17 - 23 July 2013
Day 1: Ferry
I had to catch a 1hr bus from the airport to the port and I had a good chat with a Danish girl on the way. I love travel, everyone is so friendly and it's so easy to strike up a conversation, even at 4am after a sleepless night.
Piraeus port is fairly big so finding the boat you need to be on can be a task. There's a homeless guy there though and he knows this so he offers to carry your bags in a shopping trolley and show you to your boat if you shout him money for a beer. I did one better though and actually gave him a beer that I scored on the plane, which he loved!
The ferry ride was nice enough even though it was quite a windy day. The seats suck to sleep in just as much as any plane or train but I did manage to doze off a few times. It was great to see my welcome party waving enthusiastically to me as the boat came in to dock.
Beach
We wandered back to the campsite and dumped my bags, got changed and headed straight down to the beach. Apparently I brought the wind with me because we were getting sand blasted on the beach but we didn't let it phase us. Lunch was a pita, which is basically a kebab and it was fantastic.
Dinner
We caught the bus into Appolonia, the main town, for dinner. We wandered the main street, had some drinks at a bar with a great view out of the town and then went to a popular restaurant on the main street for food. We ordered a bunch of plates to share, which was an amazing idea, and everything tasted so good. We finished off with some honey flavoured Raki and it certainly packs a punch. The only issue was the stray cats that wanted to be extra friendly when they weren't really wanted. Dessert was something I haven't seen before; Vaflaki. It's giant waffle squares that are cut up into individual pieces and covered in whatever you want; Nutella in this case. It's pretty addictive and amazing.
Day 2: Exceptionally lazy day
We had another family member arrive in the morning so we all headed over to the port to form the welcome party. After breakfast I had a siesta and then worked on my blog for a bit. Dinner was in Kamares, the town we're staying in, and I ordered a stuffed pizza that came out looking like a horseshoe; it's like a calzone but it was surprising when it came out. We had a couple of drinks at the campsite then headed to a local bar for a few more.
Day 3: Scooter time
Scooters are the transport method of choice for the island so we all hired one and made our way over to another beach on the island; Vathi. I had so much fun riding because I think the longest bit of straight road is about 5 metres long; definitely a motorbike (or scooter) heaven. We lazed around on the beach, went for a few swims and had lunch at a beachfront restaurant, with our feet in the sand, of caper salad, tzatziki, souvlaki and a greek salad. Again, all the food was amazing! Dinner was at another local restaurant back in Kamares where I ordered the yummy Pastitsio; meat, macaroni, rice and some saucy stuff.
Day 4: Kastro
A member of our group was heading off so we all went to the port for a farewell. After, we jumped on the scooters and rode to Chrissopigi beach, a nice beach that is also home to the famous Monastery of Chrissopigi. We had lunch at a beachfront restaurant and the ordering style here is the old way of doing it; you get taken into the kitchen where they show you what is available for the day. They also give you a menu after and of course I stuffed it up and tried to order something that wasn't available so in the panicked moment I chose pastitsio again (same as last night) because I knew it was good.
Dinner
We went over to Kastro for dinner where we had a brief walk around the town first and saw the Church of the 7 Martyrs standing all by itself out on its mini peninsula. The restaurant we went to was known for great souvlaki so we all ordered it and true to its reputation, it was great. After we went to a cocktail bar, called Kavos, that is run by a crazy cracker of a guy who says he's a war veteran but apparently he's not. In any case, he makes killer cocktails that don't skimp on the booze and the view from the stairs out the front it pretty good.
Honey Balls
On the way home, we had to go through Appolonia so we stopped off for some Honey Balls, something that everyone else in the group looked very keen for. They're a type of donut that's covered in honey and served with icecream or chocolate sauce. Of course we ordered both types and HOLY CRAP, I'm in love with these things.
Day 5: Kastro beach
We headed back to Kastro, where we had dinner the night before, and made our way down the many stairs that take you to the church and the "beach", which was actually just a bunch of giant rocks. We were really lucky because we were the only ones on the rocks, the sun was out and the water was perfect. There are also some rocks that you can jump off and they're the type that don't look that high from the bottom but once you're up there, they somehow seem to be much higher up. To stop either myself or my cousin from chickening out, we both jumped together. I went back and did it a second time, just to make sure it wasn't a mistake, because I had to get my sunnies from the top of the rocks and jumping is the easiest way down.
Lunch and Dinner
We headed back to a restaurant at Vathi beach, one that we'd been to before, for lunch and an afternoon snooze. Dinner was in Appolonia at a rooftop restaurant, with a great view over the town. I ordered some pasta dish, can't remember its name, but it was amazing, I inhaled the whole thing and could've probably eaten another serving.
Day 6: Heading north
We rode up to the northern most beach on the island; Cherronisos beach. However, just saying "we rode" doesn't do justice to how crazily windy it was and so it was a bloody task to get there. Unfortunately once we got there, the beach had changed significantly from previous years, not for the better apparently, and it was still super windy so lying on the beach wasn't going to happen unless you really love sandblasting. We bailed on the beach and went back to Appolonia for a coffee/tea to plan our next move.
Faros beach
We headed over to Faros beach, which is on the south-east side of the island, so I really got to see a lot of Sifnos by scooter today. The wind was still a problem at this beach but I got creative and found a rock wall to lay on; wind 0 - Tom 1 :D After some lying in the sun I went for a walk around the point to Chrissopigi beach and back.
Kamares
When the sun was getting too hot we headed back to Kamares where we all did our own thing. I decided to take the scooter around to a nearby mountain so I could hike to the top and see both the churches and the great view. It was totally worth it and I wished I had more time on the island to explore more of the walking/hiking trails.
New people
Some more family arrived in the evening so we greeted them at the port and then headed over for dinner at an Italian style restaurant called Camaron. I ordered a pizza that kept the "everything on Sifnos tastes awesome" streak going. After dinner we went back to the campsite where we had some musically talented people playing for the rest of us while we sipped Greek wine, a really nice way to spend my last night.
Day 7: Heading off
Not much happened today other than returning the scooter and packing things up. A satisfying part was where I could ditch the tent and bed roll from my pack so I gained lots of space and lost heaps of weight, yay! I grabbed one last pita before getting on my ferry back to Athens.
Thoughts on Sifnos
Day 1: Ferry
I had to catch a 1hr bus from the airport to the port and I had a good chat with a Danish girl on the way. I love travel, everyone is so friendly and it's so easy to strike up a conversation, even at 4am after a sleepless night.
Piraeus port is fairly big so finding the boat you need to be on can be a task. There's a homeless guy there though and he knows this so he offers to carry your bags in a shopping trolley and show you to your boat if you shout him money for a beer. I did one better though and actually gave him a beer that I scored on the plane, which he loved!
The ferry ride was nice enough even though it was quite a windy day. The seats suck to sleep in just as much as any plane or train but I did manage to doze off a few times. It was great to see my welcome party waving enthusiastically to me as the boat came in to dock.
Beach
We wandered back to the campsite and dumped my bags, got changed and headed straight down to the beach. Apparently I brought the wind with me because we were getting sand blasted on the beach but we didn't let it phase us. Lunch was a pita, which is basically a kebab and it was fantastic.
Dinner
We caught the bus into Appolonia, the main town, for dinner. We wandered the main street, had some drinks at a bar with a great view out of the town and then went to a popular restaurant on the main street for food. We ordered a bunch of plates to share, which was an amazing idea, and everything tasted so good. We finished off with some honey flavoured Raki and it certainly packs a punch. The only issue was the stray cats that wanted to be extra friendly when they weren't really wanted. Dessert was something I haven't seen before; Vaflaki. It's giant waffle squares that are cut up into individual pieces and covered in whatever you want; Nutella in this case. It's pretty addictive and amazing.
Day 2: Exceptionally lazy day
We had another family member arrive in the morning so we all headed over to the port to form the welcome party. After breakfast I had a siesta and then worked on my blog for a bit. Dinner was in Kamares, the town we're staying in, and I ordered a stuffed pizza that came out looking like a horseshoe; it's like a calzone but it was surprising when it came out. We had a couple of drinks at the campsite then headed to a local bar for a few more.
Day 3: Scooter time
Scooters are the transport method of choice for the island so we all hired one and made our way over to another beach on the island; Vathi. I had so much fun riding because I think the longest bit of straight road is about 5 metres long; definitely a motorbike (or scooter) heaven. We lazed around on the beach, went for a few swims and had lunch at a beachfront restaurant, with our feet in the sand, of caper salad, tzatziki, souvlaki and a greek salad. Again, all the food was amazing! Dinner was at another local restaurant back in Kamares where I ordered the yummy Pastitsio; meat, macaroni, rice and some saucy stuff.
Day 4: Kastro
A member of our group was heading off so we all went to the port for a farewell. After, we jumped on the scooters and rode to Chrissopigi beach, a nice beach that is also home to the famous Monastery of Chrissopigi. We had lunch at a beachfront restaurant and the ordering style here is the old way of doing it; you get taken into the kitchen where they show you what is available for the day. They also give you a menu after and of course I stuffed it up and tried to order something that wasn't available so in the panicked moment I chose pastitsio again (same as last night) because I knew it was good.
Dinner
We went over to Kastro for dinner where we had a brief walk around the town first and saw the Church of the 7 Martyrs standing all by itself out on its mini peninsula. The restaurant we went to was known for great souvlaki so we all ordered it and true to its reputation, it was great. After we went to a cocktail bar, called Kavos, that is run by a crazy cracker of a guy who says he's a war veteran but apparently he's not. In any case, he makes killer cocktails that don't skimp on the booze and the view from the stairs out the front it pretty good.
Honey Balls
On the way home, we had to go through Appolonia so we stopped off for some Honey Balls, something that everyone else in the group looked very keen for. They're a type of donut that's covered in honey and served with icecream or chocolate sauce. Of course we ordered both types and HOLY CRAP, I'm in love with these things.
Day 5: Kastro beach
We headed back to Kastro, where we had dinner the night before, and made our way down the many stairs that take you to the church and the "beach", which was actually just a bunch of giant rocks. We were really lucky because we were the only ones on the rocks, the sun was out and the water was perfect. There are also some rocks that you can jump off and they're the type that don't look that high from the bottom but once you're up there, they somehow seem to be much higher up. To stop either myself or my cousin from chickening out, we both jumped together. I went back and did it a second time, just to make sure it wasn't a mistake, because I had to get my sunnies from the top of the rocks and jumping is the easiest way down.
Lunch and Dinner
We headed back to a restaurant at Vathi beach, one that we'd been to before, for lunch and an afternoon snooze. Dinner was in Appolonia at a rooftop restaurant, with a great view over the town. I ordered some pasta dish, can't remember its name, but it was amazing, I inhaled the whole thing and could've probably eaten another serving.
Day 6: Heading north
We rode up to the northern most beach on the island; Cherronisos beach. However, just saying "we rode" doesn't do justice to how crazily windy it was and so it was a bloody task to get there. Unfortunately once we got there, the beach had changed significantly from previous years, not for the better apparently, and it was still super windy so lying on the beach wasn't going to happen unless you really love sandblasting. We bailed on the beach and went back to Appolonia for a coffee/tea to plan our next move.
Faros beach
We headed over to Faros beach, which is on the south-east side of the island, so I really got to see a lot of Sifnos by scooter today. The wind was still a problem at this beach but I got creative and found a rock wall to lay on; wind 0 - Tom 1 :D After some lying in the sun I went for a walk around the point to Chrissopigi beach and back.
Kamares
When the sun was getting too hot we headed back to Kamares where we all did our own thing. I decided to take the scooter around to a nearby mountain so I could hike to the top and see both the churches and the great view. It was totally worth it and I wished I had more time on the island to explore more of the walking/hiking trails.
New people
Some more family arrived in the evening so we greeted them at the port and then headed over for dinner at an Italian style restaurant called Camaron. I ordered a pizza that kept the "everything on Sifnos tastes awesome" streak going. After dinner we went back to the campsite where we had some musically talented people playing for the rest of us while we sipped Greek wine, a really nice way to spend my last night.
Day 7: Heading off
Not much happened today other than returning the scooter and packing things up. A satisfying part was where I could ditch the tent and bed roll from my pack so I gained lots of space and lost heaps of weight, yay! I grabbed one last pita before getting on my ferry back to Athens.
Thoughts on Sifnos
- It can get pretty windy at times but for most of the time, there was a light breeze which made it perfect weather
- The roads are so much fun to ride on because there's great scenery and constant curves
- All the food (that I had anyway) is amazing and the prices are quite reasonable
- The beaches are quite good; nice sand and clean, warm-ish water
- All the people on the island seem nice
- I had a fantastic time hanging out with family
- I'm pretty sure I developed a tzatziki addiction while I was there
 |
| Made it to the top of the mountain near Kamares beach (where we stayed) |
 |
| The hillside in Kastro although these walls were all over the island |
 |
| The walk back up the hill from Kastro beach |
 |
| Exploring the alleys in Kastro |
 |
| Scooter and scenery |
 |
| Lunch at Vathi beach |
 |
| He did jump, he isn't falling |
 |
| Trying to man up for the jump |
 |
| Part of the crew at Chrissopigi Monastery |
 |
| Dinner in Kamares |
 |
| Trying to run in the air |
 |
| Honey balls! |
 |
| The Vaflaki, we couldn't wait to take a piccy at the start |
 |
| Looking out over Kamares beach |
 |
| Leaving Sifnos :( |
im sorry but i hope you did'nt missed to visit the classy settlement of the island ..ARTEmonas, in Sifnos
ReplyDelete