Ramblings from Greece

So like last time I went on vacation, I am posting my holiday diary after I get back. Note each post might cover a day, half a day or more than one day. So after the last lorry finally boards onto our ferry, a huge plume of dirty black smoke pours out of the ship’s    funnels and we inch away from the pier. This is the slow ferry to Sifnos, we have six hours sailing ahead of us. Like the first time I came here, I flew to Athens, then took a taxi to a hotel, in the port Piraeus, bedded down for the night and got the ferry the following day. I had a few hours before my ferry left in the afternoon and I bought myself a nice pair of evening shoes in a real, old fashioned shop nearby. They cost me about seventeen Euros, they were made it Italy. These will add to my stock of clothes and other items that I am building up on the island. I had a wander around the port and found a pretty small church by the port itself. The ferry carries on into the night, the sea is calm thank goodness...

So the last full day on the island I have called home for two weeks. This has been an unusual holiday, as I had three friends looking after me over the time of my visit . We went over to the other side of the bay from Kamares, to a hotel, very quiet now, where you can sit by their infinity pool and have a drink or two and maybe lunch later on. Ferry watching and just relaxing doing not very much. The top left photo shows the view of the bay from the top of the zigzag path that gets you to the little church ( top right ) Next to that church is a little house where one of the owners of the Captains Bar lives in the tourist season. I went in their on my own one night, met a couple of people I had met during the holiday and had a drink with them. Afterwards as I left I met another group of people I knew having a meal and had a chat with them. They invited me to join them, but I gratefully declined, I was a bit tired. I then passed one of the shops selling ice cream bought one and met yet o...

  So only a few more days on Sifnos, and then time to head back to the UK. It’s only been a week since I got back, but it seem ages ago now. Today we are in Castro, another hilltop village. There seemed more endless narrow roads ( no cars ) to wander around, and look at the pretty buildings. We saw the local priest chatting to someone in a small shop, and we said hello to a friend of my hosts who, lives in the town.   The Greeks being handy people, have reused or just left bits of old buildings in the town, small Doric columns or sarcophagus, they add to the charm of the place. The sun setting, just added to the magnificence. There were kids playing and just a relaxed feeling. Above us the stars and Venus appeared brightly, no light pollution here. We finished our visit off in a Rum Bar with piles of empty Rum bottles littered around it. It’s glass Recycling, but not as we know it.. one house had two of the chimney tops they have here illuminated on its gate posts. We left Cas...

So near the end of     my holiday, we went to the pretty beachside village of Faros. It has a oh, so pretty beach and wonderfully coloured seawater. From here there is an undulating path to the gorgeous small church at Chrisopigi. On the way we passed another small church hugging the coastline. We had glorious blue skies and seas of many hues of emerald. There was a nice breeze, which kept us cool. Eventually we reached the church and had a look. It sits out on a prominentory and is cut off from the island by the sea. The church is very popular for use with weddings. Next to the church lives a lady who is a friend of my friends. It is an idilic spot to live! I believe she has had the honor of looking after an idol from the church in her house, I can’t remember what this is called. She made us some lovely coffee and we met her cats and her dog Cookie. She invited us to, her house for dinner on my last night on the island, that’s typical Greek kindness.  We then retrac...

We had one more night on the island, in the morning we had our breakfast on the terrace of one of our rooms and it was decidedly windy. This meant the crossing back was going to be rough which it was.    The ferry was also late.  So we took a walk around the other side of the bay and saw a bit more of our port. We also visited a small botanical garden, parched of course and very different from the ones that we have in the UK.  So back to Sifnos tomorrow, with more lovely photos and tales of the island.  

  A few less words today, but hopefully the photos will tell the rest of the story of Chora, the Amorgos island’s capital. It is is stunning town, with endless roads with pretty houses, churches and tavernas. The town is built on a mountain, at the top is a ruined castle which we will see tomorrow that gave me wonderful views of the countryside. So a last thing to visit in the capital of Amorgos was the 13th century Venetian castle. It was quite a climb up but the views were amazing including windmills on a nearby hill. There was a small church to have a look at too. It’s a pity that there wasn’t an information sign or two to set the scene for the visitor. But you have the internet I suppose. 

So one of the highlights of our trip to Amorgos, was a trip to the ancient monastery of Chozoviotissa. It’s quite spectacular with its white colour against the cliff face. The building of it must have been a challenge to say the least, and it’s survival through time also. A trawl using your favourite search engine, will yield more facts about the monastery than I can transcribe    here, but it’s ninth century, carved out of the rock and nine stories high. It’s reached by a fairly easy climb from the car park, and you don’t get to see much of the interior, the small refectory, the chapel and a few other rooms. The highlight is a glass of Raki like liquor flavoured with cinnamon and honey, if I remember rightly. We got to meet a honeymooning Italian couple across the refectory table. We also had a chat with a monk and a longer conversation with a caretaker.  It’s so easy to take nice photos in Greece. Big blue skies, contrasting white buildings and seas in emerald hues. I m...