It seems to me as it was yesterday when we had the last post....
"By Invitation Only"
...how quickly time passes by....
Our theme for this month:
"You're going on a cruise or any vacation.
"By Invitation Only"
...how quickly time passes by....
Our theme for this month:
"You're going on a cruise or any vacation.
What
10 items you cannot leave home without..
And, yes, one of them should be an outfit....."
And, yes, one of them should be an outfit....."
Some time ago - in the "last century" -
I went for several years on Holidays to the Greek island Mykonos.
I fell in love with the Aegean Sea, the special atmosphere,
the ancient culture,
the Greek Gods which seams to be much more human than the Roman ones,
the Greek people and....and....,
thought that it would be wonderful to spent a few weeks on a boat
"hopping" from island to island, visiting all of the Cyclades.
But as life goes - it never happens.
On this "April the first" we have chartered a Yacht....
a Yacht with 6 cabins, just the right size for us and a couple of friends.
We're going on a sailing trip....
...an island hopping along the most beautiful Greek islands in the Aegean Sea
- the spectacular Cyclades
The Cyclades is a group of islands lying in the middle of the Aegean Sea
that form an imaginary circle around the island of Delos.
These unique Greek islands are distinguished worldwide for their rough,
rocky and elemental landscape,
their white washed houses and windmills,
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narrow paths full of flowers, brilliant clear blue seas,
cats everywhere :) :) :)
and most recently their never ending nightlife in some of them.
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But - before we finally start...
...packing!
So, here the items I could/would not "leave home without":
- I hope that plurals count for/as one ;) please! -
1. My Camera
- I hope that plurals count for/as one ;) please! -
1. My Camera
2. White linen shirts and blouses
3. Dictionary German-Greek
4. don't know how these pieces called in English
but highly practical - easy care!
like these...
6. Make up....yes!
7. Sunglasses + 3 pairs of Spectacles
7. Aspirin!!
(just in case - having had too much Ouzo - hangover)
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Cast off! - Leinen los!.....
by Johannes Gruenwald
Short history of The Cyclades:
The significant Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age Cycladic culture
is best known for its schematic, flat idols carved out of the islands' pure white marble
centuries before the great Middle Bronze Age ("Minoan") culture arose in Crete, to the south...
at the National Archeological Museum, Athens
A distinctive Neolithic culture amalgamating Anatolian and mainland Greek elements
arose in the western Aegean before 4000 BCE,
based on emmer wheat and wild-type barley, sheep and goats, pigs,
and tuna that were apparently speared from small boats (Rutter).
Excavated sites include Saliagos and Kephala (on Keos) with signs of copper-working.
Each of the small Cycladic islands could support no more than a few thousand people,
though Late Cycladic boat models show that fifty oarsmen could be assembled
from the scattered communities (Rutter), and when the highly organized palace-culture of Crete arose,
the islands faded into insignificance, with the exception of Delos,
which retained its archaic reputation as a sanctuary
throughout antiquity and until the emergence of Christianity......
(info source here )
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A few images and a bit of history of only
some of the many islands we will visit:
IOS
Excavations on Skarkos hill unearthed a prehistoric settlement,
proving that Ios has been inhabited since the early Cycladic period.
The architecture at Skarkos is preserved in places up to a height of almost three meters,
with most of the buildings evidently having two storeys,
stone-paved floors and a sewage system.
Numerous well-preserved pottery, tools and utensils made of metal,
stone and bone were also discovered
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NAXOS
Demeter temple and Portara - Apollos Temple
According to Greek mythology, the young Zeus was raised in a cave on Mt. Zas ("Zas" meaning "Zeus").
Homer mentions "Dia"; literally the sacred island "of the Goddess".
Karl Kerenyi explains (speaking as if he were an ancient Greek):
| "This name,
Dia, which means 'heavenly' or 'divine', was applied to several small
craggy islands in our [Aegean] sea, all of them lying close to larger
islands, such as Crete
or Naxos. The name "Dia" was even transferred to the island of Naxos
itself, since it was more widely supposed than any other to have been
the nuptial isle of Dionysus." |
Ariadne of Crete on this island after she helped him kill the Minotaur and escape from the Labyrinth.
Dionysus (god of wine, festivities, and the primal energy of life) who was the protector of the island,
met Ariadne and fell in love with her.
But eventually Ariadne, unable to bear her separation from Theseus,
either killed herself (according to the Athenians), or ascended to heaven (as the older versions had it).
The Naxos portion of the Ariadne myth is also told in the Richard Strauss opera Ariadne auf Naxos.
The giant brothers Otus and Ephialtes figure in at least two Naxos myths:
in one, Artemis bought the abandonment of a siege they laid against the gods,
by offering to live on Naxos as Otus's lover;
in another, the brothers had actually settled Naxos.
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Town of Naxos
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Folegandros
Attribution: Frente
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Paros
Attribution: Bgabel
Traditional streets of Naoussa and Lefkes - Paros
Parian marble, which is white and translucent (semi-transparent),
with a coarse grain and a very beautiful texture, was the chief source of wealth for the island.
The celebrated marble quarries lie on the northern side of the mountain anciently known
as Marathi (afterwards Capresso), a little below a former convent of St Mina.
The marble, which was exported from the 6th century BC onwards,
was used by Praxiteles and other great Greek sculptors.......(more here)
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Before I'm getting completely lost again in history....as usual...
quickly a few more images...
AEGINA
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Delos
Terrace of the Lions
Ancient theatre, Delos
Established as a culture center,
Delos had an importance that its natural resources could never have offered.
In this vein Leto, searching for a birthing-place for Artemis and Apollo, addressed the island:
House of Dionysus floor mosaic - Mosaic from the Insula of the Jewellery
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Santorini
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We probably leave out Mykonos this time....
it became too crowded and posh I've been told....
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Paros
Traditional streets of Naoussa and Lefkes - Paros
Parian marble, which is white and translucent (semi-transparent),
with a coarse grain and a very beautiful texture, was the chief source of wealth for the island.
The celebrated marble quarries lie on the northern side of the mountain anciently known
as Marathi (afterwards Capresso), a little below a former convent of St Mina.
The marble, which was exported from the 6th century BC onwards,
was used by Praxiteles and other great Greek sculptors.......(more here)
*
Before I'm getting completely lost again in history....as usual...
quickly a few more images...
AEGINA
*
Delos
Established as a culture center,
Delos had an importance that its natural resources could never have offered.
In this vein Leto, searching for a birthing-place for Artemis and Apollo, addressed the island:
"Delos, if you would be willing to be the abode of my son Phoebus Apollo and make him a rich temple –; for no other will touch you, as you will find: and I think you will never be rich in oxen and sheep, nor bear vintage nor yet produce plants abundantly. But if you have the temple of far-shooting Apollo, all men will bring you hecatombs and gather here, and incessant savour of rich sacrifice will always arise, and you will feed those who dwell in you from the hand of strangers; for truly your own soil is not rich."
—Homeric Hymn to Delian Apollo 51–60
House of Dionysus floor mosaic - Mosaic from the Insula of the Jewellery
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Santorini
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We probably leave out Mykonos this time....
it became too crowded and posh I've been told....
...not like in the "old days" when I went on holiday....
...we might stop for a "Sundowner"....one never knows...
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There are many more of these beautiful islands,
so, our sailing trip, our island hopping will take a few weeks, 4 or 5 or.....
But - so what/who cares - the charter price is (depending on the month) only
15.750 - 28.350 € per week
peanuts!!!
Which brings me to the last items on the list:
9. Credit Cards!!!
and
10. LAUGHTER !!!!!
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Should we be well on the way to being bankrupt before....
I'll have a comfortable "Armchair-Cruising" for 50 minutes
here:
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Please visit Marsha's blog for all posts
from our international group
here
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Should we be well on the way to being bankrupt before....
I'll have a comfortable "Armchair-Cruising" for 50 minutes
here:
****
***
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Please visit Marsha's blog for all posts
from our international group
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With this post I send special and warmest greetings to
Susan K., California, who lived nearly half of her life in Greece
and to
Olympia
http://thingsandthoughtsgr.blogspot.fr/
together with one of my favorite Greek music:
Perigiali - "On the seashore"
is a song by Mikis Theodorakis
made on a poem by the great Greek poet George Seferis.
It is a poem about inevitable changes in our lives
where we have to let go of things we love and cherish and move on.
The song was written in 1962 .
It is a song that carries many of the distinct colours,
phrases and sensations that make up what is Greece.
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Remarks:
Yacht from:
http://www.happycharter.com/show-boat/yacht/charter-boot/mieten/bid/94522/
George Seferis here
Perigiali - here
George Seferis here
Perigiali - here
