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Published: October 23rd 2009
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Building on the point
One of the pictures I took on my run to the beach. Last night I got some much needed sleep. Well rested, I went for a run to familiarize myself with part of the island. I set out towards the beach where I’d likely spend most of my day.
Getting there was easy. There is one road that leads down to the beach and it is entirely downhill. Along the way I stopped a few times to take pictures of the gorgeous views of the surrounding sea.
About 3km in, I had passed the long, deserted beach and hit a dead end. It was time to head back up the steep hill. I made it back about 20 minutes later after laboring up the hill and having to walk a couple times to catch my breath.
After cleaning up and grabbing a sandwich from the nearby market I took a much easier walk back down to the beach. It was almost completely empty. One older couple sunbathed and that was it. A half mile of beach and three of us occupied it.
All morning the weather had been gorgeous - 70+°F, a slight breeze and cloudless. Within five minutes of me sitting down, the breeze picked up and massive
The beach
Small waves crashed along the pebbly shore. I eventually moved to a section with smoother sand. My tender feet can't take the pebbles. clouds rolled in. It even started to drizzle for a minute or two.
After an hour or so, a girl (maybe 17 or 18 years old) walked up the beach while her dog ran in and out of the water. When she settled into a spot nearby I went over to talk to her. It was the first form of any real conversation I had since the Harrisburg girls in Athens. And using the word “conversation” might be a bit of an overstatement. She was clearly standoffish, probably thinking I was there to hit on her.
My futile attempt at finding a friend complete, I went back to my towel. I began to wonder if I should just bail on this island and catch the ferry back to Athens tomorrow. It is amazingly desolate here. It’s not that far a cry from
Castaway. I might start talking to a volleyball. Wilson!
After my walk back to the hotel, I got cleaned up and headed back down to the port for dinner, passing through the narrow paths in Chora again. I dined on smoked mackerel, bread with two types of spread (I think they were cheese spreads), pork
Chora church
The bright white church marks the entrance to Chora. souvlaki with baked potato, rice, salad and white wine.
As soon as the mackerel appetizer arrived I had two guests show up on the floor beside me. Stray dogs and cats roam the island and two of the cats thought I might share my meal with them. As the one adult cat and one kitten sat there and stared at me I pondered whether I should give them some food.
Maybe they’re starving. Look at that kitten; he doesn’t stand a chance. But some form of logic soon clotted my bleeding heart.
If I feed them I’ll create a huge problem for this restaurant. There will be cats everywhere.
If a bum sat there staring at me there’s no way I’d give him food.
Even if I do feed them, am I just delaying the inevitable? What would Charles Darwin say about this? They then moved on to another guy who was eating some pasta. The whole scene reminded me of those nature documentaries where a lion devours his zebra kill as other animals look on, waiting for the scraps.
Eventually one of the workers sprayed some water at them and chased them away.
Kitten
This small kitten waited fruitlessly for some food at the restaurant. When my main course showed up, the kitten had returned but the other cat moved on. The kitten’s efforts proved as futile as mine in making a friend today.
After dinner, I took the same dark walk back up to the hotel.
Tomorrow I hope to have better luck at the beach. And maybe there will be people around for a long weekend.
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