Back on Sifnos

 The Dog sitting has started on Sifnos, this time for about ten days. It’s a delight to look after a dog, I have only known well for a couple of years, but we heard a lot about him before then. It’s high summer and carrying that amount of fur is not ideal in this heat. So it’s early starts and late nights with this guy, half Springer Spaniel and half Husky. People are funny about dogs, their dogs are the best, or are almost human. In this guys case I would be agree with the owners. His only vice, for me is he winges a lot in my car, but after the walks this morning he was quiet on the return journey. A Cocker Spaniel used to do this that was very close to me. Last night, after it was cool we drove to Vathi, which is a lovely seaside and fishing village. When we got there, we had a wander along the coast, I had a recommendation from a friend on where to go. 

The owner, a Greek spoke very good English and his daughter also, who had studied offshore wind farms in Athens. She adored my charge, it’s funny that people who have no experience of dogs, when they stroke them, they do it so gently, as if the dog is fragile. Ronnie was very good, he enjoyed the bread and local cheese from my Greek Salad and the roast chicken, he had the gravy in his water bowl. 

We walked back to the car, drove back, then  parked in the car park in Kamares town and walked back up, on the way, we met a couple of friends of Ronnie’s owners. In the morning, after a good nights sleep, we drove out to St Simeon which you can see from Kamares. Ronnie wasn’t super impressed unfortunately, but I think he liked the winds up there, keeping him cool. Last time I was here, it was blowing a gale and throwing it down. 

We next drove to where there is a path to Prophet Ellias church, again visible from Kamares. It was a rocky path up, with steps for the last few hundred metres. It was again windy, not such a pretty church from the outside but it had a nice interior. We walked back to the car and drove to Cherronisos. Here there is a small beach, a couple of tavernas and a few pretty fishing boats. I asked at the shop if they had any types of Pita (pie), they said they might later, so I bought some cake. We went to a taverna and had a coffee watching a fisherman wheelbarrow fish to the taverna. 

Lastly, we went back to Kamares and met a friend of Ronnies owners and mine, for coffee,  who was here for a quick break, they normally overwinter here after working in their home country in the summer. We also got talking to a girl from the UK,  visiting Sifnos for the first time. Afterwards, we agreed to meet for dinner at a  restaurant in Kamares, I walked Ronnie back home. Later on I did a swim in the sea at Kamares. The sea bed shelves so slowly, you can walk out for ages and still be able to touch the bottom with your feet. It’s nice and sheltered, the only problem is when the ferries come in, they can create a swell. I had a nice swim, did forty strokes, and then walked back, drying off in the sun after a quick shower on the beach.

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