Sifnos, Saturday

Sifnos is my favorite island. Everything here is very laid back, and all of the locals ensure they get a few hours of beach time every day. Why shouldn’t they? The beach here is fabulous, soft white sand, shallow water for about 200 meters, and not too crowded!

Of course, en route for Sifnos we had a layover between ferries on Folegandros. The island was described as barren, and indeed it seemed small, barren and hot. There wasn’t much in the port villa: a couple of groceries and a couple of tavernas... not really any eating worth reporting about, but the hospitality still holds to what we expect from the Greeks. Folegandros has the most beautiful beach of the trip. The beach is surrounded by a cliff, and looking off the cliff you can see all the way down to the bottom of the ever-so-slight blue/crystal clear water. Only a small smattering of golden sun worshippers lying out, and a few swimmers in the water add some activity, yet compliment the serenity of the scene rather than disturb it. There’s even a small island within swimming distance of the beach! The true highlight among the cycladic beaches and truly a hidden treasure in Greece... not overrun with tourists, at least this time of year.

We shared the flight from Philadelphia to Athens with another university group of about thirty students on a five week tour of Greece. On Sifnos, our paths crossed again. Their journey started with the islands and will finish with the mainland, almost the perfect mirror of our trip, but instead of visiting Crete, they spent a few days on Naxos which we did not.

I enjoyed sharing a few drinks with a spirited girl named "M" and her sorority sister "C" from Ball State in Indiana, and exchanged contact information so we can exchange photos of what we missed. Tomorrow, there is a Donkey Cross event involving both enduro motorcycles and donkeys, but we will be long gone on our slow ferry by then, so I’ll have to count on M to tell me all about it.

One observation I’ve made is there are a lot of foreign girls working on Sifnos. Our lovely maid, "F", is living here from Romania. She is a university student just wrapping up her exams, an avid soccer fan and clearly takes in a couple of hours on the beach every day. After meeting a few of F’s friends, I discovered one was from Australia, and there were many from Romania.

Then there was, "K", the bartender at the captain was a lovely blonde from Tulsa who’s lived on the island for nine years. We talked for quite a while over a few drinks.

I finally experienced some Greek nightclub life in Appollonia tonight at a club called Bliss. I love the music played at the clubs here, as it is an eclectic mix of the club music I would expect to hear at the Moon in the Palms in Vegas, rotated with international club music that is amazing, but stuff I’ve never heard before.

The drinks were a bit pricey (10€ each!), but getting to know "J", a Greek/Thai lass, and "A-M", from Albania, more than made up for the price.

However, the most amazing experience on Sifnos was renting a scooter. I’ve been anxious to get out onto the road since arriving in Greece, and Sifnos is a relaxed enough environment where I figured I could putt around and not get killed. That doesn’t stop me from wanting to drive a scooter in Athens, but Kamares is a good place to start!

While scooting around the island during the day felt extremely liberating, the experience was even more enhanced on the ride to Appollonia at night! Just me, the road, and what’s illuminated in my headlights! This island, I could live on!

Yesterday, we toured the other villas in small groups: Artemonis, Kastro and Platys Gialos. A couple of girls and myself wandered around the donkey trails of Artemonis, looking at the old churches, wandering in and out of shops, and munching on some local baked goods. Later, we met a couple of other groups and shared a meal. The chick pea soup definitely lived up to its reputation!

Today, I ventured over to Kastro to examine the town which is “like walking into a sculpture.” It truly is! The roads of the villa are just wide enough for two donkeys to pass each other.

The highlights of the trip were the silver shop above the church on the water, the view of the open sea, the baked goods which I forgot the name of but were exclusive to Sifnos, and the serenity of the villa itself. It was so peaceful as the residents avoided the heat in the coolness of their homes. Before leaving the villa, I shared a relaxing lunch with a couple of the lovely ladies from the group.

One thing so amazing in Greece is that one actually feels cooler standing in the shade. Back home, the air is so sticky and humid that it just hangs in the shade as well as the sunlight, but here, shading is almost enough to create the illusion of air-conditioning!

Tomorrow, we start for home. We’ll be spending one last night in Athens, and I hope to have the time to pick up some last minute gifts, make some last minute friends, and hopefully fit everything into my dilapidated luggage. I only hope my bags make it home... they are looking pretty rough.

Flickr: Folegandros | Sifnos | Greece

I suppose I've been fortunate up to this point. As someone who's traveled a fair amount over the years, I've never been caught in air travel purgatory.

Until now, that is.

After nineteen fabulous days in Greece, I'm sitting in the Philadelphia International Airport waiting for a delayed flight, which may or may not be late enough to miss my connection in Arlington, VA. The non-stop flight last night was canceled.

Of course, there's a conspiracy theorist at the gate blaming petrol prices.

Actually, spending the evening in Philadelphia wasn't so bad. The highlight was our lovely receptionist at the hotel.

I'm with a group, and tensions seem to be running high... which, is actually just adding to my amusement of the entire situation. After all, the sooner I get home, the sooner I have to go to work! Besides, why worry about things out of your control?

So, I'll be curious to see what the next 24 hours hold.

What i'm listening to:

Naughty Girls
Samantha Fox
Samantha Fox