Tinos, Land Of Chapels, Windmills and Dovecotes

So the situation with our search for a room takes a turn to the sublime. Our current abode is clean enough, and our host is friendly enough, but it’s tiny and we’ve already had enough of shuffling sideways around the beds and living out of unpacked backpacks. Plus, it’s let from Monday so in any event we can’t stay more than one more night.

Our search draws a blank, the town is still full of pilgrims and Athenians and it seems every bed is taken. And then, like the proverbial London buses, two come along at once. Yesterday, a guy named Georgos said he’d call by 2pm if he had anything, but there’s no such call. We know his rooms are right on the beach, and they look great. Then our current landlord Michaelades says his mate Carlos has found us a room but without a sea view. At 9pm (7 hours late, not bad for Greek!), Georgos calls, and we’re in,one of the rooms right on the beach is now available. We take it. So now, after all Michaelades’ effort, we have to say thanks but no thanks!

Last night after a great meal in a family taverna in a back alley, we sat a while by a statue, listening to street musicians playing traditional Greek music, so cool. The charm of Tinos town for us is the restaurants around the harbour and in the old streets and back alleys; there are literally dozens, every one of them rammed full and with the incessant deafening chatter of the gregarious Greeks. It’s a lovely atmosphere and we want more of it.

And our new home is fabulous, a smart and comfy apartment right above the crashing waves, just 20 minutes walk out of town, wonderful views across the sea, the beach just across the road. Our balcony faces due South. We’ve fallen on our feet again. Again.

So today is our first road trip in our newly acquired hire car, to the beautiful fishing village of Panormos on the north coast of the island. On the way there we call in at Pyrgos, famous for its marble production, its narrow streets and charming miniature square almost Capri like. It’s a beautiful little place. On to Panormos itself, which delivers just what a fishing village should: an utterly delicious fresh fish lunch, seriously up there with the best, right at the waterfront.

This is one mountainous island, the drive to Panormos is all steep climbs, steep drops and hairpin bends, the views breathtaking, on one side the deep blue Aegean and the neighbouring islands, on the other the rugged hills forming the Tinos backbone. It’s a spectacular drive, the countryside dotted with sights typical of the region; sugar cube houses, whitewashed chapels with bright blue domes, windmills built long ago, some still harnessing the power of Meltemi.

But the oddest sight is the dovecotes which are more or less unique to Tinos, strange two storey structures, almost like mini castles, with intricate designs and standing proud and tall across the valleys. These are not dovecotes as we know them, not a wooden bird house on a post, but instead each one of them as big as a house. Why so much detail in a house for pigeons? 

The island of Tinos houses more than 600 of these odd structures, dating back apparently to the Venetian occupation long ago, when the canny Venetians seized on the opportunity to breed doves and pigeons both for food and to fertilise the land with their droppings. It has worked like a charm, the green valleys here are among the most fertile in all the Greek islands, generations of natural fertiliser enhancing the presence of spring water to create intensely fertile land.

Animist cultures and religions hold the belief that all objects, places and creatures possess a spirit, and their moods are definable. If that’s the case, then someone has seriously upset Meltemi. Meltemi is not a gusty wind, she blasts incessantly across the islands with immense power, and on days like today, you don’t argue with her. She howls across lowland and highland alike, trees bend, dust flies, twigs become weapons. You have to shout to be heard. She dominates the soundtrack. The locals carry on, unperturbed. Meltemi clearly rules here.