Double impression
A story about a trip to the island of Symi, which is an hour and a half "ride" by ship. When buying an excursion, (45 euros per person), a representative will tell you such that you want to jump with delight and desire to see everything as soon as possible. Who cares, but I was disappointed by what I saw and here's why:
Firstly: When I bought tickets, they promised to stop near the monastery of the Archangel Michael for an hour and a half. When we boarded the bus to get to the port, the guide said that the stop would last an hour and ten minutes. (20 minutes miraculously disappeared somewhere). In fact, it was 50 minutes. Of these 50, on the pier, the guide spoke for 15 minutes, telling all sorts of wonderful stories about the icon. We had to return to the ship in 5 minutes. And the rest of the time was not enough to see everything. And there was something to see. Queues everywhere. To enter the temple-line, submit notes - the line, pray at the icon, light candles, in the church shop - there is a line everywhere. We did not have time to inspect the cells, the refectory, and nothing at all. Upon arrival, of course, they made claims to the representative. They just shrug. It remains the impression that they are simply lying in order to lure them on an excursion. The main thing - paid, and the rest - as it will turn out. You will not find the extreme.
Okay. Sailed further. Sailed to the city of Symi. This is the only settlement on the island. We, having heard enough stories, were preparing to see something incredibly beautiful, bewitching spectacle. In fact, it turned out: absolutely identical small houses, similar to matchboxes, which differ only in color, are located on a mountain slope on both sides of the bay. No architectural diversity. The main attraction of these houses, according to the guide's story, is that they are not allowed to be painted in any color and have round holes under the roof, as if for ventilation. We have windows like this in every house. They are called auditory by the name of the engineer who invented them for ventilation. For some reason, they do not cause any emotions in us. And, by definition, they can't. And there it is served as something unusual. Probably nothing more to surprise. And so it turned out.
If someone has been to Georgia in the Darial Gorge, then they have probably seen a picture similar to the "hanging islands" from Cameron's film "Avatar". Imagine: Far, far away - a huge mountain. There are no trees on the mountain, only green grass. Where the clouds begin, right at the foot, on the slope - a village. It seems that the houses are hanging in the air. Here is the spectacle! Or in Svaneti, the highest mountain village in Europe - Ushguli. In the morning you leave the house - you look down from the mountain - and there are clouds. The impression is incredibly fabulous. You think you're hanging in the air. This is what I understand the spectacle . . And what is there? In this Simi? Matchboxes on the slope of the rocky mountains. Here we found something to surprise !!!
Yes! One more thing: they are not allowed to install modern plastic doors. They must be exclusively wooden. Marvelous? (haha). There are no doctors on the island. Women in labor are taken to Rhodes. Often they do not have time to bring them to the hospital, so a good half of the islanders were born in boats and boats. (civilized Europe! ! What century? )
We also listened with interest to the story that there is no water on the island, and all the water is imported, and that the locals wash once a week and also wash probably once a week. )))))) and go dirty and smelly. And that the poor collect rainwater . . Drop dead interesting. Really?
Then the guide escorted us to a shop on the pier where sea sponges were sold. It's amazing what you can tell about sea sponges for half an hour? (haha). Here we stood and listened as the locals, from generation to generation, at the risk of their lives, extract a product so necessary for humanity - a sponge, without which civilization would disappear from the planet earth, because everyone would be devoured by dirt. )))) And this indispensable product costs 30 euros apiece!!!!!! ! It becomes clear that the guide and the store owner have an agreement that she would take her groups to him. Probably the guide has some percentage of the sale.
The next stop is a leather goods store. The store owner was introduced to us as one of the world's leading fashion designers. Everyone shrugged, because no one had ever heard of him. So the owner began to tell us. How, at the age of 10, he sewed the first leather wallet and then off we go. Listened to all sorts of nonsense about what, it turns out. 80% of leather products in the world are not leather at all. That the manufacturers are fooling the people, and that he alone on the planet is so honest. What only he sews from genuine leather. And what is most interesting, how to distinguish genuine leather from a fake. Do you know? But I know! He suggested. It turns out that a bag made of genuine leather, for example, has pockets or different sides that must differ in color... by half a tone, but they must! And according to the texture of the skin, too... (some kind of nonsense) And proudly demonstrates a bag in which two pockets differ in color. (ha ha ha). Walking around the store, I found the so-called sheepskin coat, which looked like a sheepskin coat that I wore on guard while serving in the USSR Armed Forces in the Far East. Naturally, no one bought anything from him....The agreement between the guide and the store owner is clearly visible.
This was the end point of our tour, and we left the remaining 3 hours to ourselves. We had lunch at a local tavern. Nothing special. Those. nothing at all. They asked to fry fresh sea bass. . At home, the wife fries the fish bought in the supermarket, it tastes much better.
Then the problems started. Heat. Hell. The sun is 40 degrees. There is not a single shadow on the pier. I had to go into stores where air conditioners worked and pretend that you were watching something. Prices there, however, are almost twice as high as on the continent.
An hour before sailing, they were allowed to enter the ship, where you could sit down, rest and relax.
Here is the story. Draw your own conclusions. I made them for myself. You don't have to believe what they tell you. Not a single word. Everything is commercialized. There is only one goal - to lure and tear off more money from you. And what will actually happen then - nobody cares, and you can't make a complaint to anyone.