven't seen or done at least once before. There is the monastery - well, there are several, naturally, but most are inaccessibly perched on precipitous mountain tops beyond the reach of anything other than goats or, presumably, monks...
There is the ruined castle...
A batch of abandoned, sail-less windmills...
And the scant remains of the Early Christian Baths (seen here being visited by a tourist)...
There is, of course, the hustling-bustling port of Pothia with its Cathedral, Diving Museum and Sponge Factory (the kind you wash with not the Victoria Jam variety)...
But any later than 10.00 am and the place is hotter than Tophet so, after a coffee in the Kafennia (watching senior Kalymnians playing chess) and a quick visit to the local bakers for some home made bread and biscuits, it is time to escape from rather than explore...
One is left, therefore, with the other strenuous option of passing the time here in Emporios...
You wake leisurely to the gentle sound of the sea lapping on the shore beneath the bedroom window; enjoy a leisurely coffee and a slice of fresh watermelon for breakfast; take a leisurely stroll the exhausting ten yards (!) to the beach and make the tiring decision about which tamarisk tree to sit under; read a page or two of a book; doze; have another coffee; listen to the ever-busy cicadas; doze again; read half a page; doze once more; maybe take a short stroll (it's really not obligatory) to the bougainvillea-surrounded church...
...then have a Greek salad for lunch, followed by the requiste siesta; wake up in time for a nice leisurely cup of tea and a Kalymnian biscuit (or three); toying - possibly, but only if one really feels like it - with thinking about writing something; have an early evening drink; leisurely contemplate what maight be nice for dinner; read a paragraph or two; have a chat; have another drink; have supper; listen to George Glinati playing the guitar; watch David doing magic for the patrons of the Artistico; have a final drink and - somewhere about 1.00 am or, maybe, 2.30 it really doesn't matter - toddle up to bed and fall asleep to the gentle sound of the sea lapping on the shore...
So, you seen, absolutely no pressure!
4 comments:
I see you are into the Kalymnos way and pace of life already. We'll come up and see you in the next few days if we can fit it in between our busy schedule of siesta, leisurely lunch etc etc
That sounds like an alright life. Although I'm not a big fan of feta cheese or olives. Does the menu have alternatives?
Sounds like heaven. I haven't had a holiday like that for at least 30 years. Enjoy!
And I thought it was so difficult to get an internet connection that you couldn't possibly be blogging... until I looked and there you are!
Sounds like a difficult lifestyle - one I don't think the man would take kindly to.... sadly!
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