Patmos

Two ports of call in one day! It is a lot to take in. As we sailed through the Strait of Samos, a narrow strip of water between the island and the Turkish mainland, I remembered that 37 years ago, whilst on Samos, I paid a visit to the little town of Pythagoros which lies on the Strait. Turkey and Asia were only a stone's throw away. Guess whose home town it is? He of theorem fame. I was awed to be in a place that was so ancient and still inhabited and the home town of someone from the distant past.
Patmos is a charming place, like Mykonos but without the tourist zoo. It is also topographically much more interesting. The main draw for visitors is the fact that Saint John the Divine spent his last years in exile here and scribbled his feverish Revelations in a cave that is, wouldn't you know, a big tourist site. There is the Monastery of Apocalypse which is, in the words of my guide book, "built around the cave where St John received his revelation. Inside you can see the rock that the saint used as a pillow, and the triple fissure in the roof from where the voice of God issued". Really? Maybe the rock pillow explains his demented visions. Or was it something he was smoking? Anyway, it is ludicrous that anyone would ascribe 'divine truth' to these rantings, though some do so. 
I decided I needed some strenuous exercise so I climbed to the top of the mountain to the town of Chora and the monastery. It was five km each way and a bit too warm to undertake a hike up and down a mountain, but it was worth it. The 12th century monastery was beautiful, despite being crammed with people. Many of the original frescoes remain though they are blackened by centuries of burning incense. The Eastern Orthodox rite is all about The Mystery. Their churches are elaborate but not ostentatious (as in RC Baroque). They are filled with dark icons framed in gold and lots of candles. If a religion doesn't offer connection to the mystery of the ineffable divine what good is it? One only need to sit through a barren, eviscerated, mind-numbingly dull service of nearly any Protestant denomination to experience religious rites with every last ounce of mystery wrung out of them.
Anyway, the hike wore me out but it was lovely. The views from the top were magnificent. I love the laid-back vibe of Patmos. We sail overnight and arrive early tomorrow in Rhodos.