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.