Last night in Aetofolia

Tonight is our last night in Aetofolia. Tomorrow we leave at 2:30 on the Superferry. The television is tuned to Tinos TV and I can hear 'nisiotika' island music from the artichoke festival that happened earlier this year.

Today we had an adventure. We went visiting to so many places in Tinos that I have never been to before. Originally we started out to go to the fantastic marble museum outside of Pirgos. However, we got there and the parking lot was gated. The museum is closed on Tuesdays. Oops. So we went to Pirgos instead and walked around. Normally, I just walk to the square and have a coffee and leave. Today we explored all the side streets. There's a bakery. There's a huge sculpture of Dionysus's head. There's beautiful marble houses and marble sculpted door frames. Who knew? Certainly not me.

After Pirgos, I would normally go to Panormos. But not today, we stopped by the supermarket. (Oh, yeah, there's also a supermarket) and picked up drinks and meats and cheeses and melons and grapes to go along with the bread we already picked up from the bakery. Then we headed off for a picnic.

We took the road past Marlas, then the paved road ended, and we continued on the dirt road past quarries, there was nothing in sight for a long while. We kept driving and stopping periodically to get a fix on where we were going. Then, a wondrous sight! A town at the edge of nowhere. Koymelas, the sign said. There was a church and houses built on top of cliffs and boulders jutting out to the sea. But we did not stop here because, well, the road kept going. We stopped at the end of the road -- at Mali.

This little town was the end of the road. And it was beautiful. It has a pebbly beach and houses built around the bay on the boulders themselves. It was a sight to be seen and unfortunately for me, the battery on my Nikon died today. I could take no pictures...

We had a great picnic on the beach and I put my suit on and went for a snorkel. It was amazing. I thought I was swimming in the Caribbean. The water laps on to stone. I got in to my knees, put my mask on, and dipped in. The stone drops quick and then I felt like I was in a lagoon. The fish had colors here and they seemed to be of a different variety than Kolymbithra. There were also different plants growing on the rocks. Some looked like tumbleweed. Others looked like green grass. There were delicate, wispish shrubs on the stones and tall, hardy weeds on an underwater boulder. The seabed did not have sand wrinkles like Kolymbithra but little pockmarks, like a teenager after a bout of bad acne. There was no one else in the water but as I was getting out, a dog was getting in for a swim. Terrified, I stood five feet away from the beach wondering, do I go back in for a swim or go out past the dog. I swallowed my fear and went out. The picnic was great.

On the way back we stopped at a small oasis in the hot dry landscape. This place had big leafy trees and ice cold refreshing mountain water. I never knew this place existed. What an amazing last day on the island.

The festial music ended but I now have the music of caterwauling cats! The wind has picked up again and it's cold and breezy. The moon is waning and it's a black blanket in front of me. The mountains are undiscernable from the sky. Goodnight balcony. Goodbye Aetofolia!