Last day in Serifos

 Tuesday

So on my last day on this lovely island, all of the islands I have visited have been unique, this one is no exception. It’s not a big island but it is very mountainous which makes it seem bigger. I really liked Hora yesterday and was looking forward to seeing what the other villages were like. So my first stop was Panagia which you get to via Hora, I stopped when I could see it from above, it looked a lot smaller than I expected. Quite a lot of it is derelict or empty, I only met two people, an old lady who was muttering to herself, and a guy putting his washing out. It was so small, I am not sure what old folks do for shopping. Where I parked, the nearest home was clearly a beekeeper, with all sorts of bee keeping stuff in the porch area. The roses were doing very well in the run down areas though!

So on todays trip I am sort of going from the centre of the island ( Panagia ) moving around the interior, and then heading to the coast and going clockwise all the way back to Livadi. I realise I may well have spelt that wrong in past posts! My next stop was a beach called Sikamia. I had this beach to myself. It was so quiet I could hear birds and bees and the waves of course. There were some benches on the beach, I lay on one for a while. A small yacht came in but moored in the sea and just hung around. After a while a refreshing breeze appeared.

I next visited an even smaller village called Galani. It was really just a single road with houses, either side.  There were a few little Greek style paintings on walls, small but perfectly formed. I saw a lady in her house, luckily for me her neighbour who could speak a bit of English translated for us. She wanted to know where I had been on the island, what did I think of it and so on. The lady who could speak English was on the island from May until September. 


I then went past a monastery, but it wasn’t up to much. The little church next to it was much nicer to look at.  It had a funny name TaxiArches! The next beach  recommended to me, was Platis Gialos. This had two beaches, one sandy and small, the other large, but with sand and big boulders in it, which made it look strange. There was a taverna which I did not expect to be open but it was, I had a Greek salad, bread and a drink and had a lay down on the rocks afterwards. 

I drove past a very small village called Kallitos, it was strung out on the cliff, not many houses, very small again. I was going around on the coast road now. Every so often I would get a glimpse of Hora. There was a beach called Sostis, which had a strange shape, which made it very interesting.  I did finally see some goats, they were munching those yellow flowers, which were just starting to come out art he start of this trip.

I then drove back into Livadi, filled the car up with petrol, to be taken back after the car rental shop opens after five. Tomorrow morning I have a ferry to Sifnos at nine, then three days there until the ferry back to the mainland on Saturday. Depending on what I do there, I may or may not write posts. But it’s been a very enjoyable holiday and I have learnt a lot about these islands!





 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The wind returns…

Image
Monday 20st - Tuesday 21st,  Hora Serifos So while cooking my first meal in the house, the estate agent called again and asked if I could meet the owner of the property at seven thirty. Surely so I said. I was cooking kedgeree, two eggs were hard boiled, half an onion fried. I had a tin of tuna and what I thought was rice. With no scales it was a bit of an estimation job on how much to cook. I had  also bought this small jar of what was called  curry sauce to add a bit of a kick to the meal. So while checking the rice, it did not have the right texture I thought. I then realised it was a type of pasta! Anyhow I mixed it all up, added a dollop of the curry sauce, it was different, but it was quite edible! Moral of the story, find the Greek words for things you want to buy to make sure you get the groceries you want! While waiting for the owner I spotted this beautifully painted utility box So I met the owner of the property, and the builder who did the work. I had seen pho...
Read more

A day to remember…

Image
So my last full day on Paros and I took the car out again. This time to a village I had driven past, but needed to  explore properly. So I had a wander around the old part of Lefkes, I would have cheerfully bought a coffee or a candle in the church but everything was closed up. I did see an old lady wandering the streets, but no one else really. It’s gone cold again, that strong wind is back. Temperature single digits. I did hear the church  bells, that was largely the only sound coming out of the village. Here as elsewhere Montbretia is flowering, I think in the UK June would be when it flowers. I have no idea what the pretty yellow building is or was… My  next village was Marpissa, this was a village of windmills, except only one was intact, the others derelict. Like Lefkes everything was shut up, but I think I did see a couple of people to say hello to. There was an old lady here to, with a stick, and she was was finding every step extremely painful to take. But she go...
Read more

So my early morning duties

Image
  So my early morning duties are to turn the heating on which ignites an oil boiler outside the apartment. Turning on the hot water is my second job, in the winter you can’t rely on the sun to heat your morning shower. The boiler is quite an antiquated beast and reminds me of boilers in houses when I was a child. The fact this place has central heating is quite unusual on the island.     On the way to getting the car I pop into the bakery and buy myself a spanakopita a sort of pasty with cheese and spinach in it for lunch. My Greek is rubbish but I manage to buy one and pass on a few Kalamera to people I bump into along my way, including the local shop. I have a flask full of coffee as there are not likely to be any places open for drinks on the way. My first port of call in the car is Vathi, I have the roads to myself, I have driven on the right side of roads before so it’s ok for me. On my journey I meet a flock of sheep, the shepherd being pretty good at getting the tr...
Read more