Bad Day, Good Day

Photo©Nigel Summerley

Some paths you just can't find – especially on an island such as Sikinos. My map informed me there was a remote beach at Kimisi Theotokou to the north-west of Episkopi, so on a cloudy day with the promise of later sunshine I set out to find it.

But the footpath – listed as an "unclear" branch off the coastal path – was completely elusive. The spot where it should have been (and for quite a way either side of it) was overgrown and impassable. 

Reluctantly I gave up and returned to the Kastro, the only benefit of the outing being to pick up some plastic packaging that had been discarded by the roadside.

This frustrating outing simply made the next day's walk even better – a return to Agios Giorgios (pictured above) which I had promised myself, this time taking the main road (yet again totally devoid of traffic, there and back).

This is the perfect swimming spot and I was reluctant to leave. But I had one more call to make before leaving Sikinos the next day.

I wanted to take in the ascent to the monastery from the other side to which I had climbed up to it a few days earlier; I knew I could – then drop down all the way to the Kastro.

The monastery was locked on my previous visit, with a notice saying entrance had to be arranged in advance. But, after the steep climb this time, I found the previously forbidding door wide open. I popped my head in and was welcomed by one of the nuns to have a look around. There was no sign of anyone else.

The monastery grounds were utterly peaceful and the views down from this high and windy point really were aerial. I stayed for a long time before thanking the nuns and heading for the steps that would take me back down to earth.

Photo©Nigel Summerley

Photo©Nigel Summerley

As I began the descent, I heard a nun lock the door again behind me... as if it had been open temporarily just for me.

Photo©Nigel Summerley

Remember The Alamo?

 

Photo©Nigel Summerley

This is a good year to be on Sikinos – because the restoration of the remarkable building pictured here has just been completed.

The Episkopi "temple" was once thought to be on a site sacred to Apollo; it was later a Roman mausoleum and then a Byzantine church. 

This peculiar mishmash – tidied up and made safe in a seven-year project – is an illustration of several centuries of Greek history. And I couldn't help thinking that it reminded me of what has been put back together of that fabled mission in Texas, the Alamo.

It is perhaps just all things to all visitors.

Walking by road and then footpath a few miles west from the Kastro, I could see the lone, exotic, hilltop shape of Episkopi from quite a distance.

It felt like a pilgrimage of some sort. And the reward was to sit in complete silence and solitude – and contemplate this compelling mixture of history and mystery.

Photo©Nigel Summerley