Leros, Day 7 – Castle In The Sky

I slept pretty well after the adventures of the day before, and woke feeling contented. The anxieties and self-doubt I had been troubled by at the beginning of the week had largely dissipated to be replaced by a deep gratitude for how the week had unfolded so far. Meeting Nikos had been a great boon, and I had never dreamed of being shown the places I had been shown by him.

Back when I had decided to make this trip I had no clear vision of how it might turn out or what I might do once I arrived in Leros beyond dropping in to meet Franco, my original contact in Lakki. Had I not written to the War Museum, as suggested by my brother Mike, Franco would never have got my letter, and I would not have visited him on the Monday, and so he would not have spontaneously decided to phone Thanasis who then invited me to his museum where I met Nikos, and meeting Nikos was the game changer.

I once again had breakfast on my balcony and then messaged Nikos to make a plan for the day. I was aware that he had already given a lot of his free time to show me around and so I wanted to make sure that he knew I would totally understand if he needed a day to himself.

He got back to me within half an hour saying that he was ringing around trying to find someone to open up the HQ tunnel for us, but if he had no luck we should definitely meet up in the afternoon to go to the castle, and if Markos was available, to Agios Nikolaos in the evening, promising to get back to me in due course. I replied thanking him for all his efforts and to say there was no rush and to take his time.

I was perfectly relaxed about all of this, and so it was interesting to note how I then went into waiting mode. It was only about eleven in the morning, and I knew that however things turned out we would not be meeting until at least four that afternoon, but I could not settle, and I was completely unable to take advantage of the time I had and to get on with some writing.

At first I felt a little agitated by this, but then saw that I had no option but to take a bit of time out to sit with how I was feeling and simply allow it, and this I did.

It is a fascinating, if not somewhat uncomfortable exercise. A few weeks before Dorothy had described to me a practice she had come across that involved setting a timer for 5 minutes and simply sitting, preferably with your eyes open, literally doing nothing, letting your thoughts come and go, attempting not to chase them, but not to suppress them either. I had been experimenting with this practice and finding it very helpful, especially at times like these. I had at this stage extended it to 10 minutes and found that although it did not fundamentally change where I was at within myself, which was not the point of it, it did change how I related to it, and the restless agitation and angst would subside and I would be able to make clearer and gentler decisions around what to do next, and to be kinder to myself.

Having done this and simply accepting I had gone into waiting mode, I was able to make some quick notes, settle into drinking some tea and reading the news and doing the crossword and going for a walk to Panteli and back, and somewhere in the midst of all that making some lunch for myself.

Thus the time passed and I was able to be less hard on myself for not using the time I had more ‘constructively’, and at about 3.30 pm Nikos got back to me to say  “I have contacted the supervisor of the Reserve Guards, who are responsible for Meraviglia and the HQ tunnel and he advised that I need to contact the nowadays commander of Leros’ Battalion. I did so, explaining who you are and why we should visit the HQ tunnel and he said that he will call me back, as soon as he manages to have an authorisation…”. My goodness, I thought, what a lot of trouble this amazing guy is going to, to help me, I was very touched. The phrase “… explaining who you are and why we should visit the HQ tunnel…” especially touched me as it spoke of the respect and reverence people in the know here in Leros had for my father. Fingers crossed it would all work out.

Nikos then suggested we meet at 6.00 pm and  pass the time waiting for a reply by hanging out and visiting the castle, and taking it from there, to which I happily agreed. Now having a plan I was able to fully relax and get some writing done.

Things all changed when at about 5.00 pm Nikos messaged to say an urgent personal matter had come up and he would have to reluctantly cancel our outing for that evening. He suggested I visit the castle anyway and sent me a Google Maps pin to help me find it. I replied that I hoped he was okay and it was no problem, and I would go out and explore the castle on my own as he suggested.

At this stage I was feeling pretty philosophical about the whole thing. I had already seen, heard and felt things I had never expected to, and if necessary, I was perfectly content to head home with the memory of the wonderful experiences I had already had. So, I decided that I would indeed head to the castle and then head back to Alinda Bay and have dinner in a restaurant that Nikos had pointed out when we were there the previous day that was run by a vegetarian and so had a great menu for me to choose from.

I got into my car, tapped the Google Maps link and headed off to the castle. The first part of the route I was familiar with including the tricky right turn that takes you down to Platanos via a steep and narrow road that I now knew well and felt okay about navigating with due care. I was then directed up to the right through the small square and found myself heading toward the smallest street I had ever seen. No way, I thought, am I going up there, it didn’t look wide enough for a bicycle let alone a car! I did a very careful and tricky five-point turn and headed back to the square and turned right down to Agios Marina, with Google Maps persistently determined to send me off up ridiculously small lanes which I did not even consider taking. Arriving in Agios Marina I pulled over and turned off the engine to gather my thoughts. Any frustration that had been arising evaporated rapidly as I realised I was not in the least bit bothered by not making it to the castle. Happy with this I started the engine and headed off to Alinda to find the vegetarian restaurant.

It was a lovely spot, very small and casual and it felt very local. There were quite a few guys in already, sitting playing backgammon and cards, and it had a laid back and relaxed atmosphere. I took my time over a very nice meal and a glass of the local rose, and then seeing as I was in Alinda went over to visit the military graveyard where the British and Irish soldiers who had died in the Battle of Leros were buried. It was a very peaceful and beautifully kept testament to the tragedy and heartbreak of war. I was particularly moved by the headstones that had no name. Who were these poor souls who had sacrificed their lives during those awful days in 1943?

Back at my room in the hotel I phoned Dorothy and we had a fabulous long chat for over an hour, talking about life, the universe and everything: deep insights into life, and that in particular we are who we are, it is coming to peace with that, and embracing that, not fighting it, that matters. Be yourself, see yourself, and then act accordingly.

I sat on the balcony and had a cold beer, looking forward to my last day tomorrow, however it may unfold, and the evening out that I had planned with Nikos and Thanasis. I then went to bed and fell into a contented sleep.