Schinoussa… a Slice of Paradise
By Helen Grubner. Filed in Uncategorized |
Tuesday 18 June-Thursday 20 June 2024
I am happy to have had my brief stay on Naxos, which really came about because of ferry schedules. 2 years ago, while staying on Koufoníssia, I visited nearby Schinoussa for a day and vowed I would return sometime for a longer stay. These two islands form part of the Lesser Cyclades or Small Cyclades group.
The f/b Blue Star NAXOS, due to depart Naxos at 1210 hours, was running late, which is quite unusual. Waiting to board, I got chatting to a lovely family from Queenstown, New Zealand, who are travelling for a year. They were heading to Amorgos, then Kalymnos, the latter well known to rock climbers, and that is something the dad likes to do. The two children, Oscar and his 8 year old sister Asha, were absolutely delightful. They’re having such an amazing adventure.
Travel time from Naxos to Schinoussa was just 1h 20m. On arrival, I was picked up and driven to Harama Guesthouse, my home for 5 nights, close to three northern beaches. Although still extremely warm, late afternoon, I made the 20-minute walk to the main village of Chora and returned. Thankfully, there is an excellent restaurant at Harama, where that evening I enjoyed Kounéli Kokkinistó (rabbit in red sauce).
Wednesday morning, I left my room quite early to walk the 1km to Psilí Ámmos (fine sand) beach via Mesariá. A small settlement of maybe 8 houses, a church, and a restaurant, To Petrino, where I returned for dinner that evening. Shortly after my arrival at the beach, an emergency alert came through on my phone. A wildfire had broken out somewhere on Naxos, and of course, I was there until yesterday. It is still only June, with the hottest months of July and August still to come, which must be worrying the authorities.
Sun, sea, and sand. Is it possible to have too much of a good thing? Yes, I believe it is, so after around 4 hours at the beach, I returned to my room for a siesta.
On Thursday morning, I set out to walk to Fikio beach. Unsurprisingly, it was deserted. Probably because of the presence of seaweed in the water and on the beach. So, I set off again and walked to Gerolimnionas beach. Where the road ends, there is no clear path down to the beach, but it is so worth the journey. OMG… absolutely stunning! When I first arrived, I had it all to myself, and then Eddie, a guy from the UK, appeared from another route down the hill. Eddie is quite well travelled in Greece, although not as much as me. We got on well, and I enjoyed his company. During my time there, a handful of other people came and went. Mainly, nudists, but I have no problem with that. By the time I arrived back at Harama, I figured I’d earned a Kaiser 🍺
That evening, I waited until the sun was going down before walking to Chora. Picked up a few more provisions and then had dinner at Októ Adélphia, another very good restaurant. However, I’ve become so accustomed to peace and quiet that I found the music and level of conversation there was almost too much for me. Once away from the village, I was happy, a solitary figure walking in the darkness by the light of almost a full moon, back to my room.
