Day 4: The Elusive Professor Mazarakis

It wasn't easy leaving Athens. One day without seeing the ancient ruins is like passing by Egypt without seeing the pyramids. Shame, shame.. But a certain Professor Mazarakis awaits us in Kythnos, an island we know nothing of, and this is enough for us to cross the sea and brave the unknown.

On board the ship we gather our materials, read some more of our printed bio on the Professor and his archeological work in Kythnos. Hes a well travelled man and has established himself in the field of archeology as an authority of the Greek archaic (ancient) period, sometime around or before written history. Hes held several talks in some of the biggest universities and is responsible for the biggest archeological discovery in Kythnos together with other Greek archeologists.

At the moment of arrival, looking out to see the island, we are met with shock. Hills and hills of rolling brown devoid of green and trees, and a cluster of white houses by the port was all there was and this made Fra shiver at the thought of not coming back mainland. This was our first taste of the dry Cycladic island terrain and who could prepare for such a sight after looking through too many pictures of luxury white hotels overlooking the sea. Clearly these were pictures of major touristic destinations like Mykonos or Santorini. This is Kythnos, a much simpler island with less than 1,500 inhabitants. Commercial tourism hasn't infected it at least and the thought of spending a couple of days in this strange land gave us a rush of energy.