The lack of meltemi last night, however, made for a breathtaking evening.

I was with some friends on a beach. The waves were gently lapping the shore, moonlight was glistening on the sea, the night was absolutely still, and a beautiful girl stood up and sang Puccini arias to us, with the sea in the background acting as an accompaniment. Her voice was as clear, bittersweet and compelling as anything Puccini ever composed. The mood, the setting, this mermaid of a girl, what a combination. Unforgettable.
She sings like a mermaid, and looks like an oil painting, and it was with this in mind that I took the bus today to the Chora, where I am now. The Chora is a very attractive place, and has many museums, including the Archaeology and Nautical museums, but the one I had come to see this time round was the Museum of Modern Art. The Goulandrises, who are a shipowning family from the Chora, built this museum in an attempt to make Andros the cultural capital of the Cyclades, and they have hosted some pretty impressive exhibitions in the past: Joan Miro, Kandinsky, Henry Moore, Toulouse-Lautrrec, Matisse, to name but a few. Today, they were exhibiting British art of the Sixties, Patrick Caulfield, Peter Blake, David Hockney, Gillian Ayres, etc, and the exhibition reflected the explosion of art that took place during this period. It was a little too eclectic for me to take in one go, so I will be returning soon to have another look, and if anybody is in Andros this summer before 25th September, do go and see it.
This year they didn't seem to be selling any T-shirts for the 'been there, done that, bought the T-shirt' brigade, which includes me. The T-shirts in the past have been very distinctive (my particular favourite is the one I have of the Toulouse-Lautrec exhibition), and I am sad that they appear to be no longer issuing these, as outside of Greece they are as intriguing as attractive.
If you go down through the archway at the plane-tree cafe in the square at the lower end of town, and walk on down to the end of the Chora, you will find a square with the statue of the Unknown Sailor. This is probably the worst statue in Europe, a green sailor with uneven legs which used to rock on its base in the old days when the meltemi was up. Maybe the base has been strengthened, or simply the meltemi wasn't strong enough today to do a dance around its ankles, but there was no suspicion of rocking. When this statue rocks, it doesn't rock.
At the end of the town, opposite the sailor, is the remains of a Venetian fortress. The sea around there is fantastic bathing, highly recommended, as long as you aren't joined by hordes of other people looking for a 'quiet' scenic place to swim.