September 12 – Amorgos

Our primary destination today is a monastery on the other side of Amorgos from our mooring harbor.  We took zodiacs into the town of Katapola...

and then boarded buses for the drive over the top of the hill...

and down the steep road to the Monastery of Pangia Hozoviotissa.  This monastery was built into the side of a steep cliff and appears to hang suspended over the Aegean Sea. 

The climb was a bit long but for the most part the steps were not deep and the path was paved.  

The monastery is still active with 3 or 4 monks still living there.  We met one on the way up.  He was coming down with a large empty water bottle.  

As an active monastery no photos were allowed inside the church portion but we did get some photos of the narrow stairs within the building…

and there were beautiful views from a small terrace just outside the chapel.

There were a number of cats outside the monastery entrance.  In fact, they seemed to be growing on trees.

The bus then took us to the town of Hora where we did a fair amount of walking.  The town was very quaint and picturesque (as are all of the villages that we have visited).  

There were very narrow walkways

and quaint sidewalk eateries (abandoned at this time of day).

Even the doors and windows were memorable. 

Then on to the harbor town of Katapola where we walked around only minimally and then took the zodiac back to the ship.  We were on board by lunch time.

This afternoon’s highlight was a tour of the engine room.  Very interesting.  Much of the inner workings of the ship are below water level.

Winds were high today and the seas rougher than we have seen.  A number of guests, including Paul, opted to not have dinner.