Aegean Adventures - Tinos Trek

The port city, Hora, on Tinos.

I purchased a ticket for the ferry traveling from Milos to Andros. It was as far as I could get away from the island the day I left and I figured that was auspicious.

However, as I read more about the islands the ship was stopping at, I became excited by the possibility of stopping on Tinos. I jumped off the ferry a stop early and took a ride from a domatia operator waiting in port.

The major attraction in Tinos is The Panagia Evangelista spread which caps the central hilltop of the Tinos Hora. The central road toward this site is flanked by vendors selling religious tokens and trinkets.

The Greek Orthodox tin reliefs of various body parts I had seen on Serifos were selling for a Euro apiece. Frankensence and copal, which I was more familiar with as organic dried saps, were pressed into fingernail sized chips through which one could comb for a quick fragrance buzz.

At the Panagia Evangelista, I observed an exterior courtyard of black, brown, and white pebbled set into cement to create symbols significant to the faith. Through the plaster arches, past a faded fresco of Joan of Arc in battle, I heard the sound of the choir celebrating mass within the cathedral.

The cathedral was so crowded that celebrants stood outside each of the doors peeking in. Near the offices of the church, a crowd of locals was sipping coffee and enjoying the sound of the mass which could be heard clearly without amplification.

I sat down and chatted with Georgio, a handsome man with CP who works at the on site museum. He served as a translator for the others as they asked me questions about San Francisco and about blogging.

I inspected the museum which featured two remarkable battle frescos, several marble and alabaster busts.

Later in the day, I wandered several kilometeres downhill to the Temple of Poseidon and Aphrodite.

Along the road were several dovecotes, elegant geometrical birdhouses Tinos is famous for. The natives of Tinos have historically trained doves and pigeons.

I also saw one of the finest examples of a roadsite temple that I’d ever seen. It was a handsome Greek Orthodox shrine made of white marble columns with a St. Andrew’s cross at the peak.

At the anthropoligical site, I could hear workmen digging in the backgound. I sat on the benches, touched the columns and imagined what my life would have been like in another age.