The
magic of Greece is in its very ambiguity, in the tensions
that pull it from one wonderful, delicious extreme to the
other. The senses are pleased and pampered by
the serene beauty of Greece found in the depth of its vistas,
the spectacular sunrises and sunsets, and the radiance of
the light that even the poets cannot adequately describe.
The senses are titillated and tempted, also by Greece's extremes,
found in the food and drink, flesh, nightlife, music, and
the burning sun. These tensions intrigue and mystify the visitor?the
barbarian who comes to the shores of Greece?but they are perfectly
understandable to the Greeks who live everyday with the conflicting
realities of life in the land of the gods.
Perhaps this tension is best exemplified in the islands that
form an ancient triangle in the very heart of the Cyclades.
They are cosmopolitan Mykonos, Sacred Delos, and mysterious
Rhinia. Taken together, these sisters with their distinctive
and contradictory personalities give the visitor a tantalizing
taste of Greece known only to the Greeks. Within
this triangle, one can sun bathe nude or topless on some of
the most beautiful beaches in Greece, literally dance until
dawn at discos, take a magical, chartered cruise through the
islands, go back in time with the ancients on an island declared
"sacred" by the Greek government, and/or spend an
enchanted day alone on an uninhabited island where gentle
waves caress a pristine shore, luscious watermelons hang from
vines, and where the pure air is so still you can hear yourself
breath.
Mykonos is famous world-wide for its chalk-white beauty and
its vibrant night life. Celebrities and dignitaries from all
over the world make this island a destination to
shop, sun bathe, party, and island hop, and cruise ships from
all over the world come here. It is not unusual when walking
through the white-washed streets of the town center, called
Hora, to see a world famous model or movie star gazing into
a jewelry store while munching on a cheese pie, looking very
much like Audrey Hepburn in "Breakfast at Tiffanys."
The glorious golden and jewel-studded rings, earrings, bracelets,
and necklaces displayed in the windows of the jewelry artists
of Mykonos will bedazzle even the most sophisticated celebrity.
The contrasts on Mykonos can best be seen early on a Sunday
morning, between 6 and 8 am. During these times, worshippers
returning to their homes share the streets with night people
who have recently left the clubs and discos. Widows covered
by traditional black dresses and head scarves pass young women
scantily attired; each group stares in amazement at the other,
saving their caustic comments for when they are safely out
of earshot. Men and women selling produce from their donkeys
stand far from young rent boys trying to make one more score
before the "night" ends. Music from nearby clubs
plays softly, perhaps in deference to the hundreds of church
bells tolling all over the island.
Orthodox priests walk about in long, black robes that "swish-swish"
as they dust the cobble-stones. Walking behind the priests
giggling uncontrollably are tipsy drag queens with heavy make-up
and orange-colored hair, their long gowns "swish-swishing"
in unison with the robes. Shopkeepers open their establishments
early on Sundays. The visitor sees one of Mykonos' famous
icon makers and peaks into his studio. The
walls are decorated with magnificent works of art in the Byzantine
style, each an original, and beautiful icons of St. George
and the Dragon and of the saints are on display. A few doors
down the visitor comes upon a leather shop featuring expertly-made
handmade leather handbags and sandals, side by side with harnesses,
vests, gloves, and ominous-looking whips.
If Mykonos represents secular pleasures sought by the jet
set, Delos is its opposite and is the most sacred of the Greek
islands. At the very geographical center of the Cyclades,
Delos is its spiritual center as well and was once the religious,
cultural, and commercial focal point of ancient Greece. It
was the jewel of the ancient world, a thriving commercial
hub, and the "summer home" of the rich and famous
of the time. Although the island is a collection of ruins,
they are splendid, magnificent ruins, and one can see Delos'
past glory everywhere, especially in the exquisite, world-famous
mosaic floors of the ruined palaces. The third sister is Rhinia,
a haunting, mysterious island four times the size of Delos
and separated from it by a small strait. Called alternatively
"Great Delos" and "Big Delos," Rhinia
is really two sections connected by a narrow isthmus. Both
parts are uninhabited and by Greek law, no one is allowed
to live on Rhinia or build a permanent home there; there is
no running water or electricity and there are no roads on
its rocky, hilly terrain. (There are rumors, however, of a
few hearty souls who make the island their home) Very few
tourists know about the island or have an
interest in going there on a day's excursion, so, if you plan
it correctly, it is possible to be the only person on one
of its four pristine, sandy beaches.
The Cycladic Sisters, Mykonos, Delos, and Rhinia, each with
her own personality, are among Greece's most precious treasures.
The visitor ventures to the Cyclades will experience the sacred
and the profane, the sublime and the absurd, the Ottoman and
the Venetian, the glorious ideal and stark reality, the goddess
and the harlot, the perfect beauty of the sun god, Apollo,
and the wild revelry of the wine god, Dionysius. In short,
the visitor will experience Greece.
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