Thank You Too

Sennen had heard the story too many times. In 2010, Nicola, the owner of our studio apartment hotel, told us we must try the BEST pizza on Patmos, or perhaps anywhere. Emily and I couldn't resist testing his claim. He told us to go to Hora, the (only) other town at the top of the hill and right where the road ended, to park our motorscooter and would find the pizza restaurant right there. It was called Galaxia. 

When we arrived at the top of the hill, we couldn't find any restaurant. So we asked the first local we saw, "Is there a pizza restaurant near here? GalaxIA?" 

"No, no… No Galaxia."

We repeated this with a few people until finally someone said, "Oh, you mean GaLAXia! Sure, it's right there." There was a path and Galaxia was 10 feet down it, slightly hidden by trees. A simple difference in the stress of a syllable made what we were saying impossible for Greeks to understand. Of course, we did mention it was a pizza restaurant that should have been there with something I would have thought at least vaguely resembled its name… but was immaterial.

The pizza was indeed very good, the breezes even better and the shady view down the hill over Skala, the marina and the northern part of Patmos below was magnificent. A nice, elderly man missing some teeth served and cooked, all the while dangling a cigarette from his left hand. He was slow, kind, a good cook and when we thanked him, he always said a long, almost monotonous, "Thank you too…." 

For days, Sennen has been dying to go up to Hora and eat at Galax-IA, knowing just how to pronounce it. The first three days didn't make sense for us to go up to Hora – which being on the top of the highest hill is on the way to nowhere. Also, Hora is sort of the "adult town" of the island. Formed around the Monastery of St. John the Theologian, Hora has narrow, steep walking streets – which like Tzvat in Israel frequently turn into staircases. It has artists, jewelry makers, a beautiful town square, some face homes disguised by their traditional white Greek exterior and the quiet you would expect outside a monastery. It's a great place for Julia Roberts to have a home where she can walk around freely without being noticed or bothered – but not the kind of place for a family with young kids or even people who like to laugh out loud should spend their time.

But today, Emily and I decided that everyone needed a break from the beach and that we would work in the afternoon, so a morning to early afternoon outing would be perfect and we could check Hora and Galaxia off our list. 

We all piled in our Hyundai i30 hatchback and drove up the winding road to Hora, passing by the Cave of the Apocalypse where St. John the Theologian literally lived in a cave, writing the Book of Revelations – which today is a museum to the Cave and the site of an amphitheater used for concerts and events. We continued up the hill, past the three iconic windmills to where the road ends in a clutter of cars, motorscooters and buses trying to park in an area too small to be the parking lot as which it functions.

After everyone exited the left side of the car because I had to park close against a wall on the right, we took in the view, discussed the docked cruise ship THOROUGHLY and then marched to the path. Galaxia was another restaurant now and the Thank You Too man was nowhere to be found.

Sennen was devastated. We consoled him with the fact that he had been to Galaxia and met the nice man when Sennen was 15 months old – but that was worthless to a six-year-old. We hypothesized that the man may have sold his business and retired since he was getting old – and that we should try to be happy for him. Modest impact there.

Shortly after the Galaxia debacle, Sennen looked up above him. saw the ramparts of the monastery – which he rightly felt looks like a castle – and decided he wanted to go in. This was perhaps the one thing in Patmos Emily and I never did. We've covered just about every inch of the island, but took little interest in the monastery. Our boy would remedy this. We hiked up to the entrance, paid our 4 euros per adult and went in.

Sennen  - clad in his khakis, button down blue shirt and tie "in honor of mommy and daddy's anniversary" – immediately wanted to see the main church inside the monastery and as we entered, he began asking questions we really couldn't answer. As Jewish parents, we are deficient in our knowledge of the workings of a Greek Orthodox – or any Eastern Orthodox Church. I could take a stab at a few things. But moreover, we've give Sennen minimal background on the workings of Christianity and standing in the middle of a holy site some people had come far to see and which may be a personal highlight in their lives didn't seem to be the place for Christianity 101. 

Luckily for us a very kind young Patmosian man named Alex who guides for tips heard Sennen's questions and jumped in – giving copious information. Normally, I'm not thrilled with people who start acting as guides whether or not you agree to it, but in this case, it was a welcome solution. He toured us through the church, chapels, dining room and highlighted the history of the monastery, the holy relic of the skull of St. Thomas and how the marble from the ancient Temple of Artemis was used in the construction of the monastery. Whether or not Sennen understood everything, Alex gave him enough to chew on and Sennen liked feeling informed and that Alex primarily addressed him. 

It was an amazing thing to walk through a building that has been here since 1088 and which has parts taken from a temple built roughly 1900 years before that. Some of the manuscripts, frescoes and relics were exquisite. And the castle-like monastery itself was constructed to protect the religious order against pirates and Seljuk Turks. On an island primarily occupied with sun, sea and the good life, the monastery was an interesting departure. Moreover, those monks were way ahead of their time on air conditioning. The monastery is situated and built to really take advantage of the hilltop breezes and was extremely cool on a hot day.

So what do a six and four-year-old do in the aftermath of the tragic loss of Galaxia and a tour through a history and religion that make little sense to them?  Eat lunch. We adjourned to Jimmy's Balcony, a restaurant at the edge of Hora which has a similar view to that of Galaxia. We had met Jimmy – who went to college in New York and lived more than 20 years in Iowa before returning to his birthplace in Patmos –  in both of our past trip to Patmos and he was there today playing host to all who came to dine. He sat us at a table by the window with a great breeze and view, looked at us for a long while and suggested a lunch order he thought would work for our group: tzatziki, fried feta in honey, fish roe dip, cooked spinach-feta salad, his restaurant's take on Greek salad and a hamburger for the kids to split. He was right on the money and it was a great meal.

But best of all, Jimmy is one of the 2,000 resident Patmosians who knows everything and everyone on this island. They are like those trees in Avatar that have a root network that connects all things. Sennen was still concerned about what happened to the Thank You Too man from Galaxia – what if he had died? Jimmy was able to tell us that Galaxia closed three years ago, the town of Hora owns that building and another restaurant tenant bid for it, and that the kind pizza man was alive, well and enjoying retirement. He was equally impressed at the concern, saying "very sophisticated!" And I suppose that is what matters.

So good bye, Galaxia Pizza Man. We hope to run into you around the island. We appreciate all the great pizzas, warm interactions and memories. But most importantly, Thank You Too!