Patmos is alive with the dissonance between its religious and secular life. An energy fills the air – but it's not always clear what it's about. For Patmians, today is the Dormition of the Mother of God or The Feast of The Dormition (known as the Assumption of Mary in Western churches) commemorating the death and bodily elevation into heaven of The Virgin Mary. It also happens to be a day with three cruise ships in the harbor and another one coming in the afternoon.
"Don't even come outside tomorrow!" Irini who owns Nektar – a traditional Greek products shop geared to tourists and where Sennen had his first job earlier this summer – told me yesterday during an afternoon lull when Skala quieted down. "It's going to be a crazy day!" No mention of the religious holiday.
As a result, I made it a point to get out of town earlier than usual and write this blog from Ktima Petra. Cruise passengers don't usually come this far south.
The day began with church bells ringing excitedly early in the morning. Church was in session when I walked to my 9am yoga class. When I came out Skala's cafes were brimming full of a mix of cruise passengers and locals (mostly women) in their church clothes. As with Jews, Greek religious holidays seem to involve as much eating, drinking and visiting as anything else and town was full of such visits.
At the same time, for such a religiously important holiday, very little was closed. During Orthodox Easter last year, most businesses were either closed or on abbreviated hours. I couldn't pick up my laundry for almost a week. Unfortunately for Patmians – and probably most Greeks on islands – August is a bad time for a serious holiday. No one can afford to lose that much income. Moreover, I'm sure no one can afford to put off four cruise lines.
As if the cruise lines were also celebrating, Norwegian Cruise Line pulled up with the largest ship I have seen come to Patmos. I'm sure in another setting, it might appear as a mid-size cruise liner – but here, it looks like the Death Star is hanging out off the coast. This is probably what had Irini so braced and ready.
How will this all work this evening? I'm interested to see. Being a Holy Island, Patmos has a certain crown to carry and certainly there are Greeks from other places who have come for the festival. Besides the morning church services in Skala and Hora, there is a big celebration up at the Church of Panagia Geranou at the top of the hill overlooking Kampos Beach.
"There will be dancing, singing, music, drinking, eating!" Manolis who owns the organic shop told me today. "It's great! You can come see it!" That gave me the sense Manolis may close his shop and go.
"If you've never seen it before, you might want to try. You have to be careful. There's a lot of drinking and then people (insert swerving motion with her hands that I took to mean drive drunk)," Athina the yoga teacher said.
Athina made it clear she won't be going to Panagia Geranou, she doesn't need the craziness – and that perhaps her beliefs don't align. However, in honor of the holiday, Athina decided to theme the yoga class around female energy - so we had a Yin class (slow, long-holds often using props like bolster pillows, blankets and blocks) which may have been the most traditional thing she's done and I quite enjoyed it. Maybe her yoga is best inspired by the Orthodox Church?
Yoga seems to also be a great place to get a read on the trends on Patmos. Four weeks ago, I was part of a class of a variety of nationalities including Greeks, Australians and an Estonian. The next week, it was mixed again, but with more French toward the beginning of the week and by Friday, all French except me. This class had one Greek girl, me and six or seven Italians. The quiet entry and exit of the French was replaced by excited arrivals and departures with air kisses, hand waves and of course "Ciao!"
All of this made me realize, I've never been on Patmos at this exact juncture. In 2019, we left the day before The Feast of The Dormition and prior to that, Emily and I had only been here weeks afterwards. How do Patmians handle being the both a holy island and an island of international summer secular tourism? I'm watching with eyes wide open.
Thankfully, whatever they do, it doesn't include closing Ktima Petra, which was a mild fear I had heading south. With its breezes, view of the water and kind staff, Ktima Petra is not only one of my favorite places to write, but absolutely one of my favorites to eat. As I've mentioned before, thanks to their own organic farm, no one on Patmos has fresher, more colorful or more flavorful vegetables than Ktima Petra. Yesterday I mentioned how some of the best restaurants in Patmos have older men wearing tank tops and aprons in the kitchen. Ktima Petra is absolutely one of them and while smoking generally disgusts me, I always feel the owner/chef deserves that cigarette break and I salute him.
August 15th seems like the peak of the peak of Summer – and it feels like it with everything that's going on.
I discovered yesterday not everyone feels that way.
"Last year, every night in August, all the tables were full – every one of them," the owner of Yiamas restaurant next to Nektar, said to me and Irini. "This year, we're busy, but we have never filled up once."
"I'm surprised because at home, I know so many people going to Greece this summer. It's one of the global hotspots of 2023. All the flights are full."
"Well, they're not coming here – we have no Americans this year!" Irini said.
"Maybe it's because of Rhodos (Rhodes). After the fire, all the reservations disappeared (insert vacuuming sound)! Maybe they just aren't coming to this part of Greece now?"
It seems possible. I had so many people from home kindly as if I was alright during the fires on Rhodes and to what extent Patmos was affected. I didn't think much – but maybe it's paying in tourists?
I have noticed that a lot of the more budget apartment-hotel type accommodations seem either not full or closed. When Emily and I arrived here in late August 2010, we planned our moves only one-destination ahead of ourselves as we traveled for a year. Maybe it was our age and budget – but I like to think it was also the times – Greece felt like a place lots of younger people backpacked and made impromptu plans. Rhodes Town was littered with small travel agencies posting cheap flights within Greece and throughout Europe. In that way it was like Thailand where showing up without a plan was perfectly normal.
It could just be that at 45, I move in different circles and see things a different way – but I don't notice as many travelers who seem to be doing what we were. Patmos has certainly become more upscale with more, nice homes. Airbnb has changed the lodging landscape and it seems rather than building more multi-unit hotels, there's a trend toward nice houses and duplexes. I've been a number of half-finished hotel buildings that have been sitting unworked on for at least two years – probably more. Some of them are for sale. The prices for small apartment-hotels are much better per square meter than single-family homes.
There I go, sounding like I'm in my forties – bringing up real estate prices: the pastime of the white upper-middle class. And I am now part of that Airbnb trend as I am setting my house up to be a good Airbnb property? Am I chasing off people like Emily and I were in 2010? Maybe…. I'm definitely more supportive of people like we were in 2019 when we came with two kids and an au pair.
One thing I don't remember seeing in 2010 were four cruise ships in a day – there were rarely ANY cruise ships back then. Patmos has had to change over these past 13 years. I imagine the Feast Day has changed too. Will Manolis be selling high quality olive oil and spices or dancing up at the church? I wonder if he's asking himself the same question.
I have always admired the Balinese' ability to bend and not break as modernity has come into their lives. They maintain their culture while also learning how to embrace modernity – particularly technology – to their advantage. It seems lots of places – or at least lots of places I love – are confronted with this same conundrum. I hope Patmos continues to find its way because even though it's not my holiday, I think The Feast of The Dormition is important and if Patmos can't keep it alive and well, no one will.
