Sifnos Monastary

There are 360 churches on the island of Sifnos. We have admired them as we explored the island. You never have to look far before you  spot the iconic blue dome of a chapel, often on a lonely hillside miles from anywhere. They play an important part in the community  with festivals and 'name day' celebrations  -  each chapel/monastary has a specific saint/ name day.

From a distance we had been admiring the dear little blue and white chapel, Church of St Catherine, at the Kamares Port entrance so yesterday when it was cooler in the evening we put on our hiking shoes and set off.

Such a perfect spot at the entrance to the wee harbour, I bet it's been photographed thousands of times. 

 The ground around the chapel is flinty/shale with some very  interesting plants that manage to survive in the harsh environment.

Not satisfied with our evening hike we got up at 5.30 am this morning, before sun up (at 6.40am) and hiked to the highest point on the island and  Monastary  Agios Symeon, built in 1667. 

We wanted to avoid melting in the heat of the day as it's a long slog up and up and up!

Spectacular views back down to our little house in Kamares Port. It was pretty windy up the top but the views across to Naxos and Paros were stunning.

As we slogged our way up hill,  goats bells were tinkling as they hippepty hopped with ease across the rocks and scree. I think we came across one of the ancient stone signal towers.

Funny thing was we saw one man in the distance on the trail about 20 mins ahead of us but when we got to the top he was no where to be seen. He didn't pass us coming down and you can see for miles up there.....it's a mystery.  We made up all sorts of theories on our walk back down.

We were ravenous by the time we got back to Kamares so we stopped at the first spot serving coffee and  had a bite to eat. We were joined by this cheeky chappie - he jumped up beside me and made himself at home.

Agean cats

 Here's one for all the cat lovers.

There are so many cats on Paros and Sifnos. 

They are everywhere. A local told me they neuter the males but some slip through the net. Throughout the villages you can see little water and food stations for the cats so they are cared for.  It does seem odd seeing cats on the beach but we watched  one playing in the sand at dusk the other night.

Aegean cats are one of the oldest domesticated cat breeds, having been introduced to the islands during the bronze age and are considered a national treasure. 

We chatted to a local about cats and he said he had four at home and the ones roaming are cared for by the community and know how to work the tourists :)

They are street savvy and know just how far to sit away from the restaurant and not get shoo'd away by the waiters.

They flop down in the middle of a shopping lane, on a restaurant chair and so many people pet them. 

It's fun to watch their power play at dusk, there's always a top cat:)

The fisherman at the port toss them scraps and they keep the mice and rats count down. If you feel you are being watched, look around and you'll spot a cat.

Check out the hose pipe fitting.

It's cataclysmic here!

Herronissos

We took the bus from Kamares Port to a small hillside village called Artemonas where we had to change buses  to get to a tiny little bay on the north west of the island called Herronissos.

We had to wait in Artemonas for our next bus. Artemonas  is a tiny little village where apart from the bus action,  very little was moving.

We drew the short straw and landed the bone shaker bus, however the driver  took it much slower than yesterday  and it felt a lot safer even though the bus was pretty old. It looks good from a distance :)

 We covered a lot of ground over steep mountainous terrain with sheer drops down to the sea as we chugged along  to  the end of the road. 

Looking out the bus window as we travelled over the mountains,  as far as the eye can see are terraced pastures with either olives or low growing juniper and wild oregano.

 The land looks shaley and so dry. I kept my eyes peeled for ancient towers, there are 57 apparently dating back to 6th century BC, I think I saw the ruins of one far off in the distance. They were signal towers (smoke) and later protective structures for women and children. The vistas seem almost from biblical times, the ancient stone walls, old old olive trees, wandering goats,  a donkey ...even the village names conjure up Greek mythology - Apollonia, Artemonas, Herronissos, it's fantastic.

At the end of the road there was a dusty path down to the bay.

The bay is tucked away through a narrow opening from the sea with steep steps down to a little track along the waters edge to beach.

Again the water is crystal clear and the little kaiki looks so pretty bobbing at the waters edge.

It is a functioning village, a fishing fleet operates and locals live here year round.

It must be so quiet out of the summer season as everyone we saw today, apart from the staff at the two taverna,  were visitors. 

We had a fantastic swim and a bite to eat before the two bus trips back to Kamares Port. We had the business class bus back - it had air conditioning :)

I've been reading up on the history of Sifnos and it's fascinating -  too much to detail here though. However it had gold and silver mines so naturally was fought over numerous times - Macedons, Persians, Venetians, Romans, Turks....until 1821 and Sifnos joined the revolution and won freedom with other Cyclades Islands. It's got bags of history and has two little archeological museums.

A wonderful day.

Vathi beach

Another beautiful day on Sifnos.

We looked into hiring a car or motorbikes for the day as the island is quite hilly,  however we're doing our bit for the environment and decided on using the little local bus system. Check out the € petrol/diesel price on the island.

Yesterday we took the bus from Kamares Port where we are staying to a little village town called Apollonia -  the  civic center of the island. A small village with white washed buildings, lots of little lanes and alleys to get lost in and apparently at night it is the center of nightlife on the island with bars and fine dining. We certainly saw a whole bunch of people in Kamares Port all glammed up waiting for the 7.40pm night bus, it must go off ;)

We changed buses at Apollonia to go to a remote beach called Vathi beach. Our bus was an ancient bus which only just made it up some of the steep hills and going downhill in the  very steep parts I was hoping they had jolly good brakes. The bus was full with a mix of tourists and locals kids and we actually stood on the second leg of our journey. It was hot and great stability training as you hung on around the bends! When we got off the bus we walked down a little dusty lane and into the most perfect little horse shoe bay with the crystal clear waters and it was absolutely beautiful. 

Only two restaurants / taverna right on the waters edge with  the waves nibbling at your feet. Right on the water was the Church of Taxiarches and of Evangelistria (17th century).

 

Lots of yachts pull in, drop anchor and row ashore and have lunch and then off they go on their way again. Lovely, lovely day - beautiful swimming.

Lovely traditional taverna, family run.

The bus back was an upgrade to business class!  It was a much more modern bus with air conditioning!

 Later we wandered down to the port  and it was all go with a lovely sunset going down and cargo ferries bringing in lorry loads of cement, building supplies  and all the supplies for the island. 

Lovely day.