Monday 27th May 2019
After leaving Andros and playing dodge it with the ferries, we set sail for the island of Tinos. It was a crazy sail, with crazy wind, certainly blew the cobwebs away.

Tinos is a fascinating island, it's name in Ancient times was Ophiussa (from the Greek word opus, meaning snake.) According to legend, Poseidon was supposed to have rid the island of all the snakes. Not by summoning a huge wave as one might imagine, but by sending storks onto the island to eat them. We didn't see any storks on our visit, but hoped that on this occasion the legend was true as we certainly didn't fancy bumping into any reptiles, other than the occasional gheko, basking in the sun.

There is also great religious significance here on the island. The landmark of the island is the magnificent church of Panagia Evangelistria, which sits at the top of the Main Street in the town of Tinos. Here, an icon of the Virgin Mary being visited by the Angel Gabriel, found buried in 1823, is supposed to have healing powers and perform miracles. This brings thousands of pilgrims flocking every year, especially during the religious festival 'Dekapentavgousos' on 15th August. One of these miracles reported in history, was the calming of the seas around a British ship, amidst a great storm, which saved it crashing into the rocks. Another the miraculous arrival of water arriving in the dry Spring, during the initial building of the great marble religious complex.

We walked up to the church and noticed a carpet lining the side of the steep road. This, we later found out, was for the many devoted followers of the Authodox Christian Church who crawl up to the church on their hands and knees as a sign of respect. It is rather like a Greek 'Lourdes.' All along the pavements were stalls selling religious plaques, candles of all sizes and ornate bottles to collect the holy water from the afore mentioned spring. The church was really beautiful, with magnificent marble staircases, wonderful geometric black and white pebble mosaics, glittering chandeliers and understated tiny chapels carved into the rocks. It is worth a visit if you ever find yourself on Tinos. There is a certain tranquility about the place, although we have to confess we did have a little chuckle when Ricky spotted two religious gentlemen, in their black formal church robes, sat in one of the tiny rooms that looked like a monastary cell, texting on their I phones. 'Keeping a vow of silence' perhaps?