One of the best ways to get to know the inhabitants of your host country is to go on a cruise and share vacation. I, and a 1000 of my closest Cypriot friends, went on a cruise of the Greek islands. Together, we traveled from the port of Limassol around Rhodes, Tinos, Mykonos, Santorini, Lesbos, Symi and Crete. There were moments of sublime wonder (drinking coffee while overlooking Santorini harbor) mixed with moments of abject horror (trying to clear Greek customs with two cruise ships full of Cypriots and Germans-- can you imagine any two cultures further apart?! There literally was almost a riot.) We missed Tinos (a traditional island of pilgramage) on our first docking, so after sailing past Mykonos and Santorini, the devout yayas (Cypriot grandmas) onboard mutinied and forced the captain to TURN THE BOAT AROUND and go back to Tinos. There's a myth that if the The Virgin Mary does not like someone, She will not let the boat dock in Tinos. Quite frankly, I'm surprised we made the cut.
In Rhodes, I met a tour guide who used to work at the U.S. Embassy and who introduced me to the delight of ouzo candy, a specialty of Rhodes. Delicious. In Lesbos, I visited a monastery where a monk had fashioned an image of the Archangel Michael from the blood-drenched soil of his church courtyard after miraculously being the sole survivor of an attack on the abbey. A fresco of Michael in the same monastery is rumored to have disappeared for three days (and then reappeared) during the landing of Turkish troops in Cyprus in 1974. After docking at 7am, I made the pilgramage with other Cypriots to Tinos, "The Island of Faith," to the church of the Annunciation of Mary. We walked through the quiet streets and bought 3-foot high candles along the side of the road to light in the church. I lit a candle for my friend's Mom, Pam, who recently succumbed to breast cancer. In Mykonos, I dined at La Pasta Nostra and walked around the charming streets. In Santorini, I took the cable car up the side of the mountain, enjoyed a Greek frappe (a speciality coffee drink) at Select Cafe, and took a boat tour around the hot springs and hiked up the volcano. In Crete, we missed the closing time for Knossos (site of the Minotaur) by five minutes, so we returned to Heraklion and enjoyed some cheese pie, a specialty of the island. Even though our boat overheated on the way in, Symi may have been my favorite spot. It was a jewel. I had no expectations about it, but truly enjoyed the beautiful pastel-colored homes and charming scenery.
Any way you slice it, my cruise was a trip to remember.
