July 28 AMORGOS

Mom was up and out the door at 5:45am. The taxi picked her up, drove to Chora and picked Rita up, then dropped both off at the port in Aegiali (aye-ah-lee). The caught the ferry to Naxos and were picked up by ambulance and dropped off at the hospital. There were several other people from the surrounding islands in the emergency waiting to get treatment for dislocated joints, broken bones, sprains, etc.

Rita does not have any broken bones but she does have a sprain so she has to wear a brace for two weeks. In Greece you have to pay for your medical treatment and then claim against insurance. We don’t know how much she had to pay at the hospital but she seemed unconcerned because, as she said, “I claim it.”

While Mom and Rita were enjoying their hospital trip, Simone and I had breakfast at Katapola and then caught the bus to Chora to see Susie. It was clear that Susie was exhausted from the effort of speaking English so Simone and I went for a walk around town. When I visited Amorgos in 1997 there were only two “touristy” shops, one of which was a very talented potter. I bought some of the pottery for Simone and she has it displayed prominently in her kitchen. Today there are over 20 shops.

The Greek Orthodox church at the entrance to Chora:

We saw some of Simone’s pottery in one shop and asked where were could find more. The man indicated that we could find the potter’s shop down the alley. We looked very carefully but could not find the potter’s studio.

I just love Greek doorways:

We exited the town into a parking lot. I remembered that Rita and I walked down a path carved into the hillside from the parking lot to get to the monastery. So, I asked Simone to bear with me while I looked for the path. We found the path right away but realized that it was far too treacherous for Mom to traverse.

The footpath to the monastery:

We took a few photos of the hillside – uh, cliffside – because it was so beautifully barren. The wind was fierce and we both struggled to keep our footing while climbing back to the parking lot.

From there we walked back to town. We were both really keen to find the potter’s studio and double-checked each shop in the main alley. I mentioned to Simone that I thought the studio was beside the market and she walked in and asked the woman at the desk. She learned that the potter did have a studio next door but closed down a year ago because of health problems.

We were feeling hot and tired at that point so we stopped for a snack and drinks at a local café. Unlike the cafes in Katapola where everyone speaks English, no one at this café spoke English. We managed to “sign” what we wanted and sat down to enjoy the sights and sounds of Chora.

Sweet reward after a hot day of walking:

Around that time Mom and Rita arrived in a taxi from the port. We walked back to Susie and Rita’s home. We showed Susie and Rita pictures on the laptop (Susie had never seen a laptop before) and when they got tired of that we chatted and had leftover cake.

By that time Susie was getting very tired so Mom, Simone, and I said our goodbyes and caught the bus back to Katapola. In fact, we ran after the bus as it was leaving Chora and were very lucky to catch it. Otherwise, we would have had to wait another hour until the next bus came.

We will have some dinner in a couple of hours. Then, we’ll head home and hopefully have a sound night’s sleep. Tomorrow we’re planning to catch the bus to Aegiali and swim in the ocean. Then we’ll catch the bus to Chora to visit with Rita and Susie, and the bus to Katapola for dinner and a rest.