In which we find an Ancient Greek wash-house, and go to the wrong museum ......

We arrived in Limni yesterday, a few miles along the coast from Ediplos, in the gulf of Evia. The harbour is fairly narrow, with fishing boats at the far end, then some local yachts bows-to along the town side, leaving visiting yachts to go side-to inside the harbour wall, where we are. We have seen a photo where visiting yachts are rafted up three deep all the way along, but luckily it's not that busy today.

Despite the weather being very warm now, we decided to go for a walk this morning, while the roast chicken I was preparing for supper, was cooking. We just like to wander aimlessly around the backstreets, and sometimes we come across some interesting sights. Thie whole,island of Evia is an amazingly green place, an abundance of trees, large plants, flowers everywhere. There are even parts which remind me of rural England, with green fields and little pieces of woodland. Previously I have been in parts of Greece where it is very barren, or where there is virtually no water after the Spring, so plants just don't grow. However, it is like Kew Gardens here. Every single house has some sort of patio garden, shady spot, balcony covered in plants, or even an allotment. There is no shortage of water. The plants grow huge. It would be impossible not to grow things, even if you are not a gardener. I'm sure even the seeds thrown away from apples, tomatoes or other fruit grow by themselves. I've seen plants which are tiny house plants in UK grow to the size of trees, like rubber plants. Everyone seems to have old olive oil cans or huge disused feta cheese tins filled with plants of all descriptions. The old Greek ladies, who often dress in black, we call them the Darth Vader ladies, are out early morning with the hosepipe.
There were some steepish hills in the town so I walked very slowly. On one corner we heard water gushing like an underground stream. Opposite was a little stone open fronted building with a tiled roof, and it was an ancient communal laundry house! On one side three spouts from fresh water springs poured into a trough, then ran into some sort of drain, obviously to feed local water pipes. The other side of the small building consisted of four big marble sinks with draining boards where the washerwomen would scrub their clothes. I wonder if anyone still uses it? There were also some now unused cavities which looked like you could build a fire underneath and put a big pot on to boil above. I've been looking for a laundrette all week, Tim would be pleased if I used this facility I think!

We then found a Greek church, and as the door is usually open, I had to have a look. A wiry old Greek man beckoned me in with his bony finger, so I couldn't refuse. As usual, there were amazing gold coloured chandeliers, candlesticks, ornaments of every description, and a stunning painted roof. The wiry old man pointed with his bony finger at some ornate gold icon, of which they were clearly very proud. I nodded my head in agreement. "Orea", I muttered. "Poli Orea", I crossed my fingers that I had remembered the correct Greek word for 'very beautiful' and not got confused with "ose" which means the greek railway system.... I once said goodbye to someone leaving on a yacht and I accidentally said 'have a nice meal' instead of 'have a safe trip'. Oops.

Then on to the museum. We read that there was a folklore and historical museum in the town, as well as a nautical museum. We decided to visit the second, as Tim loves old boats and things to do with the sea. We couldn't find it anywhere. We found the folklore museum, but I wasn't really bothered about that. So we asked in a shop. A very helpful man, who incidentally had been in Newbury, Berkshire last week, I know not why, actually took us to a man who ran the museum and chatted to him in Greek. He will take you and let you in, he told us. And he did, but it was the Folklore and History museum! We could hardly back out now, and say, sorry, wrong museum, so we duly paid our two euro and a very beautiful thin young Greek lady showed us round personally and pointed out things. The museum was in an 1880 neo-classical building, which had originally been the home of a rich lady from the town, who bequeathed the house and all it's contents when she died. A good way to get rid of all your junk without having to take it to the tip, I suppose.......
However, it was a really lovely little visit. Each room was exactly as it would have been in 1880, furniture, decorations etc, there was an ancient loom in one room where they made carpets and wall hangings and blankets. All the old Greek clothes, hats shoes were on display in the bedroom, with the tiniest bed I've ever seen, along with a collection of old sewing machines and valve radios. In the tiny kitchen there were copper pans, implements I didn't recognise and even a donkey saddle. Unfortunately I had to rush through the last downstairs room, which was slightly different, and contained artefacts of Ancient Greek history such as part of a mosaic tiled floor from a Roman baths, and lots of ornaments dredged up by fishing boats, as I had to rush back to attend to my roast chicken cooking in the boat oven. But I didn't know enough Greek to tell her that. And we never did find the Nautical Museum ......