We slept in a bit as we had nowhere to go today, which was very nice and much needed. We were given a delicious and very large Greek breakfast by our hotel, which consisted of Greek yogurt and honey, bread and jam, cheese, and a selection of sweet breads, capped off with Greek coffee and orange juice. With no major plans on the plate today, we decided to take it easy, going for a walk to a different beach following (and because of) our large and delicious breakfast. It was a bit longer walk to the beach, though the cloudier day made it somewhat less hot. This beach was slightly farther from the town of Tinos than the one we had walked to yesterday and was situated next to the remains of a temple to Poseidon. Entry to the temple complex was free and the site itself was very uncrowded, so we wandered around it for a while (Allison keeping an eye out for asps, which she believed might be lurking in the high grass within the temple). From there, we crossed the tree-lined street and made our way along the beach towards its far end. We walked ankle-deep in the water, which felt cooler than we were expecting (perhaps because the cooler, cloudier weather made it feel more like the Atlantic than the Aegean). Eventually we decided to just park ourselves on the beach for some late morning/early afternoon reading and relaxing. A few people on the beach went swimming but most people did as we did and just walked along it. Growing hungry, we decided to try one of the restaurants along the beach that we had seen featured in our guidebook to the island. It was one of the best decisions we made on the trip, as this was some of the tastiest food we'd eaten in a while. To compliment the dining experience, the waiters were incredibly friendly and welcoming and offered us free dessert following our mezze-type lunch of Greek salad, tzatziki with bread, a cheesy eggplant dish, washed down with glasses of ouzo. There were also a number of 'restaurant cats' and a 'restaurant dog' who wandered around the open-air restaurant, adding to the experience. By the time we had finished, over an hour later, we were feeling full, happy and re-charged.
We hoped to walk back to the village of Tinos via a footpath taking us to a village slightly higher in altitude and then back down a different route, however this proved to be quite an adventure. For one, it was very hard to follow and we were often uncertain of which way it went. Eventually it turned into an overgrown and unkempt semi-footpath through some high grass so we decided to turn around there and head back along the road. Still yearning for a bit more variety in our walk, we decided to take a different road that led slowly up a hill and gave us a good view of the island before cutting back into the town. We saw many cows and goats, in addition to the ever-present cats. Along the road, we passed several whitewashed churches and chapels but mostly open island countryside broken by few houses. By late afternoon we had reached our hotel again and took a siesta before changing our clothes and heading to the church of the Virgin Mary to have a closer look. We saw several pilgrims crawling up the steps in front of the church as we entered the courtyard and noticed there were candles burning in rooms outside the courtyard. Another thing we noticed while on the island were the number of people every night who would drive their cars or motorbikes up the hill to the church, cross themselves, and drive right back down again. As we arrived at the church itself, we could hear an Orthodox service taking place inside, though many people were circulating in and out of the church. We took our turn inside observing the service and it was as powerful as any Orthodox service we've been to before. Exiting the church after 20 minutes or so, we stood on its porch listening to the service continue and feeling the sea breeze while we took in the chanting and the view of the town and sea. However, this sea breeze was actually quite cool and so we decided to head back to the hotel to pick up some warmer clothes before heading to dinner. Since we had eaten such a sizable and delicious lunch we decided to have a smaller and cheaper dinner. We found another place along the promenade overlooking the sea and were treated to moussaka (a quite tasty meat and potato dish) before heading home by 10:00.
Our walk to the beach
The temple of Poseidon and its adjacent beach
The walk back to Tinos
The church complex
Another beautiful sunset
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