Caves and Scooters

Patmos was the next stop in our journey from Mykinos. Patmos was significant in that John, the disciple of Jesus, was exiled to Patmos about 50 A.D. and lived there for a few years. His exile resulted in the writing of the Book of Revelation which is the last book of the New Testament.

I was pleasantly surprised when we landed at Patmos. Patmos is a beautiful, quaint island, very non-touristy and laid back. Lots of cafes, little shops and dogs that roam the square. The good news is all the dogs are well taken care of and no more starving dogs:) My kind of place.

We headed up to the monastery to see the cave where John had the vision that resulted in the writing of the book of Revelation. The monastery overlooked the island and what a view! The cave was now part of a Greek Orthodox church, and although still rustic it is surrounded by the trapping of chandeliers, altars and frescos. Despite the added altars, it gave me some idea of how immensely overwhelmed John must have felt in that cave alone when he received the vision.

We continued on to the monastery which was quite beautiful and solemn. The priest there inspired me for future paintings but by this time, I was anxious to get to painting. This was where the frustration of being with a large group took over. Finally after touring the church and museum and seeing manuscripts of the gospels that are dated back to 300 A.D. and walking more steps (when I think of Greece I think of lots of steps), we headed down the hill to the town. Shortly, we found a little cafe where we set up to paint.

Greece is motor scooters. Seems everyone has one. So what better subject to paint than scooters while sipping on a glass of Greek wine. Ah the life:)

Tomorrow, a marble wonder. Ephesus.