Though I could have spent the entire week just at sea on the 50-foot sailboat Ekavi, island hopping in Greece, by nature, means that you have to stop sailing at some port and actually visit various islands. Que sera.
The first overnight stop that our skipper picked after leaving Kos was at the island of Kalymnos.
Kalymnos is a small island in the Dodecanese chain of Greek islands with a very small population. Much of the island is desolate. Historically Kalymnos is known for it's sponges. Divers since ancient times have harvested the waters around the island for sponges - and not the green Cello brand you pick up in the store. Natural sponges come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. They're fantastic for bathing, but also highly favored by artists and clay workers. They're brownish in color and super soft and they were for sale EVERYWHERE in the port area.
Sponge and souvenir sellers lined the port area, which was a quaint, quiet, adorably Greek place. Kalymnos is an unassuming port, very restful. All along the waterfront were cute restaurants and shops.
When we went for lunch, a camera crew showed up, accompanied by some teeny-bopper looking girl and two wanna-be ghetto-fabulous rapper-type guys. The camera guys set up, an assistant turned on a boom-box and the girl started singing along to some Greek Pop song. They were totally shooting a music video. It.Was.Hilarious. We couldn't stop giggling about it... it was just so ridiculous!
The singer chick in the center (obviously) - the guy on her right was some kind of Greek Eminem wannabe. The guy on her left - no clue why he was there. He didn't do much.
My boat mates and I chose to pass the afternoon by hiking up a massive hill to an Orthodox Greek Monastery. We walked up, up, up - through the vertiginous town. We passed families in the courtyards just outside of their front doors, sitting together, laughing and eating. We smiled and waved and they returned suit. I don't think I've ever seen people that smiled so wholeheartedly as they did, with their mouths, eyes and souls.
The first overnight stop that our skipper picked after leaving Kos was at the island of Kalymnos.
Kalymnos is a small island in the Dodecanese chain of Greek islands with a very small population. Much of the island is desolate. Historically Kalymnos is known for it's sponges. Divers since ancient times have harvested the waters around the island for sponges - and not the green Cello brand you pick up in the store. Natural sponges come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. They're fantastic for bathing, but also highly favored by artists and clay workers. They're brownish in color and super soft and they were for sale EVERYWHERE in the port area.
Image from: http://www.spongeskalymnos.gr/
Sponge and souvenir sellers lined the port area, which was a quaint, quiet, adorably Greek place. Kalymnos is an unassuming port, very restful. All along the waterfront were cute restaurants and shops.
When we went for lunch, a camera crew showed up, accompanied by some teeny-bopper looking girl and two wanna-be ghetto-fabulous rapper-type guys. The camera guys set up, an assistant turned on a boom-box and the girl started singing along to some Greek Pop song. They were totally shooting a music video. It.Was.Hilarious. We couldn't stop giggling about it... it was just so ridiculous!
My boat mates and I chose to pass the afternoon by hiking up a massive hill to an Orthodox Greek Monastery. We walked up, up, up - through the vertiginous town. We passed families in the courtyards just outside of their front doors, sitting together, laughing and eating. We smiled and waved and they returned suit. I don't think I've ever seen people that smiled so wholeheartedly as they did, with their mouths, eyes and souls.
Lovely! I wanna go!
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