Today was another relaxing day. I got up early in the morning to swim in the pool and then we all went on a cruise around Mount Athos. Mount Athos is similar to the Vatican in the fact that it is its own territory. Their government is not the Greek government. The peninsula of Mount Athos has over 20 different monasteries where several 1000 of monks live. Because of the silence and tranquility, tourists are not allowed...and definitely NO WOMEN! Women have to stay at least 200 metres away from the land and so on the cruise we had to stay that far away as well. They said that this is because there should be no temptation for the men concerning celibacy, etc.
The cruise was three hours and when we got to the port I saw a super-cute pink hat with a little monkey on it and decided to buy it. I'm really glad that I did because I think it saved me from getting all sunburned on my cheeks! I included a picture of Kristin and me on the boat (me wearing my new hat).The one really interesting thing about Greece is that it is so international. On our cruise we had the Mount Athos information narrated to us in Greek, German, and English--it took a while to get information to all of us. It's been like that everywhere in Greece though. Here at the hotel I have been hearing German, Italian, Spanish, Greek, Chinese, and English.
Anyway, back to Mount Athos, in order to make money to live the monks create pottery and relics which they then sell for seeds for their gardens, etc.
Mount Athos means "Holy Mountain". The 20 monasteries have been around since before Meteora (1000 AD).
Lizandy -- The painting and sculpture the Greeks do is similar to that of the monks. Most of it is copies of ancient pottery from the BC times or religious relics.
Alright, well I hope all is well out there in Chicago, MN, and Iowa!
Cheers,
Ms. G
No comments:
Post a Comment