Back On The Up

 

The Kastro, Sikinos  Photo©Nigel Summerley

On my third and last night on Folegandros, I did return to the Chora's beef-themed restaurant to see what was on offer. Vegetable soup, I was told. That was all? It turned out that there were also stuffed vegetables – and they weren't stuffed with beef. With the addition of chips, a veggie feast was assembled.

The chef said he'd be pleased to see me again the next evening. I explained that by then I would be on neighbouring Sikinos.

"Then I hope all the restaurants there are closed and you have to come back here to eat," he said with a smile.

I walked down to the port in the morning and took the ferry for the short hop to Sikinos – where I was immediately informed that three restaurants were open. And a mini-market.

And there high above the Kastro was yet another holy place on the hill – the Zoodochos Pigi monastery (pictured here).

I walked up there in the evening and could barely keep from being blown away into the sea, so strong were the winds.

I returned with an appetite that was truly satiated at the Capari restaurant – which actually had a menu as well as a lovely and welcoming host. So, no, I wouldn't be returning to Folegandros just yet.

Life on the Edge

 

Folegandros Chora  Photo©Nigel Summerley

The island of Folegandros, at the far southern edge of the Cyclades, was in ancient times – and also in not so ancient times – a place of exile. If the powers-that-be didn't want you around, this is where you would be banished to.

Considering it's such a beautiful island, that doesn't sound too harsh. But that could be a skewed way of looking at this. Even paradise might be hellish if all the exits were sealed.

Katergo beach is one of the island's most stunning and remote spots. As I was setting out to walk to it, I was told that it had at times been used as a place to keep prisoners.

The journey there – and particularly the tricky descent down almost sheer cliffs – illustrated why that was. This was a difficult place to get to and an even more difficult one to get out of. The only relatively easy way would be by sea.

Folegandros was revived as a dumping ground for political prisoners in the early 20th century – most notably during the Metaxas dictatorship in the 1930s.

The dramatic setting of Katergo is impossible to capture satisfactorily in a picture – you need to go there.  

But before leaving Folegandros, I did also walk up to Agia Panagia to picture the clifftop Chora and amazing terraces below. None of the high spots of this island is easy to get to... but all of them are worth every step.

Folegandros Chora  Photo©Nigel Summerley

Goats, Beef... No Veg

Photo©Nigel Summerley

Like many of the Cyclades, Folegandros has a network of well-marked footpaths. The first that I tried took me east from the Chora to the four beaches spread around Vathy Bay: Fira, Angali, Galyfos and Agios Nikolaos. 

The last of those is designated as clothes-optional. But as far as I was concerned, they all were, since there was not a sign of another person on any of them. My only meeting was with the goats pictured above, and they seemed nonplussed at the presence of a visitor. 

I apologised for disturbing them... and they left me in peace to sit by the sea. 

The path – tough at times – eventually took me northward to Ano Meria and then I hit the road east back to the Chora.

The much talked of restaurant did open in the evening and I went there with quite an appetite. 

Could I see the menu? No. There wasn't one. 

"We tell you what you can have," explained the waiter kindly. 

And what I could have was beef soup. 

I explained I was vegetarian. 

"We can do vegetables," shouted the man in the kitchen, "in beef stock."

Er, no, that wasn't going to work.

"We'll have vegetable soup tomorrow."

I said I'd think about it and headed for the mini-market before it closed.

 

High Church

 

Photo©Nigel Summerley

The SeaJet finally made it to Folegandros – much to the surprise of everyone on Folegandros. They'd been told it had been cancelled yet again.

After a long uphill walk into the wind – from the port to the Chora – I arrived here to find this was the view from my apartment.

That long and winding path up the mountainside leads to the Church of Panagia. It would have to be walked... But – after the best part of 12 hours of travelling – not this evening.

The Chora has many cafés and restaurants – all closed at this early time of the year. Thankfully, one general store was open.

And I was told that one restaurant could well be open the following evening. 

The wind was dying down and things were looking up...

Wait For It

 

Photo©Nigel Summerley

Delays and cancellations looked like becoming a theme of the trip at this point.

The previous day I'd been warned by my contact on Folegandros that it was "a little windy" and the SeaJet might not be able to set off from Piraeus.

Trying to remain optimistic, I made sure I was at the port well before 9am departure time – to find that the flags along the waterfront were flapping furiously in the wind and the SeaJet was going nowhere.

There would be another weather check at 10am, we were told. The hour ticked by. There would be another weather check at 11am. And another hour. We were all starting to get a bit restless. Some of those waiting had had their SeaJet cancelled two days earlier and were now pinning their hopes on this one... and if this one didn't go, the next one would be in another two days' time.

There was a lot of finger crossing and silent praying.

At 12 noon, as happens with these things, there was a sudden communal sense that we were going to get the go-ahead. We did and we piled on board... where we waited for close to another hour before blast-off.

But just sitting on the boat and knowing it was going to speed us to the Cyclades put a smile on every face. Such a good thing is well worth the wait.

Rabbit, Rabbit

 

Photo©Nigel Summerley

After BA cancelled my flight [see previous blog post], I warned the Acropolis House hotel in Athens that I would be a bit later than I had previously suggested – more like 4am than 8pm.

It was 3am when I finally walked through the empty streets of Plaka and checked in.

I apologised for being so late.

"But you're early!" said the man at reception. "We weren't expecting you for another hour."

One benefit of arriving at the airport so late was that the bus into town pretty much didn't stop for anything, including lights that were reddish.

"They're good drivers," said the receptionist. "I always get in close behind them to get through the traffic."

In fact, he was full of handy hints – like the fact that when you fly into Athens really late, the pilots can take shortcuts. By this point I didn't know if he was making stuff up or not. I just wanted to get to bed, since I had to be up before 7am to get to Piraeus for my boat to Folegandros.

It was then – in the midst of the constant rabbiting about traffic and planes and shortcuts – that I noticed that there was someone else in reception: an actual rabbit.

"Oh yes," said the receptionist jovially. "Stifado!"

For those who don't know, that means stew.

I made my excuses and went to my room for three hours' sleep.

From Wizz To Worse

 

Photo©Nigel Summerley

Having vowed never to use Wizz Air again [see this blog 22 February] after a seven-hour delay at Malaga airport, I paid ten times as much for a return flight to Athens with British Airways, thinking it would be worth all that money just to get where I was going on time.

It was more than frustrating, then, when BA did a Wizz and cancelled my lunchtime flight and put me on another one, not seven but eight hours later.

My relaxing evening in Athens thus became arriving at my hotel at 3am.

Naively, I thought I might be due some compensation and filled in BA's application form.

It warned me that it was dealing with a lot of complaints – no shit, Sherlock – and could take some time to get back to me.

In fact, it got back to me impressively quickly to tell me that I would get zilch – because the delay was due to "Europe-wide industrial action", ie nothing to do with us.

Next time I think I'll just get the cheapest flight available and have no great expectations about when I might fly or arrive...