Friendly Folegandros
By Helen Grubner. Filed in Uncategorized |
With only a 2 night stay on a small island, just as I had arranged to stay in the port of Sikinos, I had booked a room in Karavostasi, the port of Folegandros. This way, arrival and departure from the island is less stressful and with a good bus service, there is no problem getting to the main village Chora, located at the top of a mountain.
My host Dimitra was waiting for me at the gate to “The Farm”. Yes, I agree this is rather an odd name for a lodging house on a Greek island! No sooner had I started unpacking when I realized I had left the Adapter for my phone charger in the wall socket in my room on Sikinos… panic! I went upstairs on the off chance that Dimitra may have an Adapter or suitable Charger… no luck. There was a guy there with her (possibly a son) who suggested I might get one at the petrol station in Chora. Later that evening I was dining at “del Capo del porto”… I had read good reviews about this restaurant which turned out to be in some way connected to “The Farm”. Who should come along?… none other than the probable son I had met earlier. He had been able to find a suitable Charger that I could borrow for the duration of my stay! The following day I visited the petrol station in Chora and eureka… I bought a Charger so all ended well.
That same evening in the restaurant there were a group of young Greek people at the table next to me… 3 girls and a guy. When I asked the waiter for my bill… I had had a very tasty macaroni dish with feta, olives, capers and tomato, as well as two ouzos, he told me the young guy at the next table wanted to pay. I have known of this kind of thing happening before in Greece, however, I have no idea why he wished to do this for me… a simple gesture of kindness.
The following morning I hopped on the bus to Chora and rambled about the village, the old Kastro area being especially interesting with quite unique houses. I walked up to the church and later in the day, caught a bus to Ano Meria. There wasn’t a great deal to see there and rather than wait for a bus to return, I decided to walk, got as far as the turn off to Agali beach and waited there for a bus to Chora.
The Monopatia on Folegandros are not as inviting as those on Sikinos, mainly because too often there is need to leave the path and proceed via the road. The landscape of Folegandros is what I refer to as biblical… a barren windswept land, whereas on Sikinos, the flora is far more interesting and diverse. However, once again I had a wonderful day and even though I hopped on 4 buses, I still managed to clock up 11.71km walking.
Next stop… the island of Milos.
