I have an accomodation directory for the island and managed to make the decision that it was time to try staying up in one of the vllages.

I called a taverna with rooms in Falatados (not Adonis’ place but somewhere that I have had lunch up there) and using my best Greek think that I ascertained that they had a room and what the price was and that it would be from tomorrow – just as I was trying to reconfirm everything the call ended abruptly (turns out it was probably my phone credit expiring).

My lovely neighbours who have the adjacent terrace came to my rescue and were happy to phone and double check what I thought I had arranged.  We had had an exchange of cake and bread a couple of days ago and as we all know, we must never understimate the power of cake.

They leave tomorrow on Superferry II and have memories and fondess for her as I do.

I’d just taken in my empty glass and coffee mug and came back to this.

When I took the apartment Kostas told me there was an eight day period where he was fully booked and that I’d have to move out (he said he’d put me in touch with people to help).

I think I’ve got to move out on Monday.

I don’t want to.

Anyone know Greek law relating to squatters’ rights?

It took me several days to remember, but I wanted to see if I could capture just how magical the beach can be in the mornings.  I wasn’t particularly early today, about half-nine, and there were a couple of other people there.

Feeling reckless I walked into the sea with the camera.I try to fight my usual inclination to just float about and swim for a while parallel to the shore and have worked out a transit where I line up a certain telelgraph pole with a certain building to let me know I’ve got back to where my towel and flipflops are.  Who said navigation theory couldn’t be useful when you aren’t on a boat?

This evening, post dental appointment, while having my evening swim, I was hailed by Margit and Susanne who were having their daily swim – Margit made me guess the temperature of the water – I said 27c – she told me I was one degree over  , , , she never goes in the water without her thermometer and with a flourish produced a white plastic fish-shaped thermometer!

Correction:  Margit was very keen today today to tell me that I’d got it wrong – the fish thermometer isn’t hers, she was just looking after it for Susanne. I hope this clears things up.

I have a dodgy dental crown – it last made a bit for freedom 3 weeks ago and my dentist wasn’t that optimistic about it staying put for the whole of my trip after she cemented it back in as best she could (mutterings of you need a denture or a bridge!)

Well last night, while tucking into a delicious salad, sat on my lovely terrace, out it popped again.  I wasn’t best pleased.

I checked my travel insurance and they don’t pay for repair crowns and the like – unless it is to remedy pain – and I don’t think the idea of resisting smiling for 6 more weeks is the kind of pain they are talking about.

This afternoon Margit was kind enough to arrange an appointment for me to see the dentist she goes to.  He was terrific and seemed very thorough.  I’m crossing fingers that his work will keep me smiling for a good while yet.

after a fair bit of waiting about.

There were lots of people waiting to see the icon come back to town.  There were quite a few in full religious regalia.  There was a bit of praying and singing and what sounded like a bit of a sermon.  There were bells and boat horns and then everyone seemed to go off to get back on their bus or to go and eat.

I picked Tinos initially as there is very little foreign tourism here but a lot of Greek people, especially from Athens, come here for weekends and holidays.

As a result there is plenty of accommodation and places to eat, etc, and I think very few would dare try and rip off anyone from Athens.

Very few tavernas have boards displaying photographs of their dishes (that’s always been a big negative in my book). I will admit, though, to once picking a taverna here purely based on the fact that the menu in the window offered “aborigine in the oven” (I subsequently gave the place the name road kill cafe and didn’t ever go back in.)

There are some nice beaches on the island and the very picturesque villages in the hills are famed, as are the geometric design decorated white stone dovecotes that are dotted around.

The island’s main attraction is, though, to be found in a big church at the top of the hill that faces you from the harbour. It is a religious icon that is believed to have miraculous powers. The icon got buried when the island was sacked in the 10^th century. In the 1840s a nun living in a monastery up in the hills had a vision and was told where to find the icon and it was dug up and a church built on the spot to house it. People of the Orthodox faith make pilgrimage to see the icon and many climb the hill to the church on their knees. (Notice in the picture that there is a row of traffic cones protecting a carpeted crawl lane.) Many gift shops sell small pieces of tin, about the size of playing cards which have images of various body parts embossed (think knees, feet and hearts, that kind of thing) also there are very tall pink paper-wrapped tallow candles – you are supposed to buy one that is as tall as you are to take up to light at the church. The island seems to be a very popular place to get married and have children baptised.

It you want to see the people of Greece do the equivalent of the British in Blackpool come here and watch the late evening “volta” – everyone seems to be out to walk to and from tavernas and ice cream parlour and cafes to places for “loukoumades” (honey-drenched fried doughnuts) or late night gyros wrapped in cones of paper. The harbour road is closed to traffic from 8:30pm to 1am to allow this (oh, and for the children to go completely bonkers on bicycles).

Every ferry that arrives in the harbour is met by a row of very polite accommodation owners holding up their signs for their rooms or hotels and will probably have a minibus to take you to have a look – as far removed as you could get from the bunfight that meets you if you ever get off a ferry at Paros.

Today, 23^rd July, is the anniversary of the icon being found. It seems like a big deal – I’m told second only to the saint’s day on 15th August. The icon as been up at the monastery for the day and is being walked back to town in a big procession – should be here about nine, so I’m going to eat early for once and go and take a look.

If I stayed here for a good while and decided not to keep the scooter one of the things that would get to me was lack of fresh bread. It is a 30 minute walk to town and too hot to comfortably do that even at 8 in the evening. There is a bus service that stops a little short of here that I haven’t investigated yet.

Once I’d started to think about bread I soon decided that I’d have to try baking some. I bought some flour in suitably rustic-looking packaging but didn’t realise until too late that it was bread mix – by which time the dough was proving had had an added a sachet of instant yeast and extra salt. It did indeed prove quickly. I hadn’t ruined it – it turned out really well.

I made a salad and a tuna mayonnaise to go with the bread for my dinner on the terrace – there was much shooing away of interested feline neighbours. This turned into the evening’s entertainment that included synchronised lizard chasing and free-form tree climbing (sidways descent scoring maximum points).

Good times.

The apartment is really nice – I love my big shady terrace.  I like my outdoor shower to rinse off when coming back from the beach.  I’m quite taken with the two young cats and the four small kittens who have introduced themselves and realised they are on to a good thing with the new resident in No 6 (yes, there is a box of Friskies in the cupboard under my sink already)

As I thought it would be, it is a really quiet spot – few roosters having a shout now and then but that was about it.

I woke at half-six and decided that I had to go and try for a swim.  It was just me.  It was fantastic.  The sun was just edging over the hills.  If I wake as early and do it again I’ll try and remember to take the camera.

Feeling at one with the world and totally virtuous I couldn’t help but catch a few more Zs when I got back, could I?

Did quite a big food shop yesterday and plan to do some meals in – Michael’s been telling me to eat more salad for some reason.

Town has been getting just a bit too hectic for me (and I’ve had enough of the small boys pretending to play football outside my room just to have the excuse for shouting as loud as they can at each other and making each other cry).

My friend Susanne who used to have a travel agency here put me in touch with Kostas who has apartments at Agios Fokas (across from the beach I went to yesterday).

I went to see the place and thought it was delightful.  It costs a little more than my room in town but I get to have a shady terrace, a kitchen and that nice beach in spitting distance.  I’m moving in tomorrow.

I went to spend a few hours on the beach and have a swim at Kolymbithra.  It was fantastic – I stopped a few times on the ride home to take pics of some of the gorgeous hill villages and view of the main town and across to Mykonos and Delos.

On my way back I was tempted to make a detour to the village named Agapi – it means Love.  If you ever see that little blonde lad from the film Oliver would you tell him if he asks “Where is Love?” that I now know.