We left Tilos heading for Nisyros, our last stop in the Cyclades. The ferry took about 4 hours.
Nisyros has an amazing fortress high above the town which was built in the 8th century BC and is referred to by Homer in the Iliad as playing a part in the Trojan wars. It was dramatic, on a huge scale, and very atmospheric.
We’ve both been reading Adam Nicholson’s “The Mighty Dead: Why Homer Matters” which is a great read about how the origins of the Homeric tales stretch back to oral epic story telling on the steppes one thousand years earlier in 1800 BC. It’s a great read so it was exciting to sit on the walls of this immense castle. We drew the walls but they were hard to capture. Here’s my effort.
Nisyros old town was very appealing, full of children tearing round the alleys happily playing hide and seek, one moment 9 year old girls, next the 6 year old boys, then the 10 year old boys. Fun! We ate in the same restaurant as the priest.
And on to Astypaleia in the Cyclades. This was the least touristy place we’ve been to and has a very self contained feel. We learned that Volkswagen have invested in the island and have launched a project with the Greek government to make all vehicles electric. Meanwhile the school is part of an EU island education project which involves a partnership with a school in Vlieland in the Netherlands (there are other pairings too including schools in Iceland) to help island secondary school children not feel isolated and learn international approaches to education.
We spent a lot of time drawing the beautiful old town with its windmills. Alex’s two drawings first, then my two, and then the real thing!
The only problem was that to build houses in this volcanic rock they have to pile drive through layers and layers of rock and we had a very persistent digger just below us all day so we decided to head off sooner than planned. We had to get up at 5am to catch the four hour ferry to Naxos. We’d expected Naxos to be very touristy but although there certainly are tourists, it’s a very appealing real place with a labyrinth of an old town on top of the hill. The weather became very stormy and wild for three days. Ironic to discover that it’s warmer in both London and Stockholm than here! We did start to wonder … but the sun has come out again. The waves are still huge.
Off inland for a few days next to explore the mountains. Here’s a close up on the island hopping map.
