Kea Island, Greece
Kea is an island in the Cyclades that is well off of the “beaten path.” You won’t find many people that have ever had the pleasure of exploring this lovely spot. During the night the Panorama made its way from Sifnos Island to the port of Korissia on Kea. We had expected more motion during our passage but the seas had not “kicked up” as we had expected so everyone got a good night’s sleep.
Shortly after breakfast we boarded our coaches for an excursion to the capitol of the island, the small town of Ioulida. Ioulida is built on the site of the ancient town of Ioulis and also on top of an ancient acropolis. It is poised high on a hill towards the northern end of the island which affords it a great view across the channel to the southeastern coast of mainland Greece.
The coaches took us as close as they could to Ioulida and then we made our way up into the town for a visit to the local archaeological museum. Sophia and Eleni, our Greek guides, took us through this fine collection of local artifacts. Housed here were some figurines from the Cycladic period, as well as pieces from the Classical and Hellenistic periods. All of these had been found on Kea at various archeological sites around the island.
We then continued on our journey past the town, the local cemetery and to the Lion of Kea. This is a large sculpture of a full figure lion carved into an existing schist rock formation. The carving dates to 600 B.C. and is related to the myth of the lion that chased the nymphs away. It still retains much of its detail to this day and was a nice reward for those that hiked to the end of the path.
We took the long way back to Aghios Nikolaos Bay and the port. The guides pointed out the old walkways that were used for transportation and communication between the villages on the island. We then had time for a short stop to take a look at the remains of a Hellenistic watch tower, much of which was still standing and in the midst of restoration. Upon returning to the port many of the guests took the time to explore the shops, bakeries and cafes there before returning to the ship for lunch.
It was obvious to all that the meltemi winds that we had seen the day before had returned to the Aegean due to the white caps just past the port’s breakwater. The Captain waited until after lunch to get underway to give us a steady deck for our meal. Once everything was secured we made a run across the channel to the protection of Cape Sounion and mainland Greece. The whitecaps were impressive but the motion wasn’t too bad and we were able to take another look at the Temple of Poseidon along the way. Sophia and Eleni led a question-and-answer session with regards to modern Greece which spurred some good discussion on many topics.
Just before dinner we had our farewell cocktail party which featured a slide show comprised of images from the guests and staff. The photos were exceptional and they told the story of a fine and enjoyable exploration of the Greek Islands.
