Arriving on the Greek island of Lemnos, we hired a taxi and
set out to see Poliochni on the other side of the island. Founded about 4,000 BC, it is believed to be
the oldest town and port in Europe with the first democracy in the world.
The layout reminded us of Skara Brae in the Orkneys, one of
our favourite places. We walked around this
small town and marvelled at the remains of houses and public buildings.
Lemnos is about half way between mainland Greece and
Turkey. It is thought to have been
settled from around the area near Troy.
It has a long coastline with many beaches but the island is not a
tourist mecca.
We stopped in the tiny village of Kontias to look at the
windmills that were used for centuries to provide power to grind the grain. We continued to another tiny village,
Portianou, and visited a small folklore museum.
We were probably their only customers that day.
On our way to Kabeipo, an ancient sanctuary for fertility,
we passed large saltpans glistening in the sunlight.
Travelling round with a local, we traversed a myriad of
narrow streets, inching our way round corners and greeting every man, woman and
child on the island by name. There is a
lot to see on the tiny island of Lemnos but we made it back onto the ship where
we swam, drank champagne in the spa and pimms on a deck lounge as we sailed for
Turkey.
1 comment:
Must have been lovely to go to a non touristy place for a change!
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