One perfect day
24 May 2017 | Pharos, Sifnos
Sifnos - If anyone asks me why I am doing this lifestyle - Sifnos answers it all. We have had the most idyllic time on this island.
After a pleasant sail from Paros, the intended anchorage at Kastro on Sifnos, proved to be small, exposed, and risky in my opinion, so we headed just a little further S to an anchorage called Pharos. I would rate Pharos as the best anchorage we have experienced so far in the Greek Islands. With a good beach (by Turkish and Greek standards), a taverna ashore and chapels on every hilltop it is an ideal setting.
Intending to take the bus to the main town of Apollonia the first day, the timetable and bus proved unreliable (this is Greece!) so we ended up sharing a taxi with a couple of French women. It's interesting that the islands have their individual "flavours" - Paros was mainly UK visitors, whereas Sifnos has mainly French visitors; even the taverna had a menu in French.
After wandering the back streets of Apollonia we took the bus to Kastro, where we had originally intended to anchor. Kastro has history of thousands of years; not much is left of the castle but there is still much of the narrow streets and houses that date from medieval period.
After giving up once again on the Greek bus system to get back, we decided to walk one of the ancient trails. These stone paths were once the "roads" that people travelled by foot or mule from one village to the next. The 5 Km walk back to Pharos was rewarded, by a swim in the crystal clear waters from the boat and ice cold beer.
That evening we were fortunate to be anchored in the very spot that there is an annual festival where a famous religious icon or painting is given to one person on the island to keep for a year. The icon and person arrived by ship and then there was a service in the chapel on the bluff (lasting several hours!) to pass to the next villager.
This was, for me, just the most perfect day I could imagine.
Next morning we motored further north in dead calm conditions to Yeoryious, however, once again the Yeoryious the anchorage was too small so we continued north to LIvadhious, Serifos.